Tesla fires whole Supercharger team [Update: Musk says supercharger growth will continue]

[Yellow Buddy]

China does not care about US Companies patents in their country so why should we care about their patents here in the US.

Because we’re better than that?

Even if we didn’t care about their patents, they control the natural resources right now. Their labor is cheaper. And, they’ve been developing batteries for far longer and been able to test them within China as well as other countries.

Their quality and quality control isn’t actually terrible across the board. It’s more so that they are only willing to make a product that is as good as the money it’s sold for.

We can point to Tesla being forced to recall cars in China for quality but yet those same cars have been perfectly acceptable in the US. They can demand quality when they want. It’s just that they’re also willing to sell us the cheapest thing they can make because…well we want the $10 thing for $1 and they’re willing to make us a $1 thing that sort of..maybe..could pretend to be the $10 thing for the next 10 seconds.

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[DesertEV]

Because we’re better than that?

Even if we didn’t care about their patents, they control the natural resources right now. Their labor is cheaper. And, they’ve been developing batteries for far longer and been able to test them within China as well as other countries.

Their quality and quality control isn’t actually terrible across the board. It’s more so that they are only willing to make a product that is as good as the money it’s sold for.

We can point to Tesla being forced to recall cars in China for quality but yet those same cars have been perfectly acceptable in the US. They can demand quality when they want. It’s just that they’re also willing to sell us the cheapest thing they can make because…well we want the $10 thing for $1 and they’re willing to make us a $1 thing that sort of..maybe..could pretend to be the $10 thing for the next 10 seconds.

Don’t get me started on the quality in China…they have EVs blowing up there on the daily…expensive ones too. The main point here is we have a dependency on buying things on the cheap here and a lot of times we expect quality, but that does not go hand-in-hand. China has capitalized on that dependency by supplying us with a lot of crap. Our companies went over there and set up shop and they stole our trade secrets despite the hard earned US patents they had. Don’t give me we are better than that line…we deserve better and when we don’t get better, then we need to hold them accountable in trade.

 

[snowy_91]

Excellent point.

Japanese racing heritage? I have underwear older than that racing heritage.
I remember when Nissan didn’t exist (it was Datsun back then). There was no Acura, no Infiniti, no Lexus. All Honda, Nissan, and Toyota were, were cheap Japanese imports, there was no way they’d fill the luxury arena in the US. Hyundai/Kia is the same song, different band.
To see the way it’s played out over decades is astonishing. The cheap imports of yesterday now have the best reliability, performance, and reputation.
Certain Chinese companies (BYD, NIO) don’t need to turn a profit during their global expansion. I’m glad to see Buffet has been divesting of his BYD position recently, for no other reason than patriotic responsibility. They’re heavily subsidized by their own governmwnt, and are playing the long game against global competitors. They know they’re in an ev war, and are treating as such. All one has to do is listen to what they’re saying. You can laugh about quality (I enjoyed @taxman’s video) but they keep getting better. I suspect if they can reverse engineer (or simply steal) intellectual property, these issues will also be overcome. I lack confidence in most politicians to protect our intellectual property, or even understand long term consequences at this point.

That being said (sidetrack over) I am completely lost why TESLA is abandoning their greatest advantage. I suspect the reasons will become clear in the future.

In 1980 I had a pair of Honda 600's.....the peak in cheap Japanese cars...

 

[Jseis]

Musk believes that an idea or an idea produced by an idea (A.I.) is the most valuable think in the solar system and that hardware is a means only to that end and he doesn’t fancy himself as a hardware salesman.

Tesla-hardware, StarLink-hardware, Superchargers-hardware to run hardware. It is just boring hardware. A rocket-more hardware. Neural link-hardware to a brain. BFD.

He’s bored.

 

[JDF231223]

It was $177 for both??

The Typhoon adapter alone was $177 after FORD discount code for just the DC adapter.

The Stellar AC adapter was an extra $75 when bundled after discount instead of $112 regular price on its own.

 

[KevinC]

By chance ,I came across this local st Louis story about excess tesla inventory where Tesla is stashing 400 new teslas at an abandoned local mall. It isnt clear exactly what their plan is. It certainly makes me wonder how bad things are for Tesla. You think about a normal large company that has marketing and forecasting departments which help to predict demand and push out cars during slower times and Tesla doesn't really have that. Their model has been "if you build it they will sell before they are even completed"

Hundreds of Tesla vehicles parked outside Chesterfield Mall. Why? (fox2now.com)

 

[Yellow Buddy]

By chance ,I came across this local st Louis story about excess tesla inventory where Tesla is stashing 400 new teslas at an abandoned local mall. It isnt clear exactly what their plan is. It certainly makes me wonder how bad things are for Tesla. You think about a normal large company that has marketing and forecasting departments which help to predict demand and push out cars during slower times and Tesla doesn't really have that. Their model has been "if you build it they will sell before they are even completed"

Hundreds of Tesla vehicles parked outside Chesterfield Mall. Why? (fox2now.com)

In fairness, this happens from time to time for various automakers, it may just be an article that can get clicks. Heck how many lightnings sat in Area 51 while we waited impatiently?

