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

[marcobel]

Did our bit for Q1 today... GF4 Quicksilver MYLR

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Very interesting, this is a recently opened delivery centre in south Brussels, it was packed with cars, 100's of them, I asked if they were inventory or sold, the Tesla guy told me they are "all allocated" (this photo is just a part of the case they have waiting)

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Huge step-up in numbers from previous years. BAF

There is casting in the back . Is this with front casting ??

 

[MP3Mike]

Was someone trying to be funny? Two cars parked sideways?

First day the Supercharger is online and Rivian owners are already blocking multiple stalls so they can charge.

In some states it’s legal to put a brick through their window….

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That was all Tesla engineers. They were in the process of installing and testing the MagicDocks at that site. (So they were probably trying to block the stalls to prevent other people from trying to use them.)

 

[DarthPierce]

First day the Supercharger is online and Rivian owners are already blocking multiple stalls so they can charge.

In some states it’s legal to put a brick through their window….

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I note that they have a no-parking thing for the adjacent spot. the might help with "backwards" cars with poorly placed charge ports

 

[Ogre]

That was all Tesla engineers. They were in the process of installing and testing the MagicDocks at that site. (So they were probably trying to block the stalls to prevent other people from trying to use them.)

#1 post was meant to be humorous. #2 You are sidestepping the point here.

Rivian’s charge port is on the “wrong” side. This will lead to issues.

 

[MP3Mike]

Rivian’s charge port is on the “wrong” side. This will lead to issues.

No more issues than they already have experience with in the UK, Europe, and Australia. I haven't heard/seen reports of major problems at the sites that have already been opened.

It shouldn't be a big problem, they are mainly opening lower utilization sites, and as long as people group by port location there shouldn't be more than one stall blocked.

 

[MC3OZ]

Can’t wait for shorts to move goalposts to

“Tesla is just another flying car company”

Especially after GM announces they will be building 50 different flying car models by 2026.

 

[WADan]

Model Y latest safety rating (sorry if posted before)

Tesla Model Y gets IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award despite stricter standards

The IIHS has announced the vehicles that qualified for its Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards for 2023.

www.teslarati.com

 

[Accident]

Is there a technical reason preventing Tesla from installing larger cables on the SC that are going to be CCS compatible? If it's only cost, that could probably be offset a bit with the possibility of having more cars parked correctly and maximizing charger utilization.

 

[Stretch2727]

Is there a technical reason preventing Tesla from installing larger cables on the SC that are going to be CCS compatible? If it's only cost, that could probably be offset a bit with the possibility of having more cars parked correctly and maximizing charger utilization.

The superchargers are very elegantly designed in that the cable loop cannot touch the ground and there is no tether. Shorter is always better when it comes to cables, lowers the resistive losses and makes it easier to cool. Most of the other fast chargers have a mechanical tether which is prone to breakage. This is one of the many reason the superchargers are reliable, with a shorter cable there is less chance for damage and breakage.

I don't see an easy way using the same concept. Even if they increase the height of the charger to extend the loop I am not sure they will gain much usable cable.

I think every car maker should just design their cars with the charger port on the right front or left rear as a first step towards to adopting the NACS standard.

 

[MP3Mike]

Is there a technical reason preventing Tesla from installing larger cables on the SC that are going to be CCS compatible? If it's only cost, that could probably be offset a bit with the possibility of having more cars parked correctly and maximizing charger utilization.

Probably a combination of cost, that a longer cable would require larger wires and have more loss, and that they don't want it so long that it would lay on the ground and get tangled.

I don't see an easy way using the same concept. Even if they increase the height of the charger to extend the loop I am not sure they will gain much usable cable.

But you can't make it too much higher as there are accessibility requirements. (People in a wheel chair have to be able to reach the cable when it is docked.)

 

[Prunesquallor]

OT experience.

Finally got M3P back from 3rd party repair shop (damage from me rear-ending someone). Drove it home and thought “Oh god, this feels like crap”. Mushy steering, no acceleration.

Of course, thought about it for a minute and started going through the settings. Performance was set to “Chill” for god’s sake! WTF? Then noticed about half the other settings had defaulted.

Sure would be nice to be able to save customized settings on the flash drive. Service Mode seemed to do weird things.

 

[petit_bateau]

Hate to break it to y'all but the competition is definitely coming and they mean it this time!!

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Non-Tesla but US-based auto makers of EVs may be going down the pan in every respect, but globally there is progress in some dimensions by other auto-makers. Profits may be sparse, but growth out there is real. Whether it can be sustained remains to be seen but so far it is a 4-year trend. To be clear, these are global numbers.

 

[Cosmacelf]

I believe Maxwell Technologies was located in San Diego. I suspect they still have significant R&D and stuff there, now that they're owned by Tesla.

oh wait -- I didn't realize that Tesla had sold off Maxwell in 2021. now I do wonder what is down there.

Tesla sold off part of Maxwell, the super caps division, but not all of it I think.

San Diego is where UCSD is (of course) and they have an advanced battery research facility. My guess is that San Diego is being used as a battery research location.

 

[Ogre]

Is there a technical reason preventing Tesla from installing larger cables on the SC that are going to be CCS compatible? If it's only cost, that could probably be offset a bit with the possibility of having more cars parked correctly and maximizing charger utilization.

