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

[Artful Dodger]

Becoming more clear now why EV credits and the BBB Act are delayed:

Chevrolet Bolt EV production downtime extended through February

GM notified workers at its Lake Orion plant that production of new Chevy Bolt EVs would be idle through February 2022.

driveteslacanada.ca

No, this story isn't from The Onion it just read like one.

 

[PeterJA]

I've not done a Weekend Big Post for a while - so here you go.

First, full disclosure: I am NOT under any kind of an NDA with Tesla at this time, but over the many years I have kept to myself material that I know Tesla would rather not be disseminated except when and how they choose to.

However.........in that I am ever more frustrated at having to drive around like my long-deceased mother, in order to maintain a "98" Safety Score - yet it seems to matter not one whit, even with having purchased one of the very first (maybe #1) P100D Ludicrous Model Xs delivered outside California (and, of course, with FSD prepaid).....

...and as it seems everyone else and her aunt has a blog about Tesla, throwing out secrets and photos and all other such -

well, why should I keep mum?

So -

the Tesla Semi, and some information you either haven't known or haven't heard specifically before...or from a source whose validity you do not know:

When you're cruising at 30mph, and you hit the Go Pedal - it smokes! As in: Literally - all four drivers burn rubber as it screams down the road - this is when bobtailed.

Its loss of power is barely discernable when you load your trailer to 80,000 pounds. That is: Like you cannot feel the difference At All.

The driver's seat is comfortable; everything is nicely within reach and the view forward is unparalleled. But: when you're backing up, esp of course in a tight situation, you do miss that view behind you to your left. Of course, that is because of the trade-off: your view to the right is a little bit better, so your view to the left is a little bit worse. But one does miss what one has become accustomed to - at least, if you're human.

It is an astonishing and marvelous creation.

Happy Christmas, all.

I thought Tesla's traction control would prevent burning rubber "literally." Does the Semi lack traction control?

 

[lafrisbee]

I've not done a Weekend Big Post for a while - so here you go.

First, full disclosure: I am NOT under any kind of an NDA with Tesla at this time, but over the many years I have kept to myself material that I know Tesla would rather not be disseminated except when and how they choose to.

However.........in that I am ever more frustrated at having to drive around like my long-deceased mother, in order to maintain a "98" Safety Score - yet it seems to matter not one whit, even with having purchased one of the very first (maybe #1) P100D Ludicrous Model Xs delivered outside California (and, of course, with FSD prepaid).....

...and as it seems everyone else and her aunt has a blog about Tesla, throwing out secrets and photos and all other such -

well, why should I keep mum?

So -

the Tesla Semi, and some information you either haven't known or haven't heard specifically before...or from a source whose validity you do not know:

When you're cruising at 30mph, and you hit the Go Pedal - it smokes! As in: Literally - all four drivers burn rubber as it screams down the road - this is when bobtailed.

Its loss of power is barely discernable when you load your trailer to 80,000 pounds. That is: Like you cannot feel the difference At All.

The driver's seat is comfortable; everything is nicely within reach and the view forward is unparalleled. But: when you're backing up, esp of course in a tight situation, you do miss that view behind you to your left. Of course, that is because of the trade-off: your view to the right is a little bit better, so your view to the left is a little bit worse. But one does miss what one has become accustomed to - at least, if you're human.

It is an astonishing and marvelous creation.

Happy Christmas, all.

Some how I feel a Santa's Sleigh reference should have been the bigger part of this...

 

[nativewolf]

Very informative video - thanks for sharing @Words of HABIT -
Where the hell is the outrage from Senators Warren and Sanders regarding this debacle? Perhaps Sen Warren conveniently overlooked this because it was a high-profile military contractor that won the award to produce post office EVs? (Until she ran for President her military budget voting was lock-step with Mitch McConnell and WarHawk republicans) ……..which of course leads me to wonder if her attacks on Elon were intended in part to draw attention away from the fact that Tesla and Tesla alone is probably the only US Company that should be winning any EV performance-based federal contracts on a scale such as this. All of the Sunday morning ‘news’ shows she made herself available for over the last couple decades to publicly attack wasteful government spending and then one of the largest contacts to-date for sustainable energy & transportation is solicited to solve the concerns that she used for her platform in her campaign- and she is too busy attacking the person who propelled the only company in the US into a position to have been rightfully awarded such a contract. Machiavellian Politics at its finest.

