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Tesla Reports a Profit (Sorta) While Elon Musk Regrets Mentioning Hyperloop
- InclinedPlane 13y agoSpecifically: he realizes he has no time to work on it no matter how promising it is.
- stcredzero 13y agoThat's not exactly "backtracking." Also, there's something strained about the structure of the article, like they were trying really hard to put as much negative spin in before they had to say "Tesla is doing well." They could have out and said: Tesla's doing well, but GAAP...etc, and left out 3 paragraphs.
- revelation 13y agoThey make it seem as if Tesla is doing shady accounting, but they explain in the very beginning of the shareholder letter: In this letter and going forward, we will report our results on a GAAP basis as well as on a non-GAAP basis, excluding lease accounting. We believe these non-GAAP financials are useful as they align with the underlying cash flow activity and timing of vehicle deliveries, and because we use such information internally for operational management and financial planning purposes.
- benjamincburns 13y agoFurther, reporting non-GAAP figures alongside GAAP is fairly common practice. In some cases I view it as an increase in the honesty of the reporting. They're adding information here, reporting things they don't otherwise need to.
- bloaf 13y agoSpecifically: the hype it is getting has been distracting people from the performance of Tesla.
- gregpilling 13y agoInteresting production numbers. The model S is now outselling the Chevrolet Corvette, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_(redirect)#Production http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_(redirect)#P...
- tptacek 13y agoThat's not too surprising; the Corvette's sales figures have plummeted in the last 10 years or so. That milestone is a little like outselling the PT Cruiser.
- yid 13y agoAn even easier task now: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2010/07/end-of-the-road-chrysler-builds-last-pt-cruiser/index.htm http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2010/07/end-of-the-r...
- revelation 13y agoHow is this backtracking? Nothing has changed. He made it very clear from the beginning that this is an idea of his that he wants to release to the public, not work on it himself. Somebody then had the audacity to pester him with Hyperloop on the earnings call for Tesla. It's like asking the president about his veggie garden while hes giving a press conference on the war on (whistleblowers|drugs|terror).
- pfraze 13y agoWell, the veggie garden is supposed to be revolutionary
- noamsml 13y agoThat's not a fair assertion. Hyperloop has the potential to change the world far more than tesla and spaceX
- toomuchtodo 13y agoElectrification of mobility & GOING TO MARS > Tube transportation
- dylandrop 13y agoWell, while I probably wouldn't say "much more" than Tesla or Space X, I would think that hyperloop could be just as important as at least Tesla. It has the potential to eradicate most of the commercial airline industry.
- teeja 13y agoApart from science, which robots can do however slowly, I see little value in "Going to Mars" - even if we were prepared, which we're not. No air, no water, no plants or animals, no fuel, plenty of radiation (on the trip and while there) and dust and extreme cold. Other than very expensive chest-beating (for which the Moon is a closer dead body), reason suggests that continued support of robotic exploration will pay off better for science. In the meantime we can invent new technologies which will greatly ease the burdens and dangers - once we have invented actual goals to make of such journeys worth the enormous investment. Long-distance tube transport seems more than a little pipe-dreamish. Regional OTOH seems inevitable.
- Fuxy 13y agoIt's more like he's trying to sell a car while publishing plans for a high speed people mover. You can just hope it won't displace the electric car in the inner city until Tesla become really profitable but you never know. It's a risky move that could potentially affect Tesla later on.
- Retric 13y agoFrom what has been said a Hyperloop is closer to vary high speed rail than inner city transport so if anything it complements the electric car. AKA who cares about range limitations if you never bother to drive 500+ miles for a trip. Assuming boarding time was 30 min and your going 500MPH a 500mile hyperloop trip would take 1.5 hours vs 7+ by car. And presumably drop you closer to mass transit / the center of the city than an aircraft.
- ajiang 13y ago"I'm sorry. I'm too busy revolutionizing the automotive and space travel industries."
- mparr4 13y agoMusk has unquestionably changed the space transportation industry. It remains to be seen whether he's "revolutionized" the automotive industry. With self driving cars on the horizon, it certainly feels like a revolution is looming, but Tesla doesn't seem to me to be nearly as singular of a force of change as SpaceX is to it's respective industry.
- mtgx 13y agoSelf-driving may be a bigger revolution in the end, but getting everyone off oil is also a huge revolution on its own. Yes, I know they're not the only ones to have an electric car ever, but without Tesla everyone would be dragging their feet with this. Heck, they are still doing that. Just look at BMW i3. BMW is still treating electric cars as some sort of "concept cars" for the mass market, rather than "real cars" for the mass market. We could also say touchscreen smartphones would've inevitably arrived, too, since we already had PDA's with crappy resistive touchscreens, and LG Prada even launched before the iPhone in 2007. But how much slower would they have improved to reach they level they are now, if it wasn't for Apple? And how much worse would they be now?
