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Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

reuters.com

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Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#271

Post by vkou »

nhf wrote: post #194
vkou wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is extremely anti-consumer, and I don't understand why you are being down-voted.

A point of clarification: you are able to use the car with a human operator in any ridesharing service. Tesla is saying that you can't share out your car on Uber's platform, with it operating at full autonomy, while you chill on your couch.

... Unless you do it via the TESLA NETWORK platform, paying an X% cut of your revenues to TSLA.

This is sharecropping, and is extremely anti-consumer.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#272

Post by takeda »

ams6110 wrote: post #96
patrickk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe because everyone wants his companies to succeed... Surely the only ones who don't want dramatically cheaper space launches, cheaper, widely available solar PV installations and attractive, affordable electric vehicles are deeply entrenched incumbents whose continued profitability involves polluting the planet, or those who really hate the environment for whatever reason. There are valid criticisms you can lev…

I don't have anything against Musk. I simply don't care much one way or the other because the things he's working on will never affect me. Electric cars are not something I'm interested in owning at the price Tesla is asking. Or even half what Tesla is asking. Utility electricity works fine for me, is a small fraction of my monthly budget, and is reliable. I.e. something I never really worry about. Payments for and m…

> Electric cars are not something I'm interested in owning at the price Tesla is asking. Or even half what Tesla is asking.

This was written 10 years ago:

https://www.tesla.com/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-plan-j...

In summary the idea was to start with expensive electric cars (roadster, model S, model X which was initially not planned) to fund research on affordable electric cars (model 3 supposed to be first of them). As electric cars are becoming more popular and there are technological advances, we'll get them cheaper and cheaper.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#273

Post by takeda »

nandemo wrote: post #227
shaneos wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All satellites for many years were only launched as part of the space race between the US and the USSR. Of course there would be no satellite communication without the space program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_1

But cell phones aren't satellite phones. Am I missing something? Do cellular networks rely on satellites indirectly? I'm not talking about GPS, which isn't an essential feature of cell phones.

Yes, satellites can be used when you're making a long distance calls.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#274

Post by inimino »

saiya-jin wrote: post #256
inimino wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cynic or perhaps nihilist Nonsense. It is a perfectly reasonable perspective for someone who isn't terribly interested in technological development and wants to live practically with what exists today. There's a place for dreaming about Mars, but most people don't. That's fine, and it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with cynicism or nihilism.

this is beyond one's personal dreams. only total anarchist/nihilist truly doesn't care about state of the environment where he lives. solarcity - cheap storage of solar energy for daily uses in household - not for everybody, but potentially for billions for sure. space - indirect windfall of discoveries and improvements made in materials, manufacturing processes etc - it happened in the past with Nasa, it happens/wil…

> anarchist/nihilist

You seem to be throwing these around as pejoratives, but neither of these terms has anything to do with this topic.

> doesn't care about state of the environment

Nobody but you said anything about not caring about the state of the environment.

> an old, grumpy person

You have no basis to make such remarks. Plenty of people care about the people around them, their immediate environment, and the circumstances they can personally and directly affect without getting caught up in fantasies about the future.

Wanting to send people to Mars for the good of the species is a fine idea, but your enthusiasm about it doesn't make you any more noble than someone who is simply more practically minded or not as optimistic as you are.

This kind of disrespect for the perspectives of others makes it that much more difficult to achieve the political compromises necessary to make any of these dreams a reality.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#275

Post by cortesoft »

imtringued wrote: post #229
cortesoft wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that is because of the law. This clause is more like Microsoft saying you can't use Windows to write software for Apple computers.

It doesn't change the fact that you still own the hardware on which the software is executed. You own the car and the computer but you don't own the autopilot software or windows that runs on the hardware.