Perhaps of equal irony is that it appears that GM had completely failed to put themselves in serious contention for such a contract and yet we were told ‘they led.’ Had GM won such a federal contract to replace all post office vehicles with EVs using existing vehicles they were already producing, those comments would be much more palatable - albeit still misplaced. Nope - instead a military contractor with no previous EV experience wins the contract using a slightly modified Ford diesel Transit van.

We are almost to January 2022 - two years into what many of us believed would be a new paradigm - and only Tesla appears to be moving the needle - and they are doing so using the same strategy they used under the previous administrations while currently being the company who’s name must not be spoken out loud……..however slandering and baseless attacks on its CEO will not be publicly discouraged in any way. You can’t make this stuff up. Please - someone on TMC write a book about all this from a 50,000 foot level instead of down in the weeds. It would be a wonderful sequel to The Emperor Has No Clothes.

Oshkosh is good at winning federal contracts, that's an art in and of itself. They have pulled lots of contracts from big govt bagged pork filled contractors. They usually save the taxpayer quite a bit when they do. Once in a while they have a dud but usually it has been good.

 

[EVDRVN]

I thought Tesla's traction control would prevent burning rubber "literally." Does the Semi lack traction control?

Perhaps selectable in prototypes. I drove one of the first Tesla drive prototype cars and it had a regen slider up to full regen which is like full ABS to a dead stop.. About a year ago I raced a Tesla semi on an on-ramp and it was insanely fast, I laughed out loud thinking it would not keep up and I would take the hole shot.

 

[mars_or_bust]

You are European, so what’s the problem mastering a second or third language?

Uh, I do speak three European languages fluently, but my French is so so - can order a beer, read a comic (Tintin and Asterix ) but not a book.

But honestly, and off topic, I view learning multiple languages as a poor use of learning time (unless you are a historian or anthroplogist or similar). English has been established as the (oh the irony) worldwide lingua franca, and I expect all books to be accessible in English. For example, I am a natural scientist, and ALL published papers are in English, making research much easier (before WWII it was different, with a very strong German publication scene).

And regarding EU - I have been to many highest EU level meetings in Brussels, Luxemburg etc. So I can say with plenty of authority that these meetings are a complete farce in soooo many ways. Including language wise. Thus formally one can speak in ones native language, then there are the simultaneous interpreters, and of course the French ALWAYS insist of speaking in French. The Germans, and the Dutch as I see you are from Netherlands, are actually much more flexible, and usually speak in English so everybody can understand them. Anyway, the point is this 20 plus language format meeting is COMPLETELY useless for any kind of real discussion whatsoever, so nothing gets decided in the meetings. So what happens next is that one waits for coffee breaks to come, and then the key players meet informally in smaller rooms, where they ALL speak English, and come to some kind of conclusion. OK, the conclusions are still full of crap, as this is after all the EU bloatocracy we are talking about, but still, SOMETHING gets decided this way.

Personally, I think EU missed a big chance at a much better integration, and smoother operation, if it used the exit of Britain as a unique opportunity to say "Look, now that UK is out, we can radically improve the EU performance by switching to just one language - English - and no body will have a political or whatever advantage - as UK is out". I think in fact Germany could in theory support something like that, but that would be impossible with France around of course.

Anyway, if the book was published in English, its potential audience would increase by a factor of 100 at least. Pity it is not.

 

[The Accountant]

Very informative video - thanks for sharing @Words of HABIT -
Where the hell is the outrage from Senators Warren and Sanders regarding this debacle? Perhaps Sen Warren conveniently overlooked this because it was a high-profile military contractor that won the award to produce post office EVs? (Until she ran for President her military budget voting was lock-step with Mitch McConnell and WarHawk republicans) ……..which of course leads me to wonder if her attacks on Elon were intended in part to draw attention away from the fact that Tesla and Tesla alone is probably the only US Company that should be winning any EV performance-based federal contracts on a scale such as this. All of the Sunday morning ‘news’ shows she made herself available for over the last couple decades to publicly attack wasteful government spending and then one of the largest contacts to-date for sustainable energy & transportation is solicited to solve the concerns that she used for her platform in her campaign- and she is too busy attacking the person who propelled the only company in the US into a position to have been rightfully awarded such a contract. Machiavellian Politics at its finest.

Perhaps of equal irony is that it appears that GM had completely failed to put themselves in serious contention for such a contract and yet we were told ‘they led.’ Had GM won such a federal contract to replace all post office vehicles with EVs using existing vehicles they were already producing, those comments would be much more palatable - albeit still misplaced. Nope - instead a military contractor with no previous EV experience wins the contract using a slightly modified Ford diesel Transit van.

