Featured Tesla gives update on its game-changing 4680 battery cell

there are a lot of things about tesla that i like, and enough that i don't to keep me frpm pulling the trigger.
but my needs are not everyones, and they are selling plenty.
to be fair, no one is selling an ev i'm interested in yet. i will be looking at the equinox if it ever appears

 

i would buy one too, or something a bit larger, but no smaller.

 

I would love one too, if it charged 2X faster & didn't limit times per day you can charge to 2 times before it throttled how fast it would charge ... & maybe a bit more range too .....
Oh .... yea - then there's the availability issue where limited supply enables steeler ships to tack on an extra $5K to $10k ..... all that does is make me never want to go back to Toyota again
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Are you talking about a Prius BEV or the defective Teslas?

 

How does one make a claim that tesla is giving the most detailed report yet, when Drew Baglino, Tesla’s senior VP of engineering, could only describe their 4680 cell factory's progress as roadmaps for future efforts, and being "partway through building and commissioning and installing and operating" and then compares it's projected capital expenditures to 70% lower than typical cell factories that don't exist.

He said: "On Battery Day, we established a cost-down roadmap through 2026 across five areas of effort. There was the cell design we discussed; anode and cathode materials, the structural pack concept, and the cell factory itself. We’ve been making progress across all these aspects since then. For the Cell Factory, for the Texas 4680 factory, we are part way through building and commissioning and installing and operating, will be 70% lower capex per gigawatt hour than typical cell factories when fully ramped in line with what we described on Battery Day."

That's saying a whole bunch of nothing in a lot of words.

 

Then there's Elon. He makes statements like "We've taken the view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here versus a lower volume and higher margin,"

Tesla Can Sell EVs For Zero Profit In Push For Higher Volume: Musk

I am neither for or against Elon, but he does make investors nervous. 6 price drops this year alone. Seriously who can be against him, he's a billionaire, and created many of his own companies as well as run a couple or three of them. I wouldn't doubt him too much on technology, particularly when it comes to what he has his sights on. Pretty sure the 4680 is closer than it appears, but then again its not like he's never taken risks before either.

 

Regarding the linked read ....There is a bit of rationale in selling for lower margins when Tesla has features that can be paid for monthly & maybe even make more money that way. Even so, there are several states that still don't even have a single service center. We might buy another Tesla someday, but not when we have to drive 100's of miles to get to a service center, or wait for the company to flat bed it away from & back home to us. Maybe finish building out infrastructure more before flooding the market with 100's of thousands of more cars without overcrowding existing service centers?
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Confidence in Elon has eroded greatly over the last year or so. Working so hard for long wears on a man. Being so successful gives you the impression you are always right. Having so many fan boys gives an inflated ego.

So many of the early app luminaries who were successful turned into self impressed jerks.

 

One of the primary reasons I didn't pull the trigger on one. When I found out where the closest service center is I said nope.

 

I don’t blame you. I’d be comfortable with that, however, most people aren’t.
Seeing how 90% of the USA population is within 50 miles of a service center, I don’t think they need to wait on expanding production.
Individuals should be aware of the distance, and take that into account when deciding to buy or not.

 

Owing my Tesla four years, I've only visited my 107 mile, Nashville Service Center to pickup parts for self-maintenance, once for a computer upgrade, and pickup my Tesla. No oil changes, air filters, tires, or recalls. In fact the 12 V battery replacement was in my driveway by Tesla mobile service.

With two orders of magnitude fewer moving parts, Teslas don't need to visit the dealer 'spa' (Service Pay Area) like more complex vehicles with an engine, transmission, and huge radiator. Best of all, I've never been blocked from any Tesla travel but temporarily it requires different skills.

Bob Wilson

 

Volume those service centers can handle is also important. Increased sales without expanding the service centers has lead to longer wait times, which leads to poorer customer experience.

 

Agreed.

It is important to note that Tesla is expanding service center capacity as well.

Anecdotally, when I bought my first Tesla, the nearest service center to me was about 500 miles, in 2013 one opened within 20 miles of me. In 2015/16 another one within 10 miles opened. Last year a Tesla body shop opened within 20 miles and next summer another service center will open within 25 miles of me.

 

My wife bought the model three Tesla took nearly 3 years for her to get it when she put her money down because she wanted a very obscure rare vehicle to be produced, which was white with white leather interior and white carpets.

I love driving the car but as a lifelong mechanic in this trade, fourth generation, I do not like Teslas monopolistic ways of withholding information and not allowing general mechanic shops to purchase parts for repair.

I would buy a Tesla if it was built in Japan by Toyota and they released all the information and Parts were available that would make me buy one.?

But it’s made by Americans so it’s fit and finish and reliability is the shittiest on earth next to a Yugo every time it goes into the shop it’s there for months to three months for a small fender bender. Every time they update the software, you have to learn something new or something might not be working that was working before and they decided you didn’t need it..

My wife’s paid the extra $5000 for the fully automated self driving feature. And that was the first model model three and we see where that never went to.. actually I gotta ask her what happened with that $5000 that they never delivered on.

but I gotta admit after driving a Tesla I personally never want another gasoline engine in my life.

for now will just have to put up with hybrids

 

You have to pay for it but self-maintenance is 'less bad.' Everyone can call up the limited, built-in diagnostic. The tech manuals are also available online. I have no problem ordering parts I need for self maintenance. But I agree, Tesla is not allowing independent mechanics and shops to be in the Tesla repair business which is a mistake.

BTW, I bought Full Self Driving (FSD) for $6,000 in October 2019. The beta is rough with the biggest flaw using Google Maps beyond its abilities. A huge amount of the phantom brakes and many false exit and on ramp problems trace back to flawed Google Map data. But NO, you can't take it away from me. Knowing where and why it fails, I am still safer using FSD.

Bob Wilson

 

my wife had one bad incident with the Self driving stopped at a stoplight four-way intersection. The Tesla decided to take off from the second Lane turn into the third Lane into the back of a little Honda fit.. totaled out the Honda fit. It only moved about 5 feet where the passenger front corner of the Tesla smashed the rear driver corner of the Honda fit.. this was Teslas auto software, making out that’s on mind that it was time to takeoff and drive forward while cars were still waiting to cross the intersection. None of the other cars have moved yet. It happened so fast no time to react..

Oh, and because I work in the body shops, I get to see all the Teslas they’re waiting for months to get worked on waiting for parts. Well, all the other vehicles are being banged out in a week or two..

 

The main reason I haven't boughten another EV is price, and everything going up in price except wages isn't helping.

The Bolt might be my next vehicle. But the Corolla and Camry hybrids seem like good options. But there's a chance the only car I might be able to afford is a Nissan Versa or a Mistubishi Mirage if I were suddenly in need of a car.

 

there are reports here of months long waits for toyota parts, and 2022 owners can't even get their second fob