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

[Electroman]

Getting these panels ‘flat’ will be a miracle. Waviness appears in regular steel and aluminum panels in all cars of all makes. I saw a Maserati once that you could surf on the body panels. Certain colors like black can accentuate waviness just as other colors like white can hide it.

Stainless steel body panels without waviness - Time consuming, expensive and VERY, VERY difficult. I’m interested in seeing how well Tesla is able to manage it.

It pains me to say that all of my stainless steel kitchen appliances have such massive imperfections and waviness. Only when you look at an angle, but it is there staring at me all the time. It is a small consolation that the appliances all work perfectly fine, but those waviness my God I’m unable to sleep at night.

 

[traxila]

It pains me to say that all of my stainless steel kitchen appliances have such massive imperfections and waviness. Only when you look at an angle, but it is there staring at me all the time. It is a small consolation that the appliances all work perfectly fine, but those waviness my God I’m unable to sleep at night.

I just spent five minutes trying to find a wave in my fridge.

I guess I am defective.

My thirteen year old son could not pick up anything either.

Guess it runs in the family.

 

[wipster]

So PIF missed out a 6x increase which could have priced their own oil out of business.

And more than that, say the current stock price is 194 times 3 times 5 equals $2,910... compared to $420, that looks pretty good!

 

[Skryll]

[...] bought a car I couldn't afford in December . Decided I'm not gonna speculate on single stocks until I finish paying off my M3 this summer haha. If I had been smart and bought a car that was more affordable, I probably would have grabbed those 100 shares.

Not worth depriving yourself over. Only driving the car can reconfirm your investment thesis consistently in the face of adversity and market insanity, and makes it easy to not sell low and to dollar cost average in through all turmoil while loving the experience. Also gives a nice perspective on loan value vs investment value over the lifetime of the car - don't buy it cash obviously

 

[Skryll]

A lot of people can't afford payments that are twice the amount of a lease price.

loan payment $864 for 72
Months vs lease $643 for 36 months - do you mean double in aggregate ?

 

[MC3OZ]

That was my own reference, as a former Maxwell shareholder. However, it seems that most of the advances have not yet materialized in mass production. Hence my questions about the new press as a harbinger of realization of the long ago Battery Day plans.

I mentioned previously that the cathode plant and the press might be equipment for Sintering though I am unsure what specific role the press would play.

Regardless, if DBE for nickel cathodes is being unlocked anytime soon, the cathode plant is a big part of that
.
Tesla's battery R&D extends far beyond Maxwell, there is the Jeff Dahn team, and atleast one in house team both of which hsve registered several patents.

I think that for a relative newcomer to battery cell production Tesla is learning fast, and that for a production ramp of a new way of making batteries, the progress is reasonable.

As per FSD, Elon aims for aggressive timelines and we are disaapointed when those dates / rates are not hit.

The correct question to ask is -
"How does this compare to what everyone else is doing?".

Finally, there is lots of battery R&D being done, including some interesting R&D in startups, I hope Tesla hasn't closed the door on further acquisitions.

 

[JRP3]

Not for cars, not considering the bending that’ll need to be done, and the size and shape of the panels, and not for ease of manufacturing/efficiencies/mass production and all that needs to happen for Tesla to do this vehicle economically.

DeLorean seems to have done it, that hood looks fairly flat to me. The panel gaps on the other hand...

 

[Max Plaid]

People forget (or don't know) the sequence of events on Aug 07, 2018: My comment #65,409

"TSLA jumped from the low 340s to the high 350s in the morning of Aug 8 after the Financial Times broke the story (12:18 pm EST) of the $2B Saudi investment in Tesla.​

​

"The SP only ran up another $6 after Elon's tweet (12:48 pm EST) before NASDAQ halted trading, but the SP was increasing rapidly anyway. The tweet acted as confirmation of Saudi interest in Tesla."​

The Event timeline:

• Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund builds $2bn Tesla stake | Financial Times | (2018-08-07 12:18 ET)
• DISQUS: BREAKING: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund builds $2bn Tesla stake. TSLA SP up $10 in 3 minutes. | Artful Dodger (2018-08-07 12:24 ET)
• Elon Musk on Twitter: "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." | (2018-08-07 12:48 ET)

Here is an annotated Google chart of TSLA share price during the time in question:

View attachment 903216

As anyone can plainly see, more than half of the share price jump happened after the Financial Times broke the story, but BEFORE Elon's tweet. Yes, 30 mins after the FT story, Elon confirmed it's validity, so naturally further TSLA buying interest appeared.

But clearly, it was the FT news of the Saudi PIF buying TSLA stock that initiated the SP jump on Aug 7, 2018, NOT Elon's tweet.

