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Tesla record-breaking deliveries will mean more service centers

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Tesla Service Center and upcoming Supercharger station near Disneyland, CA

Tesla Q3 deliveries announcement kicked off a great day for the stock on Monday and now it seems a equity raise will arrive for the Silicon Valley-based auto company – just in the nick of time. Past equity raises have been watched but this one will be scrutinized largely due to the company’s multiple expansion projects: Model 3 tooling at Fremont, Gigafactory build-out, Model 3 battery production, Supercharger network expansion, and, yes, Tesla Service Centers.

The interesting question is whether additional service centers will be addressed by Musk in a Q3 follow up conference call or in the shareholder letter coming next month. Recalling statements made in the company’s Q1 shareholder letter, Tesla revealed the “plan to open more than 70 additional retail and service locations in 2016, to bring a total of nearly 300 locations.”

However, the service center wait times have been going up steadily according to discussions within the TMC message board. Commenter Troy has been tracking global service centers additions for Tesla, and accounts the addition of six new service centers, globally, since the beginning of 2016. More importantly, Troy identifies the number of service-centers-to-car-delivered. Tesla delivered 24,500 new cars in Q3 and opened 1 new service center globally, and the total number of Tesla vehicles to service centers in the U.S. is 1,522. Worldwide, there are 1,265 Teslas to every one service center.

In his post, Troy points out “the global Tesla fleet grew by 17.1% faster than the number of service centers in Q3 2016.” If you own a Tesla, most have felt wait times increase in 2016. Most readers know that service centers have been an organizational challenge for Tesla when it released the Model S, but Consumer Reports in 2015 ranked it tops among all car dealers.

“the global Tesla fleet grew by 17.1% faster than the number of service centers in Q3 2016.”

However, the next challenge is how fast Tesla can expand existing service centers and open new ones as the Model 3 rolls out in late 2017 or more likely 2018. And let’s not forget about the service-hungry Model X vehicles.

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Teslarati documented construction for the new Tesla Service Center in Pittsburgh, but Model 3 rollout could be challenging for states like Michigan and Iowa. Eternal Tesla crank, Edward Niedermeyer, wrote how the Tesla love affair could go South with non-luxury owners as the Model 3 hits the mainstream. Niedermeyer points to how mid-level vehicles need to emphasize reliability.

True, but he misses on the love affair extending to mainstream consumers. Mainstream buyers will have patience but more service centers will be needed. And, the tide seems to be turning a bit in some states, such as Texas.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Tesla’s lobbying efforts may be paying off. An article in May reported that a “Tesla rep at the party’s state convention argued that repeal of franchise law amounted to a truer free market system. And the party agreed, adding a Tesla-friendly plank to its 2016 platform.” So, it looks like 2017 could see Tesla exemptions getting out of legislative committees in Texas. We’ll see.

It should be interesting to see how this plays out, considering the integration of SolarCity into the fold. Can Tesla and Musk keep its customer-centric focus?

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"Grant Gerke wears his Model S on his sleeve and has been writing about Tesla for the last five years on numerous media sites. He has a bias towards plug-in vehicles and also writes about manufacturing software for Automation World magazine in Chicago. Find him at Teslarati

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk affirms Tesla commitment and grueling work schedule: “Daddy is very much home”

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated his commitment to the electric vehicle maker and its future projects this week, responding to speculation following his $1 billion purchase of TSLA stock. 

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market, extending a rally fueled in part by Musk’s TSLA purchase.

Elon Musk’s nonstop work schedule

Amidst the reaction of TSLA stock to Musk’s $1 billion investment, Tesla owners such as @greggertruck noted that “Daddy’s home.” Musk replied, stating that “Daddy is very much home.” He then shared details of a packed weekend of work, which was definitely grueling but completely within character for a “wartime CEO.”

Musk did note, however, that he had lunch with his kids during the weekend despite his extremely busy schedule.

“Daddy is very much home. Am burning the midnight oil with Optimus engineering on Friday night, then redeye overnight to Austin arriving 5am, wake up to have lunch with my kids and then spend all Saturday afternoon in deep technical reviews for the Tesla AI5 chip design. 

