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

[avoigt]

I wasn't comparing the consumption of a Fiat Punto to your data: While the real consumption of an Audi 7 Sportback or Mercedes CLS 350 is of course higher than the advertised 5.6-5.8 l/100 km (for the Audi 7, for example): Auto, Motor Sport and Auto Bild magazines tested an average of 8.3/8.4 litres/100 km.

Audi A7 Sportback 50 TDI im Test: Neues Viertürer-Coupé mit feinster Technik
Coupé-Limos im Test: Audi A7 Sportback gegen Mercedes CLS - autobild.de

There is no need to exaggerate (already great!) data IMO, it only makes it vulnerable.

If you read my mail than you will realize I compare to my personal situation therefore there is no exaggeration there. I drove a Porsche Cayman S and had an average consumption of about 13 liter in real live.

I did not speak for any other cars nor said its average in Germany but frankly many cars have a similar consumption.

For the calculation I used only 11 liter which is therefore the opposite of exaggeration.

That makes the example conservative.

For those are interested I paid for the last greater 2 year service €3,200 for almost nothing just oil change, break fluid change and break maintenance. If you compare that to the almost non existing service cost driving an BEV the example shows even better how superior an BEV is versus an ICE in costs.

And for those discussing Tesla service quality let me add that the Porsche service is the worst I ever experienced.

 

[larmor]

Just for fun, this is what support looks like in the real world. Took me about 20 hrs (my time and miles) to finally switch to Sprint. Are people saying here this doesn't happen to them?

Samsung S9 Activated on Sprint but won't accept their SIM : Sprint

Just sayin'

Yes but you were posting on tesla related forum and hence the market and street will now presumptively downgrade tesla with the following shortsville times headline: Tesla enthusiast can't get new S9 to take SIM, tesla could be next

 

[Driver Dave]

"Not all owners have had problems with Tesla's service, and many are quite happy with it."

Agree with this....we have 4 Tesla's in family (2 X's & 2 3's owned by my sons) in 3 different locations and all have been very happy with service outcomes.

Tesla service is always 1000x better than a typical dealer just trying to squeeze money out of you on "service"

The times I had to visit with a question or problem, I have always left happy and satisfied (and not drained of money)

I'm sure people have experienced issues here and there, but I would guess 99.9% of service encounters are 100% better than a dealer.

 

[omarsultan]

I want them to get better, both as an owner and an investor.

And to be clear. My service center repair experience has been excellent.

Oh, mine has too, but I also see the system being stressed for delivery and service. I chuckled because the "better communications" has been a lament on the forums since I joined.

 

[Zaxxon]

Tesla service is always 1000x better than a typical dealer just trying to squeeze money out of you on "service"

The times I had to visit with a question or problem, I have always left happy and satisfied (and not drained of money)

I'm sure people have experienced issues here and there, but I would guess 99.9% of service encounters are 100% better than a dealer.

And just to reiterate, since I dropped a nastygram earlier today--my in-person experiences with service have been uniformly great.

 

[Fact Checking]

I expect I won't be able to share specific details due to NDA, but could at least keep an eye out and provide general thoughts.

If production is at least 6k Model 3's per week sustained then please promise to not post anything here about your factory visit, other than that it happened and that you are not allowed to talk about it due to the NDA, okay?

(And please mark my comment "Funny", to make sure there's proof that you didn't take this comment seriously and that you intend to keep your NDA.)

 

[Intl Professor]

If it's not a complaint question, then make it not sound like a complaint question.

Here's the current question:

"Owners, many of them with large followings online, are becoming very vocal about Tesla's worsening customer service experience with delivery, service, and repair. This has a severe impact on sales and returning sales. What are you doing to change this growing negative reputation?"

First off, it's false. "Owners" collectively are not. Some owners are. Not all owners have had problems with Tesla's service, and many are quite happy with it. Does that mean that it's okay that some owners have had bad experiences? Of course not. But making it sound like all owners are mad with their delivery or service experiences is outright FUD.

Secondly, it's beating a dead horse, every last sentence dripping with negativity. It's entirely structured as a gripe, even though it ends with a question mark.

Try:

It seems that there have been more public reports recently on Youtube and elsewhere of people who have had problems with delivery, service, or repair. How does Tesla plan to address this in the future so that it doesn't have a negative impact on future sales?

Cease this incessant banter. Service issues are always going to be an issue. What Tesla has to deal with is 40% or so growth in business each and every year and now the volumes are immense in nominal terms. Do you want no growth with perfect solution of problems or more massive growth with truly gargantuan problems of service/communication? There is a balance among these goals. As Karen points out Tesla is aware. Our griping about its judgement is truly gratuitous.

Not a personnel expert, obviously, but I think finding bright, articulate people, who can multitask and deal with the public with humor, work long hours and be innovative daily, is probably the most difficult thing to do. Try parenting or teaching sometime. Tell me how easy it is to do. I once ran a political campaign and along with others beat Reagan at his game. Despite ideological conformity there were daily personnel issues.

 

[Ghostman]

If production is at least 6k Model 3's per week sustained then please promise to not post anything here about your factory visit, other than that it happened and that you are not allowed to talk about it due to the NDA, okay?

(And please mark my comment "Funny", to make sure there's proof that you didn't take this comment seriously and that you intend to keep your NDA.)

I fully intend to keep the NDA.

 

[Tslynk67]

Short interest dropped by 800k shares on Wednesday according to Papafox. That’s insane. Can’t imagine the covering for today.

How's that possible without a 50-point SP rise?

