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

[hobbes]

Two superchargers opened in Morocco, first in Africa!

Tesla enters African market with its first Superchargers

Tesla has deployed its first two Supercharger stations in Morocco, marking its first entry in the African market. Supercharger stations...

electrek.co

 

[RobDickinson]

Granted, NEDC, but still a near 8% bump puts the MY LR at over 350 miles EPA. Not too shabby.

Yeah more is always better but then perhaps the US cars already had more kwh from the start with the Panasonic cells

 

[Prunesquallor]

… the current implementation of Supercruise is a dead-end street…

I see what you did there.

 

[willow_hiller]

If this was "Buy the rumor" then just how low do we go when it is "sell the news"?

I'm actually kinda looking forward to a Saturday announcement. No immediate opportunity to sell the news, and 48 hours for the implications of the news to sink in before trading starts again.

 

[Eugene Ash]

Didn't VW just have a GYAT meeting of managers with Porsche several months back. The one that Elon specifically ridiculed as an example of ineffective meetings?

The meetings will continue untill morale improves . Or somebody switches the lights off when they auction the building off

 

[Krugerrand]

Hello Optimist,

I was thinking about Consumer Reports and how to move them toward a little less hand wringing, as NPR/PBS can tend to teach, and a little more optimism. There is some good to NPR, it is mainly the hand wringing tone that can seem pervasive, even though it is not.

If the Tesla was a gift to your wife, she may not know the secret I am about to reveal to you, and prescribe to Consumer Reports.

Dear Consumer Reports,

Push the right hand scroll button on the steering wheel and say, "Play Someone to Watch Over Me by Blossom Dearie."
This should be OK for you as Blossom sang "If you can skate a figure eight" on Schoolhouse Rock. She is PBS approved.

Then proceed to try to drive safely by setting your following distance when driving over 50 MPH by using the screen to see that your car is aware of the vehicle you are following, because the lead car barely shows on the rendering. This is a way to follow safely with no math required. This is a safe following distance. Do this for 21 days and it will become a habit. That awareness distance is a safe following distance for you, and it makes sure your car does not get surprised either!

On that "watch over me" radio station you will learn the metric system by listening to Fever (in Fahrenheit or Centigrade) and Nat King Cole will admonish you to Straighten Up and Fly Right.

As you listen to Blossom you will hear a hopeful optimistic tone that may well vanquish the hand wringing tone that you may be used to.

You will also hear Rosemary Clooney sing Mambo Italiano in immersive sound.

Give it a try. Are there other cars that can bring you all this?

The sound system in a Tesla with the streaming radio station on voice command seems like a differentiator. The nuance of the station picks when you choose song and artist is nothing short of wonderful.

Edit: This may be why the Germans cannot match Tesla - the suitcase guy might be wrong. Not sure he understood nuance or music as well as Elon does.

You should listen to some Pavarotti. Oh. My. Gosh.

But you’re right. I always use max follow distance, even in traffic jams and don’t care if people butt in. Clearly, it’s more important for them to get where they’re going than everyone else, so be my guest.

 

[Curt Renz]

Dan Ives of Wedbush on Tesla.

TD Ameritrade - today:

 

[capster]

…

Supercruise is a whole other problem set. You can't just run the Supercruise on the same microcontroller the fuel pump uses.

True enough, but did anyone tell Mary Barra that?

 

[Gigapress]

GM was using these pouch cells in the first place in order to pack in more kWh to compensate for their poor vehicle energy efficiency and poor BMS. Tesla's BMS and pack design enables deeper depth of discharge without fire risk, which also enabled them to capitalize on the inherent safety advantages of small cylindrical cells.

