WSJ Live w/ Elon: Cybertruck will our best product ever; U.S. EV subsidies should be canned; & more....

[CyberGus]

“I need more government intervention!” said no captain of industry ever.

 

[jerhenderson]

Musk To Use Q4 Earnings Call To Reveal Key Tesla Cybertruck News
Remember, Musk said he will no longer be present on Tesla calls unless there's major news to share.

Dec 07, 2021 at 10:00am ET
https://insideevs.com/news/552993/musk-major-cybertruck-news-january/
By: Steven Loveday


If you follow Tesla and related news on social media, you may have been swamped with Elon Musk news and quotes yesterday. This is because the Tesla boss participated in an interview as part of the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit.

While some Tesla fans urged Musk not to do the interview for fear that his statements may be turned against him, he moved forward with the event, and we now have loads of new and exciting Tesla news.

Tesla has a lot on its plate, and it's hard to determine what's most important. Many people will likely tell you they're waiting on more news about the Tesla Cybertruck, though the opening of Tesla's new Gigafactories in Germany and Texas is arguably more pressing, and must happen ahead of anything related to the Cybertruck.

That said, Musk again talked about the Cybertruck, which has been delayed for some time and could be the fourth or fifth electric pickup truck to come to market in the US at this point. The CEO reiterated that the Cybertruck may be Tesla's best product ever. He also said it will be very difficult to manufacture.

Musk has mentioned a few times of late that the Cybertruck will be packed with future technology, and went so far as to call it "an insane tech bandwagon." We also just learned that the single-motor option will go away, and the Cybertruck will only be available with two or four motors. The quad-motor variant will come to market first.

Perhaps more importantly, Musk said he will be providing some important Cybertruck product updates during the Q4 2021 earnings call in January 2022. Remember, Musk said he may no longer be on these calls unless there's something major to reveal. He wasn't present on the last call. According to Teslarati, Musk shared during the WSJ interview:


What's your take on this? What could Tesla possibly do to make the Cybertruck more appealing? The Rivian R1T has already come to market, the GMC Hummer EV pickup truck is coming very soon, and, if all goes as planned, the Ford F-150 Lightning will also arrive ahead of the Cybertruck.

If GM plays its cards right, it could certainly launch an all-electric Silverado or a related product before the Cybertruck comes to market, not to mention, the quad-motor Cybertruck isn't going to be cheap. Leave us your wisdom in the comment section below.

lmao there's no chance an EV Silverado will be out in the next 24 months. None. Nada. Zilch.

 

[jerhenderson]

I rarely see facts labeled with invectives like “idiotic”.

That said, the US debt-to-GDP ratio is too high and will inhibit growth long-term.

just wait for China to play its Ace and call in the US debt it owns.

 

[jerhenderson]

The US's 'debt rating' is meaningless.

How would these chickens come home to roost?

Did they come home to roost in the 30s and 40s?

That's just ridiculous. What was your debt to income ratio when bought a home? Assuming you bought in the last thirty years and aren't a boomer who benefitted from a massive increase in available housing and spending.

And not even part of the conversation here.

-Crissa

In the 30's depression the US debt ratio was like it is now. And China owns a lot of that debt.

 

[Crissa]

Did the US have inhibited growth the last time we had it this high? The time before that? The time before that?

Why or why not?

Do you even know what it means to 'pay back the debt' re government debt? What happens when the government does that? What happens when the government cuts spending overall? (GDP, btw, is government spending plus private spending.)

The government paying its debt off is not spending. Think about it. This isn't the place to discuss it.

-Crissa

PS:

In the 30's depression the US debt ratio was like it is now. And China owns a lot of that debt.

Both of these things are not true.

 

[Crissa]

17 million cars are sold in the US each year. A million cars pre-ordered over several years is a drop in the bucket.

-Crissa

 

[Newton]

like how do u even pay back a country and that amount of money...

Biden: Yo, Xí Jìnpíng, hows it goin man... you got CashApp?

Xí: why?

Biden: ima pop that 3trillion over to ya, today good?

 

[JJ_Tex]

just wait for China to play its Ace and call in the US debt it owns.

While I agree with your thoughts that our deficit spending will catch up to the US someday, foreign investors own a very small % of the total US Debt. The chart below shows China with $1 Trillion ownership of US Debt, which is about 3.5% of the $28 Trillion US Debt. That would not give China too much leverage to "play its Ace".

