Morgan Stanley doubled its long-term valuation for SpaceX to $101 billion:

"SpaceX continues to solidify its place as 'mission control' for the emerging space economy" with Starlink and Starship.

Here's how the firm values Elon Musk's company: https://t.co/siIf2HfKfN

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) October 22, 2020

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) might have found some support in Morgan Stanely, thanks to its work with Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, China. Analysts at the multinational investment bank believe a rise in TSLA shares may be coming, as well as 30 percent gross margins for its China operations.

Morgan Stanely analyst Adam Jonas and his colleagues shared their predictions about Tesla in a report titled, "Shanghai Giga = Porsche-Like Margins?" The title suggested that Jonas and his fellow analysts believe TSLA could reach Porsche's industry-leading margin levels because of GF3. 

Based on the report, Jonas thinks Tesla's gross margins from the Shanghai factory will be in the low-to-mid 30 percent range. He argued that it would be cheaper to manufacture vehicles in China. For instance, Chinese labor alone costs one-tenth of the wages in California.

"Investors may not realize how expensive it is to make cars in Silicon Valley until Tesla ramps the Shanghai Factory," wrote Jonas.

Credit: Ray4Tesla/Twitter

Jonas also pointed out that luxury brands are quite popular and China, suggesting that there would be demand for Teslas in the Chinese market, reported Bloomberg. Jonas may have hit the bullseye with that statement. 

In America, a lot of people still consider Teslas as niche vehicles. Well, in China, Teslas fit just the right niches. Luxury cars continue to be popular in the Asian country. A Herald Journalism report revealed luxury carmakers and second-tier brands were gaining traction in the Chinese market. The report stated 2.82 million premium vehicles were sold in 2018 with a year-on-year growth rate of 8 percent. That's a market that is ripe for the taking for the made-in-China Tesla Model 3. 

However, the rate of growth for premium vehicles has slowed down since 2017. The opposite seems to be happening in China's general EV market. According to the Wall Street Journal, 60 percent of global EV sales came from China.

Based on the information discussed above, China loves luxury cars and EVs. Tesla fits into that niche perfectly. Morgan Stanely certainly seems confident that the Chinese market will be profitable for Tesla. The investment bank's analysts set a bull case price target of $440 for TSLA shares. Morgan Stanely PT is higher than Jefferies, which recently set a $400 price target. 

Featured Image Credit: Ray4Tesla/Twitter

Tesla received a significant influx of money from investors by issuing new shares. September 1, 2020, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) stated it plans to raise up to $5 billion through a share sale program to be conducted by Wall Street's main brokerages. Sales agents include major banks such as Goldman Sachs & Co, Bank of America Securities Inc, Citigroup Global Markets Inc, and Morgan Stanley & Co.

Tesla Enters Agreement To Raise $5 Billion through Common Shares offeringhttps://t.co/Mjcs8EGZIF

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) September 1, 2020

On September 8, Tesla announced the completion of a $5 billion capital increase. Banks, on behalf of Tesla, sold $5 billion in shares to large clients dedicated to this.

Tesla currently has ambitious growth targets and is investing heavily in the construction of Giga Berlin, Giga Texas, Giga Shanghai expansion and the Fremont factory. In parallel, the company is developing battery cells and building production lines for this. Accordingly, the company's funding needs are high.

In the Statement from FORM 8-K, Tesla indicated that it intends to use the net profit from this proposal to further strengthen the company's balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes.
“We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to further strengthen our balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes. Pending use of the proceeds as described above, we intend to invest the proceeds in highly liquid cash equivalents or United States government securities.”

© 2020, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.

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This article is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as an investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Eva Fox, Tesmanian, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Eva Fox holds zero share of Tesla, Inc., and currently (at the time of this article's publishing) holds zero options or securities in Tesla Inc. and/or its affiliates.

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"I mean, if you're a traditional automaker, you must be so scared right now."

Tesla Battery Day Could Be the Last Nail in the Coffin for ICE Vehicleshttps://t.co/GPFca0gI1m

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) September 20, 2020

Keeney explained that automakers are now trying to save their main business—gas-powered cars—especially given the impact of the pandemic. Furthermore, for the manufacturers who are trying to build mass-produced electric cars, they are understandably aiming for profit. Yet none of them has been successful in this thus far.

