Tesla Consult

24/03/2023

Electrek reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) told employees they expect to lose the full $7,500 federal tax credit on their cheapest electric car, the Model 3 Standard range.

The communication to employees appears to have been done to prepare buyers of those vehicles, as the access to the full credit could change if delivery is done on April 1 rather than March 31 – pending official guidance.

For the last three months, eligible buyers in the US could get the tax credit on all Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. However, the EV maker expects the IRS to release battery supply guidance any day now. Once that happens, the company expects to lose the full credit on the Model 3 Standard Range, as their batteries are supplied from China.

When the new tax credit program was announced, it included requirements for at least 40% of the value of the critical minerals in the battery having been extracted or processed in the United States or a country with a U.S. free-trade agreement, or recycled in North America in order to get access to up to half of $7,500 credit. The other half requires manufacturing or assembly of at least 50% of battery components in North America.

In December, Treasury decided not to issue proposed guidance on battery sourcing rules until March, effectively giving some EVs not meeting new requirements a few months of eligibility in 2023 before battery rules take effect. Senate Energy Chairman Joe Manchin harshly criticized that decision saying it "created an opportunity to circumvent stringent supply chain requirements."

Tesla's other Model Y and Model 3 vehicles are expected to retain access to the full tax credit as they are using battery cells built by Tesla or Panasonic (TYO:6752) in Nevada, California, or Texas.

Shares of TSLA are up 2.21% in pre-market trading on Thursday.

21/03/2023

Tesla became the first electric vehicle maker in the country to cut prices in a bid to defend its market share. Bolstered by higher profits per car than other electric vehicle makers, Tesla slashed prices of its best-selling models by up to 13.5% in China in January, triggering a price war with BYD (SZ:002594) and several rivals following suit over the next two months.

Data suggests a very strong Q1 for Tesla in China

17/03/2023

HOW IS ELON MUSK INVOLVED?

He was one of the co-founders of OpenAI along with Sam Altman. But the billionaire left the startup's board in 2018 to avoid a conflict of interest between OpenAI's work and the AI research being done by Telsa Inc - the electric-vehicle maker he leads.

Musk has expressed concerns about the future of AI and batted for a regulatory authority to ensure development of the technology serves public interest.

"It's quite a dangerous technology. I fear I may have done some things to accelerate it," he said towards the end of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc's Investor Day event earlier this month.

"Tesla's doing good things in AI, I don't know, this one stresses me out, not sure what more to say about it."

What is Generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT?

17/03/2023

Only Tesla has pledged more investment into battery production than Volkswagen, according to a Reuters analysis - though even the U.S. EV maker is struggling to ramp up production and is recruiting Asian suppliers to help.

Volkswagen to invest in mines in bid to become global battery supplier

17/03/2023

A House Equipped With Tesla Solar Roof Earns $350 A Month For Owner

16/03/2023

"Tesla needs to open up its ecosystem and allow competition for the servicing of Tesla [vehicles] and sales of parts," said plaintiffs’ lawyer Matthew Ruan of Freed Kanner London & Millen, who filed one of the proposed class actions

Tesla faces 'right to repair' antitrust class actions

15/03/2023

"Elon Musk, we are not certain if he cares more about China's market," Tzeng said, referring to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s sales in China. "We won't put all our eggs in one basket."

Analysis-Fear of the dark: Taiwan sees wartime frailty in communication links with world

14/03/2023

Companies including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Honda, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Dell filed briefs at the Federal Circuit in support of the plaintiffs.

The California court dismissed the case in 2021, citing U.S. Supreme Court rulings that Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions on whether to review inter partes review petitions cannot be appealed.

The Federal Circuit also rejected the companies' arguments that the rule was arbitrary and violated U.S. patent law. But the three-judge panel said the PTO may have been required to hold a period of public notice and comment before making the rule, and that it could be challenged based on that argument.

Court revives Apple, Google challenge to U.S. patent-review policy

13/03/2023

Tesla Stock Loses Buy Rating at Berenberg: 5 Big Analyst Calls | Pro Recap

Stocks Analysis by Garrett Cook covering: Caterpillar Inc, Costco Wholesale Corp, KB Home, Tesla Inc. Read Garrett Cook's latest article on Investing.com

13/03/2023

Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Tesla as price cuts fail to trigger demand

Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and $220.00 price target on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) as recent price cuts fail to trigger the strong demand response expected by the industry.

Morgan Stanley's China team believes that Tesla's price cuts started a broader round of industry price reductions across EVs and now ICE/traditional nameplates. Unlike earlier cuts that triggered a strong demand response, this round has not seen follow-through as consumers wait for further cuts.

The China team also believes that investors are beginning to appreciate the pricing war and stagnant demand and that it will take a more meaningful sales/price uptick into 2Q to restore investors' confidence. However, according to the team, the situation has potential to get worse as they expect to see a few more traditional OEMs likely reactively slashing prices in the next few weeks.

MS analysts wrote in a note, "We gauge a full-blown price war would urge consumers to stay sidelined and await more promotions/discounts to come. Vehicles price elasticity of demand is decaying as consumer's pricing expectation has also been falling YTD. This might pinch the sales resurgence and order-intake that should supposedly pick up in March."

13/03/2023

Europe’s car market has remained dogged for much of the year by protracted supply-chain problems curtailing production. While some of that pressure is lifting, the region’s consumers are now contending with multiplying energy bills and surging interest rates that have started to weigh on demand. Most carmakers have stayed resilient so far as they catch up on many unfilled orders.
“The market lost one million units per quarter over the last three years,” Jato global analyst Felipe Munoz said in a statement. “While a catastrophe in terms of volume relative to production capacity, the majority of carmakers have now properly adapted to this new reality.”
Fully-electric cars made up 15.6% of total registrations during the first nine months of the year. In September, combined Tesla Model Y and Model 3 sales rose to nearly 42,000, four times as many as Volkswagen's