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Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

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Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#41

Post by taway2012 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #32
salimmadjd wrote: post #10

If you're interested in undrestanding ZEV credits and its impact on Tesla's bottom line ($5000/car) read bellow [1] Also, worth noting other automakers are slowly catching up. Remember Tesla had a big start with their roadster, but expect fierce competition from Japanese and European automakers. Which is all good for consumers. 1 : http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/tesla-subsidy-vanishing...

Tesla owns key energy management system patents. Disclaimer: I'm super-long TSLA.

Patents can often be worked around. Almost all "real" patents can be worked around (BS "business method" patents are not "real" patents by my definition).

I also think Tesla has a bright future. But I hope they're relying on their brand value rather than transient advantages like patents. If I hear from Musk that he thinks their patents are going to be competitive advantage, I will be factor that (negatively) in my opinion of the company's prospects.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#42

Post by rtpg »

dkrich wrote: post #39
Shivetya wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Leaf had been in development over the same period of time as the S, if not before. The difference is that Nissan was trying to hit a harder goal, selling to the everyday driver, selling a car most buyers could afford. Similar to the requirements of the Volt and other electrics. The i3 is a special vehicle which has too many compromises to meet stupid laws in place by various governments, the worst being a require…

Agreed. I think most of Tesla's appeal comes from branding and the Elon Musk appeal and not merely from the fact that it is an electric vehicle. As an example: had Ford released the Model S and sold the exact same volume with the same revenue and profit/loss, would they have added $3 billion of market cap with yesterday's earnings report? I for one doubt it. So as much as people like to compare the Model S to the iPh…

>had Ford released the Model S and sold the exact same volume with the same revenue and profit/loss, would they have added $3 billion of market cap with yesterday's earnings report? I for one doubt it.

With all due respect Ford has been around a lot longer, and could produce a lot more , so could (potentially) sell a lot more. Tesla's selling those numbers because they're starting from scratch, and thus don't have the capacity to sell more.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#43

Post by toomuchtodo »

taway2012 wrote: post #41
toomuchtodo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla owns key energy management system patents. Disclaimer: I'm super-long TSLA.

Patents can often be worked around. Almost all "real" patents can be worked around (BS "business method" patents are not "real" patents by my definition). I also think Tesla has a bright future. But I hope they're relying on their brand value rather than transient advantages like patents. If I hear from Musk that he thinks their patents are going to be competitive advantage, I will be factor that (negatively) in my o…

Legal standing > Opinion

Patents can and should be used when they were legitimately obtained through costly R&D.

Value based on brand value? Bullshit. Value based on innovation? Solid.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#44

Post by dylandrop »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #31
noamsml wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a fair assertion. Hyperloop has the potential to change the world far more than tesla and spaceX

Electrification of mobility & GOING TO MARS > Tube transportation

Well, while I probably wouldn't say "much more" than Tesla or Space X, I would think that hyperloop could be just as important as at least Tesla. It has the potential to eradicate most of the commercial airline industry.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#46

Post by bluthru »

totalforge wrote: post #45

The hyperloop will never work due to a non-engineering problem known as the NIMBY. The California species is particularly nasty.

Time savings + environmental savings = I think it'll have an easier time than a new highway.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#47

Post by toomuchtodo »

nrb wrote: post #34
mparr4 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not quite sure if the Tesla is to electric cars as Apple is to smartphones analogy works just yet. Perhaps it will, but I live in the US and have still never even seen a Tesla vehicle. I've seen Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts. My town even has charging stations. Maybe that's how things will shake out, but I don't think they're there yet.

FWIW they are all over the place in Chicago, and presumably the other major metros.

I work for a major broadcast network in Chicago. Our owner owns both a Model S and Roadster.

I too see Model S vehicles everywhere in Chicago.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#48

Post by JaakkoP »

noamsml wrote: post #24
revelation wrote: post #5

How is this backtracking? Nothing has changed. He made it very clear from the beginning that this is an idea of his that he wants to release to the public, not work on it himself. Somebody then had the audacity to pester him with Hyperloop on the earnings call for Tesla. It's like asking the president about his veggie garden while hes giving a press conference on the war on (whistleblowers|drugs|terror).

That's not a fair assertion. Hyperloop has the potential to change the world far more than tesla and spaceX

With the NASA having troubles getting the budget it needs and seeing the slow-ish development elsewhere, I disagree about SpaceX potential.

With Tesla, on the other hand, I'm with you. I see Tesla like Luciano Pavarotti back in the day. Arguable the greatest in his field, but no matter how amazing he was, he did not end up changing everything we know about music. He started the huge change on how general public sees the opera, but he wasn't alone and it was just the beginning.

Now, Tesla might be the beginning of a big shift towards how we perceive electric cars, and it could even be the next Ford or General Motors, but it's not the next Benz Autowagen or the invention of the railroad, which Hyperloop clearly would have potential for.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#49

Post by snowwrestler »

noamsml wrote: post #24
revelation wrote: post #5

How is this backtracking? Nothing has changed. He made it very clear from the beginning that this is an idea of his that he wants to release to the public, not work on it himself. Somebody then had the audacity to pester him with Hyperloop on the earnings call for Tesla. It's like asking the president about his veggie garden while hes giving a press conference on the war on (whistleblowers|drugs|terror).

That's not a fair assertion. Hyperloop has the potential to change the world far more than tesla and spaceX

Statements like this are exactly why Musk regrets talking about it. We don't even know what the idea is, and it's already more world-changing than two actual, amazing companies.

Re: Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop

#50

Post by teeja »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #31
noamsml wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a fair assertion. Hyperloop has the potential to change the world far more than tesla and spaceX

Electrification of mobility & GOING TO MARS > Tube transportation

Apart from science, which robots can do however slowly, I see little value in "Going to Mars" - even if we were prepared, which we're not.

No air, no water, no plants or animals, no fuel, plenty of radiation (on the trip and while there) and dust and extreme cold. Other than very expensive chest-beating (for which the Moon is a closer dead body), reason suggests that continued support of robotic exploration will pay off better for science.

In the meantime we can invent new technologies which will greatly ease the burdens and dangers - once we have invented actual goals to make of such journeys worth the enormous investment.

Long-distance tube transport seems more than a little pipe-dreamish. Regional OTOH seems inevitable.

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