IMO, their biggest opportunity to boost sales and gain market share again was to reintroduce free supercharging - non transferrable. They would be able to cash in on other automakers using the network while simultaneously giving preference to their own cars. Even people with existing Teslas would gladly trade in to grab that perk.

Instead, I have people asking me if they should still buy a Tesla. If the supercharging network is going away. Would they be better buying a Chevy Bolt....

 

[Maxx]

I am curious at what point (if at any) you guys ditch your car/truck and use Robotaxi or Robotruck in as needed bases? If the cost per mile was half of owning and operating your own and was guaranteed to be at your door in 5 minutes, would you stop buying cars?

If Elon is betting on autonomous driving, and no one is interested, making it work may not matter as much as everyone hopes.

Would you pay rent to use it in your own car / use Robotaxi instead of buying a new car?

 

[sfringer]

I am curious at what point (if at any) you guys ditch your car/truck and use Robotaxi or Robotruck in as needed bases? If the cost per mile was half of owning and operating your own and was guaranteed to be at your door in 5 minutes, would you stop buying cars?

If Elon is betting on autonomous driving, and no one is interested, making it work may not matter as much as everyone hopes.

Would you pay rent to use it in your own car / use Robotaxi instead of buying a new car?

I'm not interested at this stage in my life. I like having full control of my vehicle(s) and the knowing what exactly I have and its capabilities.

 

[Grumpy2]

Only in urban areas it would work, and only for some of the people, some of the time. It would be a niche vehicle, much like the cyber truck

The full self driving I have experienced that in a Y, and I would rent that at $80/month in my truck if I could when I planned a long trip.

 

[detansinn]

 

[Grumpy2]

Tom has summed up this situation well. Why will anyone want to deal with Tesla regarding EV charging? Perhaps with a stale design, why bother buying a Tesla unless they drop the price to rock bottom?

The stock went up with the China allowing FSD there, but with this crazy step, time to sell until we know more what Musk is up to....

 

[RickLightning]

Tom has summed up this situation well. Why will anyone want to deal with Tesla regarding EV charging? Perhaps with a stale design, why bother buying a Tesla unless they drop the price to rock bottom?

The stock went up with the China allowing FSD there, but with this crazy step, time to sell until we know more what Musk is up to....

I disagree. Anyone who says that Musk's RECENT ACTION is any different than his PAST ACTIONS, is kidding themselves. When the government cut a deal with Tesla in early 2023 I hoped it was ironclad.

Anyone who signs anything with this guy and thinks that means anything is kidding themselves.

I worked for a company where the President was a blatant liar, and loved being in court. He sued everyone. Years later someone asked me for a reference for him for a big job. I laughed, and burned his ass bigtime. Told the truth.

 

[Lytning]

Musk believes that an idea or an idea produced by an idea (A.I.) is the most valuable think in the solar system and that hardware is a means only to that end and he doesn’t fancy himself as a hardware salesman.

Tesla-hardware, StarLink-hardware, Superchargers-hardware to run hardware. It is just boring hardware. A rocket-more hardware. Neural link-hardware to a brain. BFD.

He’s bored.

He's bored.

So that is why he created The Boring Company.

 

[Texas Dan]

Boy how times change! Just a few months ago when there was talk of about adopting the NACS standard, I and others were ridiculed when we said not to trust Tesla. Now it sounds like everyone is on board the Tesla hate train.

Just to be clear, I wanted to steer clear of anything Tesla but I was reluctantly willing to use the Superchargers since NEVI hasn’t come through as promised. Now it sounds like Tesla is abandoning the Supercharger support and reliability won’t be any better than an other service provider. Now I’m back to hoping the teeth in NEVI will keep the chargers working.

If Tesla abandons support for NACS chargers what will happen to all the plans of other manufacturers to adopt NACS? Are there royalty payments other manufacturers won’t have to pay if they don’t adopt NACS? Is the only reason other manufacturers wanted to adopt NACS was so they would have access to an existing (now abandoned) charging network?

I have to admit that getting all the other manufacturers to adopt NACS and then abandoning NACS build out is a very smart business tactic. I don’t know about all the other states but Texas passed regulations requiring all the NEVI chargers to have NACS ports so why would Tesla want to spend the money to build out the NACS network themselves? Who says Tesla isn’t a predatory business?

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