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

[Chunky Jr.]

Couple people asked who was on stage with Elon and I didn’t see a response. Just read this on Twitter. Interesting bio in the thread.

His name is Dan Priestley. Currently a Senior Manager of Semi Truck Engineering, leading development and business units. He’s been with Tesla for over a decade.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1598524752955834369

 

[thesmokingman]

Couple people asked who was on stage with Elon and I didn’t see a response. Just read this on Twitter…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1598524752955834369

Did ppl think they just picked up some rando dude to do the presentation with Elon?

 

[SmokyPeat]

And in the battle of Coke vs Pepsi, Pepsi has won this round. Coke be like cursing in...

500m Reichweite???

I wonder if Elon's bedside table photo with the numerous diet Coke cans may have been partly an attempt to get Coke onboard the Semi express.

 

[thesmokingman]

I wonder if Elon's bedside table photo with the numerous diet Coke cans may have been partly an attempt to get Coke onboard the Semi express.

I imagine they've gotta be kicking themselves now, you know cuz it's an extension of Coke vs Pepsi. Coke shows up in a D Tech E Wide, lamest name for a last mile truck, while Pepsi shows up in a Tesla Semi.

 

[Chunky Jr.]

Did ppl think they just picked up some rando dude to do the presentation with Elon?

I think no one knew what his position is at Tesla or what his name is

 

[Cosmacelf]

I think no one knew what his position is at Tesla or what his name is

Right, normally Elon would have introduced him. I can give Elon a pass though, he must be so burnt out right now!

 

[wipster]

Elon did not look happy after dude forced to tell about 1000v
Just look at Elon afterwards.

That guy:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1598498183105351680

Edit:
@Chunky Jr. beat me to the punch!

 

[Gigapress]

This is really bad. They are trying to sell trucks but won't divulge how much weight they can carry.

Elon dunked on Gates but Gates may have been partly right. If I was Gates, I'd be on Twitter saying "I want my drive ... and I'll be stopping at a scale on the way."

Listen to what they don't say ... not what they do say.

I hope I'm wrong.

It's not much, that is clear. The truck is obviously heavy. They get a 2k lb boost due to ev but the key point here is that these local semi loads are almost all light. Only a fraction of the loads go out over 20 tons, most are 10 tons or less. Snack foods just don't weigh much.

Incorrect. Tesla has already disclosed multiple times that the Tesla Semi weighs approximately as much as diesel trucks, and the math with the Jersey barriers shown in the video appears to support this notion.

2020 Impact Report (published August 2021). Also was reiterated verbatim in the 2021 report published in May 2022.

With both the U.S. and E.U. having approved higher weight allowances for electric heavy-duty trucks, we expect the payload to be at least as high as it would be for a diesel truck. In the E.U., electric semi trucks are allowed to be 2 tons (~4,400 pounds) heavier than diesel equivalents, and in the U.S. the allowance is 0.9 tons (2,000 pounds).

Elon had answered an interview question in November 2020 saying that the penalty is less than one ton, but it’s unclear if he was factoring in the extra regulatory bonus for battery trucks which is what really counts. Also, this was two years ago so the design is almost certainly better by now. In this interview Elon also said that in the future they will use a structural battery pack (presumably 4680s) and could get up to 1000 km of range.

Can you get that [tractor] mass down to something which is comparable to existing diesel trucks? And I think the answer is absolutely yes, and we’ve demonstrated that with prototype trucks…The net result is you’re able to carry basically the same cargo as a regular diesel truck. Like, we think maybe there’s a one-ton penalty, maybe, but at this point we think possibly you could even have less than a one-ton payload reduction and it could long term be a zero payload reduction.

 

[Big Time]

Props to Elon being on the good side of history in more than one occasion tonight

 

[Artful Dodger]

One of $TSLAQ's finest writing about Fisker

EV maker Fisker faces liquidity questions after short seller claims its cash is "tied up"

Fisker's shares closed down 5% after a short seller claimed its $824 million cash hoard was "tied up" by legal agreements. Fisker denied the allegations.

www.cnbc.com

Tesla killer Fisker shoots for solid-state batteries in cars by 2023 | Feb 27, 2021

/S

 

[Cult Member]

Do we have more information about the Trailer? They talked about how important it is to cover both. Does that mean you get the Semi always with a Tesla Trailer? Could be extra margin but with a lot of variants and complexity. Maybe there is a simple naked one as a base.
Can't you use the Semi with existing Trailers on the road? Do you loose efficiency if you do that? The number of Trailers in the world will outdo the Semi by an order of magnitude, or not? I'm confused or maybe just overwhelmed.

