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"The accompanying video appears to show "thousands" of Tesla vehicles just rusting in the open air under the scorching California sun."
San Joaquin County, well known for its harsh climate which causes cars to rust nearly overnight.
If there's a "problem" anywhere it could just have to do with the fact that there's an extreme shortage of long haul truck drivers in the US and AFAIK there needs to be extra training to drive an auto carrier.
The entire trucking industry doesn't just drop everything they're doing and drive to the Tesla factory because Elon Musk needs some cars shipped, and I'm pretty sure Tesla doesn't own its own its own auto rack transport/logistics company also.
All the conspiracy retards in the comments are wildly speculating about thousands of defective cars when the most likely explanation is something rather mundane like logistics.
A bunch of twits as a source ?
transport/logistics company also. "
They should. For a good size company it is not all that much of a problem. You can probably get 4 trucks for a million or so, car carriers, 4 of them maybe for half million. Licensing and operating authority is a bitch but no t as bad as building a car.
They could also just build their own trucks.
Thing is they were having trouble getting dealerships in some states, Texas for one I think. I can't find a direct reference to what I read before but here is some info on it :
I guess people in at least 6 states have to go get one, bring it back and c onvert the title which will probably require a safety inspection and laugha bly emissions testing.
Of course Tesla might get the right lawyers one day and get a court to find that the states are engaging in restraint of trade. There go the laws the big three paid for.
If I was Tesla I would, after a credit check, fly people for free to come a nd test drive one on the test track as well as the street. I doubt enough p eople would abuse that. Just don't give them a free lunch or lodging. That would stick it right up those states' ass.
"Fly here and drive home on us" (meaning the car comes with a full charge)
Actually I am a bit surprised they haven't already done that. But then I ha ve a rebel mind.
The problem with Tesla such as it is isn't so much they can't actually build some cars or that there is likely some horrible problem they're trying to cover up, I don't see very much suspicious about a big lot full of new manufacture cars sitting around for a while, thousands of new cars sit for months at container ports and manufacturing plants fairly often with those white plastic sheets on them. not that unusual.
It's that the company is run like a 18 month old startup seeking Series B seed capital funding or something. But this is a 15 year old company with a $50B market cap.
I could totally see them working so hard to finish production of X thousand cars they just kind of forgot about scheduling enough inbound auto racks to move them where they needed to go in a timely fashion.
in any case I doubt the cars are going to rust away or be baked to a crisp in the "Scorching California Sun" of the San Francisco area anytime soon. I know a guy with a 1984 AMC Eagle wagon out there that still looks about as new as the day it rolled off the line and its lived outside for most of its life.
The call them "California Cars" when they sell them used in New England and charge a bit of a premium for them to come here to die. I see F-150s and Escalades barely 5 years old that are already rotting out around the door panels here...
em. You can probably get 4 trucks for a million or so, car carriers, 4 of t hem maybe for half million. Licensing and operating authority is a bitch bu t not as bad as building a car.
exas for one I think. I can't find a direct reference to what I read before but here is some info on it :
nd convert the title which will probably require a safety inspection and la ughably emissions testing.
find that the states are engaging in restraint of trade. There go the laws the big three paid for.
me and test drive one on the test track as well as the street. I doubt enou gh people would abuse that. Just don't give them a free lunch or lodging. T hat would stick it right up those states' ass.
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I have a rebel mind.
Why are you guy making up stuff to explain unreliable reports based on impo ssibly poor videos? There is not one car in either of the two videos I saw that I could say was a Tesla. Then you make up a background story to expl ain the imaginary cars based on nothing and try to rationalize how/why the company got into this mess. WTF!!!
Rick C.
That the "investigative journalism" such as it is of unknown validity is already a given. Assuming those actually are all Teslas the point was that while it's extremely unlikely there is any nefarious cover-up going on the "symptoms" could simply be explained by some kind of logistics issue.
There are people waiting on delivery and if cars are sitting around not being delivered (under the assumption that the facts of the story are more-or-less correct, just the histrionic conspiracy "they didn't put any batteries in!" spin is nonsense) then that seems like a problem.
It's entirely possible for the facts of the story to be more or less correct while the spin that ZeroHedge puts on it to be nonsense. It's not my job in life to give Tesla good PR by assuming it's 100% confabulated and those are all actually Hyundais. Seems unlikely that that's the case the facts are pretty easy to verify by anyone else willing to take the time I'd imagine.
