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Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

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Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#281

Post by justin66 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #164
jacquesm wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The driver behind a vehicle is primarily responsible for any rear end collision (US-specific, YMMV elsewhere). Not if you slam on the brakes without cause on the highway.

Here is the general state statute you're up against (as the person rear ending someone on the interstate): “Any person driving a vehicle on a highway shall drive the same at a careful and prudent speed not greater than nor less than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface and width of the highway and any other conditions then existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a highway a…

You've described the statute in some state for spacing between cars or something, but in some states "brake checking" is mentioned explicitly in the criminal code, and in others it can be prosecuted as vehicular assault. It's harder to prove without a dashcam, but if there are witnesses it is certainly possible.

That's a bit of a sideshow. Tesla needs to worry about the civil liability involved in making a car that stops suddenly in the middle of the road. For example, "The driver is still 100% responsible, just as they would be for cruise control" is absolutely not going to impress anyone as a defense if there is enough property damage or personal injury involving such a feature to justify a class action.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#282

Post by kamaal »

Nokinside wrote: post #40

If Tesla needs more money, investors will use that as a leverage to get the Elon Musk problem addressed. It would be good for everyone if there is intervention that corrects the problem and Musk could continue. Investors can demand to have someone who can veto his craziest decisions and publicity or they can force him out. Musk has structured the board so that nobody has power over him. He must know that if asks more…

>>get the Elon Musk problem addressed.

That's like addressing the Steve Jobs problem in Apple, Bill Gates problem in Microsoft, Thoman Edison problem in GE etc.

There is a reason why car manufacturers despite sitting on those 100s of billions of $s arent able to hold a candle to Tesla.

Some people are irreplaceable.

You can't go to Harvard get an MBA to become Thomas Alva Edison.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#283

Post by leesec »

chooseaname wrote: post #44
wyldfire wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Musk is truly visionary. But that doesn't dictate success. > It just requires a few years of optimization and the cars are going to be en par with established brands. The world is littered with visionary companies that paved the way for new technology but ultimately failed themselves. "A few years of optimization" gravely undervalues the complexity of modern auto manufacturing. I will concede that it's astonishing th…

I don't think he's visionary. We all want to play with rockets and electric cars. He just happens to have enough money to go out and do it.

I think you are drastically over estimating how many people with his money would go out and start a rocket company and an electric car company and risk losing all of their wealth because of it.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#284

Post by ummonk »

dwild wrote: post #219
ummonk wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Subaru never shadow brakes. Its driver assistance technology is certainly more rudimentary than Tesla's (only has lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control, and the adaptive cruise control doesn't see speedups far ahead and doesn't catch people switching into my lane until they're already halfway switched), but it is very reliable at doing what I expect to, and not having any dangerous shadow-braking like that.

> My Subaru never shadow brakes. Do your Subaru is electric? Does it range compare to the Model 3? How does it compare to its acceleration? Don't ever buy a product for a feature in beta. For the sake of anyone, never ever EVER do that.

My Subaru is not electric. Its range is significantly higher than the Model 3. It has much lower acceleration, but it's plenty to meet my needs (and indeed, I did not get the version with higher engine power because I do not need high acceleration). It also cost me half as much as a Model 3 would.

On the other hand, none of the features on my Subaru are in beta. Most importantly, it has fully functioning adaptive cruise control, which is a crucial feature for making highway drives more pleasant (particularly when driving in traffic), and in this day and age, I wouldn't buy a commuter vehicle which lacks a fully functioning adaptive cruise control system.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#285

Post by toomuchtodo »

justin66 wrote: post #281
toomuchtodo wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is the general state statute you're up against (as the person rear ending someone on the interstate): “Any person driving a vehicle on a highway shall drive the same at a careful and prudent speed not greater than nor less than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface and width of the highway and any other conditions then existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a highway a…

You've described the statute in some state for spacing between cars or something, but in some states "brake checking" is mentioned explicitly in the criminal code, and in others it can be prosecuted as vehicular assault. It's harder to prove without a dashcam, but if there are witnesses it is certainly possible. That's a bit of a sideshow. Tesla needs to worry about the civil liability involved in making a car that s…

If you’re not at a safe following distance behind the car in front of you, regardless of why they’re stopping, your driving skills are deficient. Following distances don’t change because it’s a Tesla; you shouldn’t follow closely as a tire blowout or a piece of debris falling into the path of travel of the vehicle in front of you is just as possible. Im sure there are states with more strict statues; they aren’t the majority of states.

