It may have been more about prioritizing a company and its workers in a swing state, rather than those in a sure thing state.
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Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable
- Thread starter AudubonB
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StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
I agree with the overall gist except many people right here on this forum think of Tesla as the people's car. Of course we, as a group, are more informed than most of America. (But that's not saying much, is it)
I'm not worried about the Lightning. Obviously, the deafening silence about Tesla is annoying and unfair. But that's life, no sense in getting too emotional about it. So long as Tesla isn't excluded from the pending EV incentive program - and they won't be, for reasons others have explained - I don't care too much.
Honestly, this whole spectacle is the most honest signal Ford could give about how precarious their position is. Consider the audiences of each truck appearance so far. The Cybertruck was unveiled to a crowd of tech enthusiasts and has been trundling around a factory worksite being ogled and posted on social media by the blue collar workforce. The Lightning is doing exclusive events with the President and the press corps. Ford can tweet all they want about how this is a serious work truck. The proof is in the pudding.
Ford is asking (or demanding, backed by the implicit threat of combined corporate and union political power) for public help because they are screwed without it. It would be satisfying for Ford to die painfully for its sins, but vengeance doesn't help anyone much. Tesla doesn't need the help to win this fight. But they'll get it anyways even though they're not the poster child (or even on the poster) for the publicity campaign. I almost prefer it that way. At least there might be fewer headlines about Tesla needing government subsidies to compete.
Plus, Biden driving around in an electric truck is good for EV adoption overall. The truck enthusiast crowd may be among the most resistant to electrification and Ford making an EV truck may soften that resistance. As folks here have pointed out many times, once someone is actually buying an EV, they're more likely to shop around and consider a Tesla. If they buy an F150 and it doesn't measure up to their coworker's Cybertruck, they may switch.
If the Cybertruck lives up to its promise, it's going to have a slew of competitive advantages both for consumers and for Tesla that other manufacturers will struggle to overcome. The folded steel exoskeleton, for example. Even if other manufacturers can somehow secure enough batteries at a competitive price (which we know is unlikely), people here and elsewhere have identified first-principles advantages to this engineering approach such as low manufacturing costs and body durability.
Breathe, everyone.
Honestly, this whole spectacle is the most honest signal Ford could give about how precarious their position is. Consider the audiences of each truck appearance so far. The Cybertruck was unveiled to a crowd of tech enthusiasts and has been trundling around a factory worksite being ogled and posted on social media by the blue collar workforce. The Lightning is doing exclusive events with the President and the press corps. Ford can tweet all they want about how this is a serious work truck. The proof is in the pudding.
Ford is asking (or demanding, backed by the implicit threat of combined corporate and union political power) for public help because they are screwed without it. It would be satisfying for Ford to die painfully for its sins, but vengeance doesn't help anyone much. Tesla doesn't need the help to win this fight. But they'll get it anyways even though they're not the poster child (or even on the poster) for the publicity campaign. I almost prefer it that way. At least there might be fewer headlines about Tesla needing government subsidies to compete.
Plus, Biden driving around in an electric truck is good for EV adoption overall. The truck enthusiast crowd may be among the most resistant to electrification and Ford making an EV truck may soften that resistance. As folks here have pointed out many times, once someone is actually buying an EV, they're more likely to shop around and consider a Tesla. If they buy an F150 and it doesn't measure up to their coworker's Cybertruck, they may switch.
If the Cybertruck lives up to its promise, it's going to have a slew of competitive advantages both for consumers and for Tesla that other manufacturers will struggle to overcome. The folded steel exoskeleton, for example. Even if other manufacturers can somehow secure enough batteries at a competitive price (which we know is unlikely), people here and elsewhere have identified first-principles advantages to this engineering approach such as low manufacturing costs and body durability.
Breathe, everyone.
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mars_or_bust
Member
It may have been more about prioritizing a company and its workers in a swing state, rather than those in a safely secure state.
Texas is a safely secure state for Democrats?
powertoold
Active Member
Regardless of whether Biden mentions Tesla, it probably won't change a thing about Tesla's trajectory. Focusing on Ford's commitment to EVs, etc., makes a bigger difference in changing American sentiment towards EVs. Americans already know about Tesla, but Tesla is by no means mainstream in any way.
Biden mentioning Tesla as the leader in EV at Ford's factory is bad taste and also doesn't help the cause.
tsla-the-investment-world-the-perpetual-investors-roundtable
Focus.
Not politics, Not unions, Not everything else.
Focus.
Not politics, Not unions, Not everything else.
We’ll see if it’s even actually a full BEV truck
Ford F-150 Electric Pickup May Get Newly Patented Range Extender in Its Bed
It looks deceptively like a toolbox, but it could be used to increase the range of the upcoming electric F-150 pickup truck.
www.caranddriver.com
- The range extender would act as a generator, recharging the battery of the vehicle using a small motor.
Strike a pose.View attachment 663557
---
Shots fired at first generation CT poser owners.
The one's who park their trucks inside garages and heaviest load is going to be a bookshelf at IKEA. Beefiest tow load is going to be a bike carrier attached to the tow receiver.
I'm ok with that. A sale to a poser is still a sale.
Funny for now, but a good point. Let's hope Biden visits the Austin plant once assembly workers are employed there and Cybertrucks are rolling off the line.
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
Yes the 2022 bolt is still in production, it's just the 2017-2019 bolts that catch fire.
But they changed the battery pack design and switched suppliers for the cells. So the Bolt should still be around for your list.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
We’ll see if it’s even actually a full BEV truck
Ford F-150 Electric Pickup May Get Newly Patented Range Extender in Its Bed
It looks deceptively like a toolbox, but it could be used to increase the range of the upcoming electric F-150 pickup truck.
- The range extender would act as a generator, recharging the battery of the vehicle using a small motor.
This is Ford's secret weapon to get around emissions standards. Just put a gas generator in the bed with a 20 gallon gas tank and call it an accessory.
But, is Ford committed to EV's, though? Because if they were, we wouldn't be having this conversation. He is sidelining the company who is actually changing the world in favor of, well, Ford. What message does it send? Instead of promoting innovation and actual commitment, he's promoting, well, Ford. I think a stand-up leader should call things what they are and send a clear message to the slackers that reads "you better get with the program or else." TSLA has been briskly advancing the cause alone under constant media attacks, with zero helps from his administration. Throw the 80-20 rule out the window. TSLA is the 1% that is doing 99% of the work. If he wants to advance the cause, promote TSLA.
If Biden visits Austin or Fremont, he is sure to puff up Tesla and its local workers and Texas/California, that's the way these guys roll. Let's face it, most people don't pay that much attention and politicians tell the people attending what they want to hear because that's what works.
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Sorry I meant to say close the Put he bought. The point is we don’t know when he will sell those Puts he bought or when they expire. He may do well short term but if he holds them too long he will be in for some big losses IMO.
A PR department might straighten that up, or extend an invite to Austin/Freemont/Kato for POTUS.
Farley said Ford was building batteries in Georgia. Is there a battery plant there I don't know about?
“Nearly always people believe willingly that which they wish to believe.”
Julius Caesar
willow_hiller
Well-Known Member
I'm assuming that talk of batteries in Georgia was referring to the settlement of the intellectual property case against SK Innovation: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/04/14/georgia-electric-vehicle-sk-innovation.html
Apparently, they are very good at battery and BMS development, too. With less than a 100 KWH battery, the "Lightning" can achieve 300 miles per charge. Jaguar and Audi have only achieved around 200 MPC with a similar sized battery. Must be American (Detroit) ingenuity and legacy auto engineering that has achieved this high a level. /s
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