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

[Zero CO2]

I drive the Model X Plaid and I find the lack of stalks one of the most annoying issues. Especially in roundabouts where it is a legal requirement here to indicate when you are leaving the roundabout and the indicator buttons will then be upside down. Also horn and headlights on buttons is really bad. I have to look at the wheel to use them which can be unnecessarily dangerous. The other day I needed to honk at a driver of car that for some reason did not see me and I couldn't so I had to step on the brakes instead.

Maybe if the buttons where designed in a way so you more easily find them with your fingers without looking. Or maybe they are and I just haven't figured out how to hold my hands so I can use them without looking at the wheel. But especially in roundabouts with the wheel upside down it will always be a challenge. And we have a LOT of roundabouts in Sweden.

... admittedly i only have one roundabout in my travels
learning curve ...not sure why you need to look lights can be put on auto and brights... these all seem to be in good location on CT ... i don't have to look any more ... of course while learning the vehicle i did need to look ... horn s normal on CT

 

[Knightshade]

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 50% of his shares, or 1 million $UBER shares, last week for a total value of $70.4 million.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1805242340392456665

Or--- as actually happened-- this was him exercising options (under a pre-planned 10b5-1 plan BTW) then selling them (certainly in part for tax reasons). Form 4 showing that here:

Sec Form 4 Filing - KHOSROWSHAHI DARA @ Uber Technologies, Inc - 2024-06-17

Sec Form 4 Filing - KHOSROWSHAHI DARA @ Uber Technologies, Inc - 2024-06-17

www.secform4.com

Code M in the first table 1 line means "Exercise or conversion of derivative security exempted pursuant to Rule 16b-3" and S in second line means "Open market or private sale of non-derivative or derivative security"

He exercised at $33.65 strike, then sold at ~70 bucks average price.

Before the exercise of options he owned 1.265 million shares (line 1 table 1, column 5 number minus the shares exercised). AFTER the exercise and subsequent sale here he owns... 1.266 million shares (line 2, table 1, column 5). More than he started with.


The same thing happened last month too-

Sec Form 4 Filing - KHOSROWSHAHI DARA @ Uber Technologies, Inc - 2024-05-17

Sec Form 4 Filing - KHOSROWSHAHI DARA @ Uber Technologies, Inc - 2024-05-17

www.secform4.com

Again it's him exercising options, selling shares, and ending up with more total shares than he began with- all under a 10b5-1 plan filed in advance.


Here's him exercising/tax withholding from March too-

Sec Form 4 Filing - KHOSROWSHAHI DARA @ Uber Technologies, Inc - 2024-03-16

Sec Form 4 Filing - KHOSROWSHAHI DARA @ Uber Technologies, Inc - 2024-03-16

www.secform4.com

This is a non-story.

 

[y_naught]

This seems like cool tech: Robot valets! Hyundai's robots park & charge your car

Robots will move cars to parking spots and charge them, bring them back to drivers. But on reflection, it also seems over-engineered and unnecessary. If you can just have the car drive and park itself, why jacking mobile robots? Then, an Optimus or two to plug in chargers, wash windows, remove trash and check air pressure. Must less capital intensive to have the robot be the car.

 

[NicoV]

I drive the Model X Plaid and I find the lack of stalks one of the most annoying issues. Especially in roundabouts where it is a legal requirement here to indicate when you are leaving the roundabout and the indicator buttons will then be upside down. Also horn and headlights on buttons is really bad. I have to look at the wheel to use them which can be unnecessarily dangerous. The other day I needed to honk at a driver of car that for some reason did not see me and I couldn't so I had to step on the brakes instead.

Maybe if the buttons where designed in a way so you more easily find them with your fingers without looking. Or maybe they are and I just haven't figured out how to hold my hands so I can use them without looking at the wheel. But especially in roundabouts with the wheel upside down it will always be a challenge. And we have a LOT of roundabouts in Sweden.

Try steering in the roundabout just using your index finger of your left hand on the top of the left of the wheel. Your thumb will be just above the indicator button you need to press when exiting the roundabout.
It’s only on very small roundabouts where it gets difficult to us this technique.

