Is Tesla A Game Changer?

anythngbutgm

https://electrek.co/2016/12/19/tesla-poach-volvo-head-interior-engineering/

If you have been in the interior of the latest Volvo models, then you can understand this as a significant hire... Looking forward to what this brings to the Model 3.

fintail

Maybe no more leather covered 2x4s masquerading as luxury? Probably a good move.

andres3

I'm surprised none of the the ultra green tree huggers with more money than sense didn't offer incentives to VW diesel owners to cease operating the car in exchange for a free EV or something.

It must be killing them that the diesels are barely just starting to be taken off the road right now, and just a trickle so far.

Mr_Shiftright

Tesla is "charging" the charging hogs:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-supercharger-idle-fee/?ftag=CAD13782fc&bhid=23296987479610025145942368791510

Mr_Shiftright

andres3 said:

I'm surprised none of the the ultra green tree huggers with more money than sense didn't offer incentives to VW diesel owners to cease operating the car in exchange for a free EV or something.

It must be killing them that the diesels are barely just starting to be taken off the road right now, and just a trickle so far.

The tree huggers ARE the diesel owners and most of them love their cars. The general consensus I can gather among VW diesel owners is that the company lied to them. Many are never going back to VW.

I don't think these are the exact same niche as EV buyers. EVs are still "toys". The VW diesel was a serious and versatile automobile that delivered substantial fuel savings--certainly enough to challenge the cost per mile of most EVs.

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

andres3 said:

I'm surprised none of the the ultra green tree huggers with more money than sense didn't offer incentives to VW diesel owners to cease operating the car in exchange for a free EV or something.

It must be killing them that the diesels are barely just starting to be taken off the road right now, and just a trickle so far.

The tree huggers ARE the diesel owners and most of them love their cars. The general consensus I can gather among VW diesel owners is that the company lied to them. Many are never going back to VW.

s.

As to the group that will never go back to VW. I say this:

They have probably never had an unreliable vehicle. If their VW was otherwise stellar (admittedly many seem to be problematic other than just the big lie), and they suffer an unreliable vehicle; they'll be back; count on it.

texases

Mr_Shiftright said:

Tesla is "charging" the charging hogs:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-supercharger-idle-fee/?ftag=CAD13782fc&bhid=23296987479610025145942368791510

I'm betting this won't work nearly as well as Tesla hopes. Now they've put a price on hogging the charging station, so some folks will be happy to pay that price and leave their car sitting there. No more 'moral imperative' to move it. Same thing happened at a pre-school: folks were sometimes late picking up their kids. Pre-school enacted an X$/minute fine. Result? MORE late pickups! Now folks were willing to pay the fine. Before, it was their 'duty' not to be late. Now, just a fee.

Mr_Shiftright

You think? .40 cents a minute is a pretty expensive parking space, even by NYC standards.

Of course, the fines won't go into the bragging rights of "cost per mile" will they?

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

Maybe no more leather covered 2x4s masquerading as luxury? Probably a good move.

Boy you got that right. They are the most awful seats I have ever parked my rear on in anything costing over $75K. The Tesla cockpit is far from luxurious. It's more like driving inside an iPhone.

andres3

texases said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Tesla is "charging" the charging hogs:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-supercharger-idle-fee/?ftag=CAD13782fc&bhid=23296987479610025145942368791510

I'm betting this won't work nearly as well as Tesla hopes. Now they've put a price on hogging the charging station, so some folks will be happy to pay that price and leave their car sitting there. No more 'moral imperative' to move it. Same thing happened at a pre-school: folks were sometimes late picking up their kids. Pre-school enacted an X$/minute fine. Result? MORE late pickups! Now folks were willing to pay the fine. Before, it was their 'duty' not to be late. Now, just a fee.

Simple rule of supply and demand. Raise the price until demand lowers.

texases

How about this - put one of those lights at each charging station, like they have at the checkout at the grocery store. Charging = yellow, finished = green, done more than five minutes = flashing red + a siren!

gagrice

Will Tesla be a buyout target next slip it makes? Some investors think so.

So as an investor, there is no way I would buy TSLA stock. I might trade it on either side, but the risk of owning the actual stock is too ridiculous to even contemplate.

That’s not to say, however, that Tesla stock can’t maintain its valuation in a market that doesn’t care about valuation.

The question is whether or not, over the long term, TSLA falls in line with its true value (which is far lower), or if something happens that results in the stock vanishing off the market in an acquisition.