That is to say there is no "demand issue" like the Twatter idiots are speculating. It's a logistics issue. There's a severe long haul trucker shortage in the US, the population of drivers is aging out the average age of a long haul truck driver is like 52.
There's videos of some Teslas coming out of the big lot on an auto rack. Great! They managed to get their hands on a driver. The commenter's are wondering why there aren't like 50 auto racks pulled up there right this minute loading up hundreds of cars - they don't know a thing about how the trucking industry/owner operator drivers/load scheduling works.
blem. You can probably get 4 trucks for a million or so, car carriers, 4 of them maybe for half million. Licensing and operating authority is a bitch but not as bad as building a car.
Texas for one I think. I can't find a direct reference to what I read befo re but here is some info on it :
and convert the title which will probably require a safety inspection and laughably emissions testing.
o find that the states are engaging in restraint of trade. There go the law s the big three paid for.
come and test drive one on the test track as well as the street. I doubt en ough people would abuse that. Just don't give them a free lunch or lodging. That would stick it right up those states' ass.
arge)
n I have a rebel mind.
. simpossibly poor videos? There is not one car in either of the two videos I saw that I could say was a Tesla. Then you make up a background story to explain the imaginary cars based on nothing and try to rationalize how/why the company got into this mess. WTF!!!
Yes, ZeroHedge is a BS site spouting all manner of nonsense. But your "exp lanation" is no more based in reality than their story.
I actually found it amusing that the video is just *not quite* good enough to make out the vehicles. It's almost laughable.
It doesn't matter what anyone says about the story. People like Larkin and Doom will believe what they want. They don't care what the facts are, the y've already made up their minds.
BTW, I noticed Tesla put in a bank of chargers near here recently just off Rt 95 at a gas station no less. I spotted another in a much smaller city i n WV along Rt 81 at a Sheetz. Personally I don't like those locations beca use topping off your Tesla means you have time to sit and enjoy a cup or ev en a small bite and that is across a very busy six lanes of traffic. But I guess when you are on a trip you just want to get in and out as fast as yo u can. Still, its good to have so many charging options. That's the one t hing Tesla gets that the other makers don't. Cars like the Chevy Bolt will take hours to get the same charge you can put on a Tesla in 30 minutes. T his will be important to the future of electric cars.
Rick C.
They don't have the money at the moment. They wanna make as much profit as possible on these cars for real. They'd have a thousand owner operators there right this minute if they were bidding 50 grand for each load shipment, yes sir Mr. Musk where to sir how may I help sir!
They probably didn't bid that price though, they put in their bid for the shipments and what they could afford to offer was for long-haul drivers (who are in very high demand) the "Bitch when I get around to it"-price.
Don't know why it's not based in reality. There is a severe long-haul truck driver shortage in the US that's an indisputable fact. If I made
5,000 cars tomorrow there's no physical way I could move them all in a week or even a month probably for any reasonable price, there are physically not enough trucker-asses to put in seats to do it on-demand for a reasonable price. Any other car mfgr who cranked out a huge number of vehicles very quickly might have the same problem.I could do it if I were willing to bid 50k per shipment. Tesla didn't bid 50k they put in a more reasonable bid because they want to actually make money. Low supply/high demand for truckers = it's a load shippers market and if they think the bid is a little low they might go with some other bid first and get to the Tesla shipment when they get around to it.
The rest of the world does not _drop_ everything they're doing and run run run to San Francisco because His Majesty got around to cranking out some cars. They would for the right price. Assuming those are in fact Teslas sitting there looks like they didn't want to pay that price.
roblem. You can probably get 4 trucks for a million or so, car carriers, 4 of them maybe for half million. Licensing and operating authority is a bitc h but not as bad as building a car.
s, Texas for one I think. I can't find a direct reference to what I read be fore but here is some info on it :
ck and convert the title which will probably require a safety inspection an d laughably emissions testing.
to find that the states are engaging in restraint of trade. There go the l aws the big three paid for.
o come and test drive one on the test track as well as the street. I doubt enough people would abuse that. Just don't give them a free lunch or lodgin g. That would stick it right up those states' ass.
charge)
hen I have a rebel mind.
ly
e fal.
ies
ny
nd
n impossibly poor videos? There is not one car in either of the two videos I saw that I could say was a Tesla. Then you make up a background story t o explain the imaginary cars based on nothing and try to rationalize how/wh y the company got into this mess. WTF!!!
is
ng
t"explanation" is no more based in reality than their story.
ugh to make out the vehicles. It's almost laughable.
and Doom will believe what they want. They don't care what the facts are, they've already made up their minds.
off Rt 95 at a gas station no less. I spotted another in a much smaller ci ty in WV along Rt 81 at a Sheetz. Personally I don't like those locations because topping off your Tesla means you have time to sit and enjoy a cup o r even a small bite and that is across a very busy six lanes of traffic. B ut I guess when you are on a trip you just want to get in and out as fast a s you can. Still, its good to have so many charging options. That's the o ne thing Tesla gets that the other makers don't. Cars like the Chevy Bolt will take hours to get the same charge you can put on a Tesla in 30 minutes . This will be important to the future of electric cars.