 

[unk45]

Hydro's are known to cause issues with native species in and around the waterways & disrupt the ecosystem, but I think all hydro is still classified as renewables? cheers!!

True. That is a huge advantage for countries such as China and Brazil which can quite superficially appear to be quite advanced in energy production when the proportion of ecologically sound renewable use is much lower than it appears to be.

Hydraulic deployment from the Snake River to Aswan, Itaipu and Three Gorges, show how limited the benefits can be from 'renewables' that themselves destroy amaro ecosystems.

Tesla's vision from ~2010 was clear, elaborated by J B Straubel, built on solar. Later others such as wind and tidal ahem become equally attractive. Water power dates back millennia, but always with unintended consequences. [Before some clever person brings up the natural world, I suggest perhaps checking even beaver dams for unintended consequences.]

Compared with burning coal perhaps those hydroelectric solutions are less bad. Their classification as 'renewable' only works if unintended consequences are ignored.

 

[scaesare]

I miss the cat. Is he on a temporary or permanent vacation?

He decided to move...

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

This seems like cool tech: Robot valets! Hyundai's robots park & charge your car

Robots will move cars to parking spots and charge them, bring them back to drivers. But on reflection, it also seems over-engineered and unnecessary. If you can just have the car drive and park itself, why jacking mobile robots? Then, an Optimus or two to plug in chargers, wash windows, remove trash and check air pressure. Must less capital intensive to have the robot be the car.

This would (theoretically) be able to park any vehicle, including gasoline vehicles. It avoids some dependencies.
It would allow (theoretically) relatively dense automated parking garages.

 

[unk45]

Not trying to pile on here, but I think what makes dams in the Amazon Basin a special kind of stupid is the geography. Iquitos, where the Amazon comes out of the Andes is 341 feet above sea level. The Amazon then travels 2200+ miles to the sea. A gradient of 341' over that distance (under 2" per mile) makes for ridiculously, absurdly terrible dams. Huge shallow reservoirs and massive tracts of flooded forest. Although technically renewable energy, I'm guessing that the carbon footprint of the decaying forest makes the carbon "payback" time pretty long. That's without the environmental and cultural damage.

To be fair, although Amazon Basin destruction is massively stupid and shortsighted, most of the primary hydroelectric resources of Brazil are far away from the Amazon River Basin.

Itaipu Binacional | Integration that generates energy

Itaipu Binacional is the result of a partnership between the governments of Brazil and Paraguay. The company started in 1974.

itaipu.energy

List of hydroelectric power stations in Brazil - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, the exception which proves your point may be the stupidest amir project since the Aswan dam. Quoting the 2018 Concestaion article. We demonstrated against this one back in the 2010's but stupidity and graft won!:

Belo Monte: there is nothing green or sustainable about these mega-dams

The Amazon’s largest dam is nearly complete. But the social and environmental costs of huge hydropower projects are just not worth it.

theconversation.com

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Compared with burning coal perhaps those hydroelectric solutions are less bad. Their classification as 'renewable' only works if unintended consequences are ignored.

Renewable does not mean without side effects. It doesn't even mean sustainable.
It means that the energy source doesn't get fully depleted as you use it.

 

[MP3Mike]

The other day I needed to honk at a driver of car that for some reason did not see me and I couldn't so I had to step on the brakes instead.

Maybe if the buttons where designed in a way so you more easily find them with your fingers without looking.

I'm not 100% positive it still works, but you are supposed to be able to slap your palm down on the right side of the yoke/wheel, hitting all the buttons, to trigger the horn.

 

[Snerruc]

He decided to move...

She

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I'm not 100% positive it still works, but you are supposed to be able to slap your palm down on the right side of the yolk, hitting all the buttons, to trigger the horn.

However, if you don't get the slap right, you could just end up with a big yellow mess.

 

[hitchhiker]

I'm not 100% positive it still works, but you are supposed to be able to slap your palm down on the right side of the yolk, hitting all the buttons, to trigger the horn.

No... if you slap your palm down on the side of the yolk, it squirts out the other side all over the table.