Which brings me to Volkswagen AG. VLKAY is in a very unhappy place right now. In September 2015, it admitted that it cheated on exhaust emission tests for its vehicles to make them appear cleaner than they actually were — punching out as much as 40 times the permissible emissions. The car maker is going to spend some $22 billion in the U.S. alone to make good with owners, regulators, dealers and the states.

What a mess.

So as an investor, my mind thinks about how these two companies might have a synergy of some kind that would take care of their respective problems. Then a Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) pal piped up and wrote, “VW should buy TSLA.”

What a great idea! Not only that, it is actually conceivable.

http://investorplace.com/2017/02/volkswagen-vlkay-tesla-motors-inc-tsla-stock/#.WJPPHfkrJPZ

Mr_Shiftright

Well if stockholders are crazy to buy the stock, why would VW be any less crazy to buy the company?

fintail

I wonder if Musk's galactic ego would allow for that, unless he was given oversight with veto power.

Mr_Shiftright

Teslas and Tariffs:

http://insideevs.com/tesla-least-affected-automaker-trumps-proposed-border-tax/

texases

This and other Trump tariff articles ignore the huge cost to us from all makers increasing prices. If company A has to increase price on its import, you can bet company B will increase price on its competing domestic. A big LOSE for all of us.

fintail

And if the dollar weakens as some alternative fact lovers want, prices will increase even more.

Mr_Shiftright

Inflation is often a direct result of trade wars.

It's relatively easy for the rankest amateurs to boost the national economy using reckless means---for a brief time until consequences kick in.

I doubt Tesla will escape the consequences for very long. This is not a company that can withstand a pounding.

andres3

I think a lot of consumers would "rush" a big purchase the day before tariffs took effect. At least those that have the means to do so.

I really liked how my sales tax went down .25% since January 1st, which includes my latest car purchase. One of the few times a temporary tax hike remained temporary!

gagrice

Mr_Shiftright said:

Teslas and Tariffs:

http://insideevs.com/tesla-least-affected-automaker-trumps-proposed-border-tax/

Find that hard to imagine with the battery cells still being made abroad. That is the single most expensive part in the car.

Mr_Shiftright

Chevy Volt outsold Tesla for month of January 2017.

http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

suydam

Looks that way.

Michaell

I saw my doctor today - he has a leased A6 TDI. Told him about the buyback and he's interested in selling it back and leasing a Tesla.

He runs the leases through the practice, so a tidy write off for him.

Mr_Shiftright

Sure why not, it's a nice ride, as long as he has a backup vehicle. He'll be in for warranty claims.

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

Sure why not, it's a nice ride, as long as he has a backup vehicle. He'll be in for warranty claims.

Maybe they have a loaner fleet of Prius's.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

Sure why not, it's a nice ride, as long as he has a backup vehicle. He'll be in for warranty claims.

I think their other car is a Mazda 6.

slorenzen

A little competition for the Tesla brand?

http://sundown.me.uk/technology/mercedes-aa-class.mp4

gagrice

slorenzen said:

A little competition for the Tesla brand?

http://sundown.me.uk/technology/mercedes-aa-class.mp4

Now that is funny, still laughing. Posted it on FB for all my Tesla fans to eat their hearts out.

slorenzen

gagrice said:

slorenzen said:

A little competition for the Tesla brand?

http://sundown.me.uk/technology/mercedes-aa-class.mp4

Now that is funny, still laughing. Posted it on FB for all my Tesla fans to eat their hearts out.

I sent this to my nephew. He already has the model S with Ludicrous(0-60 in 2.9 seconds), and he has the newer one on order, which will make the S seem slow.

texases

Here's what's inside an S battery pack, if you're curious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpSrHZnCi-A

PF_Flyer

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gagrice

Well a Tesla was a game changer for a cop in AZ. Luckily it was a slow motion crash. I would steer clear of Phoenix. It seems to be the autopilot capitol of the World. Several companies testing their driverless cars there.

A Phoenix police motorcycle was struck by a Tesla Model X reportedly operating on autopilot last week, police said.

The incident happened a few days before an accident involving an automated Uber vehicle in Tempe.

Phoenix police on Monday confirmed that the incident occurred when a Tesla driver and an on-duty officer exited the Black Canyon Freeway onto Utopia Road on the afternoon of March 21.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/03/27/tesla-self-driving-car-hits-phoenix-police-motorcycle-second-accident-involving-automated-vehicles-days/99710786/

andres3

AZ is an oddball State! They have progressive speed limits (75 MPH in several zones), but then they are also known for backwards thinking traffic cams (both speed and red-light).

They also have a ridiculous sales tax rate, at least in Sedona. I did notice traffic flowed at about the same speed on 75 MPH interstate as that posted at 65, although a bit smoother and safer with the higher speed limit.