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

[BrownOuttaSpec]

Well Toyota may finally be getting serious.

Toyota Supercharges North Carolina Battery Plant with New $8 Billion Investment - Toyota USA Newsroom

LIBERTY, N.C. (Oct. 31, 2023) – Toyota today announced a new investment of nearly $8 billion that will add approximately 3,000 jobs at Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC). This brings total investment to approximately $13.9 billion and job creation to more than 5,000 – further...

pressroom.toyota.com

Toyota or Toy-Yoda? That looks like someone's house!

But serious.. they are building this facility at the "Mega site" in Liberty, NC off Rt 421 and it has seemed to be under construction for a few years now. I've driven past it a few times and didn't realize what it was until I read that article.

They say the additional funding will add about 3,00 jobs but the entire population of Liberty NC is estimated at 2,676 in 2021 so I would expect them to pull a large workforce commuting from Greensboro, NC. Locals aren't happy about the construction so I am curious to see if this turns out to be a skilled worker shortage much like what happened with Tesla in Nevada in 2014. We'll have to see how the plays out for Toyota but it maybe in too little of a town, and too late to the EV party.

 

[scaesare]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719414542382358663

Not available in UK etc. yet.

Also for me in Northern VA:

 

[TesLeif]

*GREAT* summary about George Hotz, Comma_ai, etc... a potential FSD competitor, so definitely relevant to all of us...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719373159302832299

 

[CHGolferJim]

It could be as simple as tires and fixing broken things.

Teslas/EVs go through tires quicker and Tesla is super expensive to repair. They get a lot of small accidents or negligence on rental cars.

I've owned 3 Teslas and until the 30k mark, they are cheaper on fuel but tire wear, especially the original tires, is not something I've ever experienced in any of my other cars, which offsets any oil change or maintenance schedule cost.

I don't think it's BS, but most aren't treating their personal car like a rental.

With gas savings, still cheaper per mile...easily, but rental companies don't pay for gas. So that savings is cut out.

I’ve run through 3 sets of tires in 123,000 miles in my 8 y.o. Model S = $3,300/123,000 = 2.7 cents/mile. My earlier ICE were similar. What’s your experience?

 

[Blue horseshoe]

Just started listening to Rogan's podcast with Elon. Cybertruck optionally can also have bulletproof windows. Lol. I'm sure it won't be factory and he's just saying it's possible as with any other car, but a factory option would be a hit!

Also, beast mode version they're aiming for 0-60mph in under 3.0 seconds. Leads me to believe that is a later version that will come out. Cannot wait for nov 30th to hear more.

 

[Zero CO2]

UPDATE 5-Tesla wins first US Autopilot trial involving fatal crash

Tesla on Tuesday won the first U.S. trial over allegations that its Autopilot driver assistant feature led to a death, a major victory for the automaker as it faces several other lawsuits and federal investigations related to the same technology. The verdict represents Tesla's second big win...

finance.yahoo.com

this is big ... Tesla has the data to win cases like this ... high probability all of these "autopilot " crashes are operator error ... as most fatal accidents are speeding, drunk driving distracted driving... never settle ....unleash the hardcore legal team

Car Accident Statistics For 2023

Car accidents are a fact of life. In 2020, a total of 35,766 fatal car accidents occurred on roadways across the United States. Another 1,593,390 crashes resulted in injuries and 3,621,681 caused property damage. That means a total of 5,250,837 collisions happened over the course of a single year.[1

www.forbes.com

 

[elasalle]

Looks like Mr M, just gave Fed help/clue that they do not need to do anything and then scared off all retail as well ...

2 Birds ... 1 Stone

 

[scaesare]

Also for me in Northern VA:

View attachment 986789

Works now.

 

[Usain]

Nice clip from Rogan.

 

[Max Plaid]

You are definitely the exception of Tesla drivers.

