Elon: Blown away by the demand and GOOD WILL. I'm really optimistic how things will go there. We are trying to expand service center and supercharge network to deal with the cars delivered in market. Not very many stores. 90% focus on service.
We'll have to limit the amount of cars we send to China or we'd starve the rest of the world.
Local Chinese production of Tesla will be for local and regional production.
Shipping 2 tons of metal over long distance isn't sensible. Local production will be favored.
Q: Wait times?
Elon: 4-5 months. Long. Some customers in mid sized cities are unhappy we are delaying deliveries. Service is necessary and can't be 500 miles away from where someone lives.
Andrea James: R&D ramping significantly. What components make up that? How much is model X costing?
Depak: Primarily driven by engineering design and testing for Model X and Model S for China, RHD, Japan localization. Not driven by head count.
Elon: Some of that is also we want to make ongoing improvements to the Model S. 100s of small improvements. Collectively they add up to an improved experience with the car. Seat comfort. Fit and finish. We are modifying the rear door to open wider. Software. Very exciting updates coming in the next few months that will improve the entire fleet of customers. Not going to say what they are.
Elon: More important to service the cars well, charging is sorted out, and when customers take delivery, they have a good experience. Correct this from other market rollouts.
Model X is the biggest driver of expenditures. Really trying to make an amazing car, and more importantly where the production version is better than the prototype.
Tesla is putting superchargers in cities for the owners that live in apartments/condos without a dedicated parking spot or with street parking only. London is a particular problem in this regard.
Cost improvements/reductions, but Elon says never cuts cost if it makes the product worse. Ha, he says cost savings for example in "getting molecules in the right shape."
Chinese market is largest auto-lux market in the world.
Tesla opportunity huge in the East. Tesla China will become biggest market, period. Rapidly expanding Superchargers there. Elon says spend as much money there without wasting.
Comments
Elon: Blown away by the demand and GOOD WILL. I'm really optimistic how things will go there. We are trying to expand service center and supercharge network to deal with the cars delivered in market. Not very many stores. 90% focus on service.
We'll have to limit the amount of cars we send to China or we'd starve the rest of the world.
Local Chinese production of Tesla will be for local and regional production.
Q: Wait times?
Elon: 4-5 months. Long. Some customers in mid sized cities are unhappy we are delaying deliveries. Service is necessary and can't be 500 miles away from where someone lives.
Depak: Primarily driven by engineering design and testing for Model X and Model S for China, RHD, Japan localization. Not driven by head count.
Elon: Some of that is also we want to make ongoing improvements to the Model S. 100s of small improvements. Collectively they add up to an improved experience with the car. Seat comfort. Fit and finish. We are modifying the rear door to open wider. Software. Very exciting updates coming in the next few months that will improve the entire fleet of customers. Not going to say what they are.
Elon: More important to service the cars well, charging is sorted out, and when customers take delivery, they have a good experience. Correct this from other market rollouts.
Model X is the biggest driver of expenditures. Really trying to make an amazing car, and more importantly where the production version is better than the prototype.
Panasonic signed Letter of Intent.
Joined working team.
YES YES YES
Model S deliveries, battery cell availability is limiting factor to production capacity
Fremont factory coming down for 10 days in July to improve factory workflow and to optimize.
Sales=deliveries
Making sure Model S is perfect before moving too hard on X.
2qtr 2015 for Model X deliveries
Model X production will be sharp ramp up, so car needs to have bugs worked out before release. Otherwise risk recalls and poor customer experience.
BAM!
Battery's anode carbon structure uses high amount of synthetic graphite, which is trickier to synthesize.
China and Hong Kong, electrical wiring in China not up to snuff so some buyers canceling orders.
Some apartments there can only handle 20 amps. Tesla says should be okay.
China will have Superchargers in cities, not just between cities like in U.S.
London tricky with mostly street parking.
Deliveries in north were down, due to increasing Europe deliveries.
Deliveries != demand
Steady increase in demand in North America.
Great news for city owners!
Cost improvements/reductions, but Elon says never cuts cost if it makes the product worse. Ha, he says cost savings for example in "getting molecules in the right shape."
28% gross margin by end of year.
Global expansion aggressive next year.
China, domestic production there, Elon says unsure yet, early stages, service and Superchargers in China high priority there.
Is Tesla spending too much on factories? Nope says Deepak. Necessary in order for the company to get the job done.
Stationary storage low priority for now says Elon. Home storage, flat pack wall mounted, cover, integrated inverter, plug-n-play, And then he hushes.
Elon is talking home storage theory.
I wonder if the analysts are going to pick up on the concur the world stuff going on here (not just cars)?
Tesla opportunity huge in the East. Tesla China will become biggest market, period. Rapidly expanding Superchargers there. Elon says spend as much money there without wasting.
What is the CEO of a car company doing talking about home storage