tesla motors

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:21 am

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:33 pm Or what if you must swerve left or right, and on the left is a pregnant black woman with a toddler, and on the right are 3 old white men. It's a classic trolley problem, the difference being that someone will have to make these decisions and program them into an algorithm. Do you trust some nerd to make these decisions for you?

The answer, of course, can be found in bowling. When faced with a difficult split, one tries to graze the outermost pin with enough force to send it sideways. In your dilemma, the obvious answer is to do this with the pregnant woman, sending her barreling into the 3 fragile old men with lethal, hit-shattering force for maximum points scored!

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:19 am

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:33 pm Or what if you must swerve left or right, and on the left is a pregnant black woman with a toddler, and on the right are 3 old white men. It's a classic trolley problem, the difference being that someone will have to make these decisions and program them into an algorithm. Do you trust some nerd to make these decisions for you?

I can almost see the answer as "straight" without having to pile in facial, racial, and age recognition awareness. Moving obsticles on both possible routes. Just go straight. Brake as hard as possible. Black out the windshield so the driver can't see what's about to happen. Start dialing 911 before the impact even occurs.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:41 am

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:19 am
Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:33 pm Or what if you must swerve left or right, and on the left is a pregnant black woman with a toddler, and on the right are 3 old white men. It's a classic trolley problem, the difference being that someone will have to make these decisions and program them into an algorithm. Do you trust some nerd to make these decisions for you?
I can almost see the answer as "straight" without having to pile in facial, racial, and age recognition awareness. Moving obsticles on both possible routes. Just go straight. Break as hard as possible. Black out the windshield so the driver can't see what's about to happen. Start dialing 911 before the impact even occurs.

Imagine two semi's bearing down on you, braking means sure death.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Tue May 05, 2020 1:23 pm

How long until there's a Tesla special edition called "X Æ A-12 Musk"?

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:14 am

Musk orders the Alameda factory open despite state orders to keep it closed. Mnuchin had his back on CNBC this morning.

Of course on Friday Musk said he was moving it to Nevada/Texas so I guess this is a compromise.

Alameda doesn't bite.

In new comment, the Alameda county seems to have deescalated the issue around Tesla reopening its Fremont factory despite the county’s order as CEO Elon Musk set an obvious martyr trap.

As we reported yesterday, Tesla went ahead with the reopening of Fremont factory despite a local order from the Alameda County to wait until they approved a safe reopening plan.

CEO Elon Musk said that he would himself be on the production lines and he asked that if Alameda County were to enforce the rules and arrest anyone, it should be him:

“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”

But the county didn’t fall for the martyr trap set by Musk and didn’t go into Fremont factory to put anyone in handcuffs.

County officials claim to have been in continuous contact with Tesla last week to approve the automaker’s plan to reopen the factory by May 18, but Musk apparently wanted to do it sooner – leading to Tesla filling a lawsuit and stalling the talks.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:17 am

So his version of a compromise is FU.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:33 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Tue May 12, 2020 10:14 amOf course on Friday Musk said he was moving it to Nevada/Texas so I guess this is a compromise.

He said HQ and future programs, not existing Fremont manufacturing. There's no way Fremont gets moved in the next couple of years; that'd be insane, not to mention impossible. Once Tesla has another smoothly-running US factory or two, I could see Fremont slowly spooling down.

But of course Musk's response to this whole thing has been less than coherent. The optics of the whole thing are terrible, and this AM we have the Orange One in Chief tweeting support, which makes my skin crawl.

But looking at the situation from the 10k-ft view, it is pretty messed up how Alameda County has handled all of this. Fremont is the only auto plant in the entire country that hasn't opened or been given a date of next Monday to open--and some of those other plants are in far more impacted locations with respect to COVID-19. I sat in on Alameda's health meeting last Friday just before this all blew up, and their position was that they'd look again in another week or two to try to decide whether a date (further out from that time) could be set. And the coverage tends to focus on MUSK BILLIONAIRE BAD TWEETERER! while ignoring the mismatched treatment of Tesla vs other manufacturers, the fact that Tesla's been reopened in China for months with seemingly no issues and have experience in putting mitigations in place from that factory's reopening experience, the fairly comprehensive playbook to be used when reopening, the fact that many of the factory workers need to return to support their families, some suppliers are on the edge of bankruptcy, etc. That part's pretty infuriating, as well.

