In less than two weeks from now (on May 7th, 2014) we shall be listening to the Conference Call of ER Q1 2014. Somehow afterwards I always think that I could have asked a (more) important question than the analists did during the Conference Call. And I think that more people on this forum must be thinking the same way too. Therefore, I would like to start this thread to have the opportunity to gather all those questions of all of us, and of which each of us personally thinks that his/her question should be asked during the Conference Call on May 7th, 2014. You never know that those analists may be reading this thread as well. Let me start with my question first: Battery cells are the most important component of an EV. And Tesla Motors is still supply constrained on this item. Therefore, I think that we would like to get some more clarification regarding Panasonic. It's been about six months now since the new 1.8 billion battery cell agreement between Tesla Motors and Panasonic was signed. I would like to know more about the supply numbers of those 18650 battery cells from Panasonic. How frequent those shipments take place (daily/weekly/monthly), and the quantity of the battery cells per shipment. It would be nice if they would reveal the numbers regarding the frequency and quantity of the shipments of those battery cells. Furthermore, I would like to know from Elon Musk (his personal view) what Panasonic actually already has done in the past six months to increase their production capacity of those battery cells. He must know what the latest info is on this topic. Some clarification on when exactly (in which month?) those 18650 battery cells will be shipped to Fremont in higher frequencies/quantities would be really nice. I would appreciate it if others would add their personal questions to this thread as well. Cheers
I would like to know what has happened to the European Supercharger rollout? According to plan, around a hundred of them will be installed this year. But after a third of the year gone we still only have the same 14 of them we had at the beginning of this year :-(
Now that Tesla has 100 supercharger locations installed, when will Tesla start adding solar canopies to these locations. It would seem that the locations with the most use should be a priority.
Give us some clues as to who the other GF partners could be? Maybe at least tell us how many potential partners are they talking with and what some of their interest could possibly be in the GF? Storage Batteries? Green Energy? Automotive Stuff?
Hey Elon, when are those battery swap stations that you keep talking about going to come online? Seriously, someone should ask this because when he mentioned it a couple months ago it seemed like it would be soon.
(1) 60 Minutes reported that an average Elon Musk work week is 3-days at SpaceX and 2-days at Tesla Motors. Does Elon agree with this statement and does he see this spread changing in the near-term (12 months). (2) Provide color around CFO's aversion to hold ownership (stock) in the company for which he helps to lead.
If you start production of the Giga Factory next year then will some batteries be able to get produced from it starting next year while production is still going on? If so, can you provide any estimates?
All good questions about Gigafactory and charging stations. What is the projected start date on the second assembly line? You have been tweaking the model X design. When will we see a finalized version? When do you expect first deliveries?
Deepak owns 180,000 shares. His recent sale of 10,000 shares is immaterial and healthy diversification, there is nothing to be concerned about.
Was there any detectable increase in reservation rates that could be attributed to the announcement of the titanium shield for the battery and the concomitant closing of the NHTSA investigation?
Based on circumstantial evidence, some time in early May. While on family vacation in London during the spring break, I was told during my visit to Tesla store that RHD cars will be produced on the second line ( EU Market Situation and Outlook - Page 14). According to the post by an UK reservation holder Phil612, the first RHD cars are scheduled for delivery in UK in early June (EU Market Situation and Outlook - Page 14). Assuming about a month from the end of production to delivery in UK, this would mean that second production line should be operating in the begining of May. If my conjectures are true, this is pretty significant development. According to previous reports the major increase of the battery supply from Panasonic supposed to start in 2H 2014, and I always thought that operation of the second line would start at approximately the same time. It might be that both Panasonic ramp-up and start of the second line were moved up by at least a month.
a) When do you anticipate using 4.0 Ah cells? b) Will it cost more than current cells? If so, by how much?
To be honest, I don't know if the 4.0ah cells are really worth it or not. They have higher energy density by volume, but lower energy density by weight.
Thank you for your informed comment. What do you see for cell chemistry of what's possible within 2 to 3 years? During Q3's conference call Elon mentioned that Panasonic had some exciting things in its future roadmap. I wonder what's possible and when.
I would like to see these questions asked: When will we see a Model X beta? Is Gagafactory developing on your expected timeline? What is the status of Model E development? Any special features your can share at this point? Is here anything you want investors to know/what is the market currently underestimating or overestimating about Tesla?
Yes, I think a lot of people would like to hear the answer to that one. The Model X has been delayed several times already. Time to put that car out there where people can see it.
I have posted this before, but Tesla has emailed reservation holders of the X (including me and I live in Canada) saying that X test drives will be available in Q3 2014 with delivery anticipated in Q2 2015. This of course could get delayed but this is the company's current plan. As for the beta model, that has not been announced yet as far as I've ever seen.
I have a reservation for X Signature #2 and have received no email like that. Are you sure that came from Tesla Corporate? - - - Updated - - - Could you post the email, along with the date it was sent?