Watched an auto-line with Sandy Munro on the Cybertruck construction. Munro is a man who is already convinced in terms of what excites and interests him. You can see which side he is rooting for. But he let slip a couple comments which I think sums up the rhetoric he sees behind scenes from the soon to be Eastman Kodak(s). He said: well there will still be ICE in future years unless they get to solid state etc. He also defined solid state as being essentially like an ultra cap battery (makes sense.) But people who are paying attention including Munro know this is wrong. He cited a 500 miles range as something a sold state product would achieve. Maybe that was him coding or hedging, but we know top cyber has that range, roadster and semi have more than that range. But maybe he was thinking that range has to be at the bottom of the market like in a Civic? Well Civic has less than that range- some more expensive hybrid models have that range. But the point is a 500 mile range isn't required and everyone who is paying attention knows it just like they know it will come to the bottom of the market with simple incremental improvements on current tech rather soon. Its important to understand that the sacred cow thresholds don't start the avalanche. Its just like people are learning that charging at home with EV is much more convenient. Some people thought HDTV couldn't displace CRT until 1080P 60 on widely available 50 inch TVs that cost what 25inch CRTs did. That's the solid state argument today. It didn't work that way. Some people thought 4K wouldn't make a difference because why throw more pixels when we're still so far away from resolution of the human eye- but it was bunch of subtle stuff that made 4K the true leap we were always expecting from HDTV, but in the meantime 720p/1080p/i were more than sufficient to wipe out CRT a decade prior to their replacement by 4K. But you had people back in 2007 saying, no, no even though that 1080p is 80 inches and actually looks better, its still CRT until the perfect arrives. Kodak people may have been telling themselves that digital wouldn't be competitive until it matched the 35mm film's resolution equivalent of 20 million pixels. Well digital camera's took over long before then and the early Mars rovers took great pictures with 1 megapixel ccds, quality lenses and some math. Munro know's we crossed the threshold. Kramer because of his wife now knows we've crossed. But some people like BMW's R&D head still don't know. BMW's R&D head Klaus Frolich was heard saying America doesn't need BEVs except in the compliance areas. That BMW could just do plug in hybrids and get environmental credits and happy customers. Uh, nope (!) those credits are going away, in CA look at what no longer qualifies for car pool stickers: hybrids- hybrids and plug in hybrids need to cease to qualify too, same for other scams like hydrogen. And look at CA shutting down Ionities scam. Also seems to be this notion that BMW could just retire itself into a niche ICE maker. Not when you won't be able to drive ICE crap in many cities like London because of outright bans and not if BMW doesn't want to give up and lay off most of its employees and make its investor losses permanent. Also there is this notion that BMW is still selling in Florida even if its tanked in CA- that is bs. Or that hybrids are doing great- look at Prius- they are not, more bs! This is like saying that companies losing car sales are doing so because of people running to SUVs and trucks, like BMW has tried to claim (I think BMW is in a quiet state bailout right now that will turn public, because it looks like its grossly misstating or mischaracterizing its sales, and after the Diesel Gate type scrutiny how long can it play such "Moneyland" games? ) This is like Ford trying to claim its decline in F150 sales last year was due to a resurgent Dodge Ram. Nope ,its due to Cybertruck (even coming in the 4th quarter) and anticipation from from Ford's own electric F150 offering. People just hold off or they buy used. We're not going to make cars anymore but we will make Mustang but we will call it a truck and make it an electric based primarily on the Model Y. Just like Ford can't hide its having to pay Tesla royalties for the foreseeable future, just like FCA and now GM can't hide that they pay Tesla pollution credits in the EU, in the near future BMW won't be able to hide its increasingly public bailouts after having not atoned for its own diesel gate. But BMW's board should look at their R&D head, is that just bravado designed to hide bailout status or is that a closet short seller with a gambling habit making all the wrong bets with OPM and the companies money and future? Making noises like he has locked out the co-pilot and crew and is flying himself, the plane and all its passengers into a mountain. His boss was fired for the same stupidity and he is doubling down on it and the future product line up looks seriously compromised. Maybe it is a plot to help Tesla by turning BMW into Tesla's food?
