02 July 2018 | “WE DID IT” Confirmation Model 3 Joins 5K Club, Total Of 7,000 Teslas Made Last Week and Nissan ‘Limits’ Successive Rapid Charges
Tesla Made 5,000 Model 3 A Week, 7,000 Total Cars | That’s $250 Million Revenue At $55k Average Price | Model S And Model X Also Enjoying Sustained Production Rates | Carlos Ghosn: Why Car Makers Must Adapt - Or Die | Nissan Add Extra Disclaimer To The LEAF
Well good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world, hello and welcome to the Monday 2nd July edition of EV News Daily. It’s Martyn Lee here with the news you need to know about electric cars and the move towards sustainable transport.
I should know by now, never write a complete show and then just check what Elon Musk has tweeted. Never do it! I had a lovely show all ready to go and the he drops the bombshell. But it’s good, really good.
Here’s the tweet, and then you and I will dig a bit: “7000 cars, 7 days ♥️ Tesla Team ♥️”
TESLA MADE 5,000 MODEL 3 A WEEK, 7,000 TOTAL CARS
- One of those famous Tesla email has leaked online but before we get to that, I'll read it out in a moment, I must say Elon was quiet over the weekend. For a very good reason, there's more to life that building cars or saving the planet. It's when your bro is getting married.
- Kimbal has celebrated his wedding to environmental activist Christiana Wyly in a lavish Girona wedding. Kimbal is famed for his iconic cowboy hat which remained a permanent fixture on his wedding day.
- So onto the email Elon sent to staff: "“We did it! What an incredible job by an amazing team. Couldn’t be more proud to work with you. It is an honor. The level of dedication and creativity was mind-blowing. We either found a way or, by will and inventiveness, created entirely new solutions that were thought impossible.“Not only did we factory gate 5000 Model 3’s, but we also achieved the S & X production target for a combined 7000 vehicle week!”
- So there we have it, confirmation ever Tesla Model 3 reservation holder wanted to hear, every EV hater thought would never happen.
- So my two initial thoughts - that's not an official company announcement, of course as a public company there will be a statement and report to the market. Secondly with all the attention on 3, it's a great reminder that the S and X are also being made at a rate of 2,000 per week. And remember, it was only in April that Tesla made 2,270 Model 3's a week. 5,000 is such important number for the company to be profitable in Q3 and Q4.
- A thought from Ben Sullins from Teslanomics: 5,000 cars times by $55k av price is $250m a week. And next week. And every week! Even if you say margins are 20% with a view to getting to 25%, that’s $50m.
- I do love to read what Dana Hull has to say, long time Tesla writer but of lately, like many people, has seemed to delight a bit too much at any bad Tesla news. Which i always feel a little uncomfortable from some who's a journalist. Whereas this silly little podcast loves everything about EV's i'm not even pretending to be unbiased. if it's electric i love it!
- For Bloomberg Dana says: "Tesla Inc. factory workers celebrated reaching a milestone of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles a week...according to workers who asked not to be identified, with one saying cheers were heard at the end of the line around 5 a.m. local time. A photograph of employees signing a banner welcoming them to the “Model 3 5K Club” was deleted from Twitter and remains on Reddit".
- When will get official numbers before July 4, although even that's not official. Or IS it official now Elon has tweeted. This is why some people hate Tesla because they're not playing by the rules they want them too, and I think it's great.
- So will the press who want to talk down Tesla dismiss it as burst rate, or unsustainable, or only because of a boy scout tent? Let's find out what they say.
- Business Insider didn't want to join the celebration: "It was not clear if Tesla could maintain that level of production for a longer period of time. Production of the Model 3 has been plagued by a number of issues, including problems with an over-reliance on automation on its assembly lines, battery issues and other bottlenecks."
- Jalopnik weren't ready congratulate them either: "the exact methods of building the car itself seemed like a work in progress at times. Production itself was plagued with issues over automation, batteries and apparent quality issues on early build cars."
- Surely CNBC wouldn't go to lengths to dampen the mood by pointing out it was actually after Midnight the final car was made? "Tesla nearly produced 5,000 Model 3 electric sedans in the last week of its second quarter, with the final car rolling off the assembly line on Sunday morning, several hours after the midnight goal"
- Surely we've got to find one positive article. I know, the source of it all, Reuters who first broke the news: "The company regularly engages in so-called “burst builds,” temporary periods of fast-as-possible production, which it uses to estimate how many cars it is capable of building over longer periods of time. Analyst Brian Johnson of Barclays warned investors in March to be wary of brief “burst rates” of Model 3 production that were not sustainable.”
CARLOS GHOSN: WHY CAR MAKERS MUST ADAPT - OR DIE
- Theo Leggeett from BBC.com has says: "Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and chief executive of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, is responsible for building more than 10 million vehicles a year. This week, on a UK visit, I asked him how much of a challenge the future presents to traditional car makers. Change is certainly coming. Faced with ever-stricter environmental rules and under intense pressure from politicians, manufacturers are at last investing heavily in electric cars."
- Mr Ghosn said: ""Some old-fashioned car companies will not be able to adapt, without any doubt. But not all car companies are old-fashioned, and not all will be unable to cope. We're investing a lot. We were the first company to offer mass market electric cars. Today we are the biggest seller and producer of electric cars. Obviously, for those who ignore the change, or avoid the change, it's going to be terrible," he adds. “For those who embrace it, obviously it's going to require a lot of effort, a lot of investment. But it could give them more opportunities for growth than we've ever had in the past."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44662649
NISSAN ADD EXTRA DISCLAIMER TO THE LEAF
- Finally a few weeks back I saw a BBC reporter tweet that we was looking for people who has issues rapid charging their new LEAF and what do you know, now it has happened. Not a hatchet job, but very critical of Nissan. And also talking to people who believed the NEDC range was range - maybe not their fault, maybe the dealer, maybe they didn't research the car. But a bit rubbish to diss the car when you and I know NEDC has always been hypothetical.
- Anyway following more critisicm over the weekend, Brian Weatherall sent me a link to a brand new disclaimer on Nissan's website.
- And it's this: "**Rapid Charging: Figures quoted are for a 40kWh battery. Time dependent on charging conditions, including charger type and condition, battery temperature as well as ambient temperature at point of use. Indicated rapid charging time requires use of a CHAdeMO rapid charger. Nissan Electric Vehicles have charging safeguards to protect the battery during repeated fast charging sessions in a short period of time. The time taken for additional rapid charging (3+ successive procedures) can take longer if the battery temperature activates the battery safeguarding technology."
https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new-vehicles/leaf/range-charging.html
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