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Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

electrek.co

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Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#21

Post by Vaslo »

This article is more Musk bashing, but I’d like to add that this is very common in companies private or public, large or small.

CEOs and/or senior leaders get ideas stuck in their head and it becomes apparent that no amount of analysis is going to change it. Then the product/expense is more of a “we’re doing this, how do I do it the least risky/least expensive way.”

This isn’t just products. I’ve seen examples at prior companies I worked for. It’s for getting that additional jet (we got a 3rd jet, all calcs and opinions was definitely unnecessary and barely used) or putting in this additional massive plant in a non-union state to brag about how state of the art/no risk from unions we were (plant never hit anywhere near capacity just like prior analysis showed, waste of money and eventually sold at a loss.) That said, there are lots of examples where projects and products did work where analysis failed them.

This is where CEOs can steamroll their boards, especially when they are also the Chairman.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#22

Post by randomcarbloke »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #8
jxjnskkzxxhx wrote: post #2

Making money by selling products is a lot harder than by selling hype. Throw this Friday in jail.

If BYD and China are dominant in the EV (hardware) war, then the long term strategic play is to dominate the FSD (software) war. Whether or not this is a bold strategy or massive mistake is yet to be determined.

they already hobbled themselves by limiting their fsd to computer vision, no chance of dominating the fsd market when the competitors are already level with or superior.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#23

Post by metalman »

smart move, to shut down internal dissent, on.something the rest of the industry is moving towards as fast as possible, up.to including flying robo taxis bieng given the green light in China. Given that tesla, and the varios x group have very deap resouces pertaining to navigation and automation, an internal report of iminent failure does seem very strange indeed

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#24

Post by damnitbuilds »

"One of the people familiar with the analysis said: There is ultimately a saturation of people who want to be ferried around in somebody else’s car."

I think this is wrong. i think Musk is right about this.

People don't want to or cannot drive, people don't want to find public transport, people just want to get where they are going as cheaply as possible.

Robotaxis have to be cheaper than normal taxis with a person driving and charging wages.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#25

Post by greatgib »

damnitbuilds wrote: post #24

"One of the people familiar with the analysis said: There is ultimately a saturation of people who want to be ferried around in somebody else’s car." I think this is wrong. i think Musk is right about this. People don't want to or cannot drive, people don't want to find public transport, people just want to get where they are going as cheaply as possible. Robotaxis have to be cheaper than normal taxis with a person d…

I don't know who is this people that you are talking about, but if it was the case, everyone would only use taxis already. Even if robotaxis would make the ride "half price", that would still be costly for a lot of persons, especially the one using their cars a lot.

Also you might like to own your car, to fit it to your need and style, you might need to use it to store items for period of times, you might want to be able to take your time, load and unload in private spaces, you might want to be 100% sure to have your car ready at the place that you want at the exact time and schedule that you need it, you might need your car for lot of small trips in a row without a clearly defined schedule, ...

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#26

Post by jxjnskkzxxhx »

damnitbuilds wrote: post #24

"One of the people familiar with the analysis said: There is ultimately a saturation of people who want to be ferried around in somebody else’s car." I think this is wrong. i think Musk is right about this. People don't want to or cannot drive, people don't want to find public transport, people just want to get where they are going as cheaply as possible. Robotaxis have to be cheaper than normal taxis with a person d…

There's no such thing as a robotaxi, it's just called a taxi. People who want to take taxis already take taxis.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#27

Post by Jcowell »

greatgib wrote: post #25
damnitbuilds wrote: post #24

"One of the people familiar with the analysis said: There is ultimately a saturation of people who want to be ferried around in somebody else’s car." I think this is wrong. i think Musk is right about this. People don't want to or cannot drive, people don't want to find public transport, people just want to get where they are going as cheaply as possible. Robotaxis have to be cheaper than normal taxis with a person d…

I don't know who is this people that you are talking about, but if it was the case, everyone would only use taxis already. Even if robotaxis would make the ride "half price", that would still be costly for a lot of persons, especially the one using their cars a lot. Also you might like to own your car, to fit it to your need and style, you might need to use it to store items for period of times, you might want to be…

Hi! one of those people! Live in a city with adequate public transportation that I never learn to drive and would like not to for as long as possible. To get to places I pretty much use uber for places that would take a while to reach with public transportation.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#28

Post by consumer451 »

monetus wrote: post #5

We had lots of modeling that showed the payback around FSD [Full Self Driving] and Robotaxi was going to be slow. It was going to be choppy. It was going to be very, very hard outside of the U.S., given the regulatory environment or lack of regulatory environment. I wonder how they originally thought it would roll out? Somewhat related, but did anyone see the EV event in China a few days ago? Have any opinions?

> or lack of regulatory environment.

I’m really curious what they meant by this exactly.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#29

Post by bni »

damnitbuilds wrote: post #24

"One of the people familiar with the analysis said: There is ultimately a saturation of people who want to be ferried around in somebody else’s car." I think this is wrong. i think Musk is right about this. People don't want to or cannot drive, people don't want to find public transport, people just want to get where they are going as cheaply as possible. Robotaxis have to be cheaper than normal taxis with a person d…

People enjoy driving their own cars, is what I am seeing.

Re: Elon Musk shut down internal Tesla analysis showing Robotaxi would lose money

#30

Post by apercu »

tw04 wrote: post #17
stubish wrote: post #6

I think it would have been very apparent at the start of 2024 that Tesla cannot compete with the Chinese manufacturers on cost. And Robotaxi is an attempt to expand beyond the luxury car bracket before someone eats that lunch. Without the article spin, the decisions could be quite sensible for the market at that time. It also helps explain the lengths Musk has since gone to to ensure Chinese manufacturers don't get a…

> I think it would have been very apparent at the start of 2024 that Tesla cannot compete with the Chinese manufacturers on cost. But they weren’t going to have to anytime soon. The US would have had very little issue convincing their allies and trade partners to block or tariff Chinese EVs to the point of preventing them from undercutting the market.

Agreed. Ford, GM, etc. would have ensured it without Musks help. And, is that a bad thing? China et all is not exactly our friend and we should stop sending them all of our money.

Before I get brigaded, I am firmly opposed to the Trump/Musk planned theological oligarchy.

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