More comparison info on Model 3 vs Bolt battery cell formats here:

BU-301a: Types of Battery Cells

Tesla Model 3 & Chevy Bolt Battery Packs Examined

TL;DR

Pouch cells have high volumetric energy density at the pack level because they can be packed densely with minimal voids, but costs more

Cylindrical cells are cheaper to manufacture, inherently safer, and easier to thermally control

Tesla has better energy efficiency, pack design, and BMS >>> Tesla squeezes more miles range and power out of each cell >>> Tesla needs fewer cells >>> Tesla uses cheaper, safer cells that take up more space per kWh >>> Tesla world domination

 

[Gigapress]

More comparison info on Model 3 vs Bolt battery cell formats here:

BU-301a: Types of Battery Cells

Tesla Model 3 & Chevy Bolt Battery Packs Examined

TL;DR

Pouch cells have high volumetric energy density at the pack level because they can be packed densely with minimal voids, but costs more

Cylindrical cells are cheaper to manufacture, inherently safer, and easier to thermally control

Tesla has better energy efficiency, pack design, and BMS >>> Tesla squeezes more miles range and power out of each cell >>> Tesla needs fewer cells >>> Tesla uses cheaper, safer cells that take up more space per kWh >>> Tesla world domination

Note that this logic applies to the more unstable high-nickel cathode chemistry.

LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries are much more stable, but have crappy energy density, all else being held equal, compared to Lithium-Nickel batteries. They have a huge advantage, as we've discussed ad nauseam here and elsewhere on social media, in price and availability of raw materials. Tesla Model 3 SR, and eventually the small Chinese model, are parsimonious enough in their energy consumption that prismatic LFP batteries are a superior choice than cylindrical. And prismatic LFP also works better for Powerwall/Megapack too. This saves them even more money, helps them scale much faster to reach world domination that much quicker.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1433823519146577920

 

[Skipdd]

Tesla’s Safety Score system could result in unsafe driving: Consumer Reports
Sorry for the OT … but here’s the laugh of the day

Consumer Reports and this one in particular is reminding me of Kurt Vonnegut stories; except his were satire whereas CR is trying to pass this off as realistic. The plot of the story that comes to mind is one where government norms were established to homogenize everything, with the results being stupid.

 

[Ogre]

Consumer Reports and this one in particular is reminding me of Kurt Vonnegut stories; except his were satire whereas CR is trying to pass this off as realistic. The plot of the story that comes to mind is one where government norms were established to homogenize everything, with the results being stupid.

There is no way Tesla could have done this which would have resulted in minimizing potential injury or bad PR feedback from clowns like this.

If it were random? They'd have bitched just as much or more. If they used your DMV record? They'd have complained about invading privacy.

The Safety Score is flawed, but about as reasonable way you can do this as conceivable.

Well aside from the above suggestion that shareholders get access first. That is totally reasonable.

 

[Artful Dodger]

TSLA outperformed the major Indices for the week:

Here's to a excellent P&D Report!

Cheers!

 

[capster]

True, but has GM quietly stopped shipping all cars equipped with Supercruise? Or, is it just Cadillacs? Is this the beginning of the end of Supercruise? I don't think it's really about chips.

Supercruise has significant costs associated with it. Since it only works on designated freeway sections it requires precision mapping and verification of roads. This entails frequent OTA map updates to account for temporary road construction zones, road modifications like added, removed or re-designated lanes, carpool rules, speed limit changes, etc. These are safety critical updates that must be timely and error-free. Then there is the wireless bandwidth to download updated maps. Maps are one of the more data intensive downloads and it's critical they are up to date with Supercruise. The team required to keep all of this up to date and expand the capabilities to new freeways is substantial and, I would suggest, unsustainable. I think this is the beginning of the end of Supercruise as we know it. I bet the expansion of new roads slows to a halt and the system is quietly shelved. Unfortunately (for GM), they need to keep the existing system updated or offer refunds to every buyer. They will probably transfer the name "Supercruise" to whatever system they end up transitioning to in the next couple of years.

This is all my speculation but I don't see how their chosen system makes any sense in a modern world.

Maybe GM doesn’t want to share their Supercruise safety data (or have the data to share) with NHTSA.

 

[jkirkwood001]

Tesla China revised ranges for the MIC MY as follows:

594 km to 640 km for Model Y DM LR
540 km to 566 km for Model Y Performance

No change in price, just better batteries, or however else they're getting better range.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1443830721051697158

Wow.

