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

[neroden]

Speaking of celebrities, it's really surprising there are few, if any, out there advocating Tesla's mission.

These people did. Mostly former celebrities, but they made some REALLY GOOD PSAs.

 

[neroden]

Analysts are divided on Tesla. Watch one investor make the bull case

CNBC Host:

"Where do you take your car?"

"There is no service."

Wow, so they've started talking about actual problems which existed once upon a time with Tesla... after Tesla's already fixed them. I guess that's an improvement over talking about fake problems which were never real at all?

 

[Silentk]

Interesting piece on radio here today (Ireland) about lots of small electric cars on the way. The reason given was that EU laws are so strict on emissions that car makers cannot achieve those levels on small cheap cars - their only solution is to make them electric. Lots of talk about battery range issues rapidly declining, leading to much greater adoption here, although still at tiny percentage at moment.

 

[neroden]

I would love to see them partner with a major convenience store (like a 7/11) in placing superchargers, also adding a Starbucks type sitting area, so you could buy snacks, drinks, etc., and have a place to relax, do your business, surf the web while your Tesla is charging. It would be a win for the store as they make money, good for the driver and passengers, and good for Tesla in enhancing goodwill. And if the spot also included gasoline pumps, it would be excellent exposure for the Teslas coming in... a lot of googling and questions being answered.

Already partnered with Sheetz, Wawa, Hy-Vee, Bosselman, QuickChek, and Love's. All smaller regional chains, but you get my point.
6 Retailers Working With Tesla on EV Charging Stations

There are probably more partnerships by now; I haven't kept track.

 

[Unpilot]

This is just incorrect when it comes to purely grass-fed, organically raised cows.

Feeding non-organic cows unnecessary antibiotics is not only causing disease resistant superbugs, it's causing them to emit a lot more methane. And of course feeding cows on grain which humans could eat is very wasteful. But a healthy cow eating grass... is probably emitting less than the grass would if it decayed on its own.

While true...the vast majority of meat consumed is from factory farming of animals.

This is why some people advocate for less meat consumption. Factory farming of animals is a ecological and moral disaster.

 

[neroden]

OT tax law

OT

If I put notice at my employer, do I have to wait until after my last day to shift retirement funds from my employer fund to my own IRA? I guess that's up to my employer, but are there federal rules?

Under federal rules, if your employer lets you, you can move the money while you're still employed. Most employers won't let you.

IIRC, federal rules FORCE employers to allow you to move the money in defined-contribution plans like 401(k)s to an IRA once you are no longer employed. (In the past, before the federal rules existed, employers would prohibit this too. )

 

[neroden]

While true...the vast majority of meat consumed is from factory farming of animals.

This is why some people advocate for less meat consumption. Factory farming of animals is a ecological and moral disaster.

Agreed.

 

[neroden]

Doing that will exacerbate the YoY comparisons for 2H2019.

Which is a major reason why the Wall Street noise may not be overwhelmed by facts until 2020.

 

[Antares Nebula]

For what it's worth, a friend, who lives near Baltimore, tried to order a red performance model 3, with white interior. Put the order in yesterday, and it said two weeks. Today, they told him that Performance with white interior cannot be delivered by June. He had to go with an inventory long range dual motor non-performance. It just shipped from Fremont today.

Good demand indicator? Maybe too late to make and ship to east coast??

 

[neroden]

Unless one is just dabbling, mining, just like Insurance, requires and ties up significant capital resources (and human talent that Tesla would have to recruit). How will that capital be acquired? Vertical integration is wonderful-- until the economy contracts. Tesla needs to focus on its core competencies.

Supply chain is one of those core competencies.

 

[neroden]

Where do they acquire the needed capital? Are they going to buy an existing mining operator and its reserves? Who processes what Tesla extracts?

I suspect it will amount to financing some existing lithium startup which has proven reserves and hasn't managed to fund a processing plant. The processing is most of the lithium extraction.

 

[neroden]

That's fantastic. Getting approval from politicians will be the hard part. I don't see NHTSA delaying things at all - they'll view it as safe enough at the same time Tesla does just by looking at the numbers.

Yeeeeah, don't generalize from Florida.

 

[MP3Mike]

This was expected, and I believe Tesla already raised the car prices to compensate, but of course Tesla had to try.

We'll have to wait for Congress to repeal the tariffs. Tariff Man won't.

Yeah, Tesla raised the prices on the Model 3 by $400 when this news first broke like 2 weeks ago. Not sure why it is "new" news again.

 

[canoemore]

This is just incorrect when it comes to purely grass-fed, organically raised cows.