 

[M3Rider]

By the way, I will be touring the Tesla factory (Fremont) in early Feb. If there are any suggestions as to what to ask or keep an eye out for, please DM me! I expect I won't be able to share specific details due to NDA, but could at least keep an eye out and provide general thoughts.

I see a lot of speculation around moving S/X out of Freemont and replacing with Y.
I think estimating % of factory floor used by these models could be helpful to see if such a switch is possible.
Y will likely use as much space as the 3 - more demand in U.S., less in Europe, so average is probably at least as much volume.

Maybe some space savings due to similar architecture between 3 and Y, but hard to speculate how much.

 

[Tslynk67]

10 months faster than other constructions! That is a lot.

Thats unprecedented and shows the influence Tesla has and the strong backing of the Shanghai officials.

Already posted (Thanks!) but some more details and information.....

Vincent‏ @vincent13031925
1. Chinese gov media CCTV reported: Construction company said they speeding up the @Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory project and did not receive the Lunar New Year holiday notice. Official video link: http://tv.cctv.com/v/v1/VIDEFRUe46kMgZOLQUg98aOM190124.html … $TSLA #Tesla #China #TeslaChina #GF3 #特斯拉

11:37 PM - 24 Jan 2019

1. 1. 21m21 minutes ago
      2. Chen Jie, Shanghai Lingang Development & Construction Mgt Committee: In order to speed up the @Tesla Shanghai GF3 construction, the Shanghai Lingang Gov changed the construction approval. Normal approval takes 15 months & #Tesla project only took 5 months. $TSLA #TeslaChina
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      Vincent on Twitter

Shortsville Times

Amnesty International to investigate media claims of Tesla slave-labour in China

 

[UncaNed]

"Not all owners have had problems with Tesla's service, and many are quite happy with it."

Agree with this....we have 4 Tesla's in family (2 X's & 2 3's owned by my sons) in 3 different locations and all have been very happy with service outcomes.

Likewise my 2018 Tesla X75D over 8,000 miles had very few problems, most caused by the guy in the driver's seat, and Tesla has come through in a timely manner.

 

[Tslynk67]

Can’t upload images for whatever reasons
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Has been crappy with images for weeks now - you need to upload and/or paste, then wait, wait, wait for the spinner in the top-right of the browser screen to stop. Then save the post.

 

[Pezpunk]

since my purchase in 2016, i have been lucky enough to have to interact with Tesla Service exactly one time, and things went perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, I have a friend who recently bought a brand new X and his service experience has been an absolute nightmare. He's had a number of problems, he had to take his car in several times for the same issue not being resolved, he's had dozens of emails go completely ignored for weeks at a time. He finally got *most* of his problems ironed out (after far too long) but he has one remaining problem with the driver's seat being very loose ("like a rocking chair"). Tesla won't do anything about it because they are telling him the seats in the Model X have a weight limit of 250 pounds, and he is over that weight limit, so it's his problem.

he is understandably extremely frustrated.

 

[bobinfla]

Damn the website goes down for extended periods pretty regularly, there's gotta be a way to fix this?

Contributions as a "Supporting Member" probably are helpful towards making the website more robust. Just a thought.

 

[homer214]

Service in Toronto is top notch, I felt all my needs were addressed quickly. Mind you they were pretty tame.

Ranger service in Massachusetts has been very good. I’d give a better grade for company response to online/email communication than phone calls.

 

[oneday]

Cease this incessant banter. Service issues are always going to be an issue. What Tesla has to deal with is 40% or so growth in business each and every year and now the volumes are immense in nominal terms. Do you want no growth with perfect solution of problems or more massive growth with truly gargantuan problems of service/communication? There is a balance among these goals. As Karen points out Tesla is aware. Our griping about its judgement is truly gratuitous.

Not a personnel expert, obviously, but I think finding bright, articulate people, who can multitask and deal with the public with humor, work long hours and be innovative daily, is probably the most difficult thing to do. Try parenting or teaching sometime. Tell me how easy it is to do. I once ran a political campaign and along with others beat Reagan at his game. Despite ideological conformity there were daily personnel issues.

Tesla should be able to find an IT solution to its customer communication problem. They should have deadlines to reply to emails, if the deadlines are not met, communications should bump up the chain of command notifying supervisors and managers responses were not given to customer requests. I think a customer portal IT overhaul should be done, from reservation to vin assignment delivery and service all handled through one portal. That way if a supervisor has to respond he can quickly get up to speed. I think @neroden has mentioned similar IT recommendations.

 

[TradingInvest]

I feel like observing Netflix in the early years, people put a lot of emphasis on how many DVDs did Netflix ship in Q1, what's the subscriber count, etc. at a time when Netflix almost done developing the streaming software.

Also like when people asking Huang how many video cards got shipped in the quarter when he has been stressing they were spending $2B to develop a major chip that can be used in the AI field. The stock rallied almost 20 fold two years later, not because of the video cards.

Tesla's self-driving is a game changer. Don't be fooled by the shorts.

 

[K_Dizzle]

During Tesla's last quarterly earnings call, Musk noted that the company expected to be profitable by the end of Q3. In emails sent to employees last week by the CEO, it's clear just how close Tesla is to achieving profitability, albeit a dollar figure isn't noted. However, the automaker believes that a single weekend could make-or-break its goal.

Let’s not forget this little trap in Q3. Elon is up to something

 

[Tslynk67]

It's THE most important holiday in China. It's huge deal. People gonna be pissed.

Maybe they'll pay them triple-time. I'll work any day for triple time...