There is another Supercharger design which has been floating around which is a bit taller and has a slightly longer hose which looks like it can be arranged in the center of the parking space so vehicles like the Rivian which have opposite side ports should be able to charge ok. I think that’s the “v4” Supercharger layout. No fix for the cars with charge ports in the middle of the side though.

 

[scaesare]

OT experience.

Finally got M3P back from 3rd party repair shop (damage from me rear-ending someone). Drove it home and thought “Oh god, this feels like crap”. Mushy steering, no acceleration.

Of course, thought about it for a minute and started going through the settings. Performance was set to “Chill” for god’s sake! WTF? Then noticed about half the other settings had defaulted.

Sure would be nice to be able to save customized settings on the flash drive. Service Mode seemed to do weird things.

I believe there was some announcement of your settings/profile being tied to your account so they can follow you (for rental cars etc...). Wonder if that's implemented yet?

 

[MartinAustin]

I believe there was some announcement of your settings/profile being tied to your account so they can follow you (for rental cars etc...). Wonder if that's implemented yet?

I am driving around in a Hertz Model 3 at the moment. ($29/day amazing!!!) There is no "link to your Tesla account" in the Hertz app. But I expect that will happen eventually

 

[Curt Renz]

I wrote Florida Gov. DeSantis and my two state legislators to state my opposition to these bills. Other Florida residents here may also want to contact their state officials to relay their opinions one way or the other.

Teslarati - yesterday:
Tesla direct sales under threat from dealer-backed bills in Florida

Here's link to a ten-year-old Forbes article that well describes the chicanery of these Florida bills' sponsors, and the dealerships that have those politicians in their pockets.
Strangling Innovation: Tesla vs. 'Rent Seekers'

 

[BioSehnsucht]

I hope they haven't really moved to relying on GPS for inferring exterior temperatures, or even a combination of Cellular/Wifi data as primary source and GPS to guess when there's no connectivity. Hopefully they just put the sensor someplace else.

I just peeked in EPC and I see two different options listed for Model Y, and both say no sensor, though one is more verbose and the other just says "THS SENSOR" which we can guess is probably Temperature / Humidity Sensor Sensor (like ATM MACHINE). So that might just be some people guessing at things that aren't really happening... and why would an exterior sensor be on the front windshield glass anyways? Would there have been a hole in the glass to pass it through? Would it have been exterior mounted? Mounting it to the inside would be dumb because it would read incorrectly when the glass is heated or cooled from the cabin being climate controlled..

Actually, checking Model 3 I also see several variations of the front windshield glass but all are no sensor. Model S and X don't say one way or the other about a sensor, but it seems a weird place to put it. I don't think there ever was a sensor there, this is probably just a combination of someone knowing you can some form of guestimated temperature reading with GPS L5, and deciding to search for temperature sensor in the EPC, finding the "no sensor" model 3/y windshields and declaring a change occurred. I searched for temperature and I find the "ambient temperature sensor" listed as being related to the front grille assembly, which makes far more sense is a more typical placement.

 

[y_naught]

Today it occurred to me that one advantage of opening the supercharger network in the US could be reducing the likelihood that the IRA clean energy subsidies are modified in the future.

These subsidies will be heavily concentrated towards Tesla because of Tesla’s coming production growth and likely continual grip on the majority of the EV and battery market here. This still leaves an opportunity for lawmakers to change the scheme to cap the benefits one company can receive. For example, they could add back the cap on vehicles eligible for the $7500 credit but set the limit to 5 million vehicles or some other number only Tesla would hit. Maybe welcoming all EVs to the superchargers will help protect these future subsidies by making Tesla more appealing to a broader section of voters.

If so, this would probably outweigh all other financial implications of supercharger inclusivity combined. The $45/kWh subsidy alone is worth $45 BILLION annually ($13/share!!) directly to net income if Tesla can make 1 TWh/year of eligible batteries by 2030, and that’s roughly the goal. As Elon said on the Q4 call, it’s a “very significant” amount of money. As we look towards the latter years of this clean energy subsidy program before it starts to sunset in the early 30s, Tesla will be benefiting on the order of $1B+ per week. That can buy a lot of supercharger stations.

Thoughts?

I think the subsidy is a large part of the consideration, maybe even primary. We saw them lower car prices A LOT to be able to qualify. Whether not wanting to be left out of the club was the main reason, I think there are several benefits:
1) makes the cars more affordable without entirely cutting into margins
2) generates lots of goodwill, both customer and political
3) shows all the “competition” what a real charging infrastructure looks and operates like
4) provides a Tesla showroom for people already disposed to buying EVs
5) also, marketing a full cross pollination with solar and storage

If really only 10% of the chargers at a location (or however they divvy it up) will be open, this still leaves the majority for Tesla owners while providing a real benefit (goodwill) but also substantial Tesla marketing for cars and other products.

 

[mekberg]

That was all Tesla engineers. They were in the process of installing and testing the MagicDocks at that site. (So they were probably trying to block the stalls to prevent other people from trying to use them.)

They were likely driving from charger to charger to test. This is easier than backing/pulling in each time.