We are almost to January 2022 - two years into what many of us believed would be a new paradigm - and only Tesla appears to be moving the needle - and they are doing so using the same strategy they used under the previous administrations while currently being the company who’s name must not be spoken out loud……..however slandering and baseless attacks on its CEO will not be publicly discouraged in any way. You can’t make this stuff up. Please - someone on TMC write a book about all this from a 50,000 foot level instead of down in the weeds. It would be a wonderful sequel to The Emperor Has No Clothes.

The union battle may be brewing here too. Oshkosh decided to build it's plant in SC in a new non-union facility and their home state (with union facilities) is not to pleased about it.

Oshkosh Defense union has some powerful allies but faces uphill fight to put postal jobs here - Oshkosh Examiner

FacebookTweetPin By Miles Maguire Lawn signs, an online petition, a letter to the White House. Read more from the Oshkosh Examiner Subscribers get unlimited access...

oshkoshexaminer.com

 

[Drezil]

I somewhat disagree. When the cars get to level 5, as the owner of the level 5 machine, you will still need insurance. FSD does not automatically come with insurance. Tesla will sell you the FSD, but you will be buying FSD and signing a waiver of liabilities. If Tesla owns the car and just rent it to you by the mile, then they'll need to insure it.

Many Tesla owners already bought FSD or reserved it. If Tesla start to include the price of insurance in FSD, then they would be faced with asking their customers to return the FSD if they don't want to buy the insurance. It works better as 2 separate products. My suspicion is that annual insurance fees for an L5 machine can be really high to the tune of $ 4,000 and up per year. That is another great revenue stream for Tesla.

Current lease in Germany is that the manufacturer is always liable for lvl 4 and 5 systems, when in use. No need for insurance or in case of lvl 5 even a driver's license.

 

[dhanson865]

If I’m trying to go from point A to point B, I can easily average 80 MPH+ without taking a turn at more than 0.4g.

High speed is not a factor.

If you are going in a straight line that is true but not all roads are straight. Try taking a cloverleaf on-ramp at 80 mph and tell me the lateral g force you'll encounter.

Maybe you can drive through the average downtown grid without dealing with lateral g forces because you come to a complete stop before getting the right to turn.

Maybe you can drive through the Midwest from the Mississippi to the rocky mountains and avoid windy roads.

But get in the mountains, (Rocky or Appalachians) and there are plenty of windy roads. Even excluding on-ramps and off-ramps I have to take switchbacks often that involve high lateral g forces if I do them at anything over 30 mph. Just driving to work and home every day I take enough turns that are impossible to drive even 50 mph let alone the 80 mph you mention.

High speed is not a factor in your mind maybe, but high speed is a factor for a lot of routes that drivers that aren't you have to face.

 

[SunCatcher]

I've not done a Weekend Big Post for a while - so here you go.

First, full disclosure: I am NOT under any kind of an NDA with Tesla at this time, but over the many years I have kept to myself material that I know Tesla would rather not have disseminated except when and how they choose to.

However.........in that I am ever more frustrated at having to drive around like my long-deceased mother, in order to maintain a "98" Safety Score - yet it seems to matter not one whit, even with having purchased one of the very first (maybe #1) P100D Ludicrous Model Xs delivered outside California (and, of course, with FSD prepaid).....

...and as it seems everyone else and her aunt has a blog about Tesla, throwing out secrets and photos and all other such -

well, why should I keep mum?

So -

the Tesla Semi, and some information you either haven't known or haven't heard specifically before...or from a source whose validity you do not know:

When you're cruising at 30mph, and you hit the Go Pedal - it smokes! As in: Literally - all four drivers burn rubber as it screams down the road - this is when bobtailed.

Its loss of power is barely discernable when you load your trailer to 80,000 pounds. That is: Like you cannot feel the difference At All.

The driver's seat is comfortable; everything is nicely within reach and the view forward is unparalleled. But: when you're backing up, esp of course in a tight situation, you do miss that view behind you to your left. Of course, that is because of the trade-off: your view to the right is a little bit better, so your view to the left is a little bit worse. But one does miss what one has become accustomed to - at least, if you're human.

It is an astonishing and marvelous creation.

Happy Christmas, all.

So what you're saying is, Santa Claus is coming to town, and he came to your house first because you live closer to the North Pole than the rest of us? That's seriously unfair. Unless... you're kidding, right? Pix or it didn't happen.

