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Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

reuters.com

231–240 of 248 posts

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#231
We have conflicting information, One is that Tesla only has $900M Net Cash before the $2.4B raised, and how it needs to use half the $2.4 to service debt that they previously hold, and assuming the recent burn rate of ~$200M per month they will only have 10 months left.

Another is Tesla had ~$2B Cash before the raised, ~$2B Receivables, and newly $2.4B Cash raised. Not sure on Net total, and he $200M / month burn rate is only last quarter figurer and not a representative trend.

I don't know which one is right or which one is wrong, I don't have time to dig out figures either. But this proves even basic numbers that are wrong ( Assuming one of them are ) could easily be spread out.

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#232
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the last paragraph. The original powertrain in the Model S was an epic failure. By comparison, Elon claims the drivetrain in the Model 3 is the same unit that they are putting in the Semi, and that they test it to 1 million miles.

The Semi is their truck, isn't it? Why would someone put a small sedan drivetrain into a towing truck?

It’s simple, scalable, powerful, and modular. They put four of them in the Semi.

Connects with 4 bolts and 3 wires. Drops out for easy service, it’s an extremely impressive piece of tech;

https://youtu.be/m4eQ7nN_Lwo

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-drivetrain-design-el...

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This resulted in engineers that would purchase their own equipment and bringing it to work to use because they couldn't wait a month for a $200 piece of equipment. That's a mistake. You should never pay other people's costs. If the company wants to put itself in a position where work is delayed by a month for the sake of $200 then that is the company's cost to pay.

It’s a mistake if the company is healthy. But if individual workers are in a position to get a performance bonus or impress their boss, it may be worth it for them to spend some money to ensure that would happen. It would also be a bad work environment.

If they make it such a hassle to spend $100, what do you think their bonus policy is like?

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#234
post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Semi is their truck, isn't it? Why would someone put a small sedan drivetrain into a towing truck?

It’s simple, scalable, powerful, and modular. They put four of them in the Semi. Connects with 4 bolts and 3 wires. Drops out for easy service, it’s an extremely impressive piece of tech; https://youtu.be/m4eQ7nN_Lwo https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-drivetrain-design-el...

In that case it makes absolutely sense!

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#235
post #209
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Tesla Model 3 at $27,500 would have been such an absurdly sweet deal the demand would be ludicrous. If they could have snapped their fingers and manufactured as many as they needed, I would guess based on passenger vehicle sales numbers, they could have sold 300,000 in a single quarter at that price. They barely build that many in a year. I’m sorry, you were never going to see a Model 3 for $27,500. With the way th…

I was certainly in the top few people placing my reservation. High enough that if they were delivered in order of reservation, I’d have my $27,500 Model 3. They opted to maximize their revenue by delivering the expensive versions first. A Tesla won’t be my next purchase.

Elon was pretty clear that they weren’t going to fulfill in order or reservation or provide the $35k configuration at the beginning.

You may have missed out on the deal of the century. Sorry to hear you are missing out on the car of the century because of it!

Mind me asking what EV you would get in its place?

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for all I or anyone knows the last quarter was very tooling heavy and they chose to pay costs all upfront instead of amortize costs. IDK. Many people do know...Depreciation is subject to specific tax and accounting rules. While for tax purposes some (but not all) of Tesla's spending is immediately depreciable, for accounting purposes, none of it is, so their tooling costs must be depreciated over the useful life of t…

I said amortization and tooling. Not depreciation. And the point is, it’s foolish to assume that what happened last quarter is what will happen this quarter. If you don’t think so, please show me the billions you’ve made in the stock market.

Amortization is simply depreciation of intangible assets...

And with Tesla and Elon Musk especially, it's extremely foolish to assume that Tesla will meet any of the benchmarks that Elon has ever set...since they never have.

Right now, Elon is saying they have 10 months until cash runs out. And knowing Elon, that's almost certainly an overly optimistic prediction since it doesn't take into account the increased burn rates necessary to launch the Model Y or the self-driving taxi fleet, so less than 10 months. If Tesla doesn't raise additional capital by the end of 2019, they won't see the end of 2020 as a going concern.

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#237
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Who then maintains the proprietary software that keeps the vehicle running?" There are a number of Tesla vehicles out in the wild that for various reasons no longer connect to Tesla and do not receive over-the-air software updates. Some of them are running software versions that are now several years old. Sure, they don't get the latest software features or UI design, but as a car they still work just fine.

So, pretty much like every other car in the universe that never gets a single update for its decade+ lifespan after it leaves the factory.

Recalls can happen a decade later even. Would tesla owners even realize a critical component is defective after the company folds, let alone recieve a recall repair? If I owned a tesla and they folded I’d trade in my car that afternoon.

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#238

Suppose you buy a Tesla and in 10 months they fold. Who then maintains the proprietary software that keeps the vehicle running?

Are there historical examples of this happening in other companies? It's scary to think the answer to ops question is not immediately obvious.

Delorean folded but iirc maintained their oem market

Re: Musk to review all of Tesla's expenses in new cost cutting plan

#240
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens to online-connected video games when the servers go down?

Except the game has a single player mode that always works and will never be taken offline. You just lose access to new maps and updates. Seriously though the car will still be a car even in 100 years. It will drive.

A car isn’t a video game where the worst thing that a bug does is ctd. Sometimes cars are recalled years later because they burst into flames due to a poorly designed component. Who handles teslas recalls after tesla? And who repairs your tesla when the only people approved to repair teslas is tesla? Who keeps making oem parts? This is a lot more complex than call of duty 4 losing dedicated servers.
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