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“Fly to Colossus II on Monday to walk the whole datacenter floor, review transformers and power production (excellent progress), depart midnight. Then up to 12 hours of back-to-back meetings across all Tesla departments, but with a particular focus on AI/Autopilot, Optimus production plans, and vehicle production/delivery,” Musk wrote in his post

Wartime CEO

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described Musk as operating in “wartime CEO mode,” highlighting autonomous driving and AI as a trillion-dollar market opportunity for Tesla. Musk reiterated this point late last month as well, when he outlined the several projects he is juggling among his numerous companies. At the time, Musk stated that he was busy with Starship 10, Grok 5, and Tesla V14. This was despite his notable presence on X. 

With Tesla Master Plan Part IV being partly released, the company is entering what could very well be its most ambitious stage to date. To usher in an era of sustainable abundance, Tesla would definitely require a “wartime CEO,” someone who could remain locked in and determined to push through any obstacles to ensure that the company achieves its goals.

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Elon Musk

Tesla analyst says Musk stock buy should send this signal to investors

“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish.”

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased roughly $1 billion in Tesla shares on Friday, and analysts are now breaking down the move as the stock is headed upward.

One of them is William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who said in a new note to investors on Monday that Musk’s move should send a signal of confidence to stock buyers, especially considering the company’s numerous catalysts that currently exist.

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

Dorsheimer said in the note:

“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish. This purchase is Musk’s first buy since 2020. To us, this sends a strong signal of confidence in the most important part of Tesla’s future business, robotaxi.”

Musk putting an additional $1 billion back into the company in the form of more stock ownership is obviously a huge vote of confidence.

He knows more than anyone about the progress Tesla has made and is making on the Robotaxi platform, as well as the company’s ongoing efforts to solve vehicle autonomy. If he’s buying stock, it is more than likely a good sign.

Tesla has continued to expand its Robotaxi platform in a number of ways. The project has gotten bigger in terms of service area, vehicle fleet, and testing population. Tesla has also recently received a permit to test in Nevada, unlocking the potential to expand into a brand-new state for the company.

In the note, Dorsheimer also touched on Musk’s recent pay package, revealing that William Blair recently met with Tesla’s Board of Directors, who gave the firm some more color on the situation:

“We recently participated in a meeting with Tesla’s board of directors to discuss the details of Musk’s performance package. The board is confident of its position in the Delaware case and anticipates a verdict by end of year. It does not expect a similar situation to occur under new Texas jurisdiction. Musk has the board’s full support, and we expect he’ll get more than enough shareholder support for this to pass with flying colors.”

Tesla stock is up over 6 percent so far today, trading at $421.50 at the time of publication.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

Prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons


Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rose on Monday after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a rare insider purchase of company stock worth about $1 billion. 

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Musk acquired 2.57 million shares last Friday at various prices. The move represents Musk’s largest TSLA purchase ever by value, as per Verity data.

Elon Musk’s TSLA purchase

The disclosure sent Tesla shares up more than 8% in premarket trading Monday, as investors read the purchase as a notable vote of confidence, as stated in a CNBC report. Tesla stock had closed slightly lower Friday but remains more than 25% higher over the past three months. It should be noted that prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.

Market watchers say the purchase could help shore up investor sentiment amid a volatile year for TSLA stock. Shares have faced pressure from a variety of factors, from year-over-year sales challenges due to the new Model Y changeover, political controversies tied to Musk, and reduced U.S. incentives for EVs under the Trump administration. Nevertheless, analysts such as Wedbush’s Dan Ives stated that Musk’s purchase was a “huge sign of confidence for Tesla bulls and shows Musk is doubling down on his Tesla A.I. bet.”

Tesla and Elon Musk

Musk already owns about 13% of Tesla, and his latest purchase comes as the company prepares for a key shareholder vote in November. Investors will decide whether to approve a compensation package for Musk that could ultimately be worth as much as $975 billion if ambitious market value milestones are achieved. The package has a long-term target of pushing Tesla’s market capitalization to $8.5 trillion, compared with about $1.3 trillion at Friday’s close.

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Wall Street’s current consensus price target still implies a roughly 20% decline from current levels, though some Tesla bulls remain optimistic that the company could shift its focus toward autonomy, AI, and robotics. Musk has also asked shareholders to approve an investment into his latest venture, xAI.

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