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It's correct that if EVs take off, there is going to be a lot of new demand for batteries. It is also correct that as a car manufacturer, owning a battery prod
by dilemma 10y ago
It's correct that if EVs take off, there is going to be a lot of new demand for batteries.
It is also correct that as a car manufacturer, owning a battery producing company and selling to the rest of the industry, is a competitive advantage.
It is not correct that building both of these companies from scratch, in parallel, is the way to do it.
Focus on building cars an become the leader in that, then buy Panasonic or a flailing manufacturer.
Or become the leader in battery technology, and buy a car company couldn't get on the EV train fast enough and turn it around.
Tesla is spreading itself too thin, losing focus and eventually competitiveness and then, control
- pcurve 10y ago"It is also correct that as a car manufacturer, owning a battery producing company and selling to the rest of the industry, is a competitive advantage." You really don't get rich off of building commoditized foundational parts like battery. Any competitive edge you have is going to be short lived.
- rwallace 10y agoYou say that, but in recent decades, Intel was more profitable than the typical PC manufacturer that bought chips from them. Hard technology can be a very lucrative competitive advantage.
- chmaynard 10y agoI was really hoping that Tesla and Toyota would form a partnership to build and service the Model 3. From a purely business point of view, I think this would have been a huge win for both companies. Despite the success of the Prius, Toyota made a decision to focus exclusively on fuel cell technology and wasted 10 precious years. They lost that bet, and now they need access to Tesla's superior EV technology to catch up with the competition. Tesla has no experience with the formidable supply chain and production issues involved in building cars on a large scale. This is one of Toyota's great strengths. Unfortunately, there seems to be some bad blood between Toyota and Tesla management. I suspect this may have prevented consideration of such a partnership. (Disclaimer: I just decided to sell my modest investment in Tesla stock.)