Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Electric car manufacturer Tesla has called for people to volunteer their time, to help Tesla hit production targets and prove the “haters” wrong.
Tesla Asks for Model 3 Factory Volunteers to Prove ‘Haters’ Wrong
By Dana Hull
30 March 2018, 01:12 GMT+10 Updated on 30 March 2018, 02:55 GMT+10
Tesla Inc. exhorted its factory workers to disprove the “haters” betting against the company and is letting a small number of volunteers join the effort to ramp up output of the crucial Model 3 line.
In a pair of internal memos last week, the heads of engineering and production spelled out measures to free up workers for the Model 3 line and challenged them to reach production goals. Doug Field, the engineering chief, told staff that if they can exceed 300 Model 3s a day, it would be an “incredible victory” at a time when short-sellers and critics are increasingly doubting the company’s ability to fulfill CEO Elon Musk’s vision of building a mass-production electric-vehicle manufacturer
“I find that personally insulting, and you should too,” Field wrote in the March 23 email. “Let’s make them regret ever betting against us. You will prove a bunch of haters wrong.”
…
The “haters” in this case seems to be a reference to shareholders and investors. Tesla has recently seen its share price collapse, in part because of failure to hit production targets. As a result a lot of traders have reportedly shorted Tesla stock in anticipation of further falls in value.
If Tesla collapses, the failure will represent a remarkable destruction of US taxpayer’s funds. In 2015 LA Times reported Tesla had received over $4.6 billion in government subsidies. $4.6 billion of public money which could have been spent repairing roads or helping poor people ended up being used as green corporate welfare for a private company.
Well … someone HATES the TRUTH. Not that I am surprised.
Can you imagine the reaction if Ford or GM were to publicly ask their union workers to voluntarily “work for free” because production rates were slowing?
When slavery is the only solution you can think of for you manufacturing costs, you’re in big, big trouble.
Actually in most states, a business using volunteers to do work are breaking the law!
No fan of Tesla here, but please prove that anyone was asked to work for free.
The truth in how to make money off the backs of tax payers using, AGW hype, tax laws and expensive legal assistance.
1. Form two primary companies, maybe several addition supporting foreign companies as needed, making sure you have invested some of your own money in each company. Make sure to have a larger percentage of your money in the second primary company.
2. Make sure the two companies are seen as inovative and able to qualify for government loans.
3. Make the two companies appear to be successful beyond investors wildest dreams.
4. At some point, after making the stock profile appear that the companies are going to be wildly successful, convince the stock holders of company one to buy company two.
5. When company one fails, file the appropriate IRS tax forms for the horrible losses you incurred in company one.
6. Keep the money you made off the backs of tax payers from the sale of company two to company one.
7. Live happily ever after, perhaps in a country without an extradition agreement with the USA.
Here’s a link to the Tesla page on the Seeking Alpha financial site. Every other day a bearish article is posted there—enjoy!
https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TSLA
For the extra effort, will the commissars award “Hero” medals?
They get extra beet rations
“Beetings will continue until morale improves”.
Now that’s funny!
I think their Chief Engineer (Doug Field) should get the medal for cleverly moving the “victory” goalpost from what had been 5000 cars per week to 2100 a week (“300 a day”).
It’s so much as even if they do well they will still fail. The Model 3 was forecast at falling battery prices that haven’t manifested as quickly as Elon thought, it still costs too much to make and they are losing money on even the more expensive ones as none of the base models can be bought yet. The Semi is another albatross as they won’t be able to make money on them without a massive breakthrough in battery technology, even then it’s hard to see how they will make money on them. Elon is a salesman, he knows at what price he needs to sell them at, he doesn’t seem to care that he has to make money doing it. Giving away value like that isn’t sustainable and I don’t see a way out anymore. Likely dead within 2 years, where the name lives on but under a different stewardship where someone picks up the pieces. It’s not worth the debt to buy, only through bankruptcy will the Tesla brand maybe be successful, we shall see.
“We lose money on every unit we make, but we’ll make up for it with volume!”…innumeracy at its finest!
Teslanomics, much like Potionomics
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html
It reminds me of a campaign slogan by a UK public sector union some time ago: “3% of nothing is nothing. We want 10%!”
Careful now…that was the running joke with Amazon in the 90s as well.
I wrote and posted an article
about Tesla on my economics blog today
before I read this one.
Tesla is a strange company that is
burning a lot of capital … yet
shareholders approved a pay package
for CEO Elon Musk
that could net him more than $50 billion
if he meets lofty milestones
over the next decade.
