How The Heck Are My Index Funds Up When the World is Burning?

[disneysteve]

I know this is off topic but I passed a Wawa today that had a row of Tesla charging stations. How do those work? Does the user pay to charge up their car? Does Tesla subsidize them somehow? What's the deal? And what about other electric cars? Are they able to charge there too or are they exclusively for Teslas? If exclusive, where does someone with another e-car go to charge up?

[kork13]

For the charging stations (of any flavor.... There are a variety of companies around now), you have account with the charging station company & you get charged by the kW. Pretty simple really, as long as you have plenty available where you drive.

ETA: I forgot to mention that from what I've seen, the electric cars all have compatible charge ports. When I borrowed my BIL's Tesla, we were able to charge it at both the Tesla superchargers and the unaffiliated/"off-brand" charge stations. Next to me at the off-brand charger was a Dodge Bolt or something of the sort.

[Singuy]

Tesla's can charge at all charging stations while only Tesla's can charge at the Tesla super charging stations. So a competitor only have access to 30% of America's total charging network since their cars are not compatible with Tesla's

Tesla vertical integrates everything which includes a seamless experience with their own super chargers. This include navigation automatically route you to supercharging stations on long road trips, tell you it's availability, online/off line status, and also precondition the battery 30mins prior to arrival to ensure the fastest charging experience. Once you arrive, you just plug it in without having to deal with credit cards or anything.

Electrify America is the nearest competitor for all branded cars but their availability is spotty. Many owners end up arriving at a station to find them off line as the software is not integrated into those car brands. This is the nature of relying on 3rd party to build the infrastructure. Electrify America also only install 4 stalls per stop, a far cry from Tesla's usual 8-12 stalls per stop. This is why Tesla holds 80% of the EV market share. They have solved range anxiety not only with long range cars but they ensure a charging station every 40 miles or so. I read some Audi etron owners actually cancelling their road trip after almost being stranded when the first charging station they arrived at had zero online stations. That person decided to not take any chances with the next station and decided to go home.

[james.hendrickson]

Tesla as a company planning on growing revenue 50% per year is really not looking at any kind of gaap profit. Elon said they are aiming for a tiny profit quarterly as they should as a growth company. They rather put the proceeds into building more gigas, more batteries, more service centers and more charging stations. So pointing to them only making a profit due to regulatory credits will eventually become a distance memory as their cash flow is what will be driving their story forward. I feel like q3 Tesla will post massive profits, maybe close to a billion just to shut those who points at regular credits every quarter, and then go back to expansion mode. So yup another can't see the forest from the tree comment about Tesla (not your fault as these are all over the headlines.)

As for self driving, this one is a "who knows" approach. I do know that Cruz/Waymo are WAY behind in non-geofenced self driving. Geofencing to me is no better than a trackless ride at Disney. Having all the variables mapped out first is not exactly general self driving. Tesla works on general self driving which deals with only unknown variables. So just because Waymo can do what it looks like to be more advanced and reliable things in its geofence doesn't really mean anything and could just crash into a wall if I take the car home and try it near my house.

I remember when Tesla was hitting 800-900, everyone was calling it a short squeeze bubble. Then Covid happened and now it's 1500..lol. Even with Feds liquidity pumping the market, I don't see too many companies that were affected by the virus doubled from an already "bubble" level. If anything, during economic uncertainty companies like Tesla should be hammered the most. I don't know, but it's because they reiterated guidance even after a factory shut down, or their ability to build a gigafactory in a year after ground breaking. Who knows, but their execution is on point and managed to "surprise" wallstreet every quarter.

Hey Singuy - if you get a chance, I'd like to learn more about your research approach, it seems like you know more about the companies you invest in than Joe and Jane average.