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You do not appreciate how far ahead Tesla is technologically. A look under the hood of a Toyota BEV, or a study of the negative profit margins of Ford and GM B
by aj7 3y ago
You do not appreciate how far ahead Tesla is technologically. A look under the hood of a Toyota BEV, or a study of the negative profit margins of Ford and GM BEV’s would be worthwhile here.
And unlike Finder 4.3 and Finder 6, Tesla is no longer perceived as an upstart, but rather, an established leader.
- jacquesm 3y agoBut why would you look at Toyota? They're not exactly Tesla's main competitor when it comes to BEVs, they have been betting on hybrids and Hydrogen for way too long and only belatedly they've released a BEV. Other manufacturers are much closer to Tesla in terms of range, quality and numbers. In fact, in quality some already surpass Tesla. Numbers aren't really there yet, but Tesla's market share is now about double that of VW and VW does a lot more than just BEVs.
- dehrmann 3y agoFord beat Tesla to the truck market with the F-150 Lightning.
- aj7 3y agoFord lost a billion dollars on its EV unit last quarter. “The company loses money on every Ford Lightning it sells — and that was before it knocked thousands of dollars off the sticker price this summer, trying to keep up with a Tesla-triggered price war that's pulling EV prices down.” Recent npr piece. Bringing something to market at a big loss is not an advancement unless you have certainty that you can bring the project into the black. Ford has no such certainty. Moreover when there is rapid technological change, every product must be at least break even because product life is so short. “Ford F150” will persist as the name of a branded product, but the components inside will change much more rapidly than legacy automakers are used to.
- punkybr3wster 3y agoI’m so tired of this number being thrown around. R&D costs aren’t losses. Ford expects their EV division to be net positive by 2025. Tesla started in 2003 and wasn’t profitable until 2020. Only now when Ford takes a couple years to recoup their R&D on a brand new fledgling platform do people loose their minds and only then try their best to compare them to current Tesla who was hemorrhaging billions year after year for nearly two decades. Rivian is operating at a loss. Lucid is loosing $500k per car. GE says they’re going to loose money on their EV division until 2025. All the car companies are playing catch up. Ford and Chevy taking a couple years to do what Tesla did in 20 isn’t the bellwether for Tesla people use it as. The other boutiques on the other hand - I really don’t know how they’re going to survive once legacy manufacturers really ramp up and start doing more vertical integration and write better software.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoYes some models excel, have better this or that. Absolutely 0 have everything in one package at a competing price (while retaining margin!)
- aj7 3y agoYou’re looking at specs only. Tesla’s costs are close to half, at similar specs. That is what technological leadership means. Not just specs.
- _hypx 3y agoBEVs are very simple vehicles. Anyone can make them. There is no such thing as a technological lead here.
- aj7 3y agoThat’s just what the legacy automakers found, now isn’t it? I suppose anyone can write an operating system that a billion people will use rather easily, too.