And Musk doesn’t even work full time for Tesla !
http://el2017.blogspot.com/2018/03/whats-up-with-tesla.html
This is the new land of the unicorns. You don’t have to make money to be obscenely valued. Hey, it was good enough in 2000, so it’s good enough now.
BTW, Uber is in exactly the same boat. They subsidize every ride. Once they run out of capital, they’re done.
And when the drivers do their taxes they learn they are not making near the money they think they are. Independent Contractors means YOU pay both half’s of the SS and Medicare tax (Self and Employer), Heavy mileage means extra payment on your lease or big payment when you trade it in. Maintenance expenses goes up. etc. etc.
Yes, and the semi? I saw an article where somebody did a back of the envelope calculation scaling up an electric car to the size of a semi. It turns out that the batteries would weigh more than the payload. And as a comparison, if I recall correctly, a diesel powered rig has 2 saddle tanks that carry 50 gallons each. 100 (Imperial) gallons of diesel weighs about 800 pounds, so on average (fuel half full) on a 5-600 mile trip, the fuel weighs 400 pounds. No contest.
I am not that quick to dismiss the Semi out-of-hand.
Its proportions were estimated at 8-10 extended-range automotive battery backs, so yes, you are probably talking about an extra 12,000 lbs taken out of the payload capacity of the truck, but I believe the electric motors are lighter than the equivalent Diesel engine. Yes, there is an economic cost to the reduced payload, but the battery back is nowhere near weighing more than the remaining payload.
But unless green initiatives drive up the cost of electricity to German levels, the electricity cost relative to diesel fuel is a bargain that has many fleet operators drooling. Again, there has been little discussion of recouping the substantial road tax paid by trucks through the purchase of diesel fuel, but the cost savings are still substantial.
A valid criticism is that the announced purchase price of the Semi depends on lithium batteries continuing to decline in dollars per kWHr stored and the number of recharge cycles that can be obtained in this heavy-duty service.
Spec sheets claim that lithium batteries in laptop computer are good for 400 full-charge cycles. At a projected price of $100/kWHr of storage, this would add 25 cents to, what, 10 cents/kWHr average retail price of electricity in the U.S.? On the other hand, I have seen it claimed that Tesla’s computerized control over the battery charging and discharging process makes their battery packs good for 3000 cycles? Then, you are talking about a 3 cent/kWHr cost for the battery pack on top of the 10 cents of the electricity from the power company, which makes the economics of the truck very good.
The concern with the Semi is not that a battery powered truck is unworkable; the concern is that Tesla has offered specs that make a battery powered truck plausible, and herein is the problem discussing it. Were one to question whether battery prices will dip below $100/kWHr, one will be labelled a price-trend denier. Were one to question the large number of cycles from a Tesla battery pack, one is a science-and-technology denier.
I think that Tesla has done an amazing job using the capabilities of the lithium battery to make the electric car plausible. Instead of some tinny, tiny glorified golf cart, their cars are substantial vehicles with a lot of power, enough range for most person’s everyday use and a means of rapid charging to make long distance trips at least plausible for some people. They have claimed that their Model 3 can also make the electric car affordable, and the jury is out on that one, especially since they are only selling expensive “optioned-up” Model 3s and they appear to be struggling to produce them in the promised numbers.
As Model 3 production clunks along, the postings of the “believers” in Tesla over at the Seeking Alpha investment website are taking on an air of desperation. The affordable electric car or the electric semi-trailer truck may be plausible, but are they achievable?
I don’t think the semi would cut the mustard here in Oz. With the advent of ‘B’ Doubles, and now the introduction of ‘A’ doubles, the industry is looking at ways to maximise payload and productivity. Combined with the large distances that our trucks run, electric is not gonna even come close! When I was driving interstate back in the ’80’s, the truck I was driving carried enough fuel to go from Melbourne, to Brisbane, and part way back, where I would top up to continue home.
I now drive a tonne van, actual capacity, 1280 Kg. Think electric, halve the payload, and reduce the range to maybe 20%? I only fuel my van once a week! Be a right royal pain to charge it everyday!
The biggest problem with the semi is, that you need some seriously massive chargers. If you try to charge the truck with normal chargers, it takes way too long. You can only invest in the truck if you drive fixed routes and install heavy duty chargers at your garage. A better idea is to have a hybrid semi.
Those are small tanks. Dad’s semi has 2 saddle tanks carrying 250 gallons each. It’s not an unusual configuration for long-haul trucks. The tanks you quote are more for across-town operations, say from a warehouse to a retailer.
Battery prices have dropped below $100/1kwh. I just bought 4 “Econo Power” 12V, 110AH deep cycle marine batteries for $50 each at Interstate battery, and 12V * 110AH = 1320 watt/hours.