Did anybody see what happend to $LCID stock Jan 27, 2023 on the rumor that the Saudi PIF would buy out the remainder of Lucid's shares? That was a 100% pop going from $9 to $18, and causing the exchange to halt trading 9 separate times. Note that TSLA shares only rose a max ~9% (from $340 to $370) after the Saudi news on Aug 7, 2018.

$LCID shares fell when the rumor was debunked. IS THE #SEC GONNA SUE NOW? Are gamblers investors being protected?!

View attachment 903224

Cheers!

Yup, I can corroborate that and testify under oath in court. I just so happened to be watching the ticker on that day and reading the news, indeed it was the FT Saudi investment that spiked the stock more than Elon's tweet

 

[Krugerrand]

A lot of what you're seeing on painted panels is probably orange peel. A mirror finish can be achieved without too much difficulty on cold rolled SS. The mill finish SS that Tesla has been using in the prototypes is likely 2B. They may use a 2R mill finish for production. I'm sure quite a few owners will get their Cybertrucks mechanically polished to a mirror finish.

Thanks, but no. I know what waviness in body panels looks like - firsthand experience.

 

[Singuy]

DeLorean seems to have done it, that hood looks fairly flat to me. The panel gaps on the other hand...

Delorean has a brush stainless look which kills the reflections. CT on the other hand is a polished stainless look so yeah...perhaps just the slight bend of the chassis can cause some kind of wave formation. Now the original prototype was more of a brush look so I don't know if this is a new thing or we just need more evidence to confirm.

 

[Max Plaid]

This is why Tesla is going to dominate - legacy has spent year after year slapping parts from N different companies together without caring about efficiency or technology. Tesla started from the ground up with both hardware and software, and these companies don't have the time, money, or expertise to catch up.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1621905071838478338

Sawyer added : Farley said these and other cost problems meant that Ford “left about $2 billion of profit on the table.”

Tesla is not leaving those profits on the table

Kudos to Farley for saying it though, you'd never get that from Scary Mary

 

[madodel]

It pains me to say that all of my stainless steel kitchen appliances have such massive imperfections and waviness. Only when you look at an angle, but it is there staring at me all the time. It is a small consolation that the appliances all work perfectly fine, but those waviness my God I’m unable to sleep at night.

Have you considered a law suit? I heard just recently there are some attorneys that now have time to take a new case. The pain and anguish is very apparent in your post.

 

[JRP3]

Delorean has a brush stainless look which kills the reflections. CT on the other hand is a polished stainless look so yeah...perhaps just the slight bend of the chassis can cause some kind of wave formation. Now the original prototype was more of a brush look so I don't know if this is a new thing or we just need more evidence to confirm.

They may be experimenting with different finishes to see what they can get away with.

 

[Krugerrand]

DeLorean seems to have done it, that hood looks fairly flat to me. The panel gaps on the other hand...

Okay, then. You’re all right. I guess the waviness in the prototypes was because some intern made them. And I guess waviness that happens all the time in steel and aluminum Class A panels in all brands of cars over the decades, INCLUDING Tesla’s (that people have literally complained about on this forum over the years) is all just an optical illusion. You’ve all got firsthand experience making Class A panels and with working with stainless steel, while I’ve just imagined my experience. Got it.

 

[dhanson865]

 

[JRP3]

Okay, then. You’re all right. I guess the waviness in the prototypes was because some intern made them. And I guess waviness that happens all the time in steel and aluminum Class A panels in all brands of cars over the decades, INCLUDING Tesla’s (that people have literally complained about on this forum over the years) is all just an optical illusion. You’ve all got firsthand experience making Class A panels and with working with stainless steel, while I’ve just imagined my experience. Got it.

I'm not even saying you're wrong, I'm just saying I don't remember any waviness in the DeLorean from 40 years ago so it seems as if there should be a solution.

 

[Singuy]

They may be experimenting with different finishes to see what they can get away with.

Hopefully it's not polish stainless. THat's like driving a mirror and blinds people on the road as the sun reflects off it. Also it's a finger print magnet and not suitable for rough environments.

What is the Difference Between Brushed and Polished Stainless Steel | Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

The key difference between brushed and polished stainless steel is that brushed stainless steel has a rough surface, whereas polished stainless steel has a

www.differencebetween.com

 

[wipster]

loan payment $864 for 72
Months vs lease $643 for 36 months - do you mean double in aggregate ?

Where are you getting those figures? The 3SR lease starts at $349 for 36 months and loan at $660 for 72 months. $4,500 down either option.

Are you talking Y?

 

[Electroman]

This is not good.

 

[M|S|M MYP]

Kudos to Farley for saying it though, you'd never get that from Scary Mary

So...no one showed Farley the final product?