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This is only 15 trucks in Wal-mart's fleet of thousands. I wonder how longer the delivery is on these limited orders, given they have failed so badly in meeting

This is only 15 trucks in Wal-mart's fleet of thousands. I wonder how longer the delivery is on these limited orders, given they have failed so badly in meeting delivery for their other models? One thing I find interesting about Tesla is that it has immense cash burn, and in a way is doing a backdoor capital raise by taking preorders. I think Tesla is a great company, but their cash burn is frighteningly high. Off topic, but Tesla also started selling USB powerbanks and I really want one. I have a feeling it's no more special than other powerbanks, but...Tesla. I guess in the end, Tesla can get away with a lot because people believe in the brand. I believe in the brand, I just am skeptical about its balance sheet or its current stock valuation.

11thEarlOfMar 9y ago
> but their cash burn is frighteningly high. In 2004, I sold a small position in AMZN because they were taking on $100 Million in debt every quarter and taking losses with no end in sight. I lost faith. That was expensive.
- Hypx 9y ago
  TSLA is taking on $1.5 billion in debt every quarter or so. Not sure if this is the same situation.
  - aerovistae 9y ago
    That's because Amazon's core business was in a domain where they could make sizable revenues from day one and scale as they went along. Building 500,000 cars is a bit different than building out a website on which to sell stuff other people already made. So yeah, I would expect Tesla to be spending more along the way and making less in the beginning.
    - kmonsen 9y ago
      That also makes it more risky. Not sure if Tesla can still fail and what it would look like, but they are currently bleeding money that roadsters and trucks 3+ years from now won't fix. I really hope they succeed but can't really see how it happens.
    - riffraff 9y ago
      But Probably it's also easier to raise $400M more than $6B for one more year of losses, which means Tesla has a far higher chance of running out of runway (I am optimistic anyway, I presume once the factory and charger network is built up costs will go down).
deleted 9y ago
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Theodores 9y ago
The USB powerbank, had to Google it. Sold out already. But why is it that I now really want one? Two minutes ago I had zero need. https://shop.tesla.com/us/en/product/apparel/desktop-supercharger.html?sku=8756722-00-A https://shop.tesla.com/us/en/product/apparel/desktop-superch... Please Santa. Regarding the Tesla Semi. The truck is a true game changer. I am no truck driver but I do know that normal trucks go down big hills on essentially engine braking. The actual brakes are used in 'stab' mode to make sure the engine is going at a sensible rpm for max engine braking. The brakes can't actually be used to do the stopping because they would get too hot going down a reasonably big hill, crossing a modest mountain range. Now the Tesla Semi just harvests all that energy back in. There is no need for the driver to be in an even lamer gear than he would be in going up the hill going down it. The depots will have their chargers and the time these trucks can put in on the road will be better than that possible with regular trucks. There is an electric dumper truck in Switzerland that goes to the top of a mountain, brings down dirt and then goes back up again. It gets enough energy downhill to go back up again, 105 tonnes down, 45 back up. So it travels for free. Tesla customers are going to be lucky in this way albeit not so dramatically. There is also the small matter of making deliveries in towns late at night or first thing in the morning. I am sure the refrigeration unit will rattle away and the tires make noise, however, a quiet truck will make a lot possible for some retailers as they will be able to sneak their trucks into town centres without waking the neighbours. I am sure the guys at Wal Mart have seen a bit more of this truck than I have but not much more. They have thought 'let's get one' much like how the place I work for has ordered a few iPhone X's. So a select few will get the new toy but on day one we did not order one for everybody. 15 is a good enough number to take a look at. Regarding actual manufacture, the truck is probably more Tesla's thing than the car. They will be making these trucks in similar numbers to their premium cars, so of the order of tens of thousands a year. They can build the line for assembling the trucks and get it going in the timeline, obviously adding on many, many months to go from their founder's idea of reality back to earth. Even if you managed a large fleet and thought the Tesla Semi was a dream come true then you probably wouldn't put in a ten billion dollar order on day one without having seen the product. You would buy one or two or even fifteen first, take a look and go from there.

11thEarlOfMar 9y ago

> but their cash burn is frighteningly high. In 2004, I sold a small position in AMZN because they were taking on $100 Million in debt every quarter and taking losses with no end in sight. I lost faith. That was expensive.

Hypx 9y ago
TSLA is taking on $1.5 billion in debt every quarter or so. Not sure if this is the same situation.
- aerovistae 9y ago
  That's because Amazon's core business was in a domain where they could make sizable revenues from day one and scale as they went along. Building 500,000 cars is a bit different than building out a website on which to sell stuff other people already made. So yeah, I would expect Tesla to be spending more along the way and making less in the beginning.
  - kmonsen 9y ago
    That also makes it more risky. Not sure if Tesla can still fail and what it would look like, but they are currently bleeding money that roadsters and trucks 3+ years from now won't fix. I really hope they succeed but can't really see how it happens.
  - riffraff 9y ago
    But Probably it's also easier to raise $400M more than $6B for one more year of losses, which means Tesla has a far higher chance of running out of runway (I am optimistic anyway, I presume once the factory and charger network is built up costs will go down).

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Theodores 9y ago

The USB powerbank, had to Google it. Sold out already. But why is it that I now really want one? Two minutes ago I had zero need. https://shop.tesla.com/us/en/product/apparel/desktop-supercharger.html?sku=8756722-00-A https://shop.tesla.com/us/en/product/apparel/desktop-superch... Please Santa. Regarding the Tesla Semi. The truck is a true game changer. I am no truck driver but I do know that normal trucks go down big hills on essentially engine braking. The actual brakes are used in 'stab' mode to make sure the engine is going at a sensible rpm for max engine braking. The brakes can't actually be used to do the stopping because they would get too hot going down a reasonably big hill, crossing a modest mountain range. Now the Tesla Semi just harvests all that energy back in. There is no need for the driver to be in an even lamer gear than he would be in going up the hill going down it. The depots will have their chargers and the time these trucks can put in on the road will be better than that possible with regular trucks. There is an electric dumper truck in Switzerland that goes to the top of a mountain, brings down dirt and then goes back up again. It gets enough energy downhill to go back up again, 105 tonnes down, 45 back up. So it travels for free. Tesla customers are going to be lucky in this way albeit not so dramatically. There is also the small matter of making deliveries in towns late at night or first thing in the morning. I am sure the refrigeration unit will rattle away and the tires make noise, however, a quiet truck will make a lot possible for some retailers as they will be able to sneak their trucks into town centres without waking the neighbours. I am sure the guys at Wal Mart have seen a bit more of this truck than I have but not much more. They have thought 'let's get one' much like how the place I work for has ordered a few iPhone X's. So a select few will get the new toy but on day one we did not order one for everybody. 15 is a good enough number to take a look at. Regarding actual manufacture, the truck is probably more Tesla's thing than the car. They will be making these trucks in similar numbers to their premium cars, so of the order of tens of thousands a year. They can build the line for assembling the trucks and get it going in the timeline, obviously adding on many, many months to go from their founder's idea of reality back to earth. Even if you managed a large fleet and thought the Tesla Semi was a dream come true then you probably wouldn't put in a ten billion dollar order on day one without having seen the product. You would buy one or two or even fifteen first, take a look and go from there.