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Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

bloomberg.com

201–210 of 224 posts

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#201
post #61

> “He’s going to need capital,” said Ross Gerber, chief executive officer of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, which holds Tesla shares. “That’s the one part of the financials that are a little bit troubling. To underestimate the cash burn over the next six months will be a mistake.” It's not that troubling. Even massive companies (AMZN in 2014) need to raise big capital. When you have something you wan…

Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment, for ending the strategic dependence on oil dictatorships, and for renewing the belief i…

Oil dictatorship will just move to renewables dictatorship. I was listening to the Bloomberg radio and some oil guy all on hype explaining how they are moving into the market and that 20% of their biz is now renewables and how they are the biggest solar electricity plant operator, etc. So, no, dictatorship as you say is kind of here to stay.

Also Tesla. BMW announced usable fully electric Mini and other manufactureres such as MB and Volvo are full on. I am sorry to say but Tesla will go down very soon....it's cool and everything but 'normal' businesses would already be down in similar position. You can't also really compare it to Amazon who actually formed the market. Tesla is competing with 100 years old manufacturers who nailed production down to the millionth of a cent.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#202
post #116
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And then 2-3 years later there was one laptop manufacturer: Apple Your view of Apple laptops seems to represent only a small segment of the market. While Apple was on the rise, they were still only 3rd behind Dell and HP in market share by 2007 [0] and are roughly 5th over the last few years [1]. They presumably look better on a revenue rather than units basis, but they were never the sort of singular force you des…

"Your view of Apple laptops seems to represent only a small segment of the market. While Apple was on the rise, they were still only 3rd behind Dell and HP in market share by 2007 [0] and are roughly 5th over the last few years [1]. They presumably look better on a revenue rather than units basis, but they were never the sort of singular force you described them as." Yes, that's correct - which is exactly how we are…

> My current interest level in new press releases for A8/7/S feels exactly like how I suddenly felt in 2004 or so when news of new laptop models suddenly failed to register even a blip.

If you think a Model S is way better overall than the high-end German fullsize cars, you were never actually in the target population for those cars in the first place. The things e.g. an S-class is renowned for - the attention to detail and quality of the interior, the ride quality, the ridiculous level of soundproofing, the rear legroom, the discrete rumble of the V8 - are on a level far beyond what Tesla delivers. Model S interior quality is on par with a VW Golf. And yes, I've ridden in both.

But of course the Model S has features that appeal very much to the tech crowd, like a big touchscreen and OTA updates and a CEO that can be worshipped.

It sounds a bit like someone who really enjoys off-roading complaining about how crappy the Model X SUV is because of the poor ground clearance and shitty tires.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#203
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment, for ending the strategic dependence on oil dictatorships, and for renewing the belief i…

Oil dictatorship will just move to renewables dictatorship. I was listening to the Bloomberg radio and some oil guy all on hype explaining how they are moving into the market and that 20% of their biz is now renewables and how they are the biggest solar electricity plant operator, etc. So, no, dictatorship as you say is kind of here to stay. Also Tesla. BMW announced usable fully electric Mini and other manufacturere…

Renewables can be used in almost any location over the entire world. It is incredibly hard to monopolise renewables in the same way you can monopolise oil.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#204
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment, for ending the strategic dependence on oil dictatorships, and for renewing the belief i…

> What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment Yeah, one thing the environment definitely needs is our continued reliance on personal transport vehicles, more roads, and more mining. How anyone can frame this as being good for the environment is a joke. Yes, it is better than a gas car. That is a long way for actually being green.

Don't just kill an idea because it only helps x% and wait for something that helps 100%. You'll be waiting a long time.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#205
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment, for ending the strategic dependence on oil dictatorships, and for renewing the belief i…

I agree with my whole heart. I think we have a moral imperative to develop electronic transportation, sooner rather than later. We think about the future much too little. Ever since we decide to concentrate farming and transport most food to mouths, we've relied on oil as a life-support system for 7.5+ billion people. There is no going back to pre-oil without a lot of those people dying, and oil will eventually be to…

Isn’t the mining of materials and making of electric cars more carbon producing than the ICE vehicles they replace?

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#206
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you intended to say that the iPhone was far superior to the typical dumbphone of the day, then I can accept that. I was responding to what you wrote, though. If 65,000 cancelled reservations translates to "a lot of people don't want to spend $35k on this car," then the nearly half a million remaining reservations must translate to "a shitload of people want to spend $35k on this car." No?

Not really. First of all, they are reservations, not purchases. And the outstanding orders represent everyone who follows this company the most closely and who are the most enthusiastic about these cars. Once that demand is exhausted, can we be certain that the demand will continue? I'm not saying that it's certain that it won't, but it does remain to be seen. In the automotive industry, a half a million cars just is…

I think you need to make up your mind here. If 65k cancelled reservations is a lot, then so is nearly half a million remaining reservations. If half a million remaining reservations aren't a lot, then 65k cancelled ones aren't relevant.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#207
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The comment you are quoting is a snippet out of context. I'm not sure why you're so upset. 'Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environm…

Putting Tesla anywhere near a list of factors for "ending strategic dependence on oil dictatorships" is pure hyperbole at best.

Tesla has been proceeding according to his plan for a bit over a decade. He foresaw the value of it in 2006. At the very least, his insight accelerated the development and adoption of electric cars and solar power.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#208
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest, I'll be surprised if Tesla is producing EVs at that rate too... They have 3 models of cars. I'm not even sure there is a market for 500k/year of those three models. Even expanding that to 4 models (Y) would still leave those numbers hard to hit.

Elon rarely makes categorical statements about future goals, usually throwing in a few weasel words, or "we project" or "we plan", but during Tesla's last earnings call he said: “What people should absolutely have zero concern about, and I mean 0, is that Tesla will achieve a 10,000 unit production week by the end of next year. […] I think people should really not have any concerns that we won’t reach that outcome fr…

And I have no doubt that they will reach a 10000 unit week. And they will probably have that production capacity. But once their backlog of orders has been filled, how many orders will they realistically have per week? I think that is the outstanding question.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#209
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment, for ending the strategic dependence on oil dictatorships, and for renewing the belief i…

Oil dictatorship will just move to renewables dictatorship. I was listening to the Bloomberg radio and some oil guy all on hype explaining how they are moving into the market and that 20% of their biz is now renewables and how they are the biggest solar electricity plant operator, etc. So, no, dictatorship as you say is kind of here to stay. Also Tesla. BMW announced usable fully electric Mini and other manufacturere…

BMW already have a fully electric car out, the i3. It costs ~$50k and has a range of, what, 120mi?

We'll have to wait and see if the fully electric Mini is going to be any better.

But we can look at the hybrid Mini Countryman S E, cleverly getting AWD from putting the electric motor on one set of wheels and ICE on the other set. Great idea. Except... it gets 27mpg. Terrible. The only excuse I can see is that it's a "performance hybrid", i.e. they weren't trying to be particularly fuel efficient.

Volvo currently sells only big cars that get bad gas mileage even in the hybrid versions.

I'm not holding my breath for any of these companies to save the planet.

Re: Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment Yeah, one thing the environment definitely needs is our continued reliance on personal transport vehicles, more roads, and more mining. How anyone can frame this as being good for the environment is a joke. Yes, it is better than a gas car. That is a long way for actually being green.

Don't just kill an idea because it only helps x% and wait for something that helps 100%. You'll be waiting a long time.

Anyone buying a new Tesla to replace their current car is bad for the environment.

Lets just not lie about what it is. Time to start having a real conversation about what we need, rather than slightly diverting course by a few degrees, hoping the iceberg is really thin.

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