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Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable
- Thread starter AudubonB
- Start date
You know - we DO grow snow in Alaska.
To the extent - and early words notwithstanding, I don’t believe it’s a very large extent - that CT truly does have an exoskeleton, mounting…and keeping…a plow on it could be a horrific challenge.
And I never have had a plow on my F350, or on my long-wheelbase F250s. First, the aforementioned diesel engine fouls up the available forward weight; second, the stop-go, super short-length, slow speed & low gear runs that plowing entails combine to be the very worst abuse one can do to a diesel powerplant. Of course, this paragraph has zero bearing on the CT.
BUT third, effective plowing is most sensitive to wheelbase - and overall! - length. A long-bed, crew-cab, long-hooded truck makes for plowing hell. I’ve used only my beater trucks, all of which have been gasoline-powered: single-cab F150s and Chebbies plus one Ram, and back in the Oligocene a wonderful post-War Jeep “wagon” that I learned on before getting a license. Since the diminutive CT is so short, it also would pass that criterion.
Nowadays, I clear most of my ~ 3/4 miles of roads with a combination of a big-bucket skidsteer and the backblade of my excavator (those diesels are up to that use).
I have buddies who have a business that plows, and they also use shortbed trucks for the same reasons.
The other big wear item is transmissions, the low speed/high torque activity and stalling the vehicle under throttle is murder on them... especially torque converters. Given CT has no transmission, and it would seem forward/reverse would not have the same mechanical impact, that might be an advantage...
It will be interesting to see if the castings have any "standard" threaded locations design for this sort of accessory that has significant loading requirements.
Yes: although I wrote such was murder on the engines, it is upon their trannies the real devastation occurs.
All of that demonstrates the advantages of an EV, but as others also have written, this simultaneously drains their batteries at an alarming rate. But other than municipal and state authorities, who plows for hundreds of miles?
snellenr
Member
"SpaceX is targeting Monday, December 11 at 8:14 p.m. ET for Falcon Heavy’s launch of the USSF-52 mission to orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A backup launch opportunity is available during the same time on Tuesday, December 12."
24 hour weather delay
Not sure if this is good or bad - on Tesla's website, it looks like Tesla is discouraging new orders and encouraging buying from inventory.
Drumheller
Active Member
I noticed it a few days ago. Thursday I was at my local service center and walked the lots. More model Ys parked waiting in inventory than I've seen previously.
Time to consider other topics besides the Cybertruck. How about South America which obviously is a very long play? Of course looking for a general manager in Chile doesn't guarantee anything. After all less than half a millions cars are sold annually compared to Brazils 1.5 million, so small market.
Tesla's move into Chile ahead of Brazil in South America appears to be a good opportunity. When you look at Chile's centralized population in Santigo and the narrowness of the country's road system the build out of the supercharger network should be a major advantage for Tesla. Certainly far less challenging than Brazil.
Chile has 292,260 sq mi and a population of about 17.5 million with about a third of that in Santiago. This makes is pretty easy to target a new charging network in a relatively small central geographic area.
It will be an interesting to see how this plays out since it seems Chile will be one of the targeted countries for the next gen vehicle once GigaMexico comes on-line. When will Tesla gear up to start installing the charging network? Will Tesla subcontract the work or will they try to take it on themselves? How will Tesla compete with existing automakers who are much less expensive? South America is going to be difficult for electric cars to gain traction but I'm glad to see Tesla seems to be taking it seriously by making a footprint in Chile. What do forum members who have knowledge of Chile think?
www.tesmanian.com
Map of Chile
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/763360205612484145/
Note: Does this post belong in an existing thread?
Tesla's move into Chile ahead of Brazil in South America appears to be a good opportunity. When you look at Chile's centralized population in Santigo and the narrowness of the country's road system the build out of the supercharger network should be a major advantage for Tesla. Certainly far less challenging than Brazil.
Chile has 292,260 sq mi and a population of about 17.5 million with about a third of that in Santiago. This makes is pretty easy to target a new charging network in a relatively small central geographic area.
