What questions should be asked during the Conference Call of ER Q1 on May 7th, 2014?

[TSLAopt]

May not be as silly if asked at the annual stockholder's meeting coming up. Heck, last year people were asking for jobs, etc. :wink:

I do worry more for his safety in regards to SpaceX. I don't want this to get too political but I think the competition between SpaceX and everyone else for satellite launches and International Space Station crews/supplies is more of immediate threat to the powers that be than the EV revolution.

Sorry mods: You can move this if you like but is my last 'safety comment'

yes, I concede that it would probably be better fit to be asked at the annual stockholder meeting next month. I won't be there but hopefully at least one person will ask this question or something similar to it.

 

[KJD]

In regards to the SC rollout,

What is the best public utility to work with ?

What is the worst public utility to work with ?

Is the end of 2015 SC map realistic or not ?

 

[anticitizen13.7]

May not be as silly if asked at the annual stockholder's meeting coming up. Heck, last year people were asking for jobs, etc. :wink:

I do worry more for his safety in regards to SpaceX. I don't want this to get too political but I think the competition between SpaceX and everyone else for satellite launches and International Space Station crews/supplies is more of immediate threat to the powers that be than the EV revolution.

Sorry mods: You can move this if you like but is my last 'safety comment'

I believe that safety and security are important (because I am paranoid), but in my estimation it is unlikely that governments or corporate interests would direct violence against Elon Musk or top leadership at either Tesla or SpaceX. It's too risky to openly attack an individual public figure, and generally against civilized norms.

The people I worry about are the crazy lone wolves. For example: (1) The Unabomber (2) The guy who shot Ronald Reagan (3) The Sandy Hook shooter. These aren't the sort of threat that most rational people would think about, because they have no rational reason to initiate violence. The Reagan shooter was trying to impress Jodie Foster, which the overwhelming majority of people would find confusing. We as humans I believe like to think that there is a rational motive (like Russia's and Boeing's interest in protecting their respective launch businesses), but often there isn't any such motive.

It makes sense to ask about security in general though. Tesla has a single factory and any kind of disruption there could really impact deliveries.

 

[Auzie]

It may be better to pose topics for discussion rather than ask detailed questions, as topic gives more space to responder to tell the story they choose to tell, without boxing them in.

I am really curious about the gigafactory, specifically the following topics:
-the battery technology (chemistry) that will be used,
-battery cell shape and size,
-the ability of gigafactory, once it is set up and running, to incorporate any new battery technology that may emerge in the future.

 

[Benz]

I'm not sure if I will go to the meeting or not, so if someone thinks these questions are worthwhile, please ask them for me:

1. It seems like whenever big auto starts making truly mass production cars (100k-millions per year) they start to have major quality control issues big and small (not just design tweaks like the titanium battery plate), how can Tesla start planning to do things differently now to avoid this problem when they cross that bridge?

2. Obviously Tesla needs to focus on cars for the time being, but it seems like general aviation and watercraft could fit in with "Tesla Motors" too, is this a consideration or would that be for a seperate entity or if collaborators come knocking?

3. Tesla already has a great venture pitch/mission statement: "to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible" , but is it time to flesh it out a little more or is simpler better in this case?

This thread is not about the Annual Shareholder meeting on June 3rd, 2014. It's about the Q1 2014 ER Conference Call on Wednesday May 7th, 2014.

 

[tander]

Sorry, no more late night message boards for me!

 

[DriverOne]

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 disagree. There's no upside to Telsa showing off the X at this time; or even this year. The danger is that showing it off will Osborne Model S sales, by encouraging people to wait for the Model X.

There's no need to show off the X any more. Tesla already has plenty of reservations, they need not drum up additional X sales as they can't manufacture X's until 2015, and with the battery supply constraint couldn't make more cars today than they already are, even were the X were available today.

Keep people's attention on the Model S this year. 2015 can be the year of the X.

 

[AlMc]

I disagree. There's no upside to Telsa showing off the X at this time; or even this year. The danger is that showing it off will Osborne Model S sales, by encouraging people to wait for the Model X.

There's no need to show off the X any more. Tesla already has plenty of reservations, they need not drum up additional X sales as they can't manufacture X's until 2015, and with the battery supply constraint couldn't make more cars today than they already are, even were the X were available today.

Keep people's attention on the Model S this year. 2015 can be the year of the X.

That would appear to be TMs thinking. Elon indicated months ago that in 2014 they would be testing the limits of demand for the S. It appears that is what they are doing this year. Then at the end of this year they will introduce the X and an AWD S.

 

[Benz]

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

In which month will Tesla Motors for the first time reach a weekly production rate of 800 Tesla Model S vehicles? In May/June/July/August/September (2014)?

And what is the current weekly production rate?

 

[AlMc]

Some questions answered with the ER Conference call: new one from me: 'How many ZEV credits do you have and do you know their current value/when you might sell them?