Tesla Model Y, page #22

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Morgan Stanley predicts radical auto industry consolidation

A lack of technological foresight and changing economic conditions may bring dramatic consolidation to the auto industry in the next 15 to 20 years. Industry analyst Adam Jonas at Morgan Stanley believes that the number of major automakers could go from around 30 today to as few as 6 in that time. However, a catastrophe is avoidable.
Jonas' argument is that the world has more automakers than it can sustain. He contends that too many of them are more focused on next year's models than attempting to adapt to technological change. Without looking forward, they won't survive.
Tesla might be the lighthouse leading automakers away from the rocks. While still quite small, it has disrupted the status quo and shown that there's more than one way to prepare for new innovations. "With proper execution, Detroit may thank Tesla Motors for being that stiff board in the back of the head right when they needed it," said Jonas to The Detroit News.

Wall Street still irrationally exuberant over Tesla shares

In a world where electric cars are far from the norm, it seems odd to us laypeople that you can't buy a share of Tesla stock (ticker symbol TSLA) for less than $230. But a research note issued Monday from Goldman Sach's respected team of auto industry analysts (seen in PDF form in our gallery) has added fuel to the irrational exuberance fire, guaranteeing that Tesla's stocks should hover at these seemingly unreasonable prices for some time.
Goldman Sachs analyst Patrick Archambault compared Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Apple's Steve Jobs, saying the Model S is a lot like the iPhone. The major difference is that it will take a lot longer for Tesla's electric cars to make a sizable dent in the auto industry, Archambault said, than it took for the iPhone to take over the smart phone world. If Tesla rolls out a non-luxury car in the next few years as is rumored, Archambault predicts the company could be selling 500,000 electric cars a year by 2022 or 2023. Based on those projections, the Goldman Sachs analysts says a fair price for Tesla's stock right now is about $200 a share.
Which, in the upside-down world of Wall Street, means the current share price of around $238 is nearly $40 overvalued. But that hasn't stopped traders from pushing up the price of Tesla's stock today between $3 and $4 a share. Over at Oilprice.com (subscription), contributor Martin Tiller on Friday was already sounding the alarm bells, saying Tesla share's are overpriced, despite the promising technology.

Nissan pokes fun at Tesla's New Jersey woes, then deletes Tweet

Ever have one of those moments when you release something out onto Twitter, only to think better of it a little while later and reach for that garbage can icon? If so, you are not alone. In fact, you're in the company of a certain Japanese automaker, who recently joined the ranks of those who've suffered an embarrassing bout of tweetus deletus. The Nissan Leaf social media team apparently thought it would be amusing to take a light poke at Tesla Motors and its New Jersey dealer fight woes on its Twitter feed and put together the cheeky graphic which you see above. It was originally published on the micro-blogging network accompanied by the text, "It's okay #NewJersey, you can still #GoElectric with the #NissanLEAF #EV." Funny, right? Not to everyone. The image attracted a bit of mild criticism which, to their credit, Nissan responded to saying, "It's all in #EV love." Soon, however, the original image disappeared from the @NissanLEAF feed. Luckily, we saved a copy for your edification. Rob Robinson, senior specialist of social communications for Nissan, told AutoblogGreen that the Leaf Twitter account is run by an agency, and that the tweet in question, "Was not a tweet that was reviewed or approved by Nissan. We saw it and asked them to take it down." As for the reasoning, Robinson said that, "We thought it was a discussion we didn't need to be weighing in on." While we can see the Nissan point of view, we also appreciate the attempt at being irreverent. Anything to break up the monotony of the stale toast the account usually offers up – "What would you nickname your Nissan Leaf if it was Ocean Blue?" which is the last undeleted Tweet available on the feed, as of this writing. We actually applaud the intention of the Tesla post. It all makes us wonder, though, if the social media team over there isn't in need of a little input on how they might improve its outreach. Since we know our readers are not shy in offering suggestions, we ask you to leave your thoughts and ideas for them in the Comments.

Tesla poaches Renault-Nissan communications boss Sproule

Need another sign that Tesla is growing into a force to be reckoned with? Bloomberg reports it has just snagged high-profile communications boss Simon Sproule from Renault-Nissan to become the EV maker's vice president of communications and marketing.
Sproule is an industry veteran, having spent 20 years at Nissan (where he grew to become CEO Carlos Ghosn's right-hand man). In addition, he logged stints at Ford, Jaguar (when it was still a Blue Oval-owned brand) and Microsoft. Despite all that experience, Sproule is still young, at just 45 years of age, as Bloomberg points out, yet he's held positions in the US, Japan and France over the years.
This is all good news for Tesla, which is in need of a strong spokesman outside of company CEO Elon Musk. It's been battling with the state of New Jersey and its governor, Chris Christie, over direct sales in the Garden State.

