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2014-05-19 Economy
Tesla Posts $50 Million First Quarter Loss
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Posted by Pappy 2014-05-19 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views ]  Top

#1 Tesla Motors, an electric car maker backed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), posted a $49.8 million loss in the first quarter of 2014
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Tesla is still working on its “Gigafactory” project – a plan to build a giant battery cell factory in the United States that is expected to begin operation in 2017.

BOONDOGLE, watch out.
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Tesla has been able to garner millions from California’s zero emission vehicle standard.

In othr wors, made mony,faked a shortage (Taxes, probably), and laughed all the way to the bank.

at $100 grand a car, they a'int losing shit.
Posted by Redneck Jim 2014-05-19 07:34||   2014-05-19 07:34|| Front Page Top

#2 Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity are Musk's sister companies.

Musk wants to go to Mars. There is not enough oxygen to run a combustion engine on Mars so he needs Tesla and the battery companies to perfect his electric transports and learn mass production skills.

Musk needs SolarCity to perfect his solar power and distribution schemes for Mars and Space.

Musk still has billions in liquid assets so $50 million is not a major problem. That said a bit of the problem is due to states like Texas insisting new cars must be sold from dealerships so forbidding the sale of his cars because Musk does not DO DEALERSHIPS. He thinks dealerships are just rip offs of the consumer.

You have to look at it from Musk's perspective. If you really really wanted to do something too expensive for even nations to consider... you play every angle you can to run your game plan.

Caliphornia is more than happy enough to dance to Electric Cars and Solar City. To be honest a desert full of dead batteries likely doesn't bother the soul of Caliphornia, in most areas of the state the winter is not cold enough for the heater to drain the car's batteries and Solar City electric charging stations are so cute when you are stoned.

Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 10:49||   2014-05-19 10:49|| Front Page Top

#3 This is why I have been posting on the US/Russia Space Tiff.
No SpaceStation and Musk doesn't perfect manned flight on his critical timeline.
Musk NEEDS TO GET TO MARS!
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 11:00||   2014-05-19 11:00|| Front Page Top

#4 Think a big big picture.
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 11:01||   2014-05-19 11:01|| Front Page Top

#5 Who, or what, is Musk? C'mon, 3dc, enlighten us.
Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-05-19 11:06||   2014-05-19 11:06|| Front Page Top

#6 Rantburg wouldn't let my answer post. (WTF?)

Google him and think Tony Stark. IronMan movies modeled Tony Stark after Elon Musk.

Net Worth $8 billion. #158 wealthest on the planet.

Look at Wikipeida, Forbes etc..
His Twitter is: twitter.com/elonmusk

Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 11:39||   2014-05-19 11:39|| Front Page Top

#7 Closest prior rich son of a b* would be Howard Hughes.
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 11:40||   2014-05-19 11:40|| Front Page Top

#8 Oh and Google zillionaries and other west coast rich have pledged to give him their money when they die - to give the human race a path off planet!

Think about it!
Not your average biz plot!
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 11:45||   2014-05-19 11:45|| Front Page Top

#9  Elon leading the West Coast Rich to Mars


With paper boats like this to start the crossing



On the other side SolarCity stuff to power it all and make fuel and air. Transport on Tesla power.
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 12:01||   2014-05-19 12:01|| Front Page Top

#10 Don't forget Musk's pneumatic mail tube system to transport Hollywood fat-cats from LA to SF and back in 20 minutes...
Posted by Jerkface Killa 2014-05-19 13:14||   2014-05-19 13:14|| Front Page Top

#11 I chose to ignore that.
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 13:30||   2014-05-19 13:30|| Front Page Top

#12  Jerkface Killa - Just think of California with their biggest ego elites gulping cold air on Mars and kicking dead Solar City power units when it's 100 below.
Doesn't it warm the cockles of your heart?
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 13:36||   2014-05-19 13:36|| Front Page Top

#13 BTW - Based on the air pollution Chinese cities had this winter I predict them begging at TESLA's doorstep in a few years. The US doesn't need TESLA as natural gas powers cars and trucks would be more efficient and cleaner for us. China doesn't have the natural gas and they will need to get the Smog out. Tesla will be their best choice.
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 13:43||   2014-05-19 13:43|| Front Page Top

#14 A SpaceX coffee mug!
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 13:52||   2014-05-19 13:52|| Front Page Top

#15 Just think of California with their biggest ego elites gulping cold air on Mars and kicking dead Solar City power units when it's 100 below.
Doesn't it warm the cockles of your heart?


It does.
Posted by JohnQC 2014-05-19 14:08||   2014-05-19 14:08|| Front Page Top

#16 Per the article:

As an incentive, the Shanghai government is providing Model S drivers in the city with free license plates, allowing them to avoid the public auction price of $10,000 to $15,000 per plate..
Posted by Pappy 2014-05-19 14:27||   2014-05-19 14:27|| Front Page Top

#17 That's Shanghai, though. They're the guys that get the credit.
Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-05-19 14:34||   2014-05-19 14:34|| Front Page Top

#18 I am sensing this is important to my old friend CondorMan. :)
Posted by Shipman 2014-05-19 15:12||   2014-05-19 15:12|| Front Page Top

#19 "Doesn't it warm the cockles of your heart?"

Yes, it warms my cock-les...as long as Elon spends his own money doing it. Manned mission to Mars = $1 trillion at a bare minimum. So he better start saving...
Posted by Jerkface Killa 2014-05-19 16:11||   2014-05-19 16:11|| Front Page Top

#20 Jerkface Killa - it looks like his current plans for that involve monster rockets that can carry 100 astronauts at a time to Mars. Fuel: liquid Natural Gas and LOX. Both of which he thinks he can make on Mars for the return trip (sans astro-colonists )
Motor will be clusters of Raptors. Google Raptor and SpaceX
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 16:30||   2014-05-19 16:30|| Front Page Top

#21  Wikipedia on Raptor
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 16:32||   2014-05-19 16:32|| Front Page Top

#22 Shipman - One of my hobbies is watching SpaceX advance and retreat. Any group led by a man whose "Jones" is requiring him to do what he does and not the bank balance or market has got to operate in "interesting" space. Or maybe I've just been married too long to a lady who specialized in real nutcases so the attraction is there to figure the guy's angles out.
Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 16:40||   2014-05-19 16:40|| Front Page Top

#23 Jerkface Killa - He's good at doing it cheaper than even the ChiComs. I would guess his $ figure for multiple colonization missions is more in the $100 billion range.

That's one reason "Reusable" is so important to him.


Posted by 3dc 2014-05-19 16:44||   2014-05-19 16:44|| Front Page Top

#24  Jerkface Killa is a delete on sight entity, unless someone responds to him.

Be advised.
Posted by badanov 2014-05-19 16:45|| http://www.chriscovert.net  2014-05-19 16:45|| Front Page Top

#25 Recent AutoWeek article speculated on financial health of Tesla and wondered how long the EV bubble would last.

I think we have our answer and it came sooner than AW expected.
Posted by Big Boy 4014 2014-05-19 20:42||   2014-05-19 20:42|| Front Page Top

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