4 ms·

Turns out people were right and Musk had a bunch of good ideas, some of which might have a very positive impact on the world (probably EV adoption) but all pred

by oblio 2y ago

Turns out people were right and Musk had a bunch of good ideas, some of which might have a very positive impact on the world (probably EV adoption) but all predicated on getting government money. > their car business is really showing signs of strain at the moment. Their car business aka "their entire business"? :-)

throwup238 2y ago
> Their car business aka "their entire business"? :-) Tesla acquired SolarCity which became their Tesla Energy division so it's not just cars, they also do residential solar, batteries, and supercharger infrastructure (which more and more manufacturers are using).
- oskarkk 2y ago
  Tesla's residential solar was falling since the acquisition (SolarCity before the acquisition deployed like 4x more solar than Tesla in 2023), and now they don't even mention it in the document we're discussing. But "energy generation and storage revenue" is 12% of their revenues, and they're showing a big growth in storage deployment, so the storage part is looking good, charging too.
dotancohen 2y ago
> all predicated on getting government money. Ostensibly the government spends its money and things that benefit the population, no?
- oblio 2y ago
  True, but then you can't brag as much as, I dunno, a company in a field with 0 government subsidies.
  - dotancohen 2y ago
    Why not? They are specifically addressing the things that the public (the government) have stated are important to society. How is that not noble, even if profit-motivated?
    - oblio 2y ago
      That's an interesting angle, but the usual concern about this is lobbying/pork barrel/corruption and of course, regulatory capture, especially for SpaceX. In an ideal world, what you're saying makes sense, but at least to give an example, for an Android phone, you have to persuade 500 million people to buy it. For SpaceX to get a multi billion dollar contract with the government you only have to persuade 10 people.
      - dotancohen 2y ago
        Regulatory capture for SpaceX? Is that a joke? Are you heard of a company called Lockheed, or perhaps Boeing?
m463 2y ago
So what if a car company makes EVs, but pays a someone else a signficant portion of each car (the batteries). And what if another company (tesla) makes its own batteries. Are they judged in a similar fashion?
- oblio 2y ago
  Fairy sure Tesla partners with LG Chem and I think another company to make those batteries.

by oblio 2y ago

throwup238 2y ago

> Their car business aka "their entire business"? :-) Tesla acquired SolarCity which became their Tesla Energy division so it's not just cars, they also do residential solar, batteries, and supercharger infrastructure (which more and more manufacturers are using).

oskarkk 2y ago
Tesla's residential solar was falling since the acquisition (SolarCity before the acquisition deployed like 4x more solar than Tesla in 2023), and now they don't even mention it in the document we're discussing. But "energy generation and storage revenue" is 12% of their revenues, and they're showing a big growth in storage deployment, so the storage part is looking good, charging too.

dotancohen 2y ago

> all predicated on getting government money. Ostensibly the government spends its money and things that benefit the population, no?

oblio 2y ago
True, but then you can't brag as much as, I dunno, a company in a field with 0 government subsidies.
- dotancohen 2y ago
  Why not? They are specifically addressing the things that the public (the government) have stated are important to society. How is that not noble, even if profit-motivated?
  - oblio 2y ago
    That's an interesting angle, but the usual concern about this is lobbying/pork barrel/corruption and of course, regulatory capture, especially for SpaceX. In an ideal world, what you're saying makes sense, but at least to give an example, for an Android phone, you have to persuade 500 million people to buy it. For SpaceX to get a multi billion dollar contract with the government you only have to persuade 10 people.
    - dotancohen 2y ago
      Regulatory capture for SpaceX? Is that a joke? Are you heard of a company called Lockheed, or perhaps Boeing?

m463 2y ago

So what if a car company makes EVs, but pays a someone else a signficant portion of each car (the batteries). And what if another company (tesla) makes its own batteries. Are they judged in a similar fashion?

oblio 2y ago
Fairy sure Tesla partners with LG Chem and I think another company to make those batteries.