In-demand BMW i8 deliveries start in June, and it's more efficient than we thought

Memo to Elon Musk: objects in the rear-view mirror may be closer than they appear. In this case, it's a couple of plug-in BMWs. And they represent the closest thing to a true competitor for Musk and the Tesla Motors electric vehicles. The German automaker re-confirmed that demand for its upcoming i8 plug-in hybrid will exceed the initial supply batch, though BMW didn't release any specific numbers, Reuters says. BMW will start production next month with deliveries commencing in June for the 362-horsepower i8. The news is consistent with a November estimate from BMW that indicated that the first year of i8s were essentially spoken for in advance. We learned in late January that the number of i3 battery-electric vehicles imported to the US won't meet demand during that vehicle's first year of sales either. Here's the thing: all these people were interested in the i8 when BMW said the car got the equivalent of 94 miles per gallon. Turns out, those calculations were a bit off. Reuters also notes that the new numbers show the i8 gets 112 MPGe. That's on the lenient European cycle, but if anyone was holding out for an i8 with triple-figure fuel economy, your time (to get on the waiting list) has come.Motley Fool proposed late last month that BMW is positioned to be Tesla's only real competition when it comes to high-performance plug-in vehicles. The reasoning was that the BMW plug-ins, like the Teslas, are being built from scratch and don't just have EV powertrains dropped into existing vehicle platforms. Whether or not the competition is truly a two-team race is something we're not sure is completely decided yet, but we know it'll be fun to watch unfold either way. Want proof? Check out Autoblog's enjoyable First Drive of the i8 here.

Is BMW the only real competition to Tesla Motors?

Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk probably isn't losing a ton of sleep over the new plug-in efforts by the makers of the "Ultimate Driving Machine," but maybe he should. That's what the Motley Fool is saying, presenting the case that the California company's real competition will come from BMW. What about the plug-in efforts of General Motors or Ford? Musk can hit the snooze, Motley Fool says. Unlike automakers that are "jamming battery packs into the existing vehicle design," BMW has built its i3 battery-electric and i8 plug-in hybrid supercar from the ground up. Like Tesla, BMW puts its battery packs into the floor of its vehicles. Most importantly, the i3 - and especially the i8 - are real performers. While the i8 is about 40-percent more expensive than the Tesla, it matches the Model S's 0-60 mile per hour acceleration times and handily beats its top speed figures. Tesla sold about 6,900 vehicles during the last three months of 2013 and BMW had more than 10,000 i3 orders on the books by late November and the first year's allotment of i8s is already sold out. The German automaker has what the Fool calls an "outside chance" of selling more plug-in vehicles than Tesla by next year, but Tesla is gearing up its gigafactory to get ready to sell a half-million EVs in 2020, so the race is most certainly on. You can read more over on the Fool.

Tesla's Elon Musk made $1.1 billion yesterday, how about you?

Thanks to skyrocketing share prices, yesterday was a very big payday for Tesla founder Elon Musk. The already wealthy businessman added another $1.1 billion, ten percent of his net worth, to his overflowing wallet yesterday after Tesla's shares hit $248. This time last year, TSLA was trading at roughly $34 per share.
Tesla's latest jump in a year that has already seen share prices climb 65 percent is thanks to positive reports from Consumer Reports on the company's Model S electric sedan, and some kind words from Morgan Stanley about the brand's plans for a battery factory.
Despite all the good news for Tesla yesterday, not all of the $1.1 billion Musk earned came from his automotive pursuits. SolarCity, which Musk is also the largest shareholder in, saw its share prices jump 3.1 percent, as part of a 43-percent jump in 2014.

Tesla rockets to $259 a share on Morgan Stanley, Consumer Reports announcements [w/video]