And of course there's the fact that this shutdown costs the world ~1,000 BEVs for every day it remains closed. COVID-19 is a big problem, but it continues to pale in comparison to climate change. Without a coherent reason to keep Tesla closed while other plants are re-opening, it was unacceptable.

Tl;dr - I don't like Musk's methods or the optics, but I also don't really blame him for losing his shit. Tesla's got enough boots on their back when things are going 'well.' In his position I'm sure i'd be less than copacetic, too.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue May 12, 2020 11:07 am

have experience in putting mitigations in place from that factory's reopening experience, the fairly comprehensive playbook to be used when reopening, the fact that many of the factory workers need to return to support their families, some suppliers are on the edge of bankruptcy, etc.

That's just about every large multi-national corporation.

Musk is a polarizing figure. He's going to have his irrational haters and oblivious fanbois. But everyone can agree he's kind of an entitled dick and he needs to stay off twitter for the betterment of Tesla's prospects.

And of course there's the fact that this shutdown costs the world ~1,000 BEVs for every day it remains closed. COVID-19 is a big problem, but it continues to pale in comparison to climate change.

I would imagine that the net carbon benefit of COVID shutdowns has exceeded the net benefit of 1,000 Tesla's per day. So while it's not exactly a transnational tradeoff, we're still net positive on climate change.

Without a coherent reason to keep Tesla closed while other plants are re-opening, it was unacceptable.

Has Alameda been inconsistent? I know they're going against the California guidance but internally I thought they were applying restrictions in line with their own published guidelines.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue May 12, 2020 11:31 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Tue May 12, 2020 11:07 amBut everyone can agree he's kind of an entitled dick and he needs to stay off twitter for the betterment of Tesla's prospects.

If I could wave a wand and nuke his Twitter account, or even put a filter on it, I'd do it for sure.

I would imagine that the net carbon benefit of COVID shutdowns has exceeded the net benefit of 1,000 Tesla's per day. So while it's not exactly a transnational tradeoff, we're still net positive on climate change.

Indeed, but it's not an either-or. Especially with Ford/GM/etc postponing/canceling EV projects due to this crisis, Tesla has to succeed. The drop in emissions is great, but it's temporary. Those 40,000+ EVs that weren't made from March through now are never going to be built; it's lost time. Given how woefully far behind the world is on this front, ain't nobody got time for that. People are still buying brand-new ICE vehicles FFS.

Has Alameda been inconsistent? I know they're going against the California guidance but internally I thought they were applying restrictions in line with their own published guidelines.

Right, their own published guidelines go against the state's. Which is their right to do. But that doesn't make them correct to do so, nor does it mean that Tesla should sit down and take it without pushing back.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:26 pm

Tesla's battery supplier says it's made a battery that can last 16 years and 1 million miles

https://www.businessinsider.com/catl-cl ... 020-6?op=1

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:02 am

flirted with $999. Looks like my one share is going to just be one share for a while or maybe forever. I have buy triggers in for a one share at a time but I'm not going to raise them. $1000 is insanity to me.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:05 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:02 am flirted with $999. Looks like my one share is going to just be one share for a while or maybe forever. I have buy triggers in for a one share at a time but I'm not going to raise them. $1000 is insanity to me.

How about $1003? Sheesh.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:16 am

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:05 am
LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:02 am flirted with $999. Looks like my one share is going to just be one share for a while or maybe forever. I have buy triggers in for a one share at a time but I'm not going to raise them. $1000 is insanity to me.
How about $1003? Sheesh.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:19 pm
LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:59 pm Are you retired yet?
Ha, no. Ask me again when it's a 4-digit price. Also, it's TSLA so could be $250 again in a few months. It's been a fun few weeks, though.

Are you retired yet?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:20 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:16 am Are you retired yet?

Alas I am not. Call me when it's a 4-digit price not beginning with '1'.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:27 am

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:20 am
LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:16 am Are you retired yet?
Alas I am not. Call me when it's a 4-digit price not beginning with '1'.

While I won't be throwing any more at it in this range, I honestly could see that insanity happen in 2020. Of course, I can also see them sinking back to $400 in 2020 on route and a bad delivery quarter or supply chain collapse, wherein I would increase my maximum stake from 4 shares to finding a way to get to 10 shares somehow.

