TSLA Investor Discussions

[JRP3]

Yeah, I don't think coddling people is a good way to teach them anything. The constant complaints become annoying and pointless.

[dmckinstry]

Being someone who always sees things in a negative light, I suggest both an "Oh no. The stock is down!" thread and an "Oh no. The stock is up, I can't afford it!" thread. Optimists can have their own pair of "Yay, the stock is up" and "Yay, the stock is cheap" threads.

The "Oh no. The stock is down!" doesn't bother me. I'm more the "Oh no. The stock is up, I can't afford it!" type. But no more. I'm hoping to go way up so I can sell a bunch (less than 1/4 my holdings) and then hope it falls so I can buy even more back. Some people (definitely not me) have made a great deal buying and selling the same stock over and over again.

[Robert.Boston]

I'm hoping to go way up so I can sell a bunch (less than 1/4 my holdings) and then hope it falls so I can buy even more back. Some people (definitely not me) have made a great deal buying and selling the same stock over and over again.

I very seriously though about putting in a trailing stop at $37 back when TSLA almost touched $40, for about 1/4 of my holdings. But I was busy that day...ah well, still happy to have the stock.

[Robert.Boston]

He's a kid who wants to believe in Tesla but lacks the experience to understand that the stock market is not a rational enterprise. ... Give the kid a break.

That's what he says. I have my doubts.

[gg_got_a_tesla]

That's what he says. I have my doubts.

Teenagers are capable of a lot of things!

BBC News - US charges British twins over $1.2m fraud

[bonnie1194]

That's what he says. I have my doubts.

I'm with you on this one.

[Iamthecaliflower]

Not the least bit concerned with Apple. If it gets any cheaper, its valuation won't make sense going forward. Believing it has peaked is just silly. Also, you are correct that I'm not going to talk about that here. I actually don't belong to any stock trading forums. I read all the comments on this forum to get a greater picture of how current reservation holders feel about things as well as to get an idea of what problems Tesla may encounter/ what are their biggest challenges going forward. My concerns are guided by a lack of information about Tesla as well as my stomach telling me that I am missing something. The phrase, "short sellers typically do more research then longs" comes to mind. In truth, it wouldn't surprise me if the market corrects tremendously in the coming months, leading to everything getting a 20-40% haircut based on some political/economic problem. I believe in Tesla, but I really wish I could find some answers to questions that leave me a bit worried. 1) What happens if Elon leaves the company/is forced to leave for reasons out of his control? 2) What happens if the Model S doesn't get a 5 Star Rating? 3) How do car companies convince people to adjust their garages to be able to accommodate plugging in their cars? 4) How do people that live in big cities that don't have access to private parking spaces/ garages purchase an EV? A friend of mine that recently spoke to better place mentioned currently their services are only being offered to people with private parking spaces. 5) Why can't Nissan/Mercedes /other car companies make Tesla obsolete? If Tesla beats them to the road with the Model S (Which is seeming very likely), will they be able to beat them with the Bluestar? If prices really do come down that much, won't any car manufacturer be able to produce a 20-30k EV? If Tesla has success, what's to stop GM/Ford, Mercedes/etc from devoting 3-4billion into development of more efficient systems? 6) Will Tesla be able to defend their patents? 7) How will trade ins work for EVs?

[dsm363]

Not the least bit concerned with Apple. If it gets any cheaper, its valuation won't make sense going forward. Believing it has peaked is just silly. Also, you are correct that I'm not going to talk about that here. I actually don't belong to any stock trading forums. I read all the comments on this forum to get a greater picture of how current reservation holders feel about things as well as to get an idea of what problems Tesla may encounter/ what are their biggest challenges going forward.

My concerns are guided by a lack of information about Tesla as well as my stomach telling me that I am missing something. The phrase, "short sellers typically do more research then longs" comes to mind. In truth, it wouldn't surprise me if the market corrects tremendously in the coming months, leading to everything getting a 20-40% haircut based on some political/economic problem. I believe in Tesla, but I really wish I could find some answers to questions that leave me a bit worried.
1) What happens if Elon leaves the company/is forced to leave for reasons out of his control?
2) What happens if the Model S doesn't get a 5 Star Rating?
3) How do car companies convince people to adjust their garages to be able to accommodate plugging in their cars?
4) How do people that live in big cities that don't have access to private parking spaces/ garages purchase an EV? A friend of mine that recently spoke to better place mentioned currently their services are only being offered to people with private parking spaces.
5) Why can't Nissan/Mercedes /other car companies make Tesla obsolete? If Tesla beats them to the road with the Model S (Which is seeming very likely), will they be able to beat them with the Bluestar? If prices really do come down that much, won't any car manufacturer be able to produce a 20-30k EV? If Tesla has success, what's to stop GM/Ford, Mercedes/etc from devoting 3-4billion into development of more efficient systems?
6) Will Tesla be able to defend their patents?
7) How will trade ins work for EVs?

