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

[Drumheller]

Didn't think my reservation was that far forward, but I've received an invitation to go ahead and order.

Not quite ready to pull the trigger this early on though... so will hold off.

I wonder how many others are doing the same?

View attachment 1003415

Seems like a good idea for Tesla to go through the entire reservation list and offer Foundation series to everyone, then start over at the top for regular orders.

 

[AudubonB]

Most recent - and quickly turned rancorous - posts that had started out as vaccine research company discussions, have been moved to “Other tech stocks?” thread.

 

[SunCatcher]

What were the first 6 digits of your reservation number, if you don’t mind sharing?

RN112788...

 

[Rarity]

Gizmochina is reporting that Tesla will be adopting TSMC's 3nm process next year for its FSD computer and that analysts project Tesla as TSMC's seventh largest customer.

Does anybody here have insight into this? Is this report credible? Would this indicate that Tesla is stepping up the pace of its innovation cycle on the FSD computer?

https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/12/26/tesla-to-adopt-tsmcs-3nm-chips-in-2024/

 

[Tony73]

The next version is definitely needed. Tesla still has to make the decision for longer range trucks though. If cell density improves they have the choice of creating a truck with the same range using fewer cells and having higher production overall vs same # trucks and cells but each one with greater range. I think the sales data makes the latter more achievable if there is a proven market.

Why wouldn’t they do both ? There is a market for trucks in the mid 300 miles of range and a smaller but not insignificant market for trucks with range closer to 500 miles.

 

[raffiniert]

US and A‘s probable next president seems to not like us:

Trump wishes electric-car supporters 'rot in hell' in Truth Social Christmas message

Trump also shared a meme claiming Santa voted for him, even though Santa is not a US citizen.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Tony73]

Gizmochina is reporting that Tesla will be adopting TSMC's 3nm process next year for its FSD computer and that analysts project Tesla as TSMC's seventh largest customer.

Does anybody here have insight into this? Is this report credible? Would this indicate that Tesla is stepping up the pace of its innovation cycle on the FSD computer?

https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/12/26/tesla-to-adopt-tsmcs-3nm-chips-in-2024/

I seriously doubt Tesla is TSMC’s largest overall customer. Maybe 7th largest for the 3nm process.
The article does not say if this is a new chip or if an existing design is being moved to a new process mode so it’s hard to say anything about the pace of innovation other than the fact they are moving to the latest process which should improve power and speed.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Why wouldn’t they do both ? There is a market for trucks in the mid 300 miles of range and a smaller but not insignificant market for trucks with range closer to 500 miles.

I wonder if that huge under bed storage area could be used for a battery expansion. It is a little to far to the back for my liking although not sure how franz would deal with that.

 

[Drumheller]

US and A‘s probable next president seems to not like us:

Trump wishes electric-car supporters 'rot in hell' in Truth Social Christmas message

Trump also shared a meme claiming Santa voted for him, even though Santa is not a US citizen.

www.businessinsider.com

He owned / owns an original roadster

 

[Words of HABIT]

Early indications suggest people think Robotaxi will be a four seater. That would certainly make the platform ready for a preceding 4/5 seat M2. And therefore not this:
View attachment 1003360
Has the introduction of M2 increased the eventual size of the Robotaxi?

Robotaxi is to displace the daily driver. Observing HOV lanes we see that 90% of vehicles on our city highways carry only one passenger at a time. When is the last time you sat in the front seat of a taxi? With driver removed, there is no need for a front seat, nor four doors. I'm convinced the first Robotaxi will be a two door hatchback, ride height of a Model Y for comfort and ease of entry/exit, something like the crude cut/paste image below. If folded unpainted stainless steel panels are less expensive than painted stamped steel, they will be incorporated into a more angled design as above (minus those funky impractical doors).

But Tesla won't stop there. For the remaining 10% of rides required with family in tow, a four or six seater + room for luggage Robotaxi shuttle van will be available. But Tesla will tackle the far larger single (or double) passenger Robotaxi market first. It is all about scale, efficiencies and keeping costs down.

 

[scaesare]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739357360806613174

Let the speculation begin

Elon looking back on the X... I believe other comments at the time talked about the Falcon Wing doors as being much of it:

"In retrospect, it would've been a better decision to do fewer things with the first version of Model X and roll out" new features more slowly over time, Musk told investors on a conference call. "I think there was some hubris there with the X."

