Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[UkNorthampton]

Tesla related: more positive write ups in UK, more demand, more acceptance. At bottom, Autotrader searches suggest to me that Teslas Model 3s are being kept more than others, Probably some older Model S ready for upgrades/recycling to Taxi/private hire now

I'd argue this org (Autotrader UK) does not have strong reasons to support Tesla, quite the opposite!

New Car Awards 2023 | AutoTrader

Browse all of Auto Trader's New Car Awards 2023 winners, as chosen by British car buyers

www.autotrader.co.uk

Search the page for Tesla (includes runner ups then).

Several top 3 entries for Model 3 (and Tesla as a brand) for 5 out of 21 categories.

Winner of 1 category - Best Car for Families Award 2021 – Tesla Model 3 - Best Car for Families Award 2021 – Tesla Model 3

Overall, I'd say the most wins/runner ups was Tesla Model 3 with Porsche Taycan(s) and Dacia Duster getting most other mentions (quick scan).

Autotrader UK comparison (what's for sale)
80 Tesla M3 (introduced into UK 2019)
93 Porsche Taycan (all post 2019)
164 Model S (only 12 from 2019 onwards)
111 Lambo Huracan (42 for 2019 onwards)
138 BMW 8 Series GT (2019 onwards)

2019-2021: So more Taycans than Model 3 and Model S combined for sale on Autotrader (I think only 1 Taycan was new), but sales into UK of Taycan must have been mush smaller.

 

[jkirkwood001]

Pretty embarrassing. A Special Session extension Is possible, but according to the article, unlikely. Next session isn’t until Feb. 2023.

Would Elon really have left this to chance when he picked Austin? Surely it was part of a deal with the State? What's Tesla's mitigation - we refuse to sell Cybertrucks to Texans until you fix your law! Nope, not gonna happen.

 

[Pezpunk]

Hybrids are

Would Elon really have left this to chance when he picked Austin? Surely it was part of a deal with the State? What's Tesla's mitigation - we refuse to sell Cybertrucks to Texans until you fix your law! Nope, not gonna happen.

he probably got handshakes and reassurances which turned out to be lies.

 

[Discoducky]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1398261674877014021

Tesla is moving fast. Could have waited for testing, but hey....

 

[jkirkwood001]

Such a huge step towards the FSD "button". I would think this is AI that will be driver monitoring as opposed to straight algo's. I imagine folks will try to defeat it, but here's to hoping Tesla has thought of that. Queue videos of idiots putting up cardboard cutouts in driver seats. Let's all hope that Tesla implements AI to monitor the seat sensors as well. OCS (Occupant Classification Systems) can provide enough data to DNN's to establish a similar result which is confidence that their is a driver in the seat and that they are attentive. How Occupant Classification Systems Work

And queue ads for open-eye glasses that enable sleeping while driving Hope the AI checks for blinking! (Until we have FSD level 5, of course)

 

[mrdoubleb]

HEV and PHEV need to die.

And dont even get me started on "mild hybrids".

 

[elasalle]

This was Texas-Arkansas border in recent Snow Storm. A nice analogy of what Texas CT rules consequences will be
The snowy/ICEy side is TX.

 

[15Peter20]

And dont even get me started on "mild hybrids".

Self-charging....................

 

[Unpilot]

MM better start "market making" or this thing is going to get away from them.


edit...dam it

 

[thx1139]

Cybertruck UI going for Battlezone vibe

 

[TheTalkingMule]

MM better start "market making" or this thing is going to get away from them.

Done and done.

 

[DarkandStormy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1398272897815351306

 

[Knightshade]

And queue ads for open-eye glasses that enable sleeping while driving Hope the AI checks for blinking! (Until we have FSD level 5, of course)

Because the HW was never intended for this use, it can't see through stuff like polarized/reflecting lenses at all, so it just guesses by neck/head/body posture if you're wearing sunglasses or something on if you're actually looking at the road.

Use of the camera like this has been in the works via SW since long before all the CR/Texas crash drama... the reason is the EU is going to require a driver monitoring system on all new vehicles here shortly.

This is a great example of clever engineering by Tesla- taking a thing that was never meant for this (the type of camera, placement of camera, field of view of the camera, and lack of things like IR projection are all evidence of that- plus Elon explicitly said it was for monitoring RTs cabin-wide for vandalism when the HW launched) and finding a way to meet a new EU requirement without adding any hardware cost at all just an OTA push.

The fact the FUDsters had doubled down on the lack of driver monitoring about the same time they'd gotten this SW retrofit of existing equipment ready to release is a nice bonus on top.

Currently it does not appear to remove (or even reduce) the use of the steering wheel torque sensor- but we can hope it will do so eventually.