Not sure about that, I've never had to buy replacement tyres for any of my Teslas: P85 / XP100DL+ / XPlaid

The P85 had 75000kms on the clock when I traded it to Tesla for the XP, still with the original all-season tyres, the XP had around 65000kms when I sold it

I guess one caveat is that being in Europe I have a second set of winter wheels, but the majority of driving is done on the summer set, probably 50000kms on the P85

And I don't exactly drive slowly either...

 

[FreqFlyer]

Toyota or Toy-Yoda? That looks like someone's house!
View attachment 986780

But serious.. they are building this facility at the "Mega site" in Liberty, NC off Rt 421 and it has seemed to be under construction for a few years now. I've driven past it a few times and didn't realize what it was until I read that article.

They say the additional funding will add about 3,00 jobs but the entire population of Liberty NC is estimated at 2,676 in 2021 so I would expect them to pull a large workforce commuting from Greensboro, NC. Locals aren't happy about the construction so I am curious to see if this turns out to be a skilled worker shortage much like what happened with Tesla in Nevada in 2014. We'll have to see how the plays out for Toyota but it maybe in too little of a town, and too late to the EV party.

North Carolina is a tech haven, they will have an easier time finding skilled labor than at Nevada.

 

[Drumheller]

Whenever people get angry about complaints re USS and stalks, I check the profile. Yup. Always from the US.
Not everywhere is the US. Not all roads are the same. Road widths in the US seem ludicrously wide. Parking spaces in the US seem ludicrously big. Ang guess what... some countries are really all-in on roundabouts.
Its so predictable seeing people in here wondering why super-wide cars with terrible rain sensors, no USS and no turn stalks might not be popular for people driving in rain-swept, roundabout-crazy medieval-road-width cities in Europe! Tesla BADLY needs to have some of its designers in Europe to get over this ridiculous California-centric view. Its not a shock that Tesla's market share is worse in Europe than it is in the US.

View attachment 986847

Sorry if people are *bored* hearing those of us from Europe bring this up, but we are investors too. If Tesla is making decisions that cripple its appeal in Europe then ALL investors should be concerned. BTW while we are on the topic, making a bullet-proof pickup truck before a small affordable city car was not a global masterstroke either.

Battery limits. No point in making a small mass-market vehicle that could ramp to 5 million per year when there isn't enough battery production to supply that volume.

My point isn't that people can't have differing experiences and views, it's that people keep derailing this thread with the same complaint every two weeks

 

[hobbes]

(...)

As well as dismissing the BYD international strategy one makes a closely analogous mistake of ignoring Tesla Energy. They are different, and I would not care to invest in BYD. I definitely would not make the regular Wall Street mistake of viewing both as simply car companies.

Would you mind to explain why? Honestly interested, I don´t find the idea so far fetched to invest in BYD.

 

[Words of HABIT]

UPDATE 5-Tesla wins first US Autopilot trial involving fatal crash

Tesla on Tuesday won the first U.S. trial over allegations that its Autopilot driver assistant feature led to a death, a major victory for the automaker as it faces several other lawsuits and federal investigations related to the same technology. The verdict represents Tesla's second big win...

finance.yahoo.com

this is big ... Tesla has the data to win cases like this ... high probability all of these "autopilot " crashes are operator error ... as most fatal accidents are speeding, drunk driving distracted driving... never settle ....unleash the hardcore legal team

Car Accident Statistics For 2023

Car accidents are a fact of life. In 2020, a total of 35,766 fatal car accidents occurred on roadways across the United States. Another 1,593,390 crashes resulted in injuries and 3,621,681 caused property damage. That means a total of 5,250,837 collisions happened over the course of a single year.[1

www.forbes.com

Surely Tesla FSD can improve car accident statistics.
Car Accident Statistics For 2023

 

[M|S|M MYP]

Musk says Tesla aims to make 200,000 Cybertrucks a year

The company had earlier said that Tesla had the capacity to make more than 125,000 Cybertrucks annually, with Musk adding there was potential to lift it to 250,000 in 2025. The deliveries of the much-awaited pickup truck will begin on Nov. 30, nearly four years after it was unveiled by Musk at...

finance.yahoo.com

Hopefully he's sandbagging that number

 

[Thekiwi]

It appears that we all dropped the conversational ball on what was (to me) the most interesting part of the Hertz announcement a couple days ago: they have documented maintenance costs on their Tesla fleet at higher what they expect from their ICE fleet. (If I got that wrong from memory of earlier posts, please correct).


