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Tesla Inc.

Tesla Inc.111 posts

Tesla Inc. is a California-based company that builds electric cars, batteries and powertrains. It was founded in 2003 and initially financed by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk became its chairman a year later and, in 2008, its CEO. The company produces the Model S, Model X and Model Y. It has stores in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

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17 Nov, 2022

Musk defends $55 billion compensation plan in court

Court testimony0 Comments

Musk defends his $55 billion pay award in a Delaware court, in a suit brought by Gregory Vallo, a Tesla shareholder. The plaintiff alleges that the compensation package, which called for Musk to reap billions if Tesla hit certain market capitalization and operational milestones, was approved by Tesla board members who had conflicts interest due to personal and professional ties to Musk.

Musk would receive the full benefit of the pay plan, $55.8 billion, only if Tesla hit a market capitalization of $650 billion and unprecedented revenue and earnings within a decade. To date, Tesla, under Musk’s management, has achieved all 12 of the market capitalization milestones and 11 operational milestones, providing Musk over $52.4 billion in stock option gains

Musk says he did not dicate the terms of the package, or attend any meetings at which the plan was discussed by the board, its compensation committee, or a working group that helped develop it.

I was entirely focused on the execution of the company,

Varallo also questioned Musk about how he splits his time among Tesla and his other companies. Musk said he never intended to be CEO of Tesla, and that he didn’t want to be chief executive of any other companies either, preferring to see himself as an engineer instead.

The suit also alleges the shareholder vote approving the compensation plan was based on a misleading proxy statement.

9 Nov, 2022

Musk sells $3.95 billion of Tesla stock

Stock sale0 Comments

Regulatory filings show Musk sold nearly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares, bringing his total sold since April to $19 billion. He sold $7 billion in August.  These three most recent blocks of Tesla stock sales represent only 4% of the shares that Musk owns outright through a trust, and less than 3% of his holdings if options that he has to buy additional shares are included.

Musk’s filings did not disclose the reason for those earlier stock sales. But after someone on Twitter asked him if he was done selling Tesla shares, he responded “Yes” and then pointed to the possibility of being forced to buy Twitter as the reason for those sales. Shares of Tesla are down almost 50% this year.

21 Oct, 2022

Musk announces Quicksilver & Midnight Cherry Red Tesla colors

Announcement0 Comments

Musk introduces two new colours for the Model Y, available from Giga Berlin – Quicksilver & Midnight Cherry Red. Tesla:

Quicksilver & Midnight Cherry Red — made at Giga Berlin. Both are made from highly-pigmented metallic paint, designed to change depending on viewing angle & light. Our most advanced paint system yet, allowing up to 13 layers for depth, dimension & a hand-painted look. Available in Europe & the Middle East

Musk:

Only Giga Berlin can make these colors, as paint shop was specially built to apply many fine layers of paint, giving it complexity not otherwise possible

20 Oct, 2022

Musk: Tesla could be worth ‘more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined’

Makes Statement0 Comments

Pointing to past performance as an indicator, Musk tells analysts during an earnings call, that he sees a path for the auto manufacturer to become the most valuable company in the world.

I see a potential path for Tesla to be worth more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined. I see a way for Tesla to be roughly twice the value of Saudi Aramco. This is the first time I’ve seen that potential.

Apple and Saudi Aramco are valued at about $2.3 trillion and $2.1 trillion. That growth would imply an over $4T market cap for Tesla. Musk has previously made good on bullish promises. For example, he proclaimed in 2015 that the automaker would exceed a $700B valuation. At the time, the company was worth only about $25B.

7 Oct, 2022

Tesla Semi deliveries to Pepsi start Dec 1

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk says the Tesla Semi truck will start production with deliveries to Pepsi on December 1. He says the Semi has a 500-mile range and is super fun to drive. Pepsi ordered 100 of the all-electric Class 8 trucks in December 2017, a month after it was announced.

30 Sep, 2022

Musk reveals Optimus Robot

Announcement0 Comments

Musk unveils the humanoid Telsa Optimus Robot at Tesla AI Day. He shows a walking production prototype, plus one that uses Tesla actuators. Musk says the robot will be produced at scale and will cost less than a family car.

We’ve designed it using the same discipline that we use when designing the car, which is to design it for manufacturing, so it’s possible to make the robot at high volume at low cost, with high reliability. That’s incredibly important. We’ve all seen very impressive humanoid robot demonstrations. But what are they missing? They’re missing a brain. They don’t have the intelligence to navigate the world by themselves. They’re also very expensive and made in low volume, whereas Optimus is an extremely capable robot, but it’s made in very high volume, ultimately millions of units. It’s expected to cost much less than a car, probably less than $20,000.

