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

[Curt Renz]

Further corroboration that Jerome's move earlier this year was a demotion, and I continue to think that the rollout of the refreshed S/X played a role. A bummer given Jerome's part in the salvaging of the Model 3 production ramp, but the S/X refresh has been - from outward appearances - uneven at best.

Indeed, likely a demotion and a hint to find another job.

 

[AMN]

Most people are forgetting the fact that 2021 Plaids are about 400lbs lighter than 2020 Performance cars. That is particularly fascinating given the fact that there is now a 3rd permanent magnet motor in the powertrain. The motor and wiring is over 100lbs. 500lbs reduction in weight is Earth shattering in the automotive world. Completely nuts!

My prediction is 16850 cells are staying but their internals have been profoundly modernized with what we had seen during the Battery Day. I suspect the new battery is now 90kwh with greatly improved density.

Fasten your seat belts. Sh*t about to get real...

 

[Krugerrand]

Purely anecdotal and not in a great area to compare (Wyoming), but a friend of mine bought a Mach-E and kept telling me that Ford is better than Tesla in all ways.... and that the Mach-E could be driven on the same routes in the same time. Just about 6 weeks later they have found that driving from Cheyenne to literally anywhere north, west or east is pretty much impossible without going far out of your way. Worse than that, the charging experience is mixed and not plug and play as is touted.


Seems like this was destined to happen after he got demoted, but this will gain some traction with the shorts. Likely a good thing in the end.

On the flop side, last fall I drove to my mountain in my Model 3. Only one stretch of 250 miles (stretch of many elevation changes, high cross winds and other range sucking situations) without a Supercharger caused me to have to drive a tick slower than I might otherwise have wanted to. Fast forward to this spring and I had THREE additional SC options. Drove that puppy the whole way like I was on a cannonball run.

 

[henchman24]

On a scale of 1 to 10........how much to do you enjoy watching the resentment in his face grow as he realized done f'd up????

Right now... I still think we are in the anger stage of grief, so 8.5... I'll be at a 10 when he trades the Mach E for a Y. The guy will go on and on as to this being the reason why EVs won't be accepted. Doesn't believe me when I state that pretty much every area is open to me with a 3 year old Tesla. Despite me having plenty of charge sessions from all the chargers around me. To a point he might be right, if people won't drive a Tesla and they are treated with that sort of network and frustration... all other EVs could fail. I think it will be fixed eventually... but not with this patchwork that is all around now.

 

[Artful Dodger]

Daily FINRA 'short report' out down for retail trading: 60.3% of trades were flagged as short (57th percentile), highest level of shorting by retail traders since Apr 4, 2020 (deep in the covid mire).

Still, retail trading comprised only 47.6% (47th percentile) of all trading done on NASDAQ today. The big boys were doing the opposite of retail, and soaking up those free shorts while driving the SP up (anybody get a margin call?)

Conclusion: retail dumb enough to watch CNBC deserves what they get. And the twitters too. The big boys do not care about cancelled future projects. Instead, we closed within pennies of the 200-day moving avg (that's what they care about).

 

[Nocturnal]

TSLAQ circle umm "party" about JG ongoing. I'll never understand people who focus on what they hate in life.

 

[henchman24]

On the flop side, last fall I drove to my mountain in my Model 3. Only one stretch of 250 miles (stretch of many elevation changes, high cross winds and other range sucking situations) without a Supercharger caused me to have to drive a tick slower than I might otherwise have wanted to. Fast forward to this spring and I had THREE additional SC options. Drove that puppy the whole way like I was on a cannonball run.

My last trip to Idaho with the V3 Burley station was the same. I remember the stretch from Tremonton to Twin Falls sucking because I had to drive the speed limit. Now I can drive at speeds I should not state here without worry. If Tesla could just get a Riverton/Lander supercharger and one on 55 in Idaho, I'd be completely set and (almost) never complain.

 

[Navin]

Lora is probably grinning and typing as we speak. Article would be easy to write but she has to work in the narrative. “This comes at a time when”. “Elon has lost numerous” etc etc.

 

[Prunesquallor]

I've seen a number of anti-Tesla EV fans spreading the idea around that the third party fast charging networks have caught up to Tesla and are now more numerous and convenient than the SC Network. I don't really believe this but I can't say with any authority how close this is getting to being almost true since I gave up on third party charging permanently a couple of years ago after three unsuccessful tries to coax them into giving up some electrons.

