Tesla Inc - Discussion about the company and CEO.
 

It has been noted that a lot of the discussion in the Model 3 and Model Y threads is about Telsa and CEO Elon Musk not the actual cars. So here is a thread to talk about the company.

This should be a big week for Tesla.

22-April:
Musk his having a press conference to talk about autonomous driving.

24-April:
Tesla publishes their 1st quarter 2019 report

Things I will be looking for in the 1Q2019 report:

• How much did Tesla lose.
• How much cash do they have left
• What is their debt load (specifically how much do they owe suppliers)
• What is their Capital Spending. (Tesla cut Cap Ex spending in the 4th quarter to show a profit. Are they continuing the trend or are they spending the money necessary to launch the new vehicles they have promised)

25-April:
Thursday is the deadline for Musk and the SEC to reach an agreement on the outstanding lawsuit over Musk's tweets


Rounding out things happening at Tesla - Panasonic says they will not do the planned expansion at the Nevada Gigafactory to increase battery production. That is a pretty good indication that at least Panasonic is not expecting continued Tesla sales growth

Funny, all the people I know at the giga factory say they are building infrastructure like possessed demons. Rumors are either more battery or another assembly line, which is kinda contradictory. However, I have found all the rumor mongers tend to be incorrect some time in the future.

Watch the video of that latest fire. Fire is a gross understatement. Explosion more like it.

Tesla says the Model Y will be assembled at the gigafactory on a new line. If they are not building that line today there is no way they will hit the promised start of production date.

Edit: Same with the new Roadster and Semi.

Ah, but which giga factory? The one kinda finished, the one he is building or #3? And musk has proven he can build them really fast.

The original Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is going to build the Model Y.

Gigafactory 2 assemblies Panasonic solar panels for Solar City. It was plagued by delays and is operating at a fraction of the promised volume with a fraction of the promised workers. (Solar City promised 3,000 jobs to get $750 million in public incentives but only 800 people work there.) I wouldn't hold it up as a success.

Gigafactory 3 is under construction in China. Time will tell how fast it will be build and start volume production.

The investor day has come and gone.

Musk claims:

1. Tesla built the best computer chip ever on his first try. (Samsung makes the chip for Tesla)
2. Tesla will add full self driving capabilities to all current Teslas within a year.
3. Within 15 months (at the latest) Tesla have their own Uber like service that will allow customer cars to drive as robotic taxis and earn money for their owners
4. Level 5 autonomous driving is possible with just cameras. (Apparently he doesn't think anyone has driven a car with a back-up camera)

All in all it was the same Musk bluster. Lots of wild claims and promises that won't be kept.

1st quarter results:

• Tesla sold 63,000 vehicles
• They lost $702 million
• Tesla had to use cash to pay the $920 million bonds due in March because the stock price was too low.
• Tesla expects to lose money in the 2nd quarter
• Tesla has $2.2 billion cash on hand
• Musk says it is time to raise capital (borrow even more money)
• Tesla will create their own insurance company

Those are the headlines, I'll have to dig deeper into the details.

EDiT:

• Semi is delayed until 2020. Batteries and motors to be built in Nevada. No comment on final assembly location.
• Tesla might build the Model Y in Fremont or Nevada - the decision will be made in a few weeks. This is a big deal because it means they haven't started building the assembly line yet.

The 2020 Ford Escape PHEV Option

My new blog at EV World about the 2020 Ford Escape PHEV and how it may be a good viable option for those who cannot afford a long range Tesla Model 3 and who have charging infrastructure issues.

If they try to make anything here, they need to empty the building some. Wonder where they get the car railcars or the infrastructure to load ditto. The railcars are end loaders, not side loaders like box cars.