Also in a more general sense did you see the NKLA stuff this week?

https://nikolamotor.com/motor

Right before Musk starts talking about getting in to the commercial truck market.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:36 am

The Nikola stuff is absolute insanity. I can see a lot of downside risk to Tesla, but Tesla has more cars in space than Nikola has on the road. NKLA has the market cap of Ford FFS, with no vehicles produced.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:00 am

Tesla's new impact report is worth a read.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:50 am

Q2 production/delivery numbers look really good, considering the pandemic & factory shutdown during much of the quarter.

Gene Munster's take: the rest of the auto industry is in trouble. Which is not exactly revelatory.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:01 pm

Over $1,200 and I still wouldn't pay more'n $750 and that is only because I've already made my money buying and selling on the turmoil. My dad called and asked if should buy when it was $1050, I told him "I'm not you but I sure wouldn't touch it. What do you really know about Tesla?" and he said I talked him off the ledge. I'm sure he'll call to let me know how much money he didn't make. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

From where I sit, it's been interesting watching both production and aftermarket ramp up at all of the OEMs, which includes wouldbe TESLA competitors and by interesting, I mean nightmare. Oy. But it's better than being on furlough and wondering what comes next.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:03 pm

I had 50 shares at $334, back in 2017, but sold them at $370, thinking “sucker...” to myself at the time. Didn’t realize I was the sucker.

It’s ludicrously overpriced at $1200. Or $800. Or probably $500. You just have to accept that the price is the stock has absolutely nothing to do with the company. It’s like the Bitcoin of stocks.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:31 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:03 pm I had 50 shares at $334, back in 2017, but sold them at $370, thinking “sucker...” to myself at the time. Didn’t realize I was the sucker.

It’s ludicrously overpriced at $1200. Or $800. Or probably $500. You just have to accept that the price is the stock has absolutely nothing to do with the company. It’s like the Bitcoin of stocks.

My not so genius endorsement when I bought around $250, I think, was that analyst said it could hit $900 while I saw it should be worth $350 in sales of carbon credits. I still think it's a $350 stock. (or was, maybe less after all new issues and loans, I haven't played with math with dillution, and debt vs what's actually being sold overseas) I've sold and bought on a roller coaster going between 4 an 1 shares and back. I've been down to 1 share since it rose to $850 but I'd enter the gamble again at $750, $700, and $650 only because I've made my money.

I also told my dad Tesla is Bitcoin yesterday and that's great for a speculator if their divination rod knows when to get out... Which is exactly what I told my nephew before invested in cryptocurrency like his base buddies and then lost a bunch of money.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:02 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:03 pm I had 50 shares at $334, back in 2017, but sold them at $370, thinking “sucker...” to myself at the time. Didn’t realize I was the sucker.

It’s ludicrously overpriced at $1200. Or $800. Or probably $500. You just have to accept that the price is the stock has absolutely nothing to do with the company. It’s like the Bitcoin of stocks.

It's worth more than Exxon today. PT Barnum would be proud.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:16 pm

[dupe post]

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:25 pm

I'm in a small slack group where we discuss investment thoughts and ideas. A few traders, me, some tech guys, a cop, a USPS mailcarrier, and a bar owner.

Anyway, today one of the guys on there causally mentioned that he had 2,000 shares of TSLA at around $19. I believe he sold in the $300s.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:29 pm

Can't argue with taking those gains. Wish I had gotten in at $19!

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:11 am

As TSLA approaches 1300 this morning, I think I will sell my last share at open. I'll regret losing my lone share when it breaks 2000 and I ask Zax if he's retired yet again.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:05 am

I regret locking in some gains but covered call on Thurs, that's for sure. Still guess it won't get exercised but today is a bigger jump than I'd expected.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:32 am

I'll leave a bid in to buy that lone share back for $1,000 for the next few weeks. After that, it will fill in some of the hole left by paying property taxes today and if the price ever comes back down to earth ($750 and under), I'll have to figure out how to get back in for few shares. IP has value. Future growth has value, but this is so far beyond speculation, it's unreal to me.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:42 pm

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 9:19 am

I could get used to this Mobile service. A technician is working in my garage upgrading the computer to HW3. Much better than driving an hour to the only service location in our State.

I'm looking forward to the visual updates and seeing more than fire hydrants and garbage cans as traffic cones. Anybody else upgraded notice differences in how autopilot behaves with a faster computer?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 9:24 am

I received the update back in March on my 3. The new visualizations are nice, and lane holding seems a little smoother. Hard to know if that's due to HW3 or software updates, though.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:05 am

Not bad, 90 minutes and he's out of here.

