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

[FreqFlyer]

Seems to have worked for APPL;

Apple now has $210.6 billion in cash on hand

Apple continues to host one of the largest cash piles of any U.S. company.

www.cnbc.com

Thank you Iphone sales, that is crazy stupid money. Apple could the majority of the Fortune 500 companies with C A S H ! Impressive.

 

[Knightshade]

1

I think FSD bears will run out of arguments soon...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761844420633317669

Many more good short videos in this feed. I refrain from posting more again to not clutter this thread, go look yourself!

OTOH

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761811308176196082

V12 hitting another car in a parking lot-- 100% drivers fault of course as they're still responsible- but appears they still haven't fixed the issue of cars immediately forgetting what is in the cars blind spots the moment they leave view of the cameras (that, or they still haven't gotten camera distance measurement as good as when they had USS I guess)

Bit of discussion of that here:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761817429594755293

 

[GSP]

Because that 'plaid' sticker is in fact the "Ludicrous" badge. There will be no tri-motor 'plaid' Model 3. And best info right now is that the ne "Ludicrous" 3 will have one rear carbon-wrapped SRPM motor, and one front AC mtr.

“AC” motor? You probably mean induction motor, Nicola Tesla’s invention. All EV motors are AC these days. They were all DC brushed motors circa 1880-1980.

 

[GhostSkater]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761220244746731781

 

[GSP]

Where are the reviews of this vehicle? Can't find any reviews of the EV variant or any kind of range testing. If someone has a pointer I'd appreciate it.

Here is an 8-minute video walk around:

The end of the “ICE age” is near.

GSP

 

[scaesare]

That walk looks like the spouse (with a sore back) sneaking to the fridge at 2am for forbidden goodies.

Yeah, I mentioned similar back in Dec when they showed their latest video then... hopefully at some point they can get rid of that...

 

[scaesare]

This is true, I discovered it by accident myself a few days ago. Moderators have no control over the software but I'll complain to someone...

While we are on the topic, can I grouse about the latest forum software version not opening X posts in a new tab, and instead doing so in your current tab, taking you away from the forum?

 

[M|S|M MYP]

Did not know it was 'leave interns in charge on Monday morning' day today

 

[SOULPEDL]

Did not know it was 'leave interns in charge on Monday morning' day today

Max is looking pretty healthy with some "peak" interest at 210 this week.

 

[Krugerrand]

Yeah, I mentioned similar back in Dec when they showed their latest video then... hopefully at some point they can get rid of that...

I imagine that’ll depend on future designs of the lower back and core, and their interplay with each other. Will those two parts be able to be designed to contract and relax in a coordinated manner like they do with humans? Will the robot be able to contract its core for stability (rather than perpetually bending its knees), while simultaneously relaxing its lower back to allow for the swing required to not walk like its got a pickle stuck up its butt? Heck, will bot lift with its knees or its back? These are questions we need to know. Do I need to budget for regular bot back surgery and knee replacements??

 

[SOULPEDL]

I imagine that’ll depend on future designs of the lower back and core, and their interplay with each other. Will those two parts be able to be designed to contract and relax in a coordinated manner like they do with humans? Will the robot be able to contract its core for stability (rather than perpetually bending its knees), while simultaneously relaxing its lower back to allow for the swing required to not walk like its got a pickle stuck up its butt? Heck, will bot lift with its knees or its back? These are questions we need to know. Do I need to budget for regular bot back surgery and knee replacements??

Yes but have you seen the competition? (Cue in Mr. Stiffy)

 

[scaesare]

I imagine that’ll depend on future designs of the lower back and core, and their interplay with each other. Will those two parts be able to be designed to contract and relax in a coordinated manner like they do with humans? Will the robot be able to contract its core for stability (rather than perpetually bending its knees), while simultaneously relaxing its lower back to allow for the swing required to not walk like its got a pickle stuck up its butt? Heck, will bot lift with its knees or its back? These are questions we need to know. Do I need to budget for regular bot back surgery and knee replacements??

Or will there be a Ludicrous mode bot? Optimus Plaid, anyone??

Feels like it could be a center-of-gravity / balance thing. Crouching is what we do when we are trying to keep our balance in an uncertain environment... it lowers our COG as well as giving us additional range of movement in our legs (when fully upright, our upwards vertical travel is about maxed out).

Perhaps improvements in articulation/travel and control-input-to-output reaction time will improve this.

(Do we need an Optimus mobility discussion thread?)