Do any non-Tesla EV owners have an update as to the current status of third party fast DC charging (at least in your region) and how much more expensive it is if you have a subscription and use one or more regularly? I'm just wondering how much value the SC Network actually adds these days as I know the third party networks are constantly improving somewhat.

No personal experience, but I enjoy watching the Out of Spec road-trip YouTubes. Those guys are big EV proponents and try to put a positive light on their experiences, but you can often see a lot of frustration with third-party chargers. It’s not necessarily the lack of chargers, but the fact they are often non-operational, throw errors (car dependent) and throttle charging rate. One trip with the Mach-E was particularly problematic.

The thing that would drive me bonkers is the hassle just to attempt to get a charging session started (phone/app/location/charger/start).

 

[Curt Renz]

...Zach seems like the top choice, with Elon as COTB and Drew remaining CTO.

Could be. Elon can become chairman again in November.

 

[BornToFly]

Purely anecdotal and not in a great area to compare (Wyoming), but a friend of mine bought a Mach-E and kept telling me that Ford is better than Tesla in all ways.... and that the Mach-E could be driven on the same routes in the same time. Just about 6 weeks later they have found that driving from Cheyenne to literally anywhere north, west or east is pretty much impossible without going far out of your way. Worse than that, the charging experience is mixed and not plug and play as is touted.

Does he admit now that he was wrong?

 

[Drumheller]

Most people are forgetting the fact that 2021 Plaids are about 400lbs lighter than 2020 Performance cars. That is particularly fascinating given the fact that there is now a 3rd permanent magnet motor in the powertrain. The motor and wiring is over 100lbs. 500lbs reduction in weight is Earth shattering in the automotive world. Completely nuts!

My prediction is 16850 cells are staying but their internals have been profoundly modernized with what we had seen during the Battery Day. I suspect the new battery is now 90kwh with greatly improved density.

Fasten your seat belts. Sh*t about to get real...

I would be surprised if they lowered the pack storage to 90kwh. Instead, I would think they're creeping up to 110kwh zone.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

I thought Jerome was someone good at the company or something. Not sure what's going on here? But Tesla has long been a company where people burn out hard and then just up and quit. I wonder what this means for Semi though.

 

[AimStellar]

Per a post in the Model S Plaid/Refresh Waiting Room, invites to the June 10 Plaid delivery event have been extended and (at least for some) include a ride along Tesla's test track with a professional driver.

 

[MP3Mike]

I would be surprised if they lowered the pack storage to 90kwh. Instead, I would think they're creeping up to 110kwh zone.

We initially thought that they reduced it to 90kWh in part to get the weight savings, and also because the Model X range went down. (Not to mention them stating that production capacity went from 90k/year to 100k/year when the main limiter was battery supply.) But maybe as they progressed they decided to up the pack to 110kWh and cancel the Plaid+. We will have a better idea what happened come Thursday evening.

 

[MP3Mike]

I thought Jerome was someone good at the company or something. Not sure what's going on here? But Tesla has long been a company where people burn out hard and then just up and quit. I wonder what this means for Semi though.

It means the Tesla Semi is done and ready to go.

 

[traxila]

I thought Jerome was someone good at the company or something. Not sure what's going on here? But Tesla has long been a company where people burn out hard and then just up and quit. I wonder what this means for Semi though.

Jerome was good. He did great work in the past.

Not sure what happened now, but I know he was well rewarded to this point.

Tesla can be a tough place sometimes.

Hopefully he can start something on his own to further the mission. He has the creds for sure.

 

[MC3OZ]

Some of the Quad Squad filming Giga Texas believe they might be sending castings from Texas to Fremont. This could explain the increased amount of castings seen but exactly why and which car the castings are made for I haven't heard anything about.

The castings made at Austin seem to be Model Y front castings...

Fremont is making Model Y rear castings, Fremont is currently only using rear castings...

Seems to me they may stockpile front and rear castings at Fremont, ahead of a switch to a structural battery pack and dual castings...

Plaid+ Model S might have needed castings, that could be one factor in it being cancelled.

 

[henchman24]

Does he admit now that he was wrong?

We are 6 months from acceptance.

 

[Prunesquallor]

Jerome was good. He did great work in the past.

Not sure what happened now, but I know he was well rewarded to this point.

Tesla can be a tough place sometimes.

Hopefully he can start something on his own to further the mission. He has the creds for sure.

I know of an electric semi company that needs a bit of help…