With these major Battery Day announcements, Tesla is expected to only further accelerate its lead in batteries. As Keeney explains:

“Tesla has always been a leader in electric vehicles. And at ARK Invest, we’ve been saying for a long time they’re at least 3-4 years ahead on batteries. I think with these announcements, they’re even further ahead. And it’s only becoming harder for automakers to catch up.”

Solving The Money Problem/YouTube, in response to Keeney’s interview, also shares his thoughts. He stresses that Tesla is by far the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the world in terms of annual volume. And, importantly, Tesla is the only successful and profitable company in the world that does this. Simply put, Tesla has a massive advantage over all companies. Tesla is constantly looking for ways to accelerate, improve, and find effective solutions for further development.

An important aspect of this advantage is that the company has figured out how to drastically reduce the cost of the most important element of the vehicle: the battery. Tesla has a plan to reduce the cost by 56%—truly representing a quantum leap in battery technology and manufacturing. Not to mention Tesla is getting into the lithium mining business.  

At this point—and likely for the foreseeable future—Tesla is the leader in batteries. And if there are any advancements in battery manufacturing by other researchers and companies that occur in laboratories, Tesla wants to hear about it. After all, only Tesla has the scale to help new technology develop. Elon Musk says: "If you can build a bad battery, show it to us."

This leads us to the conclusion that, in the near future, it would be more profitable for other automakers to buy batteries directly from Tesla. Other companies will not likely be able to create their own cells—nor competitive ones at that—and it could very well be it is too late to even try.

Keeney also shared that, taking into account the share split, ARK Invest's target price for TSLA is currently $1,400 per share. She added that the company is continuing to carry out valuations, which means there is a chance that their forecast will be revised based on what Tesla presented at Battery Day.

"You should value Tesla as a technology company."

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Everything that Tesla presented at Battery Day increased the investment firm's confidence in the manufacturer and gave confidence that the company's stock is a very valuable asset.

© 2020, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.

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This article is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as an investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Eva Fox, Tesmanian, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Eva Fox holds zero shares of Tesla, Inc., and currently (at the time of this article's publishing) holds zero options or securities in Tesla Inc. and/or its affiliates.

Tesla China Officially Updated Model 3 (LFP Battery) From Giga Shanghai New Priceshttps://t.co/LDqEHsiWyO

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) October 1, 2020

Due to this price drop, all stores in China have experienced an explosion in demand. @ray4tesla/Twitter reports that according to a sales representative the first day of sales was so insane that store employees hardly had time for meals and to chat with customers.

Wonder how crazy MIC Model 3 sales was on the first day of price cuts. According to a sales rep, all stores were flooded with new orders and store employees hardly had time for meals & communicating with customers. Q4 will be insane. pic.twitter.com/vHN4CsrMor

— Ray4️⃣Tesla⚡️🚘☀️🔋 (@ray4tesla) October 1, 2020

We also contacted our sources in China who double confirmed that, due to price adjustments, all stores are overcrowded with customers rushing to order the China-made Model 3 at a freshly reduced price.

To maintain competitiveness and affordability, Tesla has come up with excellent solutions to reduce its EV prices. Eliminating cobalt is a great way to achieve this, for example, as the element is very expensive.

In addition, the process of mining cobalt in some places is associated with serious ethical issues. CEO Elon Musk said the company will work to reduce cobalt use to near zero. The facts show that he remains true to his word.

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Rock Tech Lithium has announced the construction of a battery-grade lithium hydroxide plant in Guben, Brandenburg, just 37 miles from Tesla's Grünheide factory. It plans to produce about 24,000 tons of raw materials per year, which is enough to produce batteries for about 500,000 electric vehicles.

Tesla has big plans for development in Germany. In addition to the car factory, the manufacturer is building a battery factory there that will produce the latest 4680 battery cell form factor. Giga Berlin will produce 50-gigawatt hours of battery cells annually. When the factory is completed, it will be the largest battery manufacturing plant in Europe. However, this is only an initial plan, and in the future, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hopes to produce around 250 gigawatt-hours per year.