 

[StealthP3D]

The F-150 range was a huge surprise to me that I haven't read anywhere before... (spoiler: 450mi+ without cargo)

Don't be fooled by the way Ford is playing with numbers here. There is no way in Hell that thing is going to go 450 miles on the freeway without cargo! That's why they are only claiming ~300 EPA miles. Now they have their Ford apologists and minions out spreading the word it is actually over 450 miles without cargo. But it's not Ford saying it. The reason the display read so high when Marques looked at it was because it was a stunt, a setup, carried out by Ford marketing people by driving the truck slowly long enough for the trip computer to display an unrealistically long range remaining before they charged it and presented it Marques. The Ford trip computer is well known to be highly unreliable "guess-o-meter. Very sneaky the way they get the fake numbers out there without actually making the fake claims themselves. This is the same type of thing they did with the Mach-e. What they really mean is the longest range version will go 450 miles when driven under ideal conditions at a steady 40-45 mph.

Yeah, and our Model 3 will go over 500 miles under the same conditions. This is actually true. But you don't see Tesla encouraging their brand ambassadors to spread that 500+ mile number around (I actually saw a track test on Youtube after the Model 3 was first released where the Model 3 went 598 miles at a steady 37 or 38 mph with no climate control under mild weather conditions). That's from memory and I'm unable to find the video now so if anyone knows where it is, I would like to refresh my memory but as I recall it was not affiliated with Tesla in any way. Just EV fanatics doing what EV fanatics do, testing out the limits. It was not broadcast as how far a Model 3 could go with an empty trunk.

 

[jkirkwood001]

I think there’s an element of 4D chess that we might be forgetting, even in the unlikely event that the Texas dealer law doesn’t change.

It’s called FSD. Imagine a platooned convoy of 10,000 driverless Cybertrucks driving 5 feet over the closest neighboring state line, awaiting payment notification, and then driving back to Giga Texas or better yet, driving themselves directly to their driveways of their owners.

All fully charged before they leave using the solar on the Giga Texas roof.

The media coverage alone would be enough to have the law changed overnight.

Why does it even have to be "batch by convoy"? Why not just-in-time (JIT): commit by prospect > FSD to border > complete sale > FSD back to factory (or sale location)

 

[DarkandStormy]

Tesla reportedly scrambling for IC supply

Tesla is reportedly approaching IC suppliers in Taiwan, Korea and the US, seeking to secure steady supplies of automotive chips with advance payments, according to industry sources.

www.digitimes.com

The firm's recent decision to remove mmWave radar sensors from its EVs highlights the shortage of its IC parts, said the sources.

 

[kanweg]

HEV and PHEV need to die.

Yes. And PHEVs don’t need to be plugged in. It is basically a subsidy to get a cheap car on the government‘s dime without doing much for the environment. Check out the price of a car and a hybrid. Now deduct 2500 voor it being a hybrid, 2500 for it being manufactured in the US, and 2500 bc of being made with union labor. (A 20k car is now suddenly 12.5k! Well, GM etc will raise the price, so it is just fatter margins for them to produce cars they already produce). Obviously this doesn’t help to make a BEV more attractive with respect to a hybrid. (It would only do good by getting some of those very inefficient cars off the road. But it would still be gas based. Big oil happy.)

 

[Prunesquallor]

Rob had (as usual, he is a gem) an excellent review on the proposed act which includes a stimulus for electric cars. I was unpleasantly surprised that this includes plug-in hybrids (5 kWh battery suffices). All big oil and old car manufacturers have to do is expand the hybrid sales a bit to kill the act by making it reach 50% of sales. plug-ins. Which are mostly regular cars, would become much cheaper too. im less excited now about this stimulus proposal.

Maybe. Rob wasn’t quite sure, and neither am I. The original IRC Section 30D (upon which the new Clean Energy for America Act is based) defines "qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles":

For vehicles acquired after December 31, 2009, the credit is equal to $2,500 plus, for a vehicle which draws propulsion energy from a battery with at least 5 kilowatt hours of capacity, $417, plus an additional $417 for each kilowatt hour of battery capacity in excess of 5 kilowatt hours. The total amount of the credit allowed for a vehicle is limited to $7,500.

The new Act doesn’t change that definition yet. It certainly does sound like a hybrid is valid.

However, there is a new category of commercial electric transportation, it’s defined very differently:

A qualified electric transportation option must be powered by an integrated,
on-board electric propulsion system that is the primary source of propulsion and is capable of
powering the vehicle (including its components and accessories) for not less than 2/3 of the
maximum operating period between recharging or refueling such vehicle. If the qualified
electric transportation option derives power from the on-board combustion of fuel, that fuel must be renewable.

So, very different definitions. Maybe they'll get merged as the Act progresses.

 

[Chunky Jr.]

There is no way in Hell that thing is going to go 450 miles on the freeway without cargo!

Ford engineering: we built a truck that can do 450 miles
Ford marketing: thanks. We will be sure not to tell anyone and claim 300 instead

if there is one thing marketing people are known for, it is being overly conservative with stats and specs

 

[DarkandStormy]

General Discussion: 2018 Investor Roundtable

I also thought whistleblowing had to do with revealing fraud against the government, nothing to do with private business. Revealing any criminal activity could be considered whistleblowing.

teslamotorsclub.com

June 21, 2018
- I look down the line a bit and there's Elon, torquing bolts.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1010028341921964032

Does Elon need to get back to torquing bolts? Latest recall is for vehicles built ~6 months after he confirmed he was on the factory floor torquing bolts.