- mparr4 13y agoI'm not quite sure if the Tesla is to electric cars as Apple is to smartphones analogy works just yet. Perhaps it will, but I live in the US and have still never even seen a Tesla vehicle. I've seen Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts. My town even has charging stations. Maybe that's how things will shake out, but I don't think they're there yet.
- nrb 13y agoFWIW they are all over the place in Chicago, and presumably the other major metros.
- salimmadjd 13y agoIf you're interested in undrestanding ZEV credits and its impact on Tesla's bottom line ($5000/car) read bellow [1] Also, worth noting other automakers are slowly catching up. Remember Tesla had a big start with their roadster, but expect fierce competition from Japanese and European automakers. Which is all good for consumers. 1 : http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/tesla-subsidy-vanishing-amid-electric-vehicle-boom/ http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/tesla-subsidy-vanishing...
- toomuchtodo 13y agoTesla owns key energy management system patents. Disclaimer: I'm super-long TSLA.
- taway2012 13y agoPatents can often be worked around. Almost all "real" patents can be worked around (BS "business method" patents are not "real" patents by my definition). I also think Tesla has a bright future. But I hope they're relying on their brand value rather than transient advantages like patents. If I hear from Musk that he thinks their patents are going to be competitive advantage, I will be factor that (negatively) in my opinion of the company's prospects.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoLegal standing > Opinion Patents can and should be used when they were legitimately obtained through costly R&D. Value based on brand value? Bullshit. Value based on innovation? Solid.
- loceng 13y agoTitle should remove backtracking. I don't think he ever said he'd build the hyperloop himself - though I don't personally trust anyone other than him to build it out successfully.
- JshWright 13y agoYeah, the word 'backtrack' doesn't appear anywhere in the linked article, and is clearly editorializing in the title.
- Expeck 13y agoThere is interesting article about hyperloop desing, based on Musk's hints: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/how-elon-musk-can-build-the-hyperloop-in-10-days-for-a-tenth-the-cost-of-high-speed-rail http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/how-elon-musk-can-build-the...
- kbenson 13y agoI just read that yesterday. I think it's sad that Musk doesn't have (public) plans to actually work on the hyperloop. As many here have said in the past, him being behind the project is what moves it from fantasy to actually having a shot in a lot of people's minds. It's probably smart of him to not start it himself though, as it's risky, and a failed venture of that sort could bleed uncertainty into the minds of investors when regarding his other ventures.
- mathattack 13y agoI like that he is willing to open source it. A patent would be the surest way to be sure that it dies.
- nchuhoai 13y agoCommentors point out that Elon is not really backtracking, though I would still be curious what he means by shooting himself in the foot. The article says he regrets mentioning the Hyperloop. So despite his intentions to open up his designs, there must be some downsides he is considering, whether outstanding personal profit or otherwise.
- jack-r-abbit 13y agoMaybe the downside is that now everyone is watching him, waiting for the next update, speculating, criticizing, etc. Shooting himself in the foot may have been just talking about it prematurely.
- alexhawdon 13y agoGiven the context of the report I would imagine he's been fielding concerns from Tesla investors regarding burn-out or lack of focus. He's the very public driver (no pun intended) of the company so some might see talk of the Hyperloop as akin to Steve Jobs starting talking about a new found enthusiasm for swimming during a product launch.
- TheAnimus 13y ago> I would still be curious what he means by shooting himself in the foot. I'd guess it's something to do with the fact on a Tesla earnings call, which has nothing to do with hyperloop, someone brought it up. He is already doing a herculean feet with the work on SpaceX and Tesla, from an investors point of view you want to make sure he isn't going to ditch Tesla for this other transport project. In that context his comment makes sense.
- spaceman77 13y agoIn a conversation with Sal Khan he says (in regards to Hyperloop) he is "kind of strung out" with all he is doing now. So I'm guessing he does not want to initiate the project yet because he is a very busy boy. He also has kids.
- amalag 13y agoLink-bait title. Is interesting the Musk said on twitter that a particular design was "the closest he had seen", but didn't say it hit the bullseye.
- TeMPOraL 13y agoThere's a hangout with Elon Musk and Sir Richard Branson going on now; the host asked Elon about Hyperloop, and he spent nice 5 minutes avoiding to answer it :(. He only confirmed that it's a tube (but not evacuated), with little friction, and that you'll have to go a little bit faster than sound. He also said that details will be posted on-line.
- totalforge 13y agoThe hyperloop will never work due to a non-engineering problem known as the NIMBY. The California species is particularly nasty.
- bluthru 13y agoTime savings + environmental savings = I think it'll have an easier time than a new highway.