It will be an interesting to see how this plays out since it seems Chile will be one of the targeted countries for the next gen vehicle once GigaMexico comes on-line. When will Tesla gear up to start installing the charging network? Will Tesla subcontract the work or will they try to take it on themselves? How will Tesla compete with existing automakers who are much less expensive? South America is going to be difficult for electric cars to gain traction but I'm glad to see Tesla seems to be taking it seriously by making a footprint in Chile. What do forum members who have knowledge of Chile think?
Tesla Plans to Enter the Market of Chile
Tesla plans to expand into new markets, including South America. The company is looking for a General Manager to launch the market in Chile.
www.tesmanian.com
Map of Chile
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/763360205612484145/
Note: Does this post belong in an existing thread?
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I know Thailand is but one market, but pick up trucks are quite popular here. There's quite a lot of rural area and mountainous terrain and roads that become quite wet and treacherous during monsoon season. That plus a large ag industry make CT an ideal vehicle for The Land of Smiles. While I can't predict what will happen, Thailand is clearly trying to position itself as a leader in EVs, both in manufacturing and consumption and there have been some interesting clues suggesting the Kingdom wants the Cybertruck here.
First, there's video out there of the new Prime Minister visiting the Austin factory. That alone shows keen interest in Tesla. Second, the video shows the PM climbing into the bed of the CT during a tour of the facilities. Sure, that could just be natural curiosity. But, if you go to Tesla Thailand's "Line" site, there's a photo of the CT with a direct link to learn more just below the only two models currently being sold here, the 3 and the Y. The S and X are not even shown (though one can still explore them through additional links on the site). It will be very interesting if Thailand is trying to position itself as the manufacturing hub fit CT in Asia. Stay tuned.
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DragonWatch
Small FootPrint
Forward Observing:
My wife allowed me out of the basement ~ yet once again. Nice drive south from Olympia to Portland, Oregon. Today is Sunday 10Dec23. Rained most of the way with intermittent breaks. At one point caught a glimpse through the clouds that maybe the sun does exist on Sunday.
We passed three full truck loads of Model 3s, Ys, Ss, and Xs heading north to Seattle or Canada. Stocking stuffers! No CyberTrucks.
Nearing Oregon, a fossil fuel blue pick up with cracked windshields passed me ~ the passenger stuck out her tongue with thumbs in ears, and waver her hands. I laughed to my self. The truck continued speeding past. I was gliding along with Xena II at 75 MPH, while my wife researched cell phone plan change options. I dropped out of autopilot and floored it sorta, instantly regaining three car lengths ~ I waved, and dropped back to 75. My wife looked up, not pleased; I told her what was going on and we laughed.
Stopped at a supercharger location. It was busy ~ so only allowed 80% charge. Nearing the end of our charging session ~ a young couple with no time in grade, backed in next to ours. FYI ~ old military reference ~ no time in grade. The car did not have a hard copy license plate (Temporary). I asked the young man that exited the car, how he liked it. He was excited with his in the wild one day old Model Y. His wife not to be out done with excitement ~ rolled down her window and asked if I would open the falcon wing door for her husband ~ absolutely ~ see she exclaimed ~ it is no where near our car she informed him. My only failure was to not have pulled out to a non-charging stall and let Xena II do the “Falcon Wing Dance.”
Tis the season to be jolly ~ after all I am only allowed out of the basement when the mood swings.
Cheers
My wife allowed me out of the basement ~ yet once again. Nice drive south from Olympia to Portland, Oregon. Today is Sunday 10Dec23. Rained most of the way with intermittent breaks. At one point caught a glimpse through the clouds that maybe the sun does exist on Sunday.
We passed three full truck loads of Model 3s, Ys, Ss, and Xs heading north to Seattle or Canada. Stocking stuffers! No CyberTrucks.