 

[Baumisch]

Video cued to where they talk about the automatic clutches for the 2nd and 3rd Plaid motors for acceleration or grade duties. Previous to that time in the video they show the rigorous reliability testing. But yea, the auto clutches is pretty awesome.

Not saying it isn't - BUT - we bashed the Taycan for having clutches&gears as a raliability burdon - now on a semi that does much more milage it begs the question of reliability for me. It should be possible to have induction motors that can free-spin without current so no clutch needed - I smell a tradeoff here, not saying that it is a showstopper, but a tradeoff never the less.

 

[Baumisch]

Do we have more information about the Trailer? They talked about how important it is to cover both. Does that mean you get the Semi always with a Tesla Trailer? Could be extra margin but with a lot of variants and complexity. Maybe there is a simple naked one as a base.
Can't you use the Semi with existing Trailers on the road? Do you loose efficiency if you do that? The number of Trailers in the world will outdo the Semi by an order of magnitude, or not? I'm confused or maybe just overwhelmed.

My guess is you will only get the 500mile full-load range with the special trailer. It's easy to imagine that existing trailers are not optimized for aero and rolling resistance as the tesla one is. we'll find out

 

[Ogre]

Not saying it isn't - BUT - we bashed the Taycan for having clutches&gears as a raliability burdon - now on a semi that does much more milage it begs the question of reliability for me. It should be possible to have induction motors that can free-spin without current so no clutch needed - I smell a tradeoff here, not saying that it is a showstopper, but a tradeoff never the less.

It’s a much simpler clutch. The Taycan is actually shifting gears. With the semi it’s either engaged or not. It might be a maintenance issue, hard for me to say.

 

[samn]

Range is so dependent upon conditions but they showed a real life example. It might be closer to best case due to temp, elevation, wind and speed, but it's also pretty realistic at least from a legal driving perspective here in CA

 

[Artful Dodger]

Oh CNBC... they have Gerstner on talking about Tesla, and he says we see Tesla having a multi trillion dollar business over the next 5-10 years.

Tech investors need to be in beaten up names with free cash flow, says Altimeter's Brad Gerstner | CNBC Television

Any ticker in particular come to mind?

Cheers!

 

[Artful Dodger]

Anyone have at fingertips what “less than 2kWh/mile” translates in diesel mpg?

At $0.10/KWh (wholesale) and $6/gal for diesel in California, the equivalent is 30 mpg. Class 8 Diesel trucks typically get <7 mpg, so Tesla Semi is about 5x cheaper on energy. If you can use solar + storage to recharge the Semi, very economical indeed, and very clean from an emissions perspective.

 

[insaneoctane]

Truck drivers are in demand. Imagine how VERY superior driving an electric Tesla semi is in so many ways. Acceleration measured in seconds vs minutes, noise, vibration and harshness, climbing grades, descending grades. I find EV technology for ascending /descending SIGNIFICANTLY less stressful vs ICEV for cars....image the difference hauling 80K lbs! How about some autopilot? Any company that can get a Tesla semi, will not have ANY trouble staffing drivers for that semi. Period. Oh, and fuel costs are less than 1/3 of diesel. Winning

 

[jw934]

Morgan Stanley used to advise against owning Tesla but has changed over time to giving a buy rating.
Now the CEO comes out and say institutions who walk away from investing in Elon should be ashamed and they know nothing. Good for him.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1598406926051987456

 

[samn]

One of the things that struck me from the semi event was that they are extending the Tesla driving experience to semi drivers. It's not just the tech or the electric drivetrain. They are including autopilot, Tesla's amazing traction control and blending between efficiency and power. It's the whole experience. Semi drivers will prefer to drive a Tesla just as we do for more than just economic reasons. Safety, efficiency, tech, charge time and experience, and so much more.