Oh, you meant new lithium ion battery prices, as opposed to “blem” lead-acid battery prices? Yea, just amazes me how much cheaper the lead-acid batteries are for the capacity.
Personally I don’t hate Tesla cars but I loathe the wasted subsidy money .
I have no animosity toward any electric car. My feelings are much more personal. Elon, I’ll offer you the same deal as I offer all crony Capitalists. If you build and sell cars, solar panels, or Utopia WITHOUT USING ANY OF MY MONEY, I won’t hate you. As long as you require my tax money, well…
Now, I understand that rockets are a special case, as they have been a function of government spending, and as the US currently has none of their own, and we need to resupply the ISS, and so forth, a reasonable mark up on space flights ordered by the government is one thing. But government hand-outs for electric vehicles and solar panels and special rules and property liens and the like, all that must stop completely. Nor will I be satisfied if stay silent while fanatic greenies or weaselly politicians “give” you the money. You must not lobby for it, you must not accept it if it is offered. You must enter voluntary contracts with willing buyers, ONLY, and the buyers also must receive no subsidy from my tax dollars. The only way to avoid being hated for being a cronyist, is to not be a cronyist.
That’s my deal for you, Elon. Take it or leave it.
I think the BIg Battery Breakthrough will happen some day – but that day may still be 60 or 70 years away, and anyone who bets on it happening before it does is going to go broke.
You’re being optimistic.
All that needs to happen now is Elon being caught with cases stuffed full of cocaine.
Back to the future?
The Tesla fiasco is another fine illustration of why government should never pick winners and losers. The taxpayer always loses, first of all, and the only ones who benefit are the snake-oil salesman subsidy and mandate miners and the government officials whose pants pockets/campaign coffers get lined.
Elon Musk should pay back every nickel received from taxpayers with interest, or have everything he owns confiscated.
Makes you wonder how much additional government money Tesla has received in the last three years.
WOW if I was a Tesla investor I would be running for the door as fast as my little feet would carry me. How would you like to own a car and/or battery pack put together by volunteers who most likely do not even own a screwdriver. He is not a charity and minimum wage laws will apply. This appeal shows how desperate he really is.
It’s not random volunteers. He’s asking for unpaid overtime. That’s a classic desperation tactic.
He could try putting the people in management to work on the factory floor. Salaried positions like those generally don’t have to be paid for overtime. :]
drednicolson
Probably already done that, now he’s really scraping the barrel.
I’m not seeing any request for unpaid OT
That unpaid-overtime part is not obvious from the article. It sounds like he’s asking workers from the temporarily-shut-down production lines to shift over to the Model 3, at regular hours and pay (for two days). If they don’t shift, which is their option, hence “volunteer”, they will be unpaid (for doing nothing) or can take accrued vacation days. That’s not the same as free labour, which is a common usage of “volunteer”, but not in this example.
Going Stakhonovite to meet production goals? How evocative of the old Soviet Union.
The next stage is the Tokarev for unbelievers. Tasers perhaps in this case.
4.6 billion lost to this part of the multiple CAGW shams is a lot less than what they’ve cost all of us.
I’ll name the first and easiest: Solyndra.
(PS It went belly up, but it’s executives didn’t.)
Ron Pelosi, brother in law to The Witch, was Executive Director of PCG that invested with Solyandra.
Fed gov loan guarantees prevented losses to this group.
Interesting. Got any links for this part of the story?
I think those will simply be footnotes when the final story of the green debacle is written. At least three full chapters will probably be devoted to The Train to Nowhere.
At first glance, I thought Tesla was letting volunteers have a free Model 3 to drive around town and show off to their friends. There’s something I could get behind! 😉
TSLA is such a quality car. They just recalled 123,000 model S cars today because bolts holding the power steering pump were corroding through. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-recalls-123k-model-sedans-220842247.html
Now, I do live in NE, and corrosion is a problem. After 18 years the fenders on my old beater were starting to rust through. Where in all that is right and proper he found bolts that die in 3 years anywhere is beyond me.
Well said!
Whereat bolts question: possibly in China.
But they were such a bargain at the time.
Corrosion protection costs extra, my 2000 Ford Mustang GT had the tie rod ends fail after 53,000 miles, I thank the Almighty it happened at 5 mph rather than 75 mph…
Two spots down-thread, why trying to save weight and/or cost on critical steering and/or suspension components causes disasters. Teslas are built by Silicon Valley engineers who seem to think that a car is a computer that moves, read reviews of the dashboard/touch-screen of the Model 3, ignorant amateurs with government subsidies. Just Say No…
Make the bolts from chrome-vanadium steel — not as expensive as stainless but last nearly as long.
