Whew, page 3

Now no one needs to read smc's troll post.

[Edited on May 18, 2013 at 11:06 AM. Reason : .]

5/18/2013 11:06:03 AM

I'm so glad that when I buy fruit at the farmer's market that I have to do it through middle men.

God only knows what sort of dangers and consumer disappointment I'd be exposing myself to if i were to buy directly from farmers.

5/18/2013 11:17:46 AM

Quote :

"Tesla Still $600 Million in Debt, gives up the low-interest government loan a decade early in a desperate bid to improve the company's image as a boondoggle. http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/05/17/tesla-has-a-fresh-1-billion-and-lots-of-ways-to-spend-it/"

When things go badly the shareholders will look back on that loan repayment as a horrible business decision for tenuous PR purposes.

5/18/2013 11:52:05 AM

How is it a boondoggle? They're profitable less than 1 year into their first product run.

And how is repaying a government loan a bad business decision? I'm sure it had operating stipulations attached, most likely being that they had to use the money for domestic production. One of the things they are doing with this investor influx is expanding deliveries to Europe and East Asia, both of which are MUCH higher density urbanized markets where electric luxury vehicles make even better market sense.

Wow, it's amazing that you can't see the forest for the dealership tree in front of your face. So who in your family is a car salesman?

5/18/2013 3:05:16 PM

If this PR move was anmy part of their stock tripling in price from where it was March this year, I'd say it's not such a bad business decision. Now they are going to have another round of financing through stock issue. Haters are gonna hate, and Musk is stripping them off ammunition that way.

5/18/2013 4:32:28 PM

Quote :

"Sometimes, you gotta call a "win" a "win." The green energy loan program started by President Bush and carried out by President Obama has seen its share of massive failures, but Tesla today became the first company to repay all of its U.S. Department of Energy loans, nine years ahead of schedule and with a net gain of $12 million to U.S. Taxpayers.P What Tesla did, smartly, was squeeze out every dime to make a profit, watched their stock price soar, borrowed more money from Goldman Sachs. So, basically, Elon Musk has traded his debt held by the government to debt held by Goldman Sachs and has leveraged his other companies to do so.P Ford and Nissan, who took massive government loans as well, are still on schedule to slowly repay their debt. Taxpayers are likely to lose millions on Fisker and A123Systems.P "

http://jalopnik.com/loser-tesla-will-repay-government-loans-nine-years-ea-509262553

[Edited on May 22, 2013 at 11:46 AM. Reason : oh i guess this is old news : /]

5/22/2013 11:44:43 AM

Looks like they just announced the loan was paid off.

5/22/2013 4:35:46 PM

Only a fool would pay off a low-interest government loan early just for good publicity when they're still massively in debt. Sounds like a move a Ponzi-scheme would make.

5/22/2013 10:07:54 PM

You may want to get a better understanding about how Wall Street operates. It has little to do with logic and with long-term prospects. It is a type of gambling, plain and simple. Even your mortgage is a type of a Ponzi-scheme, and so is your retirement fund, and so is your Social Security. Not to mention the common stock of publicly traded companies.

5/23/2013 1:19:01 AM

Noting that smc is just a troll, and it really isn't worth trying to engage him, but here I go anyway.

Tesla had to deal with seriously bad press, and some government oversight and rules that were tied with the loan. Given the additional capital they were able to raise, and the added flexibility and more favorable view the company along with decreased government oversight and control they will receive as being no longer on the government's dole, I think it is a very smart move.

5/23/2013 9:25:57 AM

it's funny how the phrase Ponzi Scheme gets applied to pretty much anything, whether it fits into the actual definition or not.

5/23/2013 11:26:30 AM

I like Tesla and Elon Musk, and the Model S seems like a very very good car. But when is Tesla going to actually turn a profit based on the merit of the actual products they sell?

5/23/2013 1:40:56 PM

They already have (took some accounting tricks though)

5/23/2013 3:19:59 PM

i mean without tricks!

5/23/2013 4:13:11 PM

Quote :

"A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering higher returns than other investments, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. Perpetuation of the high returns requires an ever-increasing flow of money from new investors to keep the scheme going."

"I heard this one guy got paid back 9 years early! You really need to invest in this while you still can, man, you can't lose!"

Goldman Sachs calls the shots now. It's time to bring in the beancounters and release some trash that will actually be profitable. I suspect Musk will be forced out of power soon.

[Edited on May 23, 2013 at 4:37 PM. Reason : .]

5/23/2013 4:23:55 PM

YOU PEOPLE that thought Tesla's cars have a limited market, have fun figuring out who would be the target audience for this VW:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/05/volkswagen-xl1-driven/

I know that the Garage considers diesels and eurocars the pinnacles of automotive technology, but I think from the marketing standpoint VDub got it all wrong with this one.

I do know that if they send any to North American market, they'll have to stretch those interior dimensions a bit

5/24/2013 12:49:17 AM

Quote :

""I heard this one guy got paid back 9 years early! You really need to invest in this while you still can, man, you can't lose!" Goldman Sachs calls the shots now. It's time to bring in the beancounters and release some trash that will actually be profitable. I suspect Musk will be forced out of power soon."

