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

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

#51
post #40
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans, however, are our friends (as is China, our biggest and most important trading partner) and everyone benefits from trade. Americans having access to more affordable high quality goods is a win for Americans. I’m not sure why people don’t realize this.

Are Americans buying "high quality goods" from China all day?

Yes. Companies like Apple, Anker, Amazon, and DJI all manufacture their products in China.

The highest quality products in the world come from China.

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

#52
post #7

Um, yeah, rolling out something that hasn't been done before (large scale robotaxi service) is going to be slow, choppy, and hard. What did they think the analysis would show? Ask Google about how hard this is even with a handful of taxis, let alone a million a year.

Lucky for musk he's made it even harder for himself by refusing to use LIDAR

Lucky for Musk, losing money is the real business he's in.

I'm not sure that's actually a joke. How much of the man still remains under all the hair plugs and buccal fat stripping and finasteride? How much is only a husk, the puppet of the hangers-on who are the real beneficiaries of Elon Musk (tm) LLC?

Oh, and here's a real question. Separated from those sycophants and temporarily deprived of all access to face and funds to recruit temporary new ones, how many days do we think he could survive unaided? For bonus points, identify what would be the presenting complaint if he eventually found the sense to try going to an ER.

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

#53

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.

BYD already have a FSD competitor. It's not that clear that Tesla will win that one.

Here's some funky footage of a driverless thing mucking around on a race track https://youtu.be/J_c2gsxImjA?t=53 . Not sure how genuine it is but they are definitely developing stuff. Also re their B system:

>It has been tested on real roads for more than a year and has driven across China with no human intervention in testing using a BYD Denza sedan.

Compare to Musk:

>One of the more wild claims Elon Musk has made — regarding Tesla, that is — was back in 2016 when he said a self-driving Tesla would be able to go from Los Angeles to New York City “in ~2 years” (in early 2018)

which I think still hasn't happened?

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

#54
post #21

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 pri…

If I were in his place, I would make the small car, make a decent less edgy pickup/suv and add dashboard/stalks as an option on all cars.

(and remove the silly wide front light on the y)

I know it sounds boring, but I think more "normal" people would buy.

I mean, think about yourself - would you drive a cybertruck around town? Would you drive a conventional pickup around town? People I've talked to feel silly about driving a cybertruck.

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

#55
post #17
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.

Very hard to convince people to remove Chinese EVs from the market once they are there. Making EVs less affordable is not a green policy, and doesn't get votes from the other end of politics either unless you actually have a local car manufacturing industry to protect. The market is already undercut in places like Australia, and other manufacturers like Nissan and Volkswagen have already been dropping prices to stay relevant. You can now buy EVs in Australia that are not in the luxury car bracket.

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

#56
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t nearly every tech worker on this forum using an apple product ‘Designed in California’ but actually made in china

Yep, I buy an iPhone "all day" from China. That's kind of a straw man argument. Go pick up every single cord, speaker, lamp, etc. in your house and look at the label. That low quality shit that lasts a year is what I am talking about. Furniture used to be handed down for generations. Now, if you move apartments twice it falls apart.

The furniture used to stay in place and net be moved around distances all that much. Due to being heavy and difficult to transport. And impossible to disassemble and reassemble.

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

#57
post #29

"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.

People who live in cities not dominated by cars are not fooled into wasting time driving their own cars. Is what I am living.

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

#58
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t nearly every tech worker on this forum using an apple product ‘Designed in California’ but actually made in china

Yep, I buy an iPhone "all day" from China. That's kind of a straw man argument. Go pick up every single cord, speaker, lamp, etc. in your house and look at the label. That low quality shit that lasts a year is what I am talking about. Furniture used to be handed down for generations. Now, if you move apartments twice it falls apart.

The cost of all the tech bought in a year is not insignificant.

Back when I was in full time education, my summer holiday job was making HVAC on a production line. The transformers I screwed into backing plates came from China.

The furniature you complain of? The furniature I have comes mostly from Ikea, which is famously not Chinese.

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

#59
post #58
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I buy an iPhone "all day" from China. That's kind of a straw man argument. Go pick up every single cord, speaker, lamp, etc. in your house and look at the label. That low quality shit that lasts a year is what I am talking about. Furniture used to be handed down for generations. Now, if you move apartments twice it falls apart.

The cost of all the tech bought in a year is not insignificant. Back when I was in full time education, my summer holiday job was making HVAC on a production line. The transformers I screwed into backing plates came from China. The furniature you complain of? The furniature I have comes mostly from Ikea, which is famously not Chinese.

Ikea may be famously Swedish, but are they making my ROCKSJÖN and my EKENÄSET in Stockholm?
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