My 2018 Model 3 Dual Motor (@ 80,000 KM) is now getting an estimated ~460 KM (~285 miles)

 

[SageBrush]

My 2018 Model 3 Dual Motor (@ 80,000 KM) is now getting ...

Put your car on an NEDC cycle test. Then you will awed by your car too.

 

[inconel]

Wow.

My 2018 Model 3 Dual Motor (@ 80,000 KM) is now getting an estimated ~460 KM (~285 miles)

These are NEDC numbers whereas yours is EPA

 

[kengchang]

Oct 1 (Reuters) -

Rivian Automotive, backed by Amazon.com Inc and Ford, disclosed losses of nearly $1 billion in the first half of the year, the electric-vehicle maker's U.S. IPO filing showed on Friday.

The company has been investing aggressively in ramping up production of its electric vehicles, including its upscale all-electric R1T pickup truck which was launched last month beating out competition from more established rivals, such as Tesla Inc , General Motors and Ford.
Rivian had about 48,390 preorders for its R1T pickup trucks and R1S SUVs in the United States and Canada as of last month.

The company is currently pursuing a two-track strategy: building electric delivery vans for Amazon and developing an electric pickup and SUV brand aimed at affluent individuals.Amazon has ordered 100,000 of Rivian's electric delivery vans as part of the e-commerce giant's broader effort to cut its carbon footprint.Rivian said on Friday it will list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "RIVN".

Founded in 2009 as Mainstream Motors by R. J. Scaringe, the company changed its name to Rivian in 2011. "Rivian" is derived from "Indian River" in Florida, a place Scaringe frequented in a rowboat as a youth.

Scaringe on Friday said the company would put 1% of equity in its environmental program called "Forever" that is aimed at helping address climate change and preserving wildlands and waterways.

Rivian, which confidentially filed paperwork with regulators for an IPO in August, has not yet set terms for its offering. However, Reuters reported in September that it could seek a valuation of nearly $80 billion, raising up to $8 billion in its IPO.

For the six months ended June 30, Rivian's net loss widened to $994 million from $377 million a year earlier, the company said in its filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.

 

[Nolimits]

I do wish for rivian to succeed. Competition is always good. Although not really competition. It appears to serve a different niche. If tesla is the new ford, rivian seems like the new JLR?

 

[BornToFly]

Oct 1 (Reuters) -

Rivian Automotive, backed by Amazon.com Inc and Ford, disclosed losses of nearly $1 billion in the first half of the year, the electric-vehicle maker's U.S. IPO filing showed on Friday.

The company has been investing aggressively in ramping up production of its electric vehicles, including its upscale all-electric R1T pickup truck which was launched last month beating out competition from more established rivals, such as Tesla Inc , General Motors and Ford.
Rivian had about 48,390 preorders for its R1T pickup trucks and R1S SUVs in the United States and Canada as of last month.

The company is currently pursuing a two-track strategy: building electric delivery vans for Amazon and developing an electric pickup and SUV brand aimed at affluent individuals.Amazon has ordered 100,000 of Rivian's electric delivery vans as part of the e-commerce giant's broader effort to cut its carbon footprint.Rivian said on Friday it will list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "RIVN".

Founded in 2009 as Mainstream Motors by R. J. Scaringe, the company changed its name to Rivian in 2011. "Rivian" is derived from "Indian River" in Florida, a place Scaringe frequented in a rowboat as a youth.

Scaringe on Friday said the company would put 1% of equity in its environmental program called "Forever" that is aimed at helping address climate change and preserving wildlands and waterways.

Rivian, which confidentially filed paperwork with regulators for an IPO in August, has not yet set terms for its offering. However, Reuters reported in September that it could seek a valuation of nearly $80 billion, raising up to $8 billion in its IPO.

For the six months ended June 30, Rivian's net loss widened to $994 million from $377 million a year earlier, the company said in its filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.

Over $1Billion in losses by the end of the year, no real deliveries yet, less than 50k orders, and an .... $80 Billion valuation.... Stop my belly hurts...