However, in order for this to be possible, Tesla will need a lot of materials to make batteries—and buying them as close to the factory as possible can significantly save production costs. The American manufacturer is an attractive customer and has become a magnet for companies, including lithium miners.

Rock Tech Lithium, a German-Canadian company headquartered in Vancouver, has announced the construction of a "converter plant" in the Brandenburg region, just 37 miles from Giga Berlin. The manufacturing facility is expected to create 160 jobs and the plant is to be built in 2024, according to Handelsblatt. Rock Tech estimates the planned total investment in Guben at up to €470 million.

In a statement, Rock Tech said it wants to be a central component of the battery value chain and thus part of the Brandenburg e-mobility cluster. Rock Tech CEO Dirk Harbecke said: "Brandenburg will be one of the first regions in Europe to cover nearly the entire EV value chain." The lithium for the company's own plant will come from a mine in Canada.

H/T @DerCaspar/Twitter

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After TSLA trading officially closed on January 29, Tesla released its Shareholder Letter before its Q4 2019 Earnings call.

According to Tesla's Shareholder Letter, the EV automaker reported a total of US$7.3 billion in revenue for the last quarter of 2019. The EV maker also said that it expects positive free cash flow moving forward with some exceptions, including launches and ramp of new products. 

Before the release of the Shareholder Letter, Morgan Stanley predicted Tesla would surpass estimates and report a revenue of US$7.31 billion. Based on the general forecast of analysts, Capital IQ predicted Tesla would report a revenue of US$7.05 billion. 

Tesla's Shareholder Letter also revealed an adjusted EPS of US$2.14 for Tesla shareholders.

In contrast, Morgan Stanley predicted that Tesla would announce an EPS of US$0.88 on a GAAP basis. Meanwhile, Capital IQ predicted an EPS of US$0.84, based on the common consensus of analysts' forecasts.

Highlights

1. Model Y - In the Shareholder Letter, Tesla also stated that it will "comfortably" exceed 500k units in 2020. Production of the Model Y in Fremont is ahead of schedule, confirming the community's forecast thus far. Tesla managed to increase the Model Y all-wheel drive's EPA range to 315 miles from 280 miles.
2. Giga Shanghai - Due to strong demand in China, Tesla will increase it's Model 3 capacity with existing facilities. Meanwhile, production for the Model Y will start by 2021 in Gigafactory 3. The company expects Model Y capacity to be equivalent to the Model 3 in China.
3. Tesla Energy - As for Tesla Energy, the company reported energy storage deployment reached 530MWH in Q4. 

Tesla's full Shareholder Letter could be accessed here. 

Featured Image Credit: Tesla

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Covid pandemic / First crewed spaceflight was in May 2020

NASA Commercial Crew Program selected SpaceX and Boeing to conduct rotational flights to the Space Station. However, Boeing has not completed its Starliner spacecraft testing to certify if it can safely transport humans. SpaceX returned human spaceflight capabilities to the United States in 2020. America depended on Russia's Roscosmos Space Agency to launch astronauts to the Space Station for roughly a decade since 2011. SpaceX enabled the U.S.A. to re-emerge as a space power during a critical time for space exploration. First, the world was struck by the coronavirus pandemic and now the world faces the effects of Russia invading Ukraine. It has caused global tensions to rise and even affected collaboration amongst Russia's Roscosmos space agency and NASA. Thankfully, SpaceX demonstrated its Crew Dragon spacecraft is reliable to transport crew to and from the ISS to ensure the U.S. (and the world's) space exploration programs continue smoothly. SpaceX launched 

Mention how other company’s are switching from Russia's Soyuz to SpaceX or other launch providers.

“Science tells us, every day with more precision, that we need to act urgently ... if we are to have any hope of avoiding radical and catastrophic climate change,” he said.

Pope Francis said that we need to act in 3 directions:

• better education about the environment,
• sustainable agriculture and
• access to clean water, and a transition away from fossil fuels.

In June, a Vatican document urged Catholics to disinvest from the armaments and fossil fuel industries and to monitor companies in sectors such as mining for possible damage to the environment. 

A north Queensland solar and storage project will install 8MWh of Tesla battery storage, in a bid to power the Townsville Catholic Diocese with 100% renewables.