That doesn't mean people can't be upset that there are limitations placed on how you can use the software. Imagine if you were told you couldn't use Microsoft Word to write about certain topics, for example.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#276

Post by nickik »

greglindahl wrote: post #270
celticninja wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's odd how these subsidies are somehow seen as a negative for Tesla, when they are not tesla specific, they apply to all EV regardless of manufacturer, in addition the incumbents have been getting subsidies and bailouts for longer than Tesla Motors has existed and it would take a huge amount of government support for tesla to come even close to say GM in terms of public money received.

Not odd at all. Greenpeace attacks Apple for using the same environmentally-unfriendly materials that everyone else uses... because Apple is popular. The subsidy-for-Tesla narrative is driven by folks who either don't like the government, don't think climate change exists, or don't like the hype around Elon/Tesla.

There are just as many people who point Tesla subsidy as proof that "the market" does not produce good outcomes by itself, and that government subsidy was vital for all solar power and EV vehicles.

Bith sides are full of shit.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#277

Post by pyvpx »

throwaway1892 wrote: post #243
patrickk wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Considering how most of his current businesses exist thanks to gov't incentives/tax advantages in the domains, there are legitimate criticisms to the way in which his businesses are run. Many of his Detroit competitors wouldn't exist/would be a shadow of their current selves if it wasn't for a massive bailout in 2008. Why is this never mentioned? If this is how low the bar is set (bailing out large, badly-managed c…

As an European, I sincerly hope that the Saudi regime collapse, for all the BS they are creating here and in the Middle-East. Still, for Syria, they are not the sole guilty party.

the US can't let that happen because the hegemony the dollar has over the world economy would be at a very high risk. Oil is traded in Dollars exclusively. This gives the Dollar some very powerful and unique powers. Saudi Arabia has a strong hold on the OPEC cartel.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#278

Post by celticninja »

nickik wrote: post #276
greglindahl wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not odd at all. Greenpeace attacks Apple for using the same environmentally-unfriendly materials that everyone else uses... because Apple is popular. The subsidy-for-Tesla narrative is driven by folks who either don't like the government, don't think climate change exists, or don't like the hype around Elon/Tesla.

There are just as many people who point Tesla subsidy as proof that "the market" does not produce good outcomes by itself, and that government subsidy was vital for all solar power and EV vehicles. Bith sides are full of shit.

I think the reason they are necessary for solar and EV is because non-solar and non-ev have had so many subsidies over the years that it is difficult to compete with them.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#279

Post by angstrom »

greglindahl wrote: post #46
antimatter wrote: post #30

One thing to note, I have a few friends who work at Tesla service centers. They cut A LOT of corners when it comes to service to show profits this quarter. For example, for the location that one of my friends works at (which happens to be one of the busiest locations in Southern California), they sold almost every single loaner vehicle as a used car.

While it's obvious that Tesla did whatever they could in Q3, it's worth noting that that's the strategy for loaner cars: they are supposed to be new, loaded cars, so that owners with a 2-3 year old car are tempted to upgrade. Given the new sensors, they need to update the loaner fleet.

Right, I don't think that's dishonest. These were vehicles essentially already paid for by Tesla in previous quarters. The fact that they could still sell them is a good sign.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#280

Post by erezyehuda »

misterhtmlcss wrote: post #266
vsl wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they keep doing it, and if you pay close attention to Tesla, you’re aware of it. You’re also aware of rumors of AP2 coming. If you don’t follow Tesla news, you’re in for a surprise. Regardless, I think it’s a fair critique: buyer’s remorse is a real thing with Tesla. It’s one thing to buy a $3000 computer from Apple and have it replaced with a much better one the next week, it’s another to buy a $100K car and ha…

Everyone discounts before they launch a new product. You don't need to follow Tesla to know a new product is eminent when you walk into a show room and they knock $10k of the price because you look pretty or walk nicely. Big deals and big discounts with serious need are always informative to the buyer. Plus people but cars when then want cars, some will always lament they could have waited a bit, but most I expect wi…

I don't think making an good buying decision should need to take subliminal cues into account, like someone predicting a storm by a sudden shift in wind behavior, and forcing your customer base into this buying paradigm is a huge risk for resentment and product dissatisfaction.
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