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

[mrmage]

Increased my total in Tesla just before close by 7%+ with DITM calls (Jun 2022 strike 350). This puts me in margin, which I'm not thrilled with. I have two other tranches in shares that I might unload to offset this.

P&D numbers and recent price increases point to a good quarter, and most importantly, Elon seems to be enjoying himself. I have never been disappointed with an ER when he's happy. I also like where FSD is going, between his frequent tweets and people who have tried it.

I believe that all Tesla needs is to get FSD working as well as it does for highway to create a near impenetrable moat. Even without robotaxi, FSD working well on local roads will win many new people over, and a subscription model is the perfect vehicle to do that.

 

[Nolimits]

May 5th seems so far away. Wonder if there will be any catalysts in between to propel the SP forward. That said, anything under 700 seems to be a good buy. More chances for us average joe to pick up more shares. Added another 10 chairs today. Was hoping to buy some new wheels for the M3 but feel like we are on the verge of a SP breakout in next few weeks.

 

[Nolimits]

Edit - april 26th! thanks for the update.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Wow. I mean we know they’re confident in vision, but are there really no scenarios where radar adds to the abilities of the car?

That’s a rhetorical question, obviously answered by the removal of radar.

If I’m the CEO of a competing self-driving company and I hear that Tesla’s vision approach is going so well they’ll be dropping radar from their cars, do I:
A) scoff as usual
B) step down

As in most complex things, there's more than one way to do autonomous driving. Other EV makers continued to go down the path of pouch cells long after Tesla showed the way with cylindrical cells. I suspect it'll be the same for autonomous driving. Other OEMs will use, and tout, their radar and lidar for years to come, if for no other reason than as a marketing weapon. "Our car uses THREE modes of obstruction detection, Tesla only uses ONE. Which would you rather have??"

 

[printf42]

Edit - april 26th! thanks for the update.

Tesla Announces Date for First Quarter 2021 Financial Results and Webcast | Tesla Investor Relations

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 9, 2021 – Tesla will post its financial results for the first quarter of 2021 after market close on Monday, April 26, 2021.

ir.tesla.com

 

[Cherry Wine]

My guess is radar will stick around for another 6 months to a year, then disappear once Tesla has enough data to support what they suspect.

Edit: Ultrasonics will remain for situations where obstructions are very close (e.g. in a garage) and vision cannot provide useful ranging information.

I rely on ultrasonics a lot. Would be sad if those went away!

 

[truwa]

Steven Loveday has been writing articles about "Green" vehicles for at least 10 years. Long before InsideEVs (IEVs), he was writing for "Autoblog Green". His content was crap back then and it's crap now. I have no idea how he stays employed. (Edit - I see that somehow he's Editor in Chief and what appears to be his brother is Director of Communications - so no surprise)

IEVs went downhill the moment that the original owner, Jay Cole sold it to Motor1. Jay provided excellent reporting and IEVs monthly sales scorecards were the best. It's clear that they are simply milking the site for ad revenue above all else. I used to visit the site daily, but haven't done so for years.

People give Fred and Electrek a hard time, and for sure some of his articles miss the mark - often because I think the articles are rushed out without enough QA. But it's clear that most of Electrek's articles are much more opinion based. Compared to all the very clearly fan-based Tesla news sites, Electrek at least gives Tesla a hard time when they do deserve it.

Fred is sponsored by VW. Why? InsideVWs is also sponsored by VW.

Every Tesla article has somehow a negative spin in it, every single one. Even the most positive news about Tesla gets a negative spin out of nowhere, like reminding problems from 5 years before. Like "cannot trust Tesla" must somehow be conveyed. The site is like angry model s owners forum. Commenters always bashing Tesla like TSLAQ.

 

[Backup Account]

If I’m the CEO of a competing self-driving company and I hear that Tesla’s vision approach is going so well they’ll be dropping radar from their cars, do I:
A) scoff as usual
B) step down

Both

 

[Artful Dodger]

I tried to haggle my way in to doing the same on the M-Y to try to access the Federal and Provincial rebates, but there was no way they were going to software-lock it to come in at $44,999

There's an extra provision in the Cdn rebate program which raises the limit to $65K (from memory) for cars that have 7-seats. Model Y may qualify for this, especially if an LFP Model Y becomes available. Let us know what you find out.

Cheers!+

 

[asburgers]

I rely on ultrasonics a lot. Would be sad if those went away!

Interestingly enough. Currently sitting in my vehicle in a parking lot having just witnessed a vehicle next to me hit the car on the other side while pulling into the spot...with ultra sonics equipped.

Also - earnings on the 26th is uber bullish.

Update: She almost swiped me on her way out.

 

[CLK350]

My guess is radar will stick around for another 6 months to a year, then disappear once Tesla has enough data to support what they suspect.

Edit: Ultrasonics will remain for situations where obstructions are very close (e.g. in a garage) and vision cannot provide useful ranging information.

Disagree here: all digital cameras routinely autofocus extremely precisely. The only case where it fails is against a spotless background without details. But then if it is in a garage the NN might learn its position from the side cameras. Unless your garage is ALSO spotless without details all around, in which case you probably have a chauffeur and couldn't care less about Tesla this or Lambo that ; D

 

[MikeC]

View attachment 652428

First time it’s not been on a Wednesday that I can recall, going back to at least 2013.

 

[Etna]

Now that the earnings date has been announced, a shoutout to @The Accountant who is giving us virtually insider trading information that it is an earnings report that will blow the socks off a lot of people with a bunch of all-time high $$$ numbers.

To wit: Near-future quarterly financial projections

 

[Big Time]

Why Monday? So the stock can run up all week?

 

[hobbes]

Elon said a while ago that he wants to base FSD completely on visual cameras, without using radar. We discussed here whether that means removing it only from FSD code but keeping it for freeway driving (that was my take). Looks like I was wrong, he just replied to a tweet confirming radar will be removed from production:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1380600801970647040

EDIT: Looks like @EVMeister beat me..

 

[mickificki]

I told my cousin to freaking stop monkeying around.
Does anyone seriously doubt Musk and Tesla won’t get FSD up and running soon, and reap the rewards monetarily and for the good of society in lives saved?

My goodness, my cousin is trading stonks and playing pong FFS!!

 

[Big Time]

I wonder how much Radar costs to manufacture on the car? Did our margins just go up?

 

[JRP3]

Am I really the only one that doesn't find "Guy drives you 35 mph max through a 1-lane tunnel" especially futuristic or mind blowing?

How about 116 mph?

 

[Words of HABIT]

For the first time, a Model 3 SR can be ordered directly on the Tesla site without having to call and make a special order. Might just be due to the Canadian government being unhappy that Tesla created a “fake” car to get the federal rebate though.

View attachment 652322

Excellent Tesla. At first I thought the 151km Range was a mistake, but make no mistake about Teslas getting into the hands of Canadians.
"Canadiana Special" 151km Range Model 3 @ $46,389 CAD including delivery centre fees allows for $5,000 Feberal (+$3,000 for BC or NS, or +$8,000 for QC). Use the rebates once received to upgrade your Model 3 with OTA updates to match SR+ 423km @ $52,990 CAD including delivery centre fees.

Only LR and P available for Model Y in Canada.

 

[Opus BC fan]

Why Monday? So the stock can run up all week?

I like it. It will be a nice experiment in market behavior.
I think the big dogs positioning for the earnings will have to begin the week before...

(but remember, I am abysmal at predicting short-term SP movement)