It's not based in reality because you know nothing of Tesla's operations. First you don't know there are cars piling up in a lot somewhere. But you don't let that stop you, you imagine Tesla is doing this because they can't move the cars... What???
I have no doubt in my mind Tesla will do everything they can to move cars t o customers. After all the crap they've been through making them, the idea that they would not have lined up a means of shipping the cars around the country is totally absurd. "We didn't see that one coming, we never expect ed to get this far before the money ran out!"
Rick C.
roblem. You can probably get 4 trucks for a million or so, car carriers, 4 of them maybe for half million. Licensing and operating authority is a bitc h but not as bad as building a car.
s, Texas for one I think. I can't find a direct reference to what I read be fore but here is some info on it :
ck and convert the title which will probably require a safety inspection an d laughably emissions testing.
to find that the states are engaging in restraint of trade. There go the l aws the big three paid for.
o come and test drive one on the test track as well as the street. I doubt enough people would abuse that. Just don't give them a free lunch or lodgin g. That would stick it right up those states' ass.
charge)
hen I have a rebel mind.
ly
e fal.
ies
ny
nd
n impossibly poor videos? There is not one car in either of the two videos I saw that I could say was a Tesla. Then you make up a background story t o explain the imaginary cars based on nothing and try to rationalize how/wh y the company got into this mess. WTF!!!
is
ng
t"explanation" is no more based in reality than their story.
For 15 to 20 cars per carrier, that would be $2k to $3k each. Many people are willing to drive a car across the country for $1k plus plane ticket bac k.
I imagine they're at least looking to have the cars moved by licensed and bonded pro carriers not just some random drivers off the street.
The latter doesn't look very good from a PR perspective, either. "Yeah we just hired some random guys to deliver them"
Don't know what auto rack 18-wheeler trailer in the US at least could move 15-20 cars per load. More like 8-9, tops.
I don't think shipping them by rail would be a good value for their location/inventory size, they're not a container port there's no roll-on roll off capability there. They'd still have to truck them somewhere
problem. You can probably get 4 trucks for a million or so, car carriers,
4 of them maybe for half million. Licensing and operating authority is a bi tch but not as bad as building a car.tes, Texas for one I think. I can't find a direct reference to what I read before but here is some info on it :
back and convert the title which will probably require a safety inspection and laughably emissions testing.
rt to find that the states are engaging in restraint of trade. There go the laws the big three paid for.
to come and test drive one on the test track as well as the street. I doub t enough people would abuse that. Just don't give them a free lunch or lodg ing. That would stick it right up those states' ass.
l charge)
then I have a rebel mind.
ally
're
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eries
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on impossibly poor videos? There is not one car in either of the two vide os I saw that I could say was a Tesla. Then you make up a background story to explain the imaginary cars based on nothing and try to rationalize how/ why the company got into this mess. WTF!!!
y is
soing
snot
e t s tr "explanation" is no more based in reality than their story.
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yple are willing to drive a car across the country for $1k plus plane ticket back.
According to ZeroHedge they are trucking them somewhere already, lol!
Shipping cars by rail is very common. The biggest problem they have is kid s throwing rocks at them when the run through cities. Years ago they had t o start enclosing the car cars in sheet metal. Heck, they assembled autos in Baltimore when I was a kid. They shipped them *out*. Baltimore is a se aport and a *lot* of stuff is shipped by train going overseas. No shortage of rail traffic in Baltimore.
The reason rail shipping is not so good for Tesla is not the factory end. It is the delivery end. They would need to have staging areas at several p laces in the country where cars would be shipped to until they can be picke d up by truck again for final delivery. I think Tesla is in more of a hurr y, so they just ship by truck for the full run. That alone is faster than the rail leg of a shipment.
Rick C.
So, $5k per car shipped? That's almost 10% of the car price. Even contracted/bonded drivers/employees can do it for $1k to $2K.
Of course, they would need to set up intermediate staging/charging transfer lots. Perhaps the OP's video is such a lot.
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