Nearing Oregon, a fossil fuel blue pick up with cracked windshields passed me ~ the passenger stuck out her tongue with thumbs in ears, and waver her hands. I laughed to my self. The truck continued speeding past. I was gliding along with Xena II at 75 MPH, while my wife researched cell phone plan change options. I dropped out of autopilot and floored it sorta, instantly regaining three car lengths ~ I waved, and dropped back to 75. My wife looked up, not pleased; I told her what was going on and we laughed.
Stopped at a supercharger location. It was busy ~ so only allowed 80% charge. Nearing the end of our charging session ~ a young couple with no time in grade, backed in next to ours. FYI ~ old military reference ~ no time in grade. The car did not have a hard copy license plate (Temporary). I asked the young man that exited the car, how he liked it. He was excited with his in the wild one day old Model Y. His wife not to be out done with excitement ~ rolled down her window and asked if I would open the falcon wing door for her husband ~ absolutely ~ see she exclaimed ~ it is no where near our car she informed him. My only failure was to not have pulled out to a non-charging stall and let Xena II do the “Falcon Wing Dance.”
Tis the season to be jolly ~ after all I am only allowed out of the basement when the mood swings.
Cheers
Artful Dodger
"Neko no me"
Having a Retail operation in Chile is beneficial for Tesla from the taxation and foreign exchange points-of-view. Since Tesla doesn't hedge foreign currency flows, their ideal strategy is broadly to balance inflows and outflows of cash from any particular region. That means having both imports and exports. Paging @unk45
Hmm, now I wonder what commodity Tesla might want to import from the home country of the Atacama dessert... drink that salty Kooli-ade, hombre!
¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, y pa' dentro, salud!
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bobfunn
Member
Quite a few being kept at a burbank mall parking structure (near the Burbank service center)
Bet TSLA
Active Member
No, for anybody getting a Foundation Cybertruck, FSD was bought for $7000. If they wait and get a regular Cybertruck, that's what they'll pay. So knock $5000 off your estimate of savings. And, of course, if they didn't order and don't want FSD, then knock off even more.
I didn't order my Cybertruck until late June, 2020 (RN113568xxx). I waited because I didn't want to get an early build, so I doubt I'll be offered a Foundation version. But my FSD will still cost me $7000.
Bet TSLA
Active Member
Elon Musk's luck has finally run out
Buying Twitter was the biggest gamble of Musk's career. Now he — and his empire — are cracking under the pressure.
www.businessinsider.com
For those of you into self-flagellation, Linette Lopez has her usual mashup of lies, innuendo, BS, and fantasy available over at Business Insider. It's a hoot. Did you know that Tesla's profits are shrinking due to lack of demand and new products?
UkNorthampton
TSLA - 12+ startups in 1
Supercharge Pan-American Highway - Wikipedia ?Time to consider other topics besides the Cybertruck. How about South America which obviously is a very long play? Of course looking for a general manager in Chile doesn't guarantee anything. After all less than half a millions cars are sold annually compared to Brazils 1.5 million, so small market.
Tesla's move into Chile ahead of Brazil in South America appears to be a good opportunity. When you look at Chile's centralized population in Santigo and the narrowness of the country's road system the build out of the supercharger network should be a major advantage for Tesla. Certainly far less challenging than Brazil.
Chile has 292,260 sq mi and a population of about 17.5 million with about a third of that in Santiago. This makes is pretty easy to target a new charging network in a relatively small central geographic area.
It will be an interesting to see how this plays out since it seems Chile will be one of the targeted countries for the next gen vehicle once GigaMexico comes on-line. When will Tesla gear up to start installing the charging network? Will Tesla subcontract the work or will they try to take it on themselves? How will Tesla compete with existing automakers who are much less expensive? South America is going to be difficult for electric cars to gain traction but I'm glad to see Tesla seems to be taking it seriously by making a footprint in Chile. What do forum members who have knowledge of Chile think?
Tesla Plans to Enter the Market of Chile
Tesla plans to expand into new markets, including South America. The company is looking for a General Manager to launch the market in Chile.
