Tesla throws cold water on its own hype by admitting huge risks in building the Model 3 [View all]

[StarTrombone]

Here's a dose of reality about Tesla's heavily hyped mass-market Model 3 electric car: The company hasn't yet finalized the design for the Model 3, hasn't selected its parts suppliers, isn't sure it can produce and deliver the car in volume and on time, and still needs to do "extensive testing" to make sure the car can meet quality standards and government regulations.

If Tesla Motors can't resolve any or all of these issues, the company will be in trouble. Specifically, its "brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially damaged."

“We may experience delays in realizing our projected timelines and cost and volume targets for the production, launch and ramp of our Model 3 vehicle.
— Tesla Motors outlines the risks in its Model 3 rollout


These warnings don't come from a disgruntled onlooker, but from the one source immune to Tesla hype: its own financial reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's latest quarterly report, issued Tuesday, bristles with risk disclosures that provide a counterweight of realism to the breathless claims the company makes when it doesn't have to swear to them.

For instance, in a first-quarter "update" issued to customers and shareholders on May 4, Tesla reported having received more than 325,000 deposits for the Model 3 at $1,000 each. Based on the projected retail price of $35,000 plus add-ons, this implied $14 billion in future sales, "making the Model 3 introduction the biggest consumer product launch ever."

Tuesday's quarterly report, however, reminds shareholders that the Model 3 doesn't yet exist in final form and hasn't, in fact, been launched. Until at least late 2017, the earliest date when the cars can start coming off the production line, the model is subject to "unanticipated deviations from the expected price point, vehicle features or performance characteristics." Translation: The Model 3 might cost more than $35,000 and not quite deliver the acceleration or driving range claimed at the March 31 announcement event.

I'll wait for a finished product myself

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-tesla-admits-20160511-snap-story.html