 

Government agencies mock floating Cybertruck

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk’s claim that Cybertruck will be able to ‘serve briefly as a boat’ is mocked by two government agencies.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources responded with a photo of a submerged car and said:

Our derelict vessel crews are begging you to understand that anything that “serves briefly as a boat” should not be used as a boat.

And, after a Twitter user suggests Cybertruck would put the San Francisco Bay Ferry out of business, they responded:

Announcement: to prepare for the inevitability of the Nintendo 64 floatie truck flotilla rendering us obsolete, we’re adding little wheels to our ferries. Landboat will be able to serve brief as a bus, so it can cross bridges, parking lots and highways that are not too congested

GM sales grow 74% YOY in Sept, Tesla sales grow 63%, Honda declines

Sales Report0 Comments

In its September estimates, TrueCar says that General Motors has grown its sales most in the past year, increasing 74.2%.. GM also had the largest number of sales, at 200,000 units. Tesla is in second place with sales growth of 63% compared to the same time last year. Honda is the fastest shrinking automaker in US sales, down -15.3%.

29 Sep, 2022

Musk: Waterproof Cybertruck can cross rivers, lakes

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk says the Cybertruck will be able to cross rivers, lakes, and seas, because it will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat.  The Cybertruck would need to be able to scale the 6.5-mile float from Starbase to South Padre Island for SpaceX-related logistics activities. Musk did not disclose any indication of how the Cybertruck would be propelled, nor did he give any estimates as to what speed he would expect it to travel, although the Cybertruck as a boat would likely travel between 5 and 10 knots.

Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy.

Musk teases Tesla AI Day 2

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk teases Tesla’s second AI Day, which will showcase the company’s artificial intelligence programs. The event runs from 5 to 11pm PST on September 30, 2022.

There will be lots of technical detail & cool hardware demos.

Expected technology reverals include the Hardware 4 computer and The Tesla Bot. He also responds to a Twitter user that, despite the expectation of a luckwarm response by the media:

AI/robotics engineers who understand what problems need to be solved will like what they see. As well as advanced chip & supercomputer engineers for next-gen training & inference. Note, this event is meant for recruiting AI & robotics engineers, so will be highly technical.

Tesla wants ‘thousands of humanoid robots’ within its factories

Makes Statement0 Comments

A Tesla job listing for a mechatronic technician says the company wants thousands of humanoid robots in its factories:

Tesla is on a path to build humanoid bi-pedal robots at scale to automate repetitive and boring tasks. Most importantly, you will see your work repeatedly shipped to and utilized by thousands of Humanoid Robots within our factories.

The company’s Autopilot Division aims to hire 20 software and firmware engineers, deep learning scientists, actuator technicians, and internships, to work on its Optimus humanoid robot. Musk wants the robot to work beyond car production and do household chores and care work in millions of households.

28 Sep, 2022

Hertz CEO: Tesla rental demand ‘very, very solid’

Makes Statement0 Comments

CEO Stephen Scherr of Hertz, which ordered 100,000 Tesla vehicles in October 2021 , says demand for the vehicles is very strong. Hertz is looking to have 25% of its fleet be electric vehicles by the end of 2024, up from 5% today.

Demand has been very, very solid. And remember, we’re seeing demand not only among leisure travelers but also corporate travelers, where in fact, corporations want their employees in an electric vehicle to satisfy some of their carbon footprint objectives. And of course, we’ve been renting to Uber and Lyft as part of their ride-sharing network. Demand across all three has been very strong.

Scherr also said the vehicles are less costly to maintain:

I’d also point out from a financial point of view. For Hertz, the maintenance is appreciably lower on (the) electric vehicles. We’re seeing it 40-50% lower, just given the nature of the car itself.

27 Sep, 2022

Tesla expects ‘high volume’ of deliveries, asks staff to help

Makes Statement0 Comments

In an email to staff, the car company says it is expecting a high volume of deliveries in Q3 and asks all employees, even those who don’t work in the sales and delivery department, to help with delivery tasks, include moving vehicles around, washing and preparing vehicles, delivering vehicles directly to customers, and answering customer questions on delivery day.

We will be delivering a very high volume of vehicles to eagerly waiting customers during the final days of Q3. To help ensure we can delight as many customers as possible, the delivery team is requesting additional support with key delivery-execution tasks.

