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Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

wsj.com

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Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#51

Post by toomuchtodo »

rootusrootus wrote: post #47
toomuchtodo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shorts are desperate. Current highest Model 3 VIN puts production at 4K/week. They’ll easily hit 5k/week target by end of June. Usual disclaimer: TSLA shareholder

I feel like it's the other way around. With the market cap so completely out of sync with reality, shorting seems like the safer choice.

The market can stay irrational longer than you can remain solvent. When the short squeeze occurs, it will incur pain.

Personally, I don’t think their valuation is irrational. They’re not a car company, they’re an energy storage company, the market for which is enormous.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#52

Post by ams6110 »

CydeWeys wrote: post #17
gt565k wrote: post #6

Just like anything Trump seems to become a news article, so does anything Tesla. I can't even read the news without rolling my eyes and thinking WTF? An article about Trump or Elon Musk/Tesla even if it's completely uncalled for or factually incorrect seems to become "news". Journalistic quality has definitely gone downhill in the last decade or two.

Trump is the President of the United States. He's one of if not the most powerful person on the planet. If he doesn't deserve coverage, who does? The news media covered the "furor" over Obama's tan suit . They're damn well going to cover any real scandal involving Trump. It's their job. If this news doesn't interest you then don't read it.

They cover the fake scandals too.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#53

Post by [deleted] »

kyrra wrote: post #46
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article definitely feels like someone just trying hard to find an angle to cast a deprecating light on Tesla. Like a "vested interests" type of feeling.

WSJ doesn't have great love for most silicon valley companies. In Tesla's case, I think it's their continued over promising and under delivery. Currently the high cash burn plus low production volume on the model 3. Wsj also has some nice pieces about Tesla, such as their recent tour of the production factory. https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-factory-in-a-fishbowl-15...

[deleted]

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#54

Post by dforrestwilson »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #28
ClassyJacket wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, with what information the general public has, this could just as easily be spun as 'Engineering chief takes well deserved break after months of crunch successfully implementing Model 3 mass production.' Even if output production isn't as high as was initially planned, doesn't mean it's a failure.

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article definitely feels like someone just trying hard to find an angle to cast a deprecating light on Tesla. Like a "vested interests" type of feeling.

Head of Sales Chief Financial Officer Chief Accounting Officer Treasurer Director of Battery Tech

All gone in the past year. That's a notable amount of turnover. Some of them left a lot of options on the table when they chose to depart.

It's odd, and probably what triggered an entire article about something as normally mundane as a leave of absence.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#55

Post by meritt »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #50
meritt wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it a poor example? I'm comparing a car company that, over 100 years ago in 1914, was producing 714 vehicles a day by hand with 13,000 workers [1] to a company in 2018 with 37,000 employees utilizing robots yet manages to only produce half that amount? [1] https://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbe...

How many total employees did Ford have, total? How many of Tesla's total employees are in line work/production? How difficult is the relative assembly of a Model T vs a Model 3 (ie, how many parts, welds, fasteners, etc)? I honestly have no idea how to compare them fairly, but I am not impressed by your analysis so far.

I can't speak to the relative complexity of the two machines either (obviously a Tesla is vastly more technologically complex but that doesn't mean it's necessarily more difficult to assemble: assembling computers today is extremely easy compared to 30 years ago) but I can however point to:

* Tesla produced ~250k vehicles (cumulative as of Q2 2017) prior to the first production Model 3, so it's not appropriate to compare them to a brand new company: They know how to build cars by the time Model 3 rolled around. This is their 4th vehicle model.

* Tesla has stated many times how the Model 3 is a far simpler and trimmed down vehicle compared to the S or X: production should be easier.

* Tesla had a goal of 2,500/wk by December 31st (they managed 793 the last week by shutting down S&X production) and a total of 2,425 for that entire quarter.

* Tesla had a goal of 5,000/wk and a revised goal of 2,500/wk by March 31st but only managed to hit 2,020 by that point, again which required shutting down the S&X lines.

* The new goalpost is 5,000/wk by June 30th.

* Elon said that "excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake" and that "Humans are underrated". [1]

If Musk himself is suggesting that the Model 3 delays would have not occurred due to human assembly instead, I think it's quite fair to compare against Ford's Model T assembly line a century ago. Not to mention a few advancements in technology since then which should give Tesla the upper hand.

[1] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/984882630947753984

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#56

Post by IBM »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #28
ClassyJacket wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, with what information the general public has, this could just as easily be spun as 'Engineering chief takes well deserved break after months of crunch successfully implementing Model 3 mass production.' Even if output production isn't as high as was initially planned, doesn't mean it's a failure.

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article definitely feels like someone just trying hard to find an angle to cast a deprecating light on Tesla. Like a "vested interests" type of feeling.

Good journalists are like sharks and they're getting whiffs of Theranos or Enron and are rightly digging into the company.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#57

Post by akamaka »

kyrra wrote: post #46
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article definitely feels like someone just trying hard to find an angle to cast a deprecating light on Tesla. Like a "vested interests" type of feeling.

WSJ doesn't have great love for most silicon valley companies. In Tesla's case, I think it's their continued over promising and under delivery. Currently the high cash burn plus low production volume on the model 3. Wsj also has some nice pieces about Tesla, such as their recent tour of the production factory. https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-factory-in-a-fishbowl-15...

I lost respect for WSJ because of their continuous anti-Tesla editorials. I’m not at all a Tesla fanboy, but the WSJ commentary on subsidies are just trashy attacks that are devoid of any logic or context, given that the help that other industries and automakers have received.

For example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2015/02/16/tesla-sho...

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#58

Post by hliyan »

IBM wrote: post #56
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article definitely feels like someone just trying hard to find an angle to cast a deprecating light on Tesla. Like a "vested interests" type of feeling.

Good journalists are like sharks and they're getting whiffs of Theranos or Enron and are rightly digging into the company.

Digging is good, that's their job. But this is borderline innuendo. Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#59

Post by throwaway5752 »

meritt wrote: post #55
throwaway5752 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many total employees did Ford have, total? How many of Tesla's total employees are in line work/production? How difficult is the relative assembly of a Model T vs a Model 3 (ie, how many parts, welds, fasteners, etc)? I honestly have no idea how to compare them fairly, but I am not impressed by your analysis so far.

I can't speak to the relative complexity of the two machines either (obviously a Tesla is vastly more technologically complex but that doesn't mean it's necessarily more difficult to assemble: assembling computers today is extremely easy compared to 30 years ago) but I can however point to: * Tesla produced ~250k vehicles (cumulative as of Q2 2017) prior to the first production Model 3, so it's not appropriate to com…

You didn't answer any of my questions, though.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#60

Post by zimpenfish »

hliyan wrote: post #58
IBM wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good journalists are like sharks and they're getting whiffs of Theranos or Enron and are rightly digging into the company.

Digging is good, that's their job. But this is borderline innuendo. Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate.

> Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate.

This has never been true, has it?

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