 

[aubreymcfato]

She

Where? I miss her too. I miss dozens of the people we lost in the last years.

 

[unk45]

Renewable does not mean without side effects. It doesn't even mean sustainable.
It means that the energy source doesn't get fully depleted as you use it.

That is superficially true, but irrelevant to the Tesla mission which uses 'sustainable' as the term of reference. They are often equated but never are so equated by me, nor by the visionary J B Straubel, nor by the visionary Elon Musk.

Are we not about sustainable?
Is even 'renewable' accurately describing a source which destroys its own environment in the service of a temporary benefit? Is, for examples, 'renewable' when the source is largely destroyed in the process? Anyway, what does "fully depleted" mean?

I admit that much of what Tesla does serves goals not superficially related to that mission. However, every one does tend to displace more environmentally hostile alternatives, thus advancing sustainability.

Sustainability in Tesla mission terms, is about saving the planet Earth as a hospitable environment for human habitation. If something interferes with that mission, it is by definition, unsustainable, hence NOT renewable. Such things are, at best, reusable for a short time, in survival terms.

I bought TSLA originally because of the mission. If the mission can be advanced while making money, we are all happy. Deviating from the mission seems to reduce profitability.

 

[UkNorthampton]

Tesla LFP battery production starting soon in USA?

LG 4680 in South Korea?

$45 subsidy per kWh for production of cells + module packing. If cost ever falls below $45 while subsidy is intact - free batteries.

Effects on Tesla, profits, cost, sales volume & $TSLA?

Links from today's show:
Tesla has been among the first Western carmakers to adopt lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells for its entry-level models. LFP cells are much cheaper than nickel-based batteries but have lower energy density. This is why they are used in applications when price is more important than performance.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/te...

Why was LFP so locked down for so long? Patents!

Insights - Appian Capital Advisory LLP

appiancapitaladvisory.com

According to Bloomberg, Tesla is planning to expand its Gigafactory in Nevada, an expansion that differs from earlier planned expansions at the plant. Tesla wants to add production lines for LFP batteries at the plant and bring the supply chain associated with them to the United States.

https://news.metal.com/newscontent/10...

Who qualifies for IRA battery incentives, and how?

https://www.era-environmental.com/blo...

On June 24, industry sources shared that LGES plans to start producing Tesla’s 4680 cells at its Ochang Factor in South Korea by August. The South Korean supplier will be the first global battery maker to mass-produce 4680 batteries.

Tesla’s 4680 battery updates and $25K car development gets nod from analyst

Tesla’s efforts to bring its 4680 battery cells to its upcoming products received a nod of approval from Mizuho Securities analyst Vijay Rakesh, who recently reiterated a “Buy” rating for the EV maker and an $820 per share price target. According to the analyst, the progress of Tesla’s 4680...

www.teslarati.com

 

[SO16]

“The longer the base, the bigger the breakout”.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1805643913363079639

 

[AndrewZ]

I have to imagine that Elon and Cathie are in direct communication at least semi-regularly

 

[MountainRatMat]

Not entirely sure how a free service props up the dealer either, unless you mean in the internal-money-transfer sense from corporate to dealer- since there's no $ from the customer moving here.

This is a huge money maker for the dealership. Once they have you in the door they tend to find lots of other things on your car that need to be serviced.

Me: "What all is included with the PREMIUM oil change"
Toyota dealer: "Oh, we do ............ and change your key fob batteries"
Me: "How much does it cost to change the key fob batteries"
Toyota dealer: "$60"
Me: Pops open the key fob in front of them, shows them how easy it is to change the battery. "How much does it cost for just the battery"
Toyota dealer: "$12"
Me: Puts remote back together, buys a $1 battery on Amazon "I'll take just the oil change, nothing else please"

 

[Knightshade]

This is a huge money maker for the dealership. Once they have you in the door they tend to find lots of other things on your car that need to be serviced.

But this is only 2 years into ownership. Anything that was NEEDED would be covered, for free to customer, under warranty.

Even to your example, Lexus replaced my fob batteries free for the 4 years the car was in warranty. After that I just did it myself, and for a lot less than $12 per battery.