“Where in all that is right and proper he found bolts that die in 3 years anywhere is beyond me.”
In the mid 80’s GM found hinges for the drop down Suburban tailgate that failed in two years. Those failing bolts today just show that Tesla is well down the manufacturing learning curve, if the current article doesn’t already make that obvious.
Tesla seems to have basic production quality problems:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-22/elon-musk-is-a-modern-henry-ford-that-s-bad
“As reports of quality problems with the new Model 3 continue to roll in, Tesla is beefing up its service operation to repair the problems that evaded even its rework operation. “
“haters”—That would be the realists that understand economics and math?
That would seem to be a good definition for this case, lol.
Reminds me of some WWII firearms.
Person A: It was innovative, ground breaking, a whole new direction.
Person B: True, it was also a piece of JUNK!
Teslas have some real issues with the mechanicals.
1) Some sort of suspension failure where the whole car body falls down onto the wheels. Further damage is done by the falling.
2) A front end steering/suspension failure where the front wheels splay out. A part similar in function to a tie rod connector is made of aluminum and fatigue fails.
3) The motor which provides power assist to the steering falls off. The hold down bolts are made of aluminum and shear off. As the motor loosens, the drive sprocket and power transfer belt both get ruined.
What insane engineer makes a hold down bolt out of aluminum???
My guess is that the battery packs are so heavy that they thought it wise to underbuild the whole rest of the mechanicals in an effort to bum out every last possible ounce. If production does ramp up, so will these problems.
The suspension problems outlined in 1) and 2) seem to be causing auto insurers to total out the vehicles as opposed to repairing them. And these are $60K-$80K vehicles. Apparently, fixing a Tesla is an issue in itself.
Collision repair costs have been documented by owners – 4 MPH fender bender and a $11,000 repair bill. Repairs were only available at “Tesla Certfied” repair shops, who apparently are the only ones Tesla will supply with parts. Sounds fishy. Tesla is a nut job company and one I will avoid.
Here’s one story about repairing a Tesla:
http://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/07/repairing-my-tesla-model-s-has-been-an-utter-night.aspx
“Seven months, three weeks, and three days. That’s how long it’s been since my Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S was damaged in an accident, and I still don’t have my car back.”
Disposable cars that cost three times what an ordinary ICE car costs. How environmentally friendly!
So, not only is the company a house of cards, the car itself is.
Sounds like a scene out of Atlas Shrugged.
They should’ve made the car out of Reardon-steel.
Yes, but who is John Galt?
Reality is surpassing the hype. Tesla has never produced product on time or to the promised low cost point. Despite all the glowing reports from the MSM a quick read of the forums and occasional news report that slips past them show quality is an issue. I would love to see them become successful but without the subsidies and I doubt it’s feasible given their lack of experience producing automobiles. It looks like it will become another failed company in a long line of nouveau riche start ups out of Silicone Valley that collect rabid followers until they don’t.
I believe Silicone Valley is located in Hollywood. 🙂
Whichever place you’re talking about, equivalent total number of common sense brain cells, Pat.
Which would all be much less of a problem if the colossal failure didn’t come at taxpayer expense!
What, no singing of the company song by the workers? i don’t quite see the connection between a financial analyst’s negative evaluation of a company and “hatred.”
I don’t think the haters are the analysts. The haters are the ones who hate to see taxpayer money squandered on market-destroying subsidies by politicians who don’t have a clue. Count me in as part of that group, by the way.
Count me in, too. Especially when the supposed justification of the government subsidies or mandates is in any way related to “climate” BS.
Another low in the eco-looney world for fantasy spin!
A) Just who/whom are the haters? According to Tesla, it’s tesla’s failure to reach promised manufacturing goals.
From WSJ:
Tesla is making suppliers wait to receive their payments.
A practice that usually moves purchasers from receiving premium products and treatment to getting the bottom of the barrel goods, whenever.
Now Tesla (Musk) wants their employees to work harder for the same salaries. When Tesla makes their employees wait to cash their paychecks, that will really hammer quality.
Which goes a long way towards explaining why less than 30% of potential Tesla Customers taking delivery of their cobbled Model 3 cars.
Not that other tesla problems help fan desire to own Tesla:
That metal mesh looking thing on the floor is the top of the battery.
A better view:
Which brings up the topic of <a href=lithium atmospheric combustion by-products:
“Chemical Names: Lithium peroxide (Li2(O2)); 12031-80-0; Dilithium peroxide; Lithium oxide (Li2O2);”
“Factory Volunteers”?
