Model X questions at the June 2015 Shareholders Meeting

[MrBoylan]

This is what I found interesting from the 2015 Share-holders meeting:
...
- Isn't Elon too important to be testing AutoPilot? Seems too risky to me.

Unless he/they are just that confident in it to let the CEO test it. Or maybe he pissed off one of the software engineers. "Here, Elon... I updated the software just for you!"

- Elon is driving the latest iteration of the Model-X on a weekly basis.

So maybe he is check-shirted man, with a mission impossible-style mask? (Or maybe he's testing it behind closed doors)

- Tesla is still innovating (how cool is liquid-cooled charging cords?)
- Tesla still expects to significantly increase charging speeds

Yeah, way to drop another "subtle" hint, Elon. How fast to charge to 50% after the next Super Charger update? 15 minutes, maybe?

- Sounds to me that the Tesla team is working long hours and very hard on getting Model-X finished

Yeah. Building cars is hard. Just ask Tucker or DeLorean. The DeLorean was cool, but Tesla has already eclipsed its sales figures 10-fold. Plus the DMC-12 0-60 time was a leisurely 10.5 seconds! And it was considered a "sports car!" (of course, it only had to get to 88 MPH to do its thing).

-CB

- - - Updated - - -

What did they say regarding doors? Did they say there is still problems with the doors?

"We want to make sure, obviously, that some of the key features of the Model X, particularly the Falcon Wing doors and the way the second row seats are done, and a few other things that people unaware of are done just right, and provide true functionality and true value improvements versus just sort of feeling gimmicky." - Elon Musk, at 2015 Tesla Shareholder's Meeting

I didn't hear any other specific issues or complaints about the doors but he has talked about those in the past as being particularly challenging.

-CB

 

[Pollux]

I don't know whether to view Tesla as a "when-it's-ready" company (versus date-driven) or a "when-it's-kinda-ready" company (in that many initial deliveries sound/feel more like betas than products). I love the product and the company and the fact that they are at least *more* a when-it's-ready company than a date-driven company.

Curious: what examples would people point to of dates announced by Elon Musk that were actually hit?

Thanks,
Alan

 

[AudubonB]

Curious: what examples would people point to of dates announced by Elon Musk that were actually hit?

Thanks,
Alan

The one where SpaceX went public only after regular trips to/from Mars occurred, perhaps?

I have SO much trouble with future and past tenses.

 

[NigelM]

Curious: what examples would people point to of dates announced by Elon Musk that were actually hit?

I can't give you an example, but at least Musk himself admitted (in/around Detroit Motor Show IIRC):

I have an issue with punctuality.

And followed that with a promise to deliver Model X this summer. Gotta admire his sense of humor.

 

[davecolene0606]

I don't know whether to view Tesla as a "when-it's-ready" company (versus date-driven) or a "when-it's-kinda-ready" company (in that many initial deliveries sound/feel more like betas than products). I love the product and the company and the fact that they are at least *more* a when-it's-ready company than a date-driven company.

Curious: what examples would people point to of dates announced by Elon Musk that were actually hit?

Thanks,


Alan

First Model S Deliveries.
Super Charger launch.
And Deployment
"D" Launch
70D Launch
The second software update

It's not all miss...

Now, where's Bonnie's X so we can get ours? :smile:

 

[gregincal]

Elon said in the Q1 earnings statement that deliveries could happen in August but it was best to wait for September in order to get more test miles. That seems inconsistent with the statement today that deliveries will begin in 3-4 months. That is not a confirmation of Q3 deliveries. It definitely sounds like another delay to me albeit it maybe just a couple of months. Bonnie might get her #2 MX but even at #292, it doesn't seem to me like I'm going to see mine in September.

I don't know how you get "a couple months" delay. Previously he said September, now he says basically between September 9th and October 9th. How is that a couple months delay?

 

[rosinchard]

Lets look at what he actually said:

"Expecting to begin our first deliveries [of Model X] in probably about 3 or 4 months"

(see video of the event ... at the 21m27s mark)

As a software engineer I'm used to parsing (and also constructing) these kinds of sentences about delivering things. Note the word 'probably'. Also the word 'about'. Note the range '3 or 4' ... thats basically a way of saying it wont be 3. Note the complete lack of any mention of 'Q3'. He leaves you to do the adding up of months in your head.

I think this is carefully signalling that another delay is likely. But the delay won't be that big. Perhaps you'll see the first deliveries in Q4.

 

[O-G]

Lets look at what he actually said:

"Expecting to begin our first deliveries [of Model X] in probably about 3 or 4 months"

(see video of the event ... at the 21m27s mark)

As a software engineer I'm used to parsing (and also constructing) these kinds of sentences about delivering things. Note the word 'probably'. Also the word 'about'. Note the range '3 or 4' ... thats basically a way of saying it wont be 3. Note the complete lack of any mention of 'Q3'. He leaves you to do the adding up of months in your head.

I think this is carefully signalling that another delay is likely. But the delay won't be that big. Perhaps you'll see the first deliveries in Q4.