Tesla Commercial Battery Storage Provides 100% Renewable Energy to Townsville Catholic Diocese https://t.co/r19MXtMrWQ pic.twitter.com/B23QimzKIu

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) August 3, 2020

In the future, Queensland-based commercial solar company GEM Energy is to supply Tesla battery systems with a total capacity of 5.1MW of solar power at 27 sites owned by the Townsville Catholic Education Office.

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SpaceX is building its Starlink broadband internet satellite network in low Earth orbit. To date, the aerospace company has deployed 708 satellites out of the 4,409 that will initially make-up the network. Company officials state the main focus of the network will be to connect rural areas on Earth to the internet, areas where internet access is unreliable and inaccessible. Starlink customers will receive service from space via user terminals that look like a ‘UFO on a stick’. The wireless service will be easy to install at home, just ‘plug-in and point at sky.’

The company has not made public how much the internet service will cost per month. Regarding the pricing, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told reporters last year – “All I know is you will be far happier with the value of the Starlink service than you are with your current service. You will, for sure, get way more bandwidth for the same price, or way more bandwidth for less…You’ll be far happier with this. The value will be far greater.” Starlink customers would be supporting missions to Mars; the revenue will provide additional funding towards the development of a Starship fleet that would enable humans to live on the Red Planet.

The founder of SpaceX Elon Musk stated in March during the Satellite2020 conference, that if Starlink is successful in obtaining a percentage of users of the global telecommunications market, SpaceX could net $30 billion to $50 billion in revenue annually. During the conference, Musk was asked what his long-term vision for the Starlink network is, “The whole purpose of SpaceX is really to help make life multi-planetary... But the revenue potential of launching satellites to the space station, that taps out about $3 billion dollars a year. But I think providing broadband is more like an order of magnitude more than that, probably $30 billion a year as a rough approximation,” he said.

CNBC reports Morgan Stanley financial analysts predict SpaceX’s valuation could reach as high as $175 billion in the "most optimistic 'bull case' scenario" if the Starlink network project works out as planned. Morgan Stanley predicted in July that SpaceX will reach a $50 billion valuation in its “base case” scenario.

At the end of 2019, the rocket company had a private-market valuation of about $33 billion. SpaceX valuation increased in August this year after it successfully deployed astronauts to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft in May -the company is currently valued at around $46 billion. Starlink is expected to add more value to the company by next year when SpaceX rolls-out widespread service.

With around 700 Starlink satellites already in orbit, SpaceX employees are already private beta testing the network. According to a document SpaceX submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on September 2^nd, Starlink is performing well. “…Results from beta initial tests have shown both low-latency below 30 ms [milliseconds] and download speeds greater than 100 Mbps [megabits per second],” SpaceX wrote to the FCC. “As it works through these beta tests, SpaceX continues to add features to unlock the full capability of the satellites and user equipment. SpaceX continues its aggressive launch schedule […].”

The company aims to deploy at least 120 Starlink satellites per month, to rapidly increase the network’s capability and roll-out service in the northern United States and Canada before this year ends. By 2021, SpaceX hopes to provide rural areas across the world with broadband access. “For the system to be economically viable, it's really on the order of 1,000 satellites,” Musk told reporters last year, “which is obviously a lot of satellites, but it's way less than 10,000 or 12,000.” The company's current plan is to initially deploy 4,409 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

Elon Musk's nickel plea can be satisfied with a Tanzania mine, says Kabanga Nickel. The mine and plant there could help reduce the ever-growing demand for nickel from electric vehicle manufacturers.

Kabanga Nickel is seeking to raise $1.3 billion for a major mining project in Tanzania that the company says could help reduce voracious demand from electric vehicle manufacturers for nickel. “We are accelerating these kind of discussions as quickly as possible,” CEO Chris Showalter, a former investment banker, said in an interview reported Mining Weekly. "Because of the quality of the project, we have developed substantial interest."

The company is trying to secure funding for a $950 million mine and a $350 million oil refinery that will be developed simultaneously in the northwest part of the country. Ultimately, the project will produce up to 50,000 tonnes of nickel cathodes per year, plus additional smaller quantities of copper and cobalt. Kabanga Nickel expects to be operational by 2024 and achieve stable production levels in the first year of working.

