That is so true and underrated. The true measure of long term success for a company is the talent that it has within it, and the talent that they continue to acquire. That's all a company is - a group of people gathered together to create value. So the better the people, the greater the value. Simple. Elon is seen as the next Steve Jobs in some circles, and in other circles the next Henry Ford or Howard Hughes. Some people see him as a con man ripping off the US taxpayer(judging by the comments some people in the thread). Honestly it doesn't matter what you think about him, it only matters what the whiz kids in Silicon Valley think - and they idolize him there. If you can get a job at Tesla or SpaceX you are a rockstar in CA. It is very hard for these companies not to spectacularly succeed when all the smartest people are gravitating to them, largely due to Elon. It is almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. And the other side of that coin is the people gravitating to the Musk companies are motivated by missions that are beyond just material wealth. People can mock their motivations(especially if you believe they are scams), but it doesn't matter as long as they believe in it - because that will give them a passion and drive not found in your standard corporation. Watch a SpaceX launch and it is obvious that this group of people care deeply about what they do and will not be stopped. That is a culture that stems from the guy up top. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Meaningful work at tech companies. Congrats to #1 <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX">@SpaceX</a> and #2 <a href="https://twitter.com/TeslaMotors">@TeslaMotors</a>. I think this is the root of success. <a href="https://t.co/i6rHg15EM6">pic.twitter.com/i6rHg15EM6</a></p>— Steve Jurvetson (@dfjsteve) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfjsteve/status/705925529388453888">March 5, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Matte black looks even better in daylight imo. Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler BTW those rims are Tesla's solution to covered reel wheels(which would've looked ugly). They are meant to lower drag coefficient, not for decoration.
Sounds like it may not have been initially, but will be due to popular demand. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/jeffrey">@jeffrey</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/neutyp">@neutyp</a> Matte black was surprisingly popular. Probably makes sense to bring it to production.</p>— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/716701798002610176">April 3, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Makes it look more carbon fiber or plastic - more Appley imo.
In the p85+ I had rattling/squeaking coming from the dashboard. It would always happen when I drove to Houston. I had to take it in a couple times before I figured out how replicate it for them. I've had this squeaking issue pop up in the 90d and when I took delivery of the 90d I asked the guys if this was an issue any longer and they said it wasn't...clearly it still is. So I have to get it fixed because it bugs the crap out of me. It's coming from the exact same spot as well. I've also noticed the sunroof rattling issue a couple times but I don't know how to replicate it so they can't fix it. It was an issue in the p85+ as well. It's crazy to me these exact same issues have popped up. I can't imagine it will be any better in the model 3. That said the overall feel of the 90d interior was a step above the p85+ interior, so they were able to make improvements there over 3 years.
Worst is when it's on a really nice expensive car like a Bentley or Lambo....did one really have to screw up such gorgeous car with a cheap ass finish. It's not magically going to become the Batmobile /rant
I really think the amount of short sellers are unhealthy for Tesla. Don't get me wrong, I am making a bundle over their misery. I got my Tesla stock very early (in the $35 range) and I put in a lot of money. But I planned to keep the stock for the long term, all those short turn gyration will not help my financial gain unless I sold my holdings. But rather, these short sellers are doing everything they can to create a negative impression of the company. This is not healthy (for themselves and for Tesla).
On the global scale, China is matching Tesla virtually step by step in two areas: A Chinese EV company is currently expanding its battery production capacity to 34GWh by 2020 while Tesla's Gigafactory is currently on pace to reach its full capacity to 35GWh by 2020. Chinese Gigafactory Another area there are a tons of activities in China is autonomous driving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lceQtP1-h5Y There are a lot of Chinese companies currently developing and testing autonomous driving. Some of these Chinese companies are start-ups headed by formal engineering managers/engineers from Google, Apple, and major US universities. The reasons are major manufacturer are there and government actively support it. None of them can compete with Tesla in the next 5-10 years. But it is entirely possible that what happened between Apple and Samsung can happen again 10 years from now (especially if Elon decides he would spent all this time on the Mars colony development 10 years from now).
No, SpaceX is already a leader in Aerospace industry. The last I heard, it is worth 12B. Tesla's model X and S are only products in a niche market in the auto industry. On the other hand, SpaceX's Falcon 9 is the clear leader in one of the most important sectors in the aerospace industry. Tesla is losing money while SpaceX is making money. Both are heavily in R&D.
IT is an unfortunate (IMO) fad that will soon give way to the next fad. Then people will have cars that look like they lost all their clear coat. This is coming from someone who likes rat rods.
First let me say that a ton of short interest is not necessarily a good thing for stocks in general. It is indicative of high risk and the heavily shorted stocks usually eventually come crashing down - the shorts are usually right. With that said, the shorts are probably more responsible for Tesla's success today than almost anyone else(besides Tesla themselves). As often as shorts get it right, when they are wrong it can get really ugly as new buyers and shorts covering both compete for shares as liquidity dries up - almost like a crash to the upside. That is what happened in 2013 with TSLA when they reported a surprise profit and Model S demand was much higher than expected. Normally after a short squeeze the stock price should revert to fair value - say TSLA is worth $50, but due to the short squeeze and forced buying it goes to $90, after the shorts are out it should fall back to $50 where buyers believe it is worth. What actually happened though was Elon took advantage of the artificial high stock price and completed a secondary offering in the $90s to raise $1B in new capital. In turn, he put this $1B back into the company to accelerate production ramp, expand factory capacity, and build a giant freakin battery plant. He used the money to ADD value to the company - so that before fair value may have been $50, but now it is actually $90. He has done this on multiple occasions, taking advantage of the shorts to add tremendous long term value to Tesla. I believe he will do this again very soon and use the money raised to expand Model 3 production - so that everyone can get their cars much sooner, and have to ability to make a lot more cars. As much as the critics (as can be seen in this thread) bemoan the government subsidies, Tesla actually paid back their government loan early with interest(GM still hasn't), they never needed the federal incentive for the Model S(how many fewer Model S's do you think they sell if it cost $107,500 instead of $100,000). It hasn't been the government who has funded Tesla - in a cruel twist of irony it has been those complaining the loudest and betting their money by shorting TSLA who have been funding Tesla all along, while bankrupting themselves in the process. It is a stroke of genius on Elon's part, and hilarious if you think about it.
Yes my post was directed at the legacy manufacturers in the US and Germany. China is actually the current global leader in EV consumption and growth by volume(Norway by market share). BYD(Buffet backed) is the primary player there. They are smart, because the Chinese know they cannot compete on the global gasoline car market since all legacy manufacturers have had 100 years to perfect their internal combustion engine technology. Anything the Chinese can come up with now to catch up would be far inferior. Instead by developing EVs they can start on a level playing field, perhaps even a head start since legacy manufacturers are held back by their stranded ICE assets. Also of course they have a heavy incentive due to the high pollution there. I believe in the next decade they will become what the Japanese were in the 60s and 70s while the legacy manufacturers scramble to catch up.