Apologies from quoting "CNBS", but they are quoting a third party - hopefully reliably...
Hertz pulls back on EV plans citing Tesla price cuts, high repair costs

This goes against previous studies of EV (corporate) fleets, and goes against a very large assumption (and experience?) from most of us: EVs are way cheaper per mile. This is still a huge part of the reasoning EVs are better: higher upfront for now, but cheaper over 5+ years.

Is the discrepancy the weight, as hinted at above? The way people treat rentals (i.e. poorly)? Is it the oft-reported fact that repairs on our Teslas are pricier than one might reasonably expect? Is it the Gigacastings getting damaged? We cannot dismiss Hertz' findings out of hand, and as investors, might be fruitful to explore.

It just seems to me we blew past that to start complaining about the stock price daily movements again. (In that vein, I may have found a new couch, finally, and perhaps at an opportune moment for once!)

Teslas are more expensive to repair apparently. Here’s a recent piece from insideEVS:

Tesla EVs Cost More To Repair Than Gas Cars, But There’s More To The Story

Tesla repairs cost $1,347 more than combustion vehicles and $1,078 more than non-Tesla EVs in the previous quarter.

insideevs.com

“Repairs for Tesla EVs cost $5,552 on average in the third quarter, according to a report from collision repair management software provider Mitchell, quoted by Automotive News. That’s $1,347 more than combustion vehicles and $1,078 more than non-Tesla EVs.”

"In the past with a fender bender, you could have repaired it with a hammer and banged it out," said Tony Cotto, director of auto and underwriting policy at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Cos., a trade association. "Now, all of the sudden, when you factor in cameras and connected technology, where pieces are connected to one another, that's going from banging out a dent to a multi-thousand-dollar repair."

 

[Thekiwi]

Some awesome charts from my boy Xill, worth a follow on X since he does these charts quarterly

The TTM ones are the most interesting in my opinion since it smooths out QoQ variance, and they show how Tesla is clearly leading (Sorry Mary) and even BYD isn't closing the gap that fast

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View attachment 986739
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View attachment 986742

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719367376091681001

“…and even BYD isn’t closing the gap that fast”

The 2nd image you shared clearly shows BYD & Tesla with almost the same amount of EVs last quarter.

Some people here will inevitably say “But BYD are shipping lower priced cars.” Yes they are. That’s the f@!king goal. Lower costs, lower prices, higher volumes. Accomplish the mission.

 

[MountainRatMat]

making a bullet-proof pickup truck before a small affordable city car was not a global masterstroke either.

But it sure is The American Way!

 

[uscbucsfan]

BTW while we are on the topic, making a bullet-proof pickup truck before a small affordable city car was not a global masterstroke either.

Elon hasn't wanted to make a cheap car because cheap cars have no margins. He's said this in the past and had to be convinced to make it.

Now if the truck actually has low margins, that's ironic, but I do find your thoughts on stalkless ridiculous. It's a personal opinion, obviously.

I still have a USAREUR license and lived/drove in Europe and the UK for 6+ years. I don't see it as an issue, but some are less able to adapt.

 

[jerry33]

Musk says Tesla aims to make 200,000 Cybertrucks a year

The company had earlier said that Tesla had the capacity to make more than 125,000 Cybertrucks annually, with Musk adding there was potential to lift it to 250,000 in 2025. The deliveries of the much-awaited pickup truck will begin on Nov. 30, nearly four years after it was unveiled by Musk at...

finance.yahoo.com

View attachment 986854

Hopefully he's sandbagging that number

Isn't that just for one line? Once that line gets efficient, I don't doubt they'll add another.