Kinda what I meant when I said a couple month delay.

 

[brianman]

Well, I'll admit that a little part of me hoped that Bonnie would get invited on stage and handed the fob to her new ride... :wink:

In June? That part of you is nuts.

- - - Updated - - -

- Isn't Elon too important to be testing AutoPilot? Seems too risky to me.

I think you're misunderstanding. He's not the only one testing. I would expect he's being given "best candidate we have thus far" every few days to vette, not a debugging build that might be produced multiple times an hour.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Maybe Elon has read all the complaining on these forums about people upset buying a car, then seeing an improved version being released.

Could be that he has some things that he wants to get worked out before releasing the first run.

Tesla has never produced an SUV before. It might be understandable that it is taking a little more time than they had anticipated.

Understand that there are many people anxious about getting their Model X's just as soon as possible, however Elon will sell no car before it's time : >)

 

[anticitizen13.7]

I really don't understand after all this time why TM can't be more specific with the details of the MX. It's not the same as discussing the M3 or the gigafactory or the power wall which are all down the road at some point. This is supposed to be happening in less than two months. (The design studio will be open in July.....). Actually, I think they were more specific about the details of the gigafactory two years out then they were about the MX 2 months out. Can't help but wonder what's really going on and if there is going to be another significant delay. If he is taking lessons from Apple, I think he is mistaken. This is not a $500 phone. This is a $100,000 vehicle with lots if implications on everyone's lives regarding existing vehicles, etc.
…

The only positive here is the stock valuation in the past few months. If it keeps going this direction, it makes the delays somewhat tolerable. (Barely). I just don't get why at this point they aren't more informative. I don't think it's possible for anyone to be more positive about the company in total than I am. I just don't understand why they keep going down this road of poor and incorrect information. I get it in the past when things were more speculative but I believe they should be and need to be beyond that problem today.

I'm probably nearly as frustrated as you at the lack of information, and I don't even have a reservation for Model X. I agree that the company is beyond the point where such speculation should be expected. The shareholder letters for the past quarter clearly indicated that the Beta phase was ending and that Release Candidates were being built as of March.

Unfortunately, I think this vagueness comes down to 2 factors: (a) Tesla doesn't need Model X immediately as Model S sales continue to increase. X was never part of the "Secret Plan" to begin with and (b) Elon is a perfectionist. If the Ashlee Vance biography of Elon is accurate, Elon wasn't that pleased with the initial Model S rollout and some of the rough edges in early production cars. He probably wants to avoid this with Model X.

That being said, customers, and particularly those with leases running out on existing vehicles, are justifiably impatient after about 1.5 years of delay. One person here at TMC even unfavorably compared Elon Musk to controversial rock musician Axl Rose, whose years long delay of the Guns 'n Roses album "Chinese Democracy" caused the album to be somewhat forgotten by the time it was finally released in 2008 (Axl had reportedly started working on it the mid 90's, when the band was falling apart due to infighting, booze, and drugs). I really think that Tesla though really cannot drag Model X out too much longer, because the car seems 99.9% complete at this point and the negative press from further delays will reflect badly on the company just as they are about to reveal a Model 3 concept early next year.

 

[tga]

In June? That part of you is nuts.

Well, if that's the only part of me that's nuts, I'm doing OK...:smile:

 

[brianman]

Well, if that's the only part of me that's nuts, I'm doing OK...:smile:

Unless you're male.

 

[tga]

Unless you're male.

Oh yeah, right. Oops. Nevermind.

 

[strangethingintheland]

I don't know how you get "a couple months" delay. Previously he said September, now he says basically between September 9th and October 9th. How is that a couple months delay?

I'm surprised no one has pointed out that the slides he used at the meeting specifically said late Q3 delivery of Model X. I think they are still committed to Q3. Whether they will meet it is a separate question, but I think the slide puts them on the record as Q3.

 

[bonnie]

I'm surprised no one has pointed out that the slides he used at the meeting specifically said late Q3 delivery of Model X. I think they are still committed to Q3. Whether they will meet it is a separate question, but I think the slide puts them on the record as Q3.

And that's why I didn't see this as an announced slip.

 

[brianman]

Trying wiki approach:
Questions for Tesla - Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum

 

[aronth5]

Getting a good handle on "Tesla Time" is like trying to nail jello to a tree :smile:

 

[Pollux]

Thanks, @davecolene0606!

Although, quibbles:

+ First Model S deliveries -- I thought that date got pushed back multiple times?

+ Were any software deliveries after "the second software update" released when promised?

+ By "and deployment", are you referring to Tesla's rollout of SuperChargers across the US & world over the last year or two?

Thanks,
Alan

First Model S Deliveries.
Super Charger launch.
And Deployment
"D" Launch
70D Launch
The second software update

It's not all miss...

Now, where's Bonnie's X so we can get ours? :smile:

 

[Trnsl8r]

We're talking about the car they were going to deliver fall of 2013, right? Sorry Bonnie, I do hope that you get your X by September 2015, but buying TSLA stock is a much less risky bet than that.