I guess free labor is the only way they can get Musk’s business model to work.
Announcing the need for factory volunteers just proved the “haters” right.
Stalin had them, lots of volunteers worked for free in factories called Gulags.
Tesla is a remarkable car in terms of engineering – I test-drove the gull-wing SUV recently and was truly impressed by how it handled, especially in the snow. I tried and could not make it misbehave.
There are certain design possibilities with an all-electric car that just make good sense. The cost and life of batteries is still the issue.
I hope Musk and Tesla succeed, and I will not be one of those who try to pull him down.
Regards, Allan MacRae, P.Eng.
Allan I think you will agree, remarkable engineering –that is not worth it to consumers –without the huge subsidies bringing cost down enough so that they can be priced low enough to equal the value such that they will be purchased without the company making profit.
Allen. I am with you on the engineering and performance potential of Tesla and other electric drive vehicles. I was at a Tesla showroom yesterday, actually, in Calgary kicking the tires of one of their “samples”. I was quite impressed with what I saw. Of course you don’t know how long the bolts are going to hold it together unless you buy one and learn the hard way. They will undoubtedly have growing pains and quality control issues as they age (assuming that they make it that far before implosion, which may not be far off). The downside is significant but I hope they pull through it. I’m not a Musk fan and I deplore the public trough offering drinks to corporate bums. Interesting times……….
Nobody has to try to pull him down. The laws of economics are as inviolable as those of physics.
Elon Musk May as well be trying to travel beyond the speed of light.
I certainly wouldn’t go up in one of his spacecraft – in fact I wonder if his “recoverable boosters” are an illusion. IOW I wouldn’t trust the man further than I could throw him.
Macrae,
Did you know that the battery for the Model S weighs 1,700 lbs? Sure, all wonderful, but more than twice the weight of the Engine + Gas Tank of any sedan you could name? Not to mention the battery fires the fire department Cannot extinguish. Can’t wait to get my first one, NOT…
Well, so is a Williams F1 car. That doesn’t make it a practical means of transport, though.
Completely agree. There is a certain brashness about Musk which many consider arrogance. I’m sure the original Tesla provoked similar reactions. Sometimes new technology needs a P.T. Barnum to win general acceptance and Musk certainly fills that role.
Electric vehicles have progressed to the point where they are a practical choice for some people. Now if we could solve the problems with liquid fuel cells, that would be a game changer.
In the meantime, I’m keeping my IC vehicle.
Investors put down their money willingly and if it goes bust, that’s the risk they take. Subsidies from the public treasury are another matter and so far we have seen no benefits from Tesla sufficient to justify the “contributions” our government has so generously provided from our pockets.
Silicone Valley is the San Fernando Valley, famous for porn production.
Or given back to the productive taxpayers who have proven an ability to make profitable products that the market wants.
How ’bout we keep the government out of private markets altogether? It’s so crazy it just might work.
You radical you… 😉
“How ’bout we keep the government out of private markets altogether? It’s so crazy it just might work.”
That’s not something socialist driven governments, in the search for utopia will adhere to. They will however. Continue that blinkered search. All the while still attempting to “pick winners”……….. till other peoples money runs out.
Your fortunate in America to have a leader who knows a scam/fraud and is willing to call it out. As evidenced by him in turning of the money tap to the UN. He politely refers to them as “bad deals”.. His leadership might just save you from tipping anymore into these “planet saving schemes”.
Now that’s just crazy talk…. if you’re a socialist democrat!
Preferably just not BORROWED by the Federal Government and added to the National Debt.
I’ll vote for that!
$3.5BB cash burn last year alone. Musk is running out of other people’s money.
Nobody is hating, they just are tiring of subsidizing this company, which is not green at all. Massive mining to make the batteries…
“Massive mining to make the batteries…” And so, must we also eschew all elements in the Periodic Table because they too are produced by the mining industry?
Calling people “haters” is the new refuge of scoundrels.
They can rail against negativity all they like, but no amount of positive thinking is going to make an aluminum retaining bolt withstand the same amount of repetitive stress as a steel one. 😐
“Deniers” was all used up.
Another +$4.6 Billion US taxpayer dollars sluicing down the green sewer created by the corrupt Obama regime….
Yup! The most transparently opaque administration ever!
“Missed it by that much…..”
https://bacontime.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/tesla-fails-again/
My favourite Enron quote was that Enron went bankrupt without ever posting a losing quarter …. an amazing accomplishment when you think about it 😉
An amazing accomplishment of book-cooking on the part of Enron’s accountants, you mean. 😉