Nickel is a key component of lithium-ion batteries and is helping car manufacturers reduce the use of controversial cobalt. During the Tesla Q2 2020 Earnings Call, CEO Elon Musk urged miners to invest in sustainable nickel as the production of electric vehicles will increase over the next few years.

“I'd just like to re-emphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel. Okay. Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and don’t wait for a nickel to go back to some long - some high point that you experienced some five years ago, whatever. Go for efficiency, obviously environmentally-friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully this message goes out to all mining companies. Please get a nickel.”

“I would emphatically say we are very much positioned to start delivering to Mr. Musk and all other strategic battery EVs,” said Showalter. Competition among electric vehicle companies to secure future supplies puts Kabanga in a “pretty strong competitive environment” as it negotiates with investors, he added.

Showalter said Kabanga plans to recycle metals in a refining process that uses less electricity and has a lower carbon footprint, which could help it sell its products at a premium. “The world needs clean nickel and we are not going to be the only solution, but we are the next fast-growing project,” he said.

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Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas raised the firm's price target on Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) to $333 from $272 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares after revising his forecasts to reflect better than expected Q3 deliveries and the $5B capital raise. 

Jonas noted that he increased his forecast for fiscal 2020 deliveries to 489,721 units from 474,820 units previously. In addition, he raised its 2021 delivery forecast to 698,000 units, an increase of 9%. The analyst updated his assumptions regarding Tesla's Mobility/Transport as a Service business.

"We believe that the company is in a better position to deploy its ride-hail/transportation as a service business faster and more profitably than our previous forecast. Reductions in the price of the car and battery, improvements in the EV charging infrastructure, insurance costs, residual value retention and other factors have also increased the economic inputs of our Mobility model for Tesla."

In late August, Jonas noted that Tesla should be considered more than just a car company. He noted that the best specialists in a wide variety of fields strive to work for Elon Musk. Tesla continues to gather assets, technology, and the talent necessary in its efforts towards opening a vertically integrated battery business that can improve the industry's cost curve.

Jonas named the potential to grow the company's battery business as a key driver for mid-term profit. He also noted that factors other than the sale and delivery of vehicles - which have traditionally provided both top and bottom margins for the world's most valuable automaker - may begin to have an increasing influence on Tesla's future success.

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This article is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as an investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Eva Fox, Tesmanian, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Eva Fox holds zero share of Tesla, Inc., and currently (at the time of this article's publishing) holds zero options or securities in Tesla Inc. and/or its affiliates.

An Independent Review Board (IRB) investigated the causes of the mission’s delay to determine whether the spacecraft will be able to overcome the issues to successfully launch in 2023. The independent review board completed its investigation this month. Now, the agency says it is back on track to launch the asteroid-mining Psyche mission later this year atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.  

Last week, IRB completed an assessment and NASA JPL officials held a press conference to discuss the Psyche mission. “[...] The IRB believes the response to our Psyche project and JPL institution findings and recommendations to be excellent,” retired aerospace executive A. Thomas Young, who led the IRB, said during a press conference on June 5th. “We believe that Psyche is on a positive course for an October 2023 launch. We believe the 2023 launch readiness date is credible, and the overall probability of mission success is high,” he said. 

If the Psyche mission lifts off in October this year, the spacecraft will arrive to the asteroid in over six years from now. It will fly towards the Red Planet where it will use a Mars gravity assist sometime in 2026, and NASA estimates it will arrive at the Psyche asteroid by August 2029. NASA astronomers have a great interest in the 16-Psyche asteroid because it is composed of metallic iron and nickel – one of the building blocks of our solar system, a composition similar to Earth’s core. They believe the asteroid could offer insight into the early years of our solar system. 16-Psyche is 95% metal, believed to be a nickel-iron core of an ancient planet, whose rocky outer layers were stripped away by cosmic impacts. Terrestrial planets like Earth, have metallic cores lying below the rocky surface, deep within rocky mantles. On Earth, scientists can't dig too deep to study the core because machinery would melt. So, the mission could offer insight into how planets evolve.

