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Hertz orders 100k Teslas

bloomberg.com

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Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except apple is like louis vutton. Most people can actually afford an iphone or a louis vutton bag. Most people cannot afford to drop 50k on a tesla.

Investors are betting on Tesla cars getting cheap enough that average people can afford them.

It's nearly there already. The average new car in the U.S. costs $41K, and the Tesla Model 3 is $45K.

Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#283
post #236

I was very pessimistic about Tesla and confused by their stock price. But I now believe that they indeed are doing it and that we’re finally at the EV revolution. I’m not an early adopter type and the Teslas don’t excite me at all, but I’m really delighted that the market is evolving. I’m delighted that I was wrong.

Note, the EV revolution and Tesla being the winner of the EV revolution are different outcomes. They're certainly winning the EV race now, but it's possible that some of the other car companies can overtake them.

The bear thesis for Tesla has been something like, "Tesla might have an innovative EV-first design, but when the major manufacturers with a century of manufacturing know-how wake up to EVs, they will drown Tesla in vehicles."

I think part of what's driving the increase in Tesla's value is the realization that this thesis was wrong.

Tesla is now beating all the established manufacturers at gross automotive margins, and it's really not close. Toyota is around 18%, Ford and GM around 15%. Tesla is up at 27%.

Part of that might be demand-driven higher prices. But Tesla continues to reduce their cost of goods, and Tesla has emerged as the most innovative manufacturer, which we already see in teardowns of the Model Y, with huge sections cast as one piece, but particularly in the design of Cybertruck, and Gigafactory.

Tesla is far out in the lead on software. They appear to be rapidly improving on manufacturing. Tesla has paid down its debt with stock issuances, the company has $16 billion cash on hand, and the ability to go get a lot more nearly for free.

If the major manufacturers aren't going to catch Tesla with manufacturing prowess, or capital, what are they going to catch them with?

Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let's imagine that they have the Tesla with a very good discount: 30000$ a piece. "To be clear, cars sold to Hertz have no discount. Same price as to consumers." https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1452794619410927625?s=20

That's crazy. Who pays the single-unit retail price for 100,000 units of something?! That doesn't happen in business, ever, unless something weird is going on.

Well I don't know why Hertz did it but as for Tesla, that is what happens when you are production limited and not demand limited.

Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#285
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure Hertz can afford a 50KW charger at their locations => 1-2h for full charge.

Not to mention that if the charger is on-premise, there is no longer a personnel need to drive gas-depleted cars to an offsite refueling station. That may add up to significant labor savings.

They aren't charging you for labor, they are charging you just because they can. In most cases where fuel is not returned full, it's probably a business trip where the renter's company is paying and the renter therefore does not take a shit about it.

Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#286

I was very pessimistic about Tesla and confused by their stock price. But I now believe that they indeed are doing it and that we’re finally at the EV revolution. I’m not an early adopter type and the Teslas don’t excite me at all, but I’m really delighted that the market is evolving. I’m delighted that I was wrong.

Tesla’s stock price is confusing if you compare them to a car company. But they are not just a car company. They are also a car manufacturing supply chain, having brought much of their component production in house. They are also an energy company, both generation and storage, but also distribution, like gas stations. Think Exxon, BP, Chevron, ARCO, etc. They are probably a few other things, but this is the mystery o…

For the record, their market cap is also greater than "Australia's Woodside Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Imperial Oil, Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Energy North America, Canadian Natural Resources, ConocoPhillips and French group Total [combined]" [1], so they're also valued kind of crazy compared to energy companies...and that was in January 2021 before the most recent spike. Sure, part of that is faith in renewables. But in any fair comparison their stock price is still a little confusing.

[1] https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/teslas-market...

Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#288
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note, the EV revolution and Tesla being the winner of the EV revolution are different outcomes. They're certainly winning the EV race now, but it's possible that some of the other car companies can overtake them.

The bear thesis for Tesla has been something like, "Tesla might have an innovative EV-first design, but when the major manufacturers with a century of manufacturing know-how wake up to EVs, they will drown Tesla in vehicles." I think part of what's driving the increase in Tesla's value is the realization that this thesis was wrong. Tesla is now beating all the established manufacturers at gross automotive margins, an…

I wonder how much of the margin is made up of the $10,000 FSD option?

Re: Hertz orders 100k Teslas

#290
post #194
post #15

I say this having never driven a Tesla, but are they really suitable rental cars? My understanding is that Tesla vehicles differ quite a bit from regular ICE vehicles, to the point that there's a bit of a learning curve to operating the car. I'd be interested to hear from a Tesla owner on this. Maybe it's a non-issue.

We've given plenty of friends a chance to drive, it takes maybe 30 seconds to explain the drive stalk and park brake. The driving with regen is if anything similar to a dodgem car.

The drive stalk and the parking brake, sure. But are you explaining to them how to shift into neutral? How to turn on/off the windshield wipers? Headlights? Pairing phones to use as keys? How to use the valet card?

I have a model 3 but I forget this crap all the time. They'll need to provide decent documentation beyond the touch screen (and I'm sure they will).

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