Feeding non-organic cows unnecessary antibiotics is not only causing disease resistant superbugs, it's causing them to emit a lot more methane. And of course feeding cows on grain which humans could eat is very wasteful. But a healthy cow eating grass... is probably emitting less than the grass would if it decayed on its own.

Also, if cattle and other grazing animals are properly managed, they can be really powerful tools to sequester carbon and restore prairie habitats. By mimicking the historical grazing behavior of bison - characterized by brief but intense periods of herbivory by herds that quickly moved on to ungrazed land - you select for species that store large amounts of biomass underground which also happen to be native prairie species that have largely disappeared from the Great Plains. That is why the breadbasket had such phenomenal soil when the settlers arrived, and why it was destroyed so quickly after they tilled it up. This paired with no-till agriculture for cereal crops (and when we finally stop using so much farm land to grow corn to feed to our cars) will be an important tool to mitigate not only the climate impacts of agriculture, but also land-use problems and economic dislocation of farmers who are trapped in debt by high-input conventional farming methods.

Unlike the energy transition, technology doesn't need to play a starring role in this realm - just applied ecology and education. A good popular science book on the subject of regenerative agriculture and it's role as a (contributing) solution to climate change and biodiversity loss is Growing a Revolution, by David Montgomery.

 

[neroden]

Unlike the energy transition, technology doesn't need to play a starring role in this realm - just applied ecology and education.

Well, I do think of applied ecology as a technology, but I know what you mean.

 

[wipster]

Well, I do think of applied ecology as a technology, but I know what you mean.

Maybe it's applying the catalytic converters to all of those cows...

/s

 

[dc_h]

Speaking of celebrities, it's really surprising there are few, if any, out there advocating Tesla's mission.

Tesla doesn’t need politically polarizing spokespersons. Just focus on Tesla the mission, Tesla the brand. Keep it neutral and fact based.

 

[Alphacrux]

Another hit piece on Tesla from the Washington Toast:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech...e-brand/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.08432aea06c4

Being tired of all the *sugar*, I took the time to sign up and whipped up a quick comment. I'm sure most of you could write a better one (feel free to do so):

------------------------

One doesn't have to be labeled a 'fanboy' by someone else to realize the advantages of electric cars and how far ahead of the competition Tesla is.

• Where is Volkswagon's, BMW's, Porche's, Volvo's, or Mercendes-Bennz EV on the market now to compete with Tesla 370-mile range model S? Oh that's right, they don't have one.
• Musk said that there absolutely aren't any demand problems, and production is pretty good and Q2 could be a record quarter. 'Manufacturing hell' is outdated news.
• Tesla has service centers and mobile technicians that come to your house to fix any minor issues that might occur. EV's in general reqiore almost no routine maintenance. And without 'huge marketing teams', they still sell all they can produce.
• It sounds like the writer deliberately attempts to mislead. A quick google search led to this top youtube hit about a mom who fit 3 child-seats into the rear seat of her model 3:
• Be afraid. Be very afraid. EV powertrains are more efficient and require less maintenance than gas-powered vehicles. Electricity costs are generally lower than gas. EV's are quieter and can provide instant torque and produce no vehicle emissions (Note many EU countries are starting to require all emission free vehicles by 2050 or so). Battery improvements in the next few years will produce price-parity with conventional gas vehicles, not just lower total cost of ownership. Tesla is a leader in this expanding market with leadership in battery technology, power-train technology, high-speed charging, and autonomy and is growing rapidly. And they are a US company.
• I have ordered my third Tesla. Nothing wrong with the older ones, like computers, they just keep getting better.
• The Russians refused to sell Musk rockets (except at an exorbitant price). So Musk started his own rocket company, SpaceX, and is now landing reusable rockets on barges. Who's laughing now? I would not bet against Elon Musk.

 

[EVNow]

If there's a FTC pull forward effect, then July could see a big fall in sales anyway, so this might be a good time to load the ships and send them off. I can't be sure whether either approach for July sales is right. Maybe Tesla does know better what's best.

However, low in-transit number in Q2 could make it harder to deliver high numbers in Q3, but again if they achieved a ramp up from <6k/w average in Q2 to sustained 7k/w in Q3, they might pull it off.

Yes - its the short term vs medium term thing. BTW, I don't expect a big FTC pull forward effect in June. Its only $2k vs $3.5k in Q4. Also, Tesla isn't talking about it much.

Once China GF comes online, it gets better. Ofcourse When EU GF is also online, it becomes a non-issue.

Delivering 8k/wk worldwide in all 3 months is the most efficient. Otherwise you are putting stress on the delivery logistics in the 3rd month, while the delivery people have not enough work in the first 2 months.

 

[dc_h]

Even better; a Supercharger (or at least a destination charger) for every Starbucks!

Wireless charging some day!