So where we go with idiot sponsored media claiming that Tesla being up 110% year on year is a disaster for Tesla but claiming this to hide that the Big 3 are down by the same levels that bankrupted them in the 07 crash. Let us not forget that GM blamed its performance on its unions for which Obama lopped off its head as condition of getting a 85 billion dollar loan where it got 25 billion written off so it never paid back its debt whereas Tesla got a much smaller loan and paid it all off ahead of time- GM is structurally bankrupt. But notice despite being down by crash levels GM bought back 25 billion of its own stock while doing lay offs. A bit like Ford paying huge unjustifiable dividends, but having penny stock level prices. This shows the confidence the market really has in these ICE makes.
Ars Technica has a story titled: "Panasonic stops investing in Tesla Gigafactories as sales slump" https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/04/panasonic-stops-investing-in-tesla-gigafactories-as-sales-slump/ "...the growth didn't happen as Tesla's sales slumped. Although the company sells more EVs than any other OEM, its deliveries for Q1 2019 were significantly lower than the previous three months. For Panasonic, that's a real problem;...." This is additional evidence that all is not going smoothly for Tesla. Just a reminder, car and light truck sales in the USA dropped from 16.2 million in 2007 to just 10.4 million in 2009. GM declared bankruptcy on June 1, 2009. Tesla has weathered its toughest period which was last summer. However, it is still not quite out of the "woods".
Tesla disputed that claim on scaling back expansion at Gigafactory 1 and 2. Obviously Gigafactory 3 is scaling up. Tesla and Panasonic have seed that battery cell production has been the limiter. This may have caused Tesla to go outside of the partnership. Tesla has the Maxwell piece being added on and it is looking for back up providers. It is strange that Panasonic may be struggling to provide, I wonder if that is political pressure. I just saw another Bolt on the road. The Volt was a good looking car but the bolt in person is a clown car, its so small and the back end is way up in the air. Why would anyone buy a Bolt over a Model 3 which is radically superior? And as we've just learned not only will the Tacan be half a second lower than the cheaper Model 3 it will only have about 2/3 the range and the same thing a happened with the Qtron. We've just learned that electric cars sales are up 118% in China on track for about 3 million this year if just multiplied by the slow 1st quarter. While ICE cars are down in China by 13%. I think Tesla is about to do a devastating demonstration of autonomy on the Model 3 and that will drive the car like nothing else. The Model 3 package will be complete then. It will also be showing off its pick up in the summer and formally launching its semi. Fact is Musk may have already succeeded in what he set about doing. That makes him credible. Its better than the injuncting and decommission and profit blocking and taxing we are going to end up doing to get rid of the fossil fuel industry. As soon as we can get Trump out of office we are going to have to do things that straight up end the fossil fuel industry in the country the current strategy of trying to oppress Iran and Venezuela to sell fossil fuel crap which no one needs anymore and which would require a huge premium over green is insane and must end.
In 2018, the least expensive Model 3 cost about $45,000 versus $35,000 for a Bolt. Less Federal and Texas tax credits ($10,000) and the price becomes $35k vs. $25k. There is no denying the Tesla is the better vehicle, especially the styling. Now, with less expensive Model 3s available, the price difference has narrowed, as GM is also losing the Federal tax credit.
Rarely have I ever seen the news media put such an extreme negative spin on great news! The headline should be: "Panasonic Reaches 100% of Goal for 35 MWh of Production Capacity at Gigafactory 1, ahead of Schedule". Instead, the shockingly negative spin is "Panasonic stops investing in Tesla Gigafactories as sales slump". I mean really, we have come to expect this absurdist, wildly distorted view of Tesla's ongoing growth and achievements from professional Tesla stock manipulators and Big Oil shills, but we don't expect it from Ars Technica! Let's have some facts and a serious reality check here, hmmm? 1. The original plan was for Gigafactory 1 to reach a level of 35 MWh of battery cell production, and an additional 15 MWh of battery packs using cells from other sources, by 2020. Panasonic has reached its 2020 goal in 2019! That's well ahead of schedule, and I'd call that a solid success. Wouldn't you, gentle reader? 2. Tesla's so-called "sales slump" was partially due to an entirely predictable result of the annual winter slump in automotive sales -- which Tesla isn't immune to. In fact, Tesla's global 2019 Q1 sales (63,000) are up 110% (that is, more than twice as many) over 2018 Q1 sales (29,980), so where is the "slump"? 3. In Q1 2019, Tesla had a one-time change in distribution for the Model 3. With Tesla now shipping a large percentage of its Model 3's overseas, it's absolutely inevitable that many of them would be "caught in transit" to distant ports when the time for end-of-quarter accounting happened. But now those "pipelines" of overseas shipments are filled, so there shouldn't be a repeat of that hit to sales in future quarters. Why would anyone claim that there is anything unexpected, or bad, about the entirely predictable drop in Tesla's sales? What's the purpose of trying to spin that as a bad sign? Is the media really attempting to support the absurd Tesla basher claims of "collapsing demand" for the Model 3? Regarding Tesla having more cars now in overseas transit, and thus a lower percentage of cars sold, as compared to previous quarters: This is like observing that 3 - 1 = 2... and whining about the fact that the answer isn't 3! Well, duh. I'm shocked and saddened to see InsideEVs News jump on this bandwagon of FUD with the headline "Tesla Gigafactory Expansion Reportedly Frozen Temporarily." Very sad. I expect better from InsideEVs journalists and contributors!