Except that there is no explicit return, its an investment in a company that is showing amazing growth, makes a critically acclaimed product, has solid engineering, and actually in no way a ponzu scheme.

By your definition, every publicly traded company is a ponzu scheme, since you're investing in future products that may or may not actually pan out.

5/24/2013 4:18:48 AM

Quote :

"have fun figuring out who would be the target audience for this VW:"

I would say people that bought the original Honda Insight

5/24/2013 8:17:33 AM

...but thought the build quality was too cheap-looking

5/24/2013 11:13:43 AM

A ponzu scheme you say?!?

5/24/2013 9:39:09 PM

^^^ shit, i'd be all about it if it had a backseat/reasonable trunk or hatch area, and if it was priced to the point where it would sensibly pencil out for saving money.

5/25/2013 12:12:32 AM

THESE CARS

ARE NOT

ABOUT SAVING MONEY

5/25/2013 1:24:18 AM

Just announced charging stations to cover 98% of us population by 2015.

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Really in trouble

5/30/2013 5:19:06 PM

http://www.businessinsider.com/maps-of-teslas-supercharger-network-2013-5

The map makes it that much more impressive.

My guess is they evaluated battery tech, battery swap, and putting these things everywhere and determined this was the most doable. It doesn't yet help other electric manufacturers, but it's a pretty cool solution to the range issue.

5/31/2013 1:09:01 PM

And just what exactly does Tesla plan to tell the good people of Brownsville, Texas?!

6/2/2013 5:30:50 PM

It tells them to surrender their passport and move up to Calgary

6/2/2013 8:03:25 PM

Quote :

"http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/05/volkswagen-xl1-driven/"

the pics of that thing remind me of a karmin ghia

6/3/2013 1:32:28 AM

the new Tesla's have been bumped up to be distributed in NC at the end of this month. woohoo.

6/3/2013 9:29:51 AM

You're getting one?

6/3/2013 9:51:43 AM

nope. my friend is though, so i'm excited to check it out. it's supposed to be in his possession within the next 3 weeks.

6/4/2013 9:21:04 AM

Sweet

6/4/2013 6:54:34 PM

Tesla might be hoping for "first mover" advantage, and then be able to sell access to the Supercharger network to other manufacturers.

6/4/2013 7:45:19 PM

^ Thats what I'd think as well. Perhaps licensed chargers from competitors or third parties home brewers to spread the cost.

6/5/2013 1:25:40 AM

These chargers will never exist. It will be like the gas crisis, with Teslas waiting in line to use the only charger within 100 miles. The only thing saving them so far is that they have sold so few.

6/5/2013 8:24:46 AM

beep bo doop ba zitz da boop beep bo doop ba zitz da doop

6/5/2013 9:16:42 AM

Oh wow! That's my favorite Postal Service song too!

6/5/2013 9:21:36 AM

Quote :

"Oh wow! That's my favorite Postal Service song too!"

lulz-

6/5/2013 9:38:25 AM

So how long until they can actually make a profit on their cars and not by selling clean energy credits to other car manufacturers?

6/5/2013 10:23:47 AM

^That's their business model. Every Tesla sold allows 100 gas-slurping SUV's to be produced. Without government incentives the entire scam falls apart.

[Edited on June 5, 2013 at 10:28 AM. Reason : .]

6/5/2013 10:27:22 AM

I saw a Tesla on Glenwood Ave. the other day...

6/6/2013 12:22:52 AM

They are all over the RDU area. I see about 3 every week.

6/6/2013 12:54:23 PM

I think tesla peed in smc's corn flakes.

6/14/2013 7:11:36 PM

It's just that smc learned everything he knows from watching Fox News.

6/14/2013 7:24:13 PM

Nah, Tesla advertises on Fox all the time. They're after the "more money than brains" demographic, after all.

6/16/2013 10:14:54 AM

So who is dumber, people driving one of the most technologically advanced and well-built cars on the market, or people who tripled their investment within a year by buying stock in the forward-thinking company which successfully entered an industry that was virtually impenetrable to newcomers for decades?

6/16/2013 3:54:10 PM

Tesla doing a battery swap demo on thursday. Supposed to be quicker than filling up for gas. If it works as designed there's another dent in the range argument.

6/18/2013 10:43:53 AM

http://www.teslamotors.com/batteryswap

video showing a battery swap in around 90 seconds.

6/21/2013 9:18:58 AM

how much does that cost?

As we all know batteries degrade would you really want to trade your good battery for an older one ? or how will they charge you for trading in a tired battery pack??

6/21/2013 10:50:28 AM

^^that's impressive as hell.

^only $60, less than a tank of gas for a comparable vehicle.

6/21/2013 10:59:45 AM

3 minutes to fill up the car, they said they found the fastest pump in LA-- 10 gallons/minute.

... That car has a 30 gal tank?

6/21/2013 11:03:35 AM