You know you can't come around with that kind of information bomb and then just leave us hanging, right?

/gullibility

 

[2daMoon]

So what you're saying is, Santa Claus is coming to town, and he came to your house first because you live closer to the North Pole than the rest of us? That's seriously unfair. Unless... you're kidding, right? Pix or it didn't happen.

You know you can't come around with that kind of information bomb and then just leave us hanging, right?

/gullibility

So, what you're saying, after reading the @AudubonB post, is that you decided ...

... Alaskabout more detail on the source of this polarizing info?

 

[Artful Dodger]

2nd SpaceX launch this weekend, Turksat 5B Mission goes live in about 45 min from now:

 

[AudubonB]

Show of hands, now:

How many of you would choose I want my Mommy Traction Control over the chance to burn rubber? I mean, c'mon!

 

[Maarten]

Oshkosh is good at winning federal contracts, that's an art in and of itself. They have pulled lots of contracts from big govt bagged pork filled contractors. They usually save the taxpayer quite a bit when they do. Once in a while they have a dud but usually it has been good.

Have Oshkosh shares?

 

[Cosmacelf]

All this talk and hand wringing about Tesla's lack of PR is missing the point that Elon's tweets and soundbites generate plenty of PR. AND, after 10+ years, he is finally converting the right wing blogosphere. Right wing blogs are constantly rehashing the canards of subsidization. But Elon has broken through and is changing minds. Just one example: Elon Musk for the Win

 

[mongo]

I've not done a Weekend Big Post for a while - so here you go.

First, full disclosure: I am NOT under any kind of an NDA with Tesla at this time, but over the many years I have kept to myself material that I know Tesla would rather not have disseminated except when and how they choose to.

However.........in that I am ever more frustrated at having to drive around like my long-deceased mother, in order to maintain a "98" Safety Score - yet it seems to matter not one whit, even with having purchased one of the very first (maybe #1) P100D Ludicrous Model Xs delivered outside California (and, of course, with FSD prepaid).....

...and as it seems everyone else and her aunt has a blog about Tesla, throwing out secrets and photos and all other such -

well, why should I keep mum?

So -

the Tesla Semi, and some information you either haven't known or haven't heard specifically before...or from a source whose validity you do not know:

When you're cruising at 30mph, and you hit the Go Pedal - it smokes! As in: Literally - all four drivers burn rubber as it screams down the road - this is when bobtailed.

Its loss of power is barely discernable when you load your trailer to 80,000 pounds. That is: Like you cannot feel the difference At All.

The driver's seat is comfortable; everything is nicely within reach and the view forward is unparalleled. But: when you're backing up, esp of course in a tight situation, you do miss that view behind you to your left. Of course, that is because of the trade-off: your view to the right is a little bit better, so your view to the left is a little bit worse. But one does miss what one has become accustomed to - at least, if you're human.

It is an astonishing and marvelous creation.

Happy Christmas, all.

Is the OG X the car you want FSD Beta on? If so, do you have both the AP3 computer (guessing yes) and camera upgrades (which only started a month or so ago)?
Tesla FSD early adopters get Autopilot Camera Upgrade invites for Model S and X

Were the side cameras not working on the semi back in 2017 (or whenever it was in plain sight)?

 

[Cosmacelf]

If I’m trying to go from point A to point B, I can easily average 80 MPH+ without taking a turn at more than 0.4g.

High speed is not a factor.

Oh come one. In practice, if you drive fast on urban streets, you'll eventually end up in a situation where you have to slow down suddenly, which is tracked. So, go ahead and drive fast, but you'll find it hard to maintain a good safety score in real world situations.

 

[lafrisbee]

Current lease in Germany is that the manufacturer is always liable for lvl 4 and 5 systems, when in use. No need for insurance or in case of lvl 5 even a driver's license.

Which makes complete sense from a legal perspective.

 

[lafrisbee]

2nd SpaceX launch this weekend, Turksat 5B Mission goes live in about 45 min from now:

BRAG OT
As I gazed up into the sky while watching the rocket I blissfully thought, "How lucky I am to be able to stand in my own backyard in shorts in the dead of Winter while taking a piss....and watch a rocket go by...

 

[lafrisbee]

BRAG OT
As I gazed up into the sky while watching the rocket I blissfully thought, "How lucky I am to be able to stand in my own backyard in shorts in the dead of Winter while taking a piss....and watch a rocket go by...

And it got me thinking..I wonder when a Martian will think the same?