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Tesla raises $1.8B

reuters.com

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Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#131

Post by posguy »

golergka wrote: post #121
legulere wrote: post #118

Maybe they can use it to pay their workers fair wages [0] or to improve work conditions to be not twice as bad as in the rest of the industry [1] [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/02/09/unionizi... [1] https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/24/tesla-fac...

Do they have incentive to do that?

Not really, Tesla is very much like Apple in the sense that they expect their employees to be 100% compliant and not "overshare", with overbearing corporate security that'll handle you if you step out of line one iota. I don't see why Tesla would change, apparently working conditions are terrible at their factories: http://www.thedailybeast.com/workers-say-tesla-is-trying-to-...

On a vaguely related tangent, the sheer duplication of work I saw at Apple was impressive, their corporate culture has secrecy so ingrained that large chunks of the company are duplicating eachother's work needlessly, out of fear of communicating effectively.

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#132

Post by bobwaycott »

silvertonia wrote: post #102
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #59

Let's talk about Solar City. Their product is intended to be a solar roof, indistinguishable from a typical roof from street level. Costs look to be in the $50,000+ range. The marketing is that homeowners will not only drive electric vehicles, but go completely off grid by storing the energy collected into Tesla batteries. In order for this to make financial sense, there needs to be an ROI for the homeowner. So... ho…

While I'm not typical, I think there are a good number in a similar position: I've got a house with a roof approaching it's end of life. I use 4MWh/month. My electricity bill goes between $1.2k and 2.4k. A Solar City roof is about equivalent in long term (20-30 yrs) cost with a much better warranty.

What on earth do you use that much electricity for?!

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#133

Post by ece »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #59

Let's talk about Solar City. Their product is intended to be a solar roof, indistinguishable from a typical roof from street level. Costs look to be in the $50,000+ range. The marketing is that homeowners will not only drive electric vehicles, but go completely off grid by storing the energy collected into Tesla batteries. In order for this to make financial sense, there needs to be an ROI for the homeowner. So... ho…

This is the point, the amount of money used for this acquisition could have been used to bring the Model 3 to market quicker and make batteries in Reno quicker, not to mention any unforeseen problems with production, scaling, and recalls go away that much quicker too.

Which is the bigger market? Solar or cars? They might both be similar sized, but demand for solar sure would have been helped by having the Model 3 on the road. Hope the acquisition doesn't hold Tesla back, like most of the market thought at the time.

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#134

Post by hwillis »

legulere wrote: post #118

Maybe they can use it to pay their workers fair wages [0] or to improve work conditions to be not twice as bad as in the rest of the industry [1] [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/02/09/unionizi... [1] https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/24/tesla-fac...

"The Guardian reports that new data shows illness and injury rates are now 32 percent better than the industry average, too.

And at any rate, Musk has argued, Tesla staff earn equity. That bags them as much as $100,000 more than the average auto worker over a four-year period."

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/607901/what-its-like-to-b...

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#135

Post by hwillis »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #75
epistasis wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Homeowners often pay extra for aesthetics that appeal to them. But lets pretend they don't. How quickly does a normal roof recoup its costs? For at least the beginnings of a fair comparison, you should look at recouping the surplus over the normal cost of a roof. Also, how are you spending $25k on batteries? This sort of comment seems to attempt to try to take the most negative reasonable possible look on the situati…

My home's roof has another 20 years on it. So I'll be tossing half of it's lifetime if I replaced it now. That's partly why I mentioned new home construction would likely be an easier market. Moreover, it's a 3000 sq ft ranch, with larger than the average roof area. The Tesla roof is likely going to start at $50,000, (I said "$50,000+") so I'm thinking $65,000 for my house. Batteries are probably in the range of $10,…

They have a calculator. Check it out instead of guessing wildly

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#136

Post by buttcoinslol »

bobwaycott wrote: post #132
silvertonia wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I'm not typical, I think there are a good number in a similar position: I've got a house with a roof approaching it's end of life. I use 4MWh/month. My electricity bill goes between $1.2k and 2.4k. A Solar City roof is about equivalent in long term (20-30 yrs) cost with a much better warranty.

What on earth do you use that much electricity for?!

My guess is cryptocurrency mining or grow lights

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#137

Post by panzer_wyrm »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #59

Let's talk about Solar City. Their product is intended to be a solar roof, indistinguishable from a typical roof from street level. Costs look to be in the $50,000+ range. The marketing is that homeowners will not only drive electric vehicles, but go completely off grid by storing the energy collected into Tesla batteries. In order for this to make financial sense, there needs to be an ROI for the homeowner. So... ho…

What is the ROI on a louis vuitton handbag?

Tesla peddles luxury good for price insensitive people.

You want a solar roof that looks good - tesla is the only game in town right now.

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#138

Post by agumonkey »

dopamean wrote: post #33

It's interesting to me that in May of last year Snap, Inc raised about the same amount of money. I've never understood how some companies need so much money. To me it makes sense for Tesla. They are building actual cars and that is expensive. What on earth did Snap need a 1.8 billion for?

Last week snap was being shot down by some finance guy. They got bubble like fame, and failed to show how to convert user base into money. They're basically worthless

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#139

Post by lancewiggs »

Aron wrote: post #77
d_t_w wrote: post #44

Is there a difference between 'raises' and 'borrows'? I read this as Tesla took investment of $1.8B (presumably in return for shares), but in this case they have issued $1.8B of bonds, so they've effectively taken out a loan.

Yeah this was just a loan. The first time for them that it wasn't attached in some way to shares.

Not only that it is unsecured "junk" debt, and the interest rate is incredibly low at 5.3%.

Re: Tesla raises $1.8B

#140

Post by jacobush »

posguy wrote: post #131
golergka wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they have incentive to do that?

Not really, Tesla is very much like Apple in the sense that they expect their employees to be 100% compliant and not "overshare", with overbearing corporate security that'll handle you if you step out of line one iota. I don't see why Tesla would change, apparently working conditions are terrible at their factories: http://www.thedailybeast.com/workers-say-tesla-is-trying-to-... On a vaguely related tangent, the shee…

Funny you should say that about Apple. I think about the saying about software reflecting the organization in structure. Apples effectively static binaries are a bit the same thing. (The ".app" folders.) They contain everything needed to run the application, no libraries are shared between apps. Massive waste, but at the same time, the system is more robust this way. Apps can be upgraded and redone without caring about potential sharing and conflicts with other applications.

This has benefits. I think it's the same with organisations. The secrecy and keeping to yourself, also means you are free to do your thing and there is less need to communicate, "build a shared view" and so on.

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