The model 3 is estimated to have a 30% gross margin [1]. So it seems incorrect to say that the traditional manufacturers are waiting for battery prices to fall, as it’s clearly possible to build a high margin EV today.
It's profitable is you remove management, R&D, supercharger and sales costs. Which is like saying that Uber is profitable if it's not for driver compensations.
no that's non sense. R&D is a huge fixed upfront cost while Uber's drivers are an ongoing cost that scales linearly. Just like Intel (huge upfront cost to design chips) VS Victoria's Secret , the former has unlimited upside, the latter doesn't and cost scales linearly.
Which is why I said gross margin. And isn’t the point that traditional manufacturers like BMW are also going to have to invest in similar levels of R&D, superchargers, and sales cost? Except they’re 10 years behind.
An important difference: Tesla can produce all their own batteries, and none of the competitors are even close to Tesla's production levels. So Tesla gets better batteries for cheaper.
raphaelj|6 years ago
eaenki|6 years ago
Nickste|6 years ago
dahfizz|6 years ago
et2o|6 years ago
coldtea|6 years ago
And yet Tesla is always on the verge of shutting down due to lack of funds, so the gross margin doesn't tell the whole story...
bryanlarsen|6 years ago