The second quarter of this year was a very good one for Tesla, with 201,250 electric cars delivered – a record. On the other hand, more and more comments are appearing that the quality of the vehicles leaves much to be desired. In addition, the market share of this frontrunner in battery-electric mobility is falling massively. In Europe, it is only about 5 per cent in the last quarter (but 13 per cent in China), because companies like VW are gaining a lot of ground and other manufacturers are constantly launching new models. Tesla will certainly find answers, such as a low-cost variant, Model 2, which according to media reports could make its début in 2022.
Elon Musk
Tesla – profitable in what way?
Nowadays, Tesla [Nasdaq: TSLA] is largely making headlines not for of its financials but for the tweets of its charismatic chief executive, Elon Musk. His thoughts on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and doge coin, which, depending on the time of day, he says are a really good or a really bad deal, can dominate whole news cycles. Someone recently brought up the huge amounts of energy needed to mine them. As it turns out, the process uses non-renewable sources of energy, which could end up reflecting badly on the image of battery-electric cars as well. In response, Musk said he will rethink his position on bitcoin, which helped cause the cryptocurrency’s price to plunge from over USD 60,000 to USD 30,000. One might wonder what his behavior did to Tesla’s own USD 1.5 billion bitcoin investment.
Tesla – up, up and away but for how long?
An unexpectedly profitable three months propelled Tesla’s stock to over USD 850 before it plunged to USD 670 when the electric carmaker’s chief executive, Elon Musk, sent out a tweet complaining about the high price. Not much later, though, the stock rallied again, racing toward USD 1,000 after sister company SpaceX, which is also headed by Musk, announced it successfully sent one of its rockets into orbit.
Tesla – the stock exchange punishes the company
Firstly, all Tesla shops should be closed, because it would be easier to sell the vehicles via the Internet, then some showrooms should remain, because firstly, Tesla would like to continue to be present in important locations (big cities) and secondly, Tesla would not be able to get out of long-term rental agreements without paying a penalty.
Don’t Count on It
In late March, Dieter Zetsche’s words on electric transportation and the future of fuel cells caused quite a stir in the automotive industry. During the auto motor und sport conference on March 27 in Stuttgart, the head of Daimler was asked about what type of electric transportation his company would favor over the coming years. Instead of the short reply one would expect, he went on to give a long answer to the question and it seemed to have given rise to wildly different interpretations.
Tesla: Nothing More Than Visions?
With great fanfare, Tesla head Elon Musk announced what he had devised as a second masterplan. The corporation is not only to produce batteries for its Powerpack and Powerwall, but should also supply the added solar modules (takeover of sister company SolarCity is in progress). The new plan additionally includes aims to design several other electric cars – from trucks and smaller transport vehicles to buses.
Interview with Klaus Bonhoff from NOW
Klaus Bonhoff has managed the activities of the National Organization Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) since its founding in 2008, making him the face of the German H2 and fuel cell industry. He has travelled around the world, patiently explained strategies and made the case for greater commitment. But he has also had to face criticism whenever projects were not implemented as quickly as had been hoped. H2-international spoke with the chair of NOW during the Hanover trade show
Tesla Raises New Capital
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was as eloquent as ever when he raised the targets for the company’s electric car models: Instead of producing 500,000 electric cars (total figure, all models – i.e., Model S, Model X and Model 3) in 2020, the company should already achieve that number in 2018 and increase it to one million in 2020. One can question whether these targets will become reality, as they require even more large infusions of cash, making additional capital increases inevitable. And this although Tesla has just recently sought more money
Tesla Makes It Happen – Just Like That
First things first: This isn’t one of these test drive articles narrowly reporting all the various technical details or complaining about a not-so-perfect weight distribution. It is about the experiences made with Tesla’s Model S on one single day of driving, during which it quickly became clear that the author had found his new dream car.
Tesla: Much Hype – Much Disagreement Among Analysts
Many big boys – as the leading US investment banks are called – have given Tesla an unquestionably positive rating. CEO Elon Musk understands how to polarize as well as convince analysts, but at the end of the day only hard facts count. The Credit Suisse analyst specializing in the field already expects a profit of US$ 4.00 per share for fiscal year 2016, since there had allegedly been so many orders for Model X, which would impact earnings.