Despite all that, Musk quickly added that all the Model X's features add up to "the best car ever" — an extremely ambitious vehicle that no other automaker would dare attempt.

"I'm not sure Tesla would make a car like this again," he joked.

So not sure they'd do that again on the compact model... or if they feel they've figured them out enough that they aren't a "new feature"... I suspect more traditional doors.

 

[scaesare]

If you want to sell in large numbers, just make a good small hatchback/crossover at a low price.

The Bolt and Bolt EUV show the way. Gives up a bit of cargo space behind the rear seats to give a roomy cabin with a flat floor. Plenty quick enough (EUV 0-60 in 6.8s). Maintenance schedule is mostly "rotate tires".

When the tax credits hit, it flew off the lots, despite no AWD option, slow DCFC and no heat pump.
GM will make a Boltium as soon as LGES can make LFP cells. Hoping my Volt holds up until then so I might have a reasonable small EV option.
(Tesla doesn't do dumb cruise fallback, GM does and I have several choices of nearby service center.)

Well, I'm not sure the Bolt "show the way" to selling in large numbers.

Now you may argue that it's due to lack of marketing/manufacturing, but I'm not sure I've seen evidence of huge demand either...

 

[CorneliusXX]

Why wouldn’t they do both ? There is a market for trucks in the mid 300 miles of range and a smaller but not insignificant market for trucks with range closer to 500 miles.

I hope they do. The other passenger vehicles (3,Y,S,X) have mainly focused on volume production over pack capacity expansion (e.g. Model S has been capped at c.100KWh since 2016, although range has improved in that time) which has been guiding my thought that they need to actively decide on capacity increases for additional range.

 

[scaesare]

And damn my old addled brains too... this was the thermal tiles coming off at launch, causing burn-up on re-entry, right?

A chunk of foam from the external tank punching a hole in the leading edge of the orbiter's wing. That area was a hi-temp region with a carbon-carbon thermal protection segment.

 

[JustSaying]

Wow I thought the California greenies would be first?
(Nice Tesla shot)

State Road 516, a new expressway linking Lake and Orange County will have built-in dynamic charging https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ca3b83_3b950a2f904b44d3af848bf5f42446a5~mv2.webp

www.floridaoftomorrow.com

 

[scaesare]

Owning a BMW i3 for 6 years has convinced me that 'suicide doors' are a disaster and practically unuseable. They drive us crazy....

Just getting people or things in and out of the back seat is mission impossible - unless you have about 10 feet clear.
They may look cool but I hate them with a passion.

Now if the i3 had sensible doors (and wheels), it would be even more wonderful

Hmmm... the rear "suicide door" doesn't extend farther out than the front "normal door":

View attachment 1003433

Is the need for 10 feet of clearance because the open rear door forces you to bring items in at a perpendicular angle, rather than a shallower angle from the rear?

 

[scaesare]

Slow day for the competition still coming to destroy Tesla, but wait.....

Russia Has A New Electric Car That's Totally Going To Destroy Tesla

It's over for you now, Elon Musk. The Amber is going to be unstoppable.

jalopnik.com

View attachment 1003139

LOL:

I mean, does your car have holes in the side for paddles? No? I bet you feel like a loser now. Not even the Cybertruck comes with holes in the side for paddles.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

He owned / owns an original roadster

How is this fact-checked?

It would appear he is far, far too large (massive girth/fat in the midsection) to even get in an original Tesla roadster . . . .

 

[CorneliusXX]

I'm not sure there is much room to expand the current pack, unless they remove 100mm of ground clearance. Need those additional cell energy density increases.

I was thinking more about them getting the advantage of Cybercell 2/3 energy density improvements and not shrinking the existing pack footprint. I haven't looked at the engineering specs closely enough re additional room, but they have managed a split pack with the range extender - so presumably there would be better implementations of a split pack than the extender if they decided that a permanent larger pack is desirable.

 

[FastEddieB]

Hmmm... the rear "suicide door" doesn't extend farther out than the front "normal door":

As an aside, the "suicide doors" on our 2005 Element have never been the slightest problem. In fact, they seem incredibly well designed for their purpose.

The Honda Element's Unsung Interior Design Brilliance - Core77

It's quirkier, more dog-friendly and utilitarian than anything else I've seen

www.core77.com