Source: https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124

 

[jerhenderson]

While I agree with your thoughts that our deficit spending will catch up to the US someday, foreign investors own a very small % of the total US Debt. The chart below shows China with $1 Trillion ownership of US Debt, which is about 3.5% of the $28 Trillion US Debt. That would not give China too much leverage to "play its Ace".

Source: https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124

I don't think the markets would react well to China saying it wanted its money. While it's "only a trillion", it's a trillion the US would also need to borrow to pay off.

 

[jerhenderson]

Did the US have inhibited growth the last time we had it this high? The time before that? The time before that?

Why or why not?

Do you even know what it means to 'pay back the debt' re government debt? What happens when the government does that? What happens when the government cuts spending overall? (GDP, btw, is government spending plus private spending.)

The government paying its debt off is not spending. Think about it. This isn't the place to discuss it.

-Crissa

PS:
Both of these things are not true.

I think I'm referring to a wrong metric then as the GDP vs debt ratio is far higher now than it was in 1929..... personal debt maybe? Either way, it isn't good and the govt isn't in a cooperative manner to do anything.

 

[myrickma]

I need to watch the whole thing but from what I've seen/read:

I think he's reached a point (based off his responses to Sanders for example and others) that tired of the political BS of the matter which delays the transition.
Tesla has grown exponentially since they ran out of the subsidy, and if they were not contained by production would lower their prices substantially (aka, market dictating transition).

So stop the nonsense, and end all subsidies, and by all, he means fossil fuels as well. That would radically shift the transition because ICE cars would become insanely expensive to own, companies would take EV transition seriously, and costs would go down making them more affordable.

That being said, good luck getting that through any legislation anywhere in the world.

I know for me, the EV portion of the bill (which has been clearly written for OEM's stuck in past, aka political BS) will make the difference between me getting my CT and not getting my CT

His comment canning the whole bill, the social programs are very valuable to me as well, so i know he's getting backlash for that: BUT, I think everyone needs to remember that Musk believes (to the best of my knowledge) in some form of UBI, especially since AI is increasing advancing

Once again, good look getting something like that any time soon via legislation

So yeah, a lot going on in his responses that he tends not to be crystal clear on because he's not a politician haha. Just my take so far.

 

[Luke42]

“I need more government intervention!” said no captain of industry ever.

* Except to keep new competitors out of my market!

That's one of GM's major weaknesses: protectionist trade policies. Because of trade barriers (including non-tariff barriers like our safety and emissions standards), GM can make vehicles for the American market that aren't competitive on the global market.

As a result, they're less competitive overall as a company, because they rely on vulnerable cash cows like the GMT platform instead of competing on a global level playing field.

The first time GM went bankrupt, it was because they relied too heavily on the GMT platform -- and gas prices went up, causing those cash-cow vehicles to become unpopular. They're still vulnerable there, and a Cybertruck is made in several shapes and sizes (Cybertruck, CyberSUV, CyberVan), could easily bankrupt GM a second time through the same vulnerability (exploited differently).

Don't get me wrong: I own a GMT900 (GMC Sierra Hybrid) and it's a really good vehicle for what it is. But these vehicles would be low-volume commercial vehicles (like the Chevrolet Express van) with just a few minor tweaks to the market. GM should be furiously SWOTing away to try to mitigate this vulnerability but, like the last time, they're probably too busy building Silverados and Tahoes to think that far ahead. GM could very easily be replaced by Tesla over the coming decades.

 

[Crissa]

I think I'm referring to a wrong metric then as the GDP vs debt ratio is far higher now than it was in 1929..... personal debt maybe? Either way, it isn't good and the govt isn't in a cooperative manner to do anything.

That's because excessive government debt had nothing to do with the Great Depression. In fact, government spending was at a low, which exacerbated the situation.

We didn't climb out of the depression until massive government spending got us out of it.

Government spending should be counter-cyclical - counter to business cycles - but also, it should spend on things that businesses don't and charity can't. Hence things like social goods, health care, environment, parks, education, and ubi...

-Crissa

 

[ZARDOZ]

I wonder what impact ending all fossil fuel subsidies would have on not just gas prices but HVAC and electric. When prices on those things rise it could have a greater negative impact on the poor.

 

[Crissa]

I wonder what impact ending all fossil fuel subsidies would have on not just gas prices but HVAC and electric. When prices on those things rise it could have a greater negative impact on the poor.

Yes, climate change and pollution already do have a greater impact upon the poor.

Is this news? What kind of argument is, 'we should continue poisoning the poors so at least they aren't cold'?

9-9

This is why we have programs to install energy-efficient heating and insulation.

-Crissa