He said everything was restored which is great and I need to drive around for about 10 minutes to calibrate it and wait for a map update for the stop light feature. It feels like a new toy again, I just want to skip work and go outside and drive.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:14 am

telcta wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:05 am Not bad, 90 minutes and he's out of here.

He said everything was restored which is great and I need to drive around for about 10 minutes to calibrate it and wait for a map update for the stop light feature. It feels like a new toy again, I just want to skip work and go outside and drive.

Nice. I've been enjoying the recent update that added the side cameras to the reverse view. Makes it a lot easier to back into tight spaces confidently.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:25 am

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:14 am
telcta wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:05 am Not bad, 90 minutes and he's out of here.

He said everything was restored which is great and I need to drive around for about 10 minutes to calibrate it and wait for a map update for the stop light feature. It feels like a new toy again, I just want to skip work and go outside and drive.
Nice. I've been enjoying the recent update that added the side cameras to the reverse view. Makes it a lot easier to back into tight spaces confidently.

Ooooo, now, that sounds nice. I'm on 2020.20.12.

One thing I always have a hard time with is parking in the center of a space backing in. I use the cameras but it feels offset a bit and I'm usually slightly crooked.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:27 am

telcta wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:25 am Ooooo, now, that sounds nice. I'm on 2020.20.12.

24.6 is what you'll need. I think it's been sent to everyone who has software update preference set to advanced, but maybe not quite yet.

Release notes

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:30 am

Great! Something else to look forward to. I went to the car and checked I'm on advanced so I'll wait patiently, but first it's getting close to lunch time, must...drive...somewhere.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 1:48 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:03 pm I had 50 shares at $334, back in 2017, but sold them at $370, thinking “sucker...” to myself at the time. Didn’t realize I was the sucker.

It’s ludicrously overpriced at $1200. Or $800. Or probably $500. You just have to accept that the price is the stock has absolutely nothing to do with the company. It’s like the Bitcoin of stocks.

So I sold my last share around $1200 what, a week and a half ago? And I can't help but think "sucker" but I'm still absolutely infatuated. It almost broke $1800 yesterday and analysts are starting to up that $2,000 price point. A day later it's "down" to $1,500. Tomorrow it very well could be at $1200 or $2000.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 1:55 pm

What's the term? Irrational exuberance?

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 2:01 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 1:55 pm What's the term? Irrational exuberance?

I dunno but watching it is my catnip,or perhaps my Quaalude (Quaalude has two a's. Who knew?) , but it's definitely my obsession.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jul 22, 2020 4:56 pm

Tesla Posts Fourth Consecutive Quarterly Profit, Defying Pandemic Shutdown
4:45 pm ET July 22, 2020 (Dow Jones) Print

By Tim Higgins

Tesla Inc., for the first time in its 17-year history, reported a fourth-consecutive profitable quarter, a milestone that is sure to bolster Chief Executive Elon Musk's pitch that he can usher in the age of fully electric cars.

Defying the global coronavirus pandemic, threat of extended economic recession and Wall Street analysts who expected a loss, the Silicon Valley auto maker found a way, helped by the sale of regulatory tax credits, to eke out a $104 million profit in the second quarter.

On an adjusted basis, excluding stock-based compensation, the company said Wednesday it made $2.18 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet, on average, expected an adjusted loss of 2 cents a share earlier in the day, an estimate that narrowed from a loss of 14 cents on Monday and a much larger projected loss in May.

The company was mute on whether it believes Mr. Musk's pre-pandemic goal of increasing deliveries this year by more than 36% remains on track, something it wasn't willing to say in late April when he was railing against California authorities for keeping his lone U.S. assembly factory outside of San Francisco closed as part of an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19.

"Although we have successfully ramped vehicle production back to prior levels, it remains difficult to predict whether there will be further operational interruptions or how global consumer sentiment will evolve in the second half of 2020," the company said. "We will continue to update our outlook as necessary."

The achievement of four cumulative quarters of profitability means Tesla can now be considered for inclusion in the S&P 500 index. If included, large index funds would likely race to include the shares among their holdings.

Write to Tim Higgins at Tim.Higgins@WSJ.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2020 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc

TLDR

...the Silicon Valley auto maker found a way, helped by the sale of regulatory tax credits, to eke out a $104 million profit in the second quarter.

On an adjusted basis, excluding stock-based compensation, the company said Wednesday it made $2.18 a share...

That was why I could spend $250 a share when everyone else was selling. It's why I'd gamble $750 a share to buy back what I sold.