Map of Chile
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/763360205612484145/
Note: Does this post belong in an existing thread?
NB. There's a 66 mile/100km gap in the route called Darién Gap - Wikipedia - previously discussed as I recall (search).
Spurs to other countries (other TMC members will know better) eg RN14 to Rio de Janeiro via Argentina
Countries served
The Northern Pan-American Highway travels through nine countries, including in Central America:
- Canada (CANAMEX Corridor unofficial)
- United States (Interstate Highway System official)
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- El Salvador
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Panama
Important spurs also connect with four other South American countries:
Yeah
I wasn't sure what the scope would extend to in terms of who would get invited, so I used today's pricing.
If someone had reserved FSD at reservation time (or doesn't want it), the Founder's option bundle is less of a deal, same as if they have UWC or PW/GW currently.
Still, that is the total of included items. Otherwise, we need to do things like compare the situation of a Day 1 reservation with FSD of an AWD who qualifies for the clean vehicle credit (assuming package pushed up MSRP)
80k - 7.5k + 7k = $79.5k pre other options
Without FSD: $72.5k
The Founder's package compared to with FSD price lock is $95k+ of stuff for $100k. Not $20k of pure mark up like the dealership comparison. Tri-motor include lightbar, so less differential.
Since you ask…Chile has several points in it’s favor. Before those, it is a small market, but does not itself produce vehicles. The Banco Itaú economic report is succinct and relevant:Having a Retail operation in Chile is beneficial for Tesla from the taxation and foreign exchange points-of-view. Since Tesla doesn't hedge foreign currency flows, their ideal strategy is broadly to balance inflows and outflows of cash from any particular region. That means having both imports and exports. Paging @unk45
Hmm, now I wonder what commodity Tesla might want to import from the home country of the Atacama dessert... drink that salty Kooli-ade, hombre!
¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, y pa' dentro, salud!
Chile also has a very high GINI coefficient of 44.9, partly explaining how there is a robust but small market for high-end consumer products.
Chile also has the world’s largest copper reserves:
Hmmm, does Tesla need copper?
Then there are other metals:
Mine production in Chile 2021, by metalMine production of selected metals in Chile in 2021 (in 1,000 metric tons)Iron11,200Copper5,588Molybdenum49.40Zinc27.90Silver1.38Lead0.40Gold0.03
source: US Geologic Survey extracted by Statistica
On top of those factors is the huge Santiago electric bus fleet mentioned here in the past, coupled with high receptivity for anything that reduces necessity for fossil fuel imports. That is closely related to a close commercial relationship between Brazilian business and Chilean business. (Perhaps the most famous example was the effective takeover of TAM airline in Brazil by the Chilean family owners of LAN. The two families had long been close, so the accidental death of TAM’s CEO led to a friendly takeover that produced LATAM.) Further, the auto industry of Brazil has increasingly close ties with that of Brazil, although the actual import data reflects a different story:
From an overall policy perspective Chile has huge foreign exchange demand for petroleum and autos, while exports are now dominated by copper and other mining products, with the odd Atacama foray for astronomy (high driest place on earth!).
The single most salient fact about Chile is this:
As the article presents, Chile has the world’s largest lithium deposits is the world’s driest places, very high and very, very difficult to access.
What company is most adept at solving insoluble (ok, couldn’t resist, insolvable) problems?
Overall, it seems to me that Chile is an excellent market for Tesla Energy and an excellent small market for automotive products, not to exclude the raw materials potential. Don’t forget that the Chilean Human Resources are exceedingly familiar with the rest of Mercosur and know just how to navigate in Brasilia, often, I’ m observing, more adeptly than are most Brazilians. [that last sentence requires a book-length explanation, but Elon’s cousin, and/or others nearby, probably has already explained all that].
Were I a Tesla influencer I would have recommended the course they’re on. Once they’re established in Chile, Brazil is easier and when Argentina begins to recover, as eventually it will, Tesla will be ready.
In sum, Chile is easy to enter and provides entry to the Southern Cone/ Mercosur
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