Many of those questions can't be answered until they happen. If you truly believe the stock market is headed for a 20-40% dip in the next few months and having Tesla stock go down 4% without any obvious explanation distresses you, I'd probably get out of stocks for the time being. Good post though as it addresses your concerns rather than just taking about the stock going down. Also, things are a little easier to read sometimes with some formatting. Good luck in your decision about the stocks.

[JRP3]

1) What happens if Elon leaves the company/is forced to leave for reasons out of his control?

What if a giant asteroid strikes the earth?

2) What happens if the Model S doesn't get a 5 Star Rating?

What happens when other vehicles don't get a 5 star rating?

3) How do car companies convince people to adjust their garages to be able to accommodate plugging in their cars?

Exactly as they have been, by showing the benefits over ICE vehicles and gas stations. It's an easy sell, made easier by high gas prices.

4) How do people that live in big cities that don't have access to private parking spaces/ garages purchase an EV?

They probably don't. That still leaves a huge potential market that is no where near being served by OEM's.

5) Why can't Nissan/Mercedes /other car companies make Tesla obsolete?

How could that happen? ICE builders don't make other ICE builders obsolete.

If Tesla beats them to the road with the Model S (Which is seeming very likely), will they be able to beat them with the Bluestar? If prices really do come down that much, won't any car manufacturer be able to produce a 20-30k EV? If Tesla has success, what's to stop GM/Ford, Mercedes/etc from devoting 3-4billion into development of more efficient systems?

Because the efficiencies are already high. A 90% efficient system will not be significantly worse than a 92% efficient system, and quite obviously efficiency is far from the only criteria in auto purchases. Plus Tesla has a large head start in the sector.

6) Will Tesla be able to defend their patents?

Who knows?

7) How will trade ins work for EVs?

The same as they would for ICE's.

[Iamthecaliflower]

Regarding 1) Bad Analogy lol. Elon is the heart and soul of the company. If he leaves, Tesla is in big trouble.
Regarding 2) Tesla is being sold as a 5 Star car. Couldn't this void contracts? Could this hurt sales? Maybe we should make a topic : "Would you still buy a Model S if it doesn't get a 5 Star Rating?"
Regarding 3) My bigger concern is the high number of people I know with messy garages/ older wiring. Would the majority of people be responsive to plugging in their car over night? I realize this is a simple fix, and costs virtually nothing to do, but customer responsiveness to cleaning up their garages might not be simple. I have nothing to base this on lol.

Regarding 4) I wonder if inductive charging panels/options for cities would fix this. However, when I asked Tesla about this, they mentioned they have no plans for adopting this and cited the current efficiency problems of inductive charging. Companies like witricity and the Halo thing I have heard about look promising. I would love to see how this is implemented.

Regarding 5) You are correct.

Regarding 6) Tesla does have a large head start. I had an abstract conversation with someone from BMW about Tesla who mentioned something about them having a 1-2 year head start. I wonder how much this means for the future, if other companies desire to poor billions into R and D citing the success of Tesla. Tesla would basically have a functioning early Bluestar by mid to late 2014/2015 to stay ahead of the competition. Again, I am basing this on nothing, only my gut instinct.

Regarding 7) This is more of an abstract concern. I have no idea how lawsuits in the automotive industry work.

Regarding 8) I'm not so sure. Anyone buying the current Model S/ Model X may have trouble selling it in 3-5 years. I have no idea how the depreciation of EVs works, given the high cost of the battery. How much is the value of an EV hurt, when the range is reduced after X number of years or how this compares to depreciation of ICE cars. I know with laptops from 4-5 years ago, the computers are virtually worthless, because of the outdated parts/ the cost of upgrading them. I realize the saw is true about the majority of cars anyway, but I'm curious how improvements in range/ the cost of the battery would compromise the value of older cars. I know nothing about depreciation of cars. Also, I assume the warranty is transferable? Does the warranty cover reduced range from normal use?

Note : Poll made in Model S section.