Remember way back when we mentioned that Tesla's Gigafactory for batteries might prove to be a good investment opportunity, with its potential to bring cell prices down to a level that could make the forthcoming Tesla Model E affordable, not to mention attractive for massive amounts of renewable energy storage? Well, today the automaker's share price popped – we'd say exploded, but it's not as alliterative – up over 15 percent to hit an all-time $259.20 high. It seems market analysts at Morgan Stanley were way ahead of us, and they have now released a report outlining their decidedly optimistic expectations. Authored by analyst Adam Jonas, the document looks forward to a Utopian future (around 2026, for those anxious for such a thing) where it is predicted that Tesla will enjoy a commanding share of both the battery and autonomous automobile market, and its revenues will be sixty times that of today. Sixty times. That's a pretty sunny outlook. Not incidentally, the financial services company also has doubled its target price for TSLA, from $153 to a nice, round $320. Consumer Reports named the Tesla Model S its best overall top pick for 2014. That rosy outlook report is not necessarily the only thing filling the sails of the California automaker today. Consumer Reports has also also added to the momentum, naming the Tesla Model S its best overall top pick for 2014. And now we hear that Panasonic and some partners are interested in investing almost a billion dollars into Tesla's new gigafactory. Of course, we here at AutoblogGreen are simply scribes, not investment professionals, so this is not an encouragement to buy, sell or hold. We can recommend, though, that you scroll below and check out CR's brief video containing all 10 of its 2014 top picks. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

BYD CEO calls Tesla a rich man's toy, not worried about competition

We've heard the comment, "the Tesla Model S is a rich man's toy" before. Usually it comes from a Cranky McCrankster-type of character in the Comments beneath posts about the all-electric automobile. Not everyone sees the utility of an expensive car that can seat up to seven, run with Corvettes and only gets 265 miles on a charge. We get that, sort of, and everyone's entitled to their opinion. It's a bit odd, though, hearing the remark fall from the lips of Wang Chuanfu, however. BYD Auto's CEO made the comment – well, he said it in Chinese and it's been translated this way by the International Business Times – in an interview with Shanghai Securiites News, along with mentioning that he expects the California automaker to only capture a very small percentage of the Chinese market. That last bit is a fair point, though a tiny chunk of that burgeoning market could still mean a lot of sales. Tesla has intimated its hopes for at least 10,000 takers in its first year of operation in China and says its Beijing location is its biggest and most bustling. As for Chuanfu's comment, Tesla gave AutoblogGreen a simple, "no comment." BYD, of course, sells its e6 electric sedan in its home country and its sales might not even reach the 10,000 level, despite being more affordable and boasting a respectable 186-mile range. Mr. Chuanfu expects bigger things for it Qin plug-in hybrid, which rings up at $31,000 and offers 41 miles of battery-powered range before the gasoline engine kicks in. China wants 500,000 plug-in vehicles plying its streets by 2015's end and BYD wants to be a big part of that picture. While we can understand the competitive downplaying of Tesla's Chinese-market entrance, we expect that BYD is as well aware as anyone that Tesla has a more affordable future car on the horizon and that Chinese car buyers tend to favor foreign brands. It's a big market, though, so perhaps the two entities might help further each other's goals by cooperating on charging standards and infrastructure development instead of sniping. One can dream, right?

Sun and wind could power Tesla Gigafactory for EV batteries in Nevada

Next week is Tesla Gigafactory week. The California automaker has a major announcement planned, and it's all about its intention to build a battery factory so large, the company is pulling out the giga prefix. At some point in the next seven days, we expect to hear where Tesla will build the plant, who it will partner with, how it will pay for it and lots of other details. The production volume is expected to be at least 30 gigawatt-hours-worth per year. The Gigafactory will take in the raw materials for lithium batteries and put out finished packs, not only for the electric vehicles made by Tesla and its automotive customers, but also for massive amounts of renewable energy storage – that's a niche the company plans to begin to occupy sometime early next year with residential-sized products. The production volume is expected to be at least 30 gigawatt-hours-worth per year. That's more storage than all the lithium battery factories in the world combined produce now. Color us impressed. Now, you might be thinking, "Is it really necessary to go that big at this point in time?" In a word: yes. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said its upcoming, more-affordable vehicle – widely expected to be called the Model E – will wear a $35,000 price tag and boast a battery big enough to take it 200 miles on a charge. To achieve this, the cost of the cells needs to come down dramatically, and so it's no coincidence that the time frame for the new facility will parallel that of this car. According to Musk, the benefits from the economies of scale will see a cost drop between 30 and 40 percent. Of course, historically high prices are one of the main reasons why battery storage has not been widely used in the renewable energy sector, so this development could help drive more demand for cleaner, affordable energy, which, in turn, will drive demand for more storage. That's the kind of vicious cycle we like to see. Musk said the Gigafactory will be "heavily powered" by wind and solar energy. Speaking of renewables, that is where the Gigafactory will get much of its needed energy. During the call with financial analysts that accompanied the release of its 2013 fourth quarter earnings report, Musk mentioned that the new plant will be "heavily powered" by wind and solar energy, and will also use older Tesla packs for storage. These will help deflect the traditional arguments against wind and solar, that the sun doesn't shine at night and the wind doesn't always blow.