Anyone can sue anyone in the US. Take it up with their general counsel.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#286

Post by amluto »

brianpgordon wrote: post #252
amluto wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Specs wise, Taycan and EQC are essentially matching a 2016-era Model S / Model X and will be available about 2 years from now. A 2016-era Model S is very, very similar to a 2012 era Model S, and a 2019-era Model S looks a lot like a 2016-era one with a less-safeguarded but comparably capable cruise control added on. The Model 3, as far as I know, is similar but hopefully has less technical debt. As far as I can tel…

Your post is spot on except, I think, for the point about any other major manufacturer being able to make the switch over to a screen based interface. I think that's far from clear. Building the whole user experience from navigation to climate control to the app on your phone to control everything remotely requires a very different skillset from the firmware type development that car manufacturers are used to. This m…

Software done well is a different game. Tesla’s touchscreen software quality, at least for the Model S, appears to be very, very low. There were some fun posts on HN earlier about a former Tesla employee whose NDA expired talking about the software.

A couple of decent embedded Qt developers should be able to cranks out a system of comparable quality in a few months. The major exception is the map app, which would take at least some real effort.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#287

Post by perl4ever »

wetKoala wrote: post #280
perl4ever wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being crazy subjectively seems like being gaslighted by everyone else. I think "gaslighting yourself" amounts to a figure of speech that means the same thing. While you may not think it's a technically correct usage, there are other similar expressions in English. I would say it's an example of an oxymoron.

Delusional. Being delusional. A person is simply delusional, if they are deceiving themselves. May as well start gangstalking myself. Hold on, let me stand outside my window with all my other selves. brb

There are lots of ways to express similar concepts in English, but in this case, I think "gaslighting yourself" expresses an incremental, progressive, or recursive concept whereas "simply delusional" is more static.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#288

Post by dragontamer »

dmode wrote: post #261
dragontamer wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A company that went from losing $49 million per quarter in 2011 to losing $742 million per quarter in Q2 2018 is poorly run. Yes. That's pretty bad. Their growth is quite backwards, they've learned to lose more money over time. http://ir.tesla.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tesla... http://ir.tesla.com/static-files/7235e525-db16-470c-8dce-9ec...

Not sure what your point is. If you are growinig like crazy in a capital intense industry, you are bound to grow your loses. Tesla could have chosen to sell zero cars and have zero losses. What matters is demand and profitable unit economica (Tesla cars have healthy gross margins)

Okay, well lets ignore CapEx then (~$600 Million). Yeah, lets get rid of it. Pretend that in Q2 2018 Tesla spent ziltch, nada, absolutely nothing, on expanding its factories or buying equipment.

EVEN IF WE IGNORE $600 Million worth of CapEx, Tesla is still $100 million loss. Again, Tesla lost a total of $742 million, and no, investments into equipment or building space does NOT fully explain the loss.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#289

Post by hndamien »

perl4ever wrote: post #260
mr_toad wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where is my opt-out Don’t tailgate.

That's not a panacea. Realistically, you can easily be rear-ended because you slowed or stopped for a traffic jam caused by something like that Tesla. It is a fantasy that people are in control of every significant danger around them.

Your stopping distance should always allow for the slamming on the brakes of the car in front. If not, you are tailgating by definition.

Re: Tesla Accounting Chief, HR Head Resign on the Same Day; Stock Plunges

#290

Post by hndamien »

slededit wrote: post #270
mr_toad wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where is my opt-out Don’t tailgate.

A randomly stopping car is dangerous even to people who aren't tailgating. A human would be charged with dangerous driving for that - which is a felony in my jurisdiction.

Both behaviours aren't great, but the at-fault driver would be at the back. Even though the stopping frequently randomly is likely more dangerous.
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