》 Author's note: My work is possible Thanks to everyone who reads Tesmanian.com and purchases products from the SHOP. Write your thoughts in the comment section below. If you have any story suggestions or feedback, feel free to Direct Message me on Twitter: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve Read my most recent stories here: Recent News Stories 《  

Featured Images Source: SpaceX & NASA  

Battery is the hottest topic on the eve of Tesla Battery Day. During 2019-2020, the company issued a number of patents, which indicate significant progress in achieving the company's goal. But besides the fundamental changes in the methods and systems of the production of batteries, there are some common things that are important and can help Tesla achieve its goals.

For example, graphite plays an important role in the battery, it is the main active anode component in lithium-ion batteries and makes up 10-14% of its total cost. But its mining and preparation needs to be improved, because these processes still leave a carbon footprint.

In the interest of global carbon management, this footprint should be as small as possible. Graphite is a form of pure carbon chemically identical to diamonds but with different structural characteristics. Therefore, scientists began to develop synthetic graphite and achieved considerable success in this.

Gali/Twitter from HyperChange/YouTube, had an interview with Novonix COO and Co-Founder, Dr. Chris Burns, to delve deeper into the topic Synthetic Graphite For Next Generation EV Batteries. According to him, Tesla battery researcher Jeff Dahn has been touting Novonix's new dry particle microgranulation (DPMG) breakthrough as having huge potential. Panasonic/Sanyo (who supplies Tesla's batteries) and Samsung are already partnered with Novonix and working to commercialize the PureGraphite.

On May 15, Novonix announced that it had made a breakthrough by finding a new way to produce lithium-ion batteries. It has filed a patent for synthesising lithium-ion battery electrode materials in a “completely waste-free process”.

Novonix hopes its research and consequent patent application will advance its PureGgraphite (synthetic graphite) manufacturing process and create a competitive advantage over other battery manufacturers.

“This method for particle synthesis shows great promise in making both anode and cathode materials,” said Novonix’s managing director Philip St Baker.

“DPMG provides an incredible opportunity to improve upon graphite manufacturing processes with higher yield, lower cost and improved particle performance and we are excited about deploying this technology to continue to further enhance the competitive advantage of our PUREgraphite manufacturing process,” Mr St Baker said.

In addition to creating graphite particles with no waste, DPMG can also be used to synthesise cathode materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC) through a dry process with no wastewater or materials.

The rationale behind pushing further development is to create higher yield, lower cost, better performance, but, equally importantly, to reduce the environmental impact of production and to make project development less cost prohibitive.

Burns says his company's goal is to create stable graphite that can support a very long battery life.

Also, the production of synthetic graphite in the U.S. can have a positive impact on the supply chain, which now largely depends on China and Asian region. Due to the tensions between China and the U.S., this aspect plays an important role.

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Сharging EVs is becoming less carbon intensive every year. Average GHG emissions from charging one New York-based Tesla vehicle equates to the emissions from an ICE vehicle with a fuel economy of 144 MPG (no such vehicle is on the market). Even when charging a Tesla in Michigan, where approximately 64% of energy comes from coal and natural gas, the emissions from our vehicles still equates to the equivalent emissions of an ICE vehicle with 55 real-world MPG (considerably more in terms of EPA rated MPG). As more regions adopt sustainable energy solutions to generate power, emissions related to charging an EV from the grid will decrease even further.

Remaining use-phase emissions from solar charged vehicles come from publicly available fast-charging, which too is becoming “greener” every year. Tesla's goal is to strategically pair solar and battery storage at as many Tesla Supercharger stations as is feasible.

Tesla vehicles are known to have the highest energy efficiency of any EV built to date. The energy efficiency of their vehicles will continue to improve further over time as they continue to improve their technology and powertrain efficiency. It is also reasonable to assume that Tesla's high-mileage products, such as future Robotaxis, will be designed for maximum energy efficiency as handling, acceleration, and top speed become less relevant. That way, the company will minimize cost for their customers as well as reduce the carbon footprint per mile driven.

While emissions from the manufacturing phase can account for a relatively minor portion of lifetime vehicle emissions when compared to the use-phase, it is still an important part of