Tesla Semi

[Yelmurc]

The issue with Tesla is usually not that their ideas are bad, the issue is that they can’t get their act together in manufacturing. They miss production targets every quarter. Adding this truck will only compound their problems. There are numerous causes for these problems and I would point you to a article written last month by Horace Dediu he points out some of these issues and tries to explore what might be happening.

[Allybeboba]

This would be great for distributor networks like Wal-Mart, Shop-Rite, etc... Little less effective for companies like Coke that make deliveries. And probably not very good for the random hauler company who don't know if they are going to be going 10 or 200 miles in a day.

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Companies carry debt so they are less attractive for being bought out or taken over.

Definitely for Interstate haulers. I was actually ironically envisioning it being to haul refined oiled products from here in Houston all across the country.

[Donald Hellscream]

I think it looks pretty slick, though I do think it will probably take quite a bit more to encourage truck drivers to buy a tesla Semi, if nothing else just because the truck drivers who use their own personal truck often tend to have it customized with custom paint jobs, interior etc. So unless they can do the same with this I bet alot will just stick to their old beauty.

[chazus]

Companies carry debt so they are less attractive for being bought out or taken over.

That's... not why they carry debt. I mean, some companies do that, I suppose. But that's not why most companies, especially the SP500 ones, do.

[Skroe]

Another plus of an Electric Semi (along with Electric Cars in general): vastly fewer parts parts.

Electric vehicles don';t include things like Fuel and Oil pumps, engine fans, Transmission control units, Ignition systems, countless valves. Spark plugs, crank shafts, tranmissions, coolant pumps.

That means higher reliability and less time in the shop.

[McFuu]

That's... not why they carry debt. I mean, some companies do that, I suppose. But that's not why most companies, especially the SP500 ones, do.

There are other reasons, but I always figured this was the main one. I know a benefit to debt is deducting the interest from corporate taxes. I know there are other effects, but I thought the main reason was too add "value" to the company. And that during times of uncertainty companies take on artificial debt so the company outprices what competitors can afford to buy them.

[Bryntrollian]

I'd drive one

[Deleted]

There are other reasons, but I always figured this was the main one. I know a benefit to debt is deducting the interest from corporate taxes. I know there are other effects, but I thought the main reason was too add "value" to the company. And that during times of uncertainty companies take on artificial debt so the company outprices what competitors can afford to buy them.

It isn't so much to avoid being bought up, mostly because there isn't any laws or anything that forces you to sell your company unless you want to (that's of course not true in case of bankruptcy). They are for the most part in debt because competition is so strong, and that means that expansion is of the utmost importance to maintain your share in said market; that coupled with loans for companies like that are so easy to get that they barely need to open the books.
They could refuse to take those loans to expand, but that would for the most part make them lose the competition for the market, and at that point yeah they would be bought up or simply just be liquidized, but that would have little to do with their actual value of loans taken, but simply because they lost the race to own everything.

[Louisa Bannon]

He is bankrupt.
He doesn't have resources to produce anything, even abusing illegal immigrants.
Why do we care for his projecting, again?

For the same reason we follow Amazon. Smoke and mirrors. Money no longer has any actual meaning. Laws don't really matter. Everything is in flux.

Welcome to the future.

[Forogil]

Some of the specs

I really dislike such dishonest graphs.

The electric fuel cost is about 83% of the petrol one, but the graph makes it seem like its only 70% - exaggerating the benefit.

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A lot of successful business are 'almost bankrupt' or high in debt. Look at Netflix. Look at Ford. Look at GE. Look at nVidia. Look at Nike. Look at Accenture. All these companies are extremely successful, but also have high debt.

Really?
First and foremost Ford almost went bankrupt in 2007 - not the sign of extreme success.
Secondly - saying that all have high debt doesn't seem correct: NVidia and Nike seems to have debt-to-equity ratio of 0.3 - Tesla and Netflix 1.5 or more (Ford even higher); and Accenture practically 0.

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The issue with Tesla is usually not that their ideas are bad, the issue is that they can’t get their act together in manufacturing. They miss production targets every quarter. Adding this truck will only compound their problems. There are numerous causes for these problems and I would point you to a article written last month by Horace Dediu he points out some of these issues and tries to explore what might be happening.

Hmm.. An interesting read.

[Tierbook]

The more interesting bit from the presentation was the Tesla Roadster, range of 620 miles, 0-60 in 1.9s and top speed of 250mph+

[XangXu]

Elon Musk could create power crystals that fuel entire cities and the world would still be like "Meh"

This is why we are 100% fucked, people. The solution to a big chunk of our problems is here, now, today.

The world is just like... not interested in changing. So fuck it.

[Belize]

Elon Musk could create power crystals that fuel entire cities and the world would still be like "Meh"

This is why we are 100% fucked, people. The solution to a big chunk of our problems is here, now, today.

The world is just like... not interested in changing. So fuck it.

Did he have to visit a post apocalyptic version of earth to get the crystal?

[Tackhisis]

The more interesting bit from the presentation was the Tesla Roadster

That's quite bold, given his only production facility in the old Toyota plant where immigrants work.