 

[scaesare]

The steps are a little longer than in an earlier video. Walking speed, like the speed of anything else it does, doesn't need to match a human to be acceptable. At half the speed, it simply takes two Optimi to do the same work as a human.

IMHO, it's already walking fast enough and they should put their attention to stability next. The bot should not fall over when carrying a load and a human bumps into it or on uneven ground in most cases. And if a fall is unavoidable, it needs to mitigate the impact so as to minimize any damage. Perhaps they are training for these goals already; would love to see where they're at on this front. But these are recruiting videos, not product ads. I'm grateful for whatever they are willing to share.

I largely agree... and I'm being a bit pedantic about the walking here, only because it actually bolsters your argument... You said:

At half the speed, it simply takes two Optimi to do the same work as a human.

That's only true if 100% of the work involves walking. Many (most?) tasks involve walking only as a small percentage of the overall effort. If you walk 10 seconds to get a part, but then spend 90 seconds to install it, then if the replacement bot only walks at half speed that's task that the bot can do ~90% as fast. Again, this is in the context of walking speed being the issue, not other movement tasks.


(Pedantic point #2: Shouldn't that be "Optimii"?)

 

[EQC_]

Any chance you live near the infamous Ross Gerber/Dan O'Dowd "hidden stop sign" corner? I think it's in Santa Monica, IIRC. At any rate, Alexandra Merz (@teslaboomermama on X) knows it well, as she did some forensic testing after Ross *****ed the p**ch... (after she warned Ross specifically of Dan's motives).

Cheers!

Looks like about a 2 hour drive each way for me to get there...I love ya'll, but not that much .

Now that the Tesla navigation shows stop signs as part of the map, I'd imagine that, as long as that stop sign is indeed stored in the map database, FSD should handle it just fine...

 

[Featsbeyond50]

My big investment angle right now is for the price of COIN to surpass the price of TSLA so I can sell my 2 shares of COIN and purchase 2 shares of TSLA. Wish me luck with my endeavor.

 

[jerry33]

I largely agree... and I'm being a bit pedantic about the walking here, only because it actually bolsters your argument... You said:



That's only true if 100% of the work involves walking. Many (most?) tasks involve walking only as a small percentage of the overall effort. If you walk 10 seconds to get a part, but then spend 90 seconds to install it, then if the replacement bot only walks at half speed that's task that the bot can do ~90% as fast. Again, this is in the context of walking speed being the issue, not other movement tasks.


(Pedantic point #2: Shouldn't that be "Optimii"?)

Except tasks that involve carrying boxes and other parts. Those are mainly walking tasks (they're also probably the tasks that result in the most workplace injuries).

 

[SOULPEDL]

Almost didn’t want to post this one: I resent very much the cheap phrase “…. killer”.
But too interesting not to bring it to our attention.

Yet unknown how this will compare with Tesla’s Model 2.
Most likely not anywhere as innovative.
But together with the Model 2 this pretty much will mean the end of a lot of old auto.

"Corolla killer:" BYD launches $US15,000 EV in direct attack on legacy makers

BYD has launched its low cost sedan in China which industry observers are calling the Corolla Killer.

thedriven.io

I wonder if BYD is dumping (price below cost) in response to weak BEV growth compared to their Hybrid sales in '23. Proving this in court would likely take longer than legacy could survive. (I only know this "dumping" term from the chip industry decades ago, and how US lost memory chip sales specifically due to foreign price gouging, selling below cost.)

Here's some wiki data where we can see BYD's Hybrid vs BEV growth. Maybe it's changing in '24 IDK, and likely at that price it will.

What is crystal clear is legacy ICE and most EV companies are doomed. A 30% US Tariff on this vehicle brings it to $19,500. Wow!

 

[MartinAustin]

Making another attack run at $200...

 

[SOULPEDL]

Looks like about a 2 hour drive each way for me to get there...I love ya'll, but not that much .

Now that the Tesla navigation shows stop signs as part of the map, I'd imagine that, as long as that stop sign is indeed stored in the map database, FSD should handle it just fine...

And like laws, a stop sign will never be removed, only replaced with a traffic light or a new road entirely. Perhaps Tesla banked on this fact.

 

[SunCatcher]

"It's BYD's World, and Tesla is Just Trying to Hold On, Experts Say.." No, I won't post the link.

Either they don't get it, or are just taking any imaginable way they can to poo-poo Tesla. ANY EV sale takes away from ICE sales, not other EV maker's sales. Capishe?