Fire at Giga Berlin

Fire0 Comments

A fire broke out in an outdoor pile of cardboard and wood at Tesla Gigafactory Berlin. 50 firefighters, including 12 from Giga Berlin’s own fire department, worked to extinguish the fire. Around 800 cubic meters of paper, cardboard, and wood burned. No injuries were reported. Police:

It is being investigated whether shredding work had started the fire.

Ctritics of the factory called for an immediate stop of production:

Our worst fears have come true. We demand a production stop until the causes and circumstances have been clarified, and all safety-relevant measures in the water protection area have been implemented.

26 Sep, 2022

Report: Tesla China to hit over 80k deliveries this month

Makes Statement0 Comments

A report from China says Tesla is targeting deliveries of about 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles domestically this month, despite insurance data from previous weeks suggesting that Tesla seemed to be having delivery challenges in the country.  The report says that shorter waiting times mean scalpers who had bought the cars in hope of a large profit will now be undercut as Tesla customers wait for a possible October price cut. Estimates in China reportedly suggest that Tesla will reduce its Model 3 prices by RMB 20,000 ($2,700) and the Model Y by RMB 28,000 ($3,900). Report:

There is a tradition of price reduction: Historically, Tesla has been ahead of the market regardless of whether the price has been raised or lowered. There is room for price reduction: Tesla’s 22Q2 single-vehicle profit is 8,000+ US dollars, and its 22Q3 single-vehicle net profit hits 13,000 US dollars, equivalent to 80,000 yuan, which is extremely profitable.

21 Jul, 2022

Tesla board investigates Musk’s glass house purchases

Opens investigation0 Comments

Tesla’s board is investigating Musk for possible misuse of company resources in a project to build himself a mansion near the company’s Texas headquarters. The project involves a glass-walled building near Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, of which some renderings apparently show a residential area with bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen next to a body of water, with the factory in the background. The board’s probe comes after Tesla’s finance and internal audit teams became aware of an order placed by a Musk advisor (also being probed) for millions of dollars worth of specialized glass, and is focusing on whether executives in Musk’s inner circle used the company’s clout to obtain the glass for a personal project of Musk’s while a global supply chain crisis made the glass more difficult to obtain normally.

24 Aug, 2018

Musk not taking Tesla private after all

Makes Statement0 Comments
After a board meeting on Thursday, Musk announces that he will not be taking Tesla private, after all.

In talking to our public investors, most were supportive of optimizing for long-term value creation over quarterly earnings. This was also a factor in remaining public.

20 Nov, 2015

90,000 cars recalled

Recall0 Comments

Tesla recalls 90,000 cars because of a single report of a front seat belt not being properly connected. Tesla was alerted to the seat belt issue by a customer in Europe two weeks ago and has since inspected 3,000 vehicles and its assembly process.

Tesla recently found a Model S in Europe with a front seat belt that was not properly connected to the outboard lap pretensioner. This vehicle was not involved in a crash and there were no injuries. However, in the event of a crash, a seat belt in this condition would not provide full protection.

20 Oct, 2015

Withdraws recommendation

Makes Statement0 Comments

Consumer Reports withdraws its recommendation for the Tesla Model S, after surveying 1400 owners, because of “worse-than-average” reliability. The car previously had the best rating possible.

As the older vehicles are getting up on miles, we are seeing some where the electric motor needs to be replaced and the onboard charging system won’t charge the battery. On the newer vehicles, we are seeing problems such as the sunroof not operating properly. Door handles continue to be an issue…Despite the problems, [Consumer Reports] data show that Tesla owner satisfaction is still very high: Ninety-seven percent of owners said they would definitely buy their car again.

Tesla Motors share price drops 10% before recovering to close off 7%.

14 Oct, 2015

Autopilot driverless car update

Product Release0 Comments

Telsa Autopilot imageTesla launches a beta version of Autopilot, which will be available on Thursday. All vehicles from September 2014 will be given the feature. Vehicles will rely on four major sensor systems. Ultrasonic sensors that tell the computer what’s around a 16-ft perimeter of the car; a forward-facing camera that helps determine where the lanes are and what cars are ahead of it, and which can also read speed signs; forward radar that’s used to detect fast-moving objects and which can see through rain, fog, and dust, as well as pulling from GPS and high-precision digital maps. Musk says it’s very important that people “exercise caution” and that they keep their hands on the wheel.

I don’t think that we have anything to worry about with cars driving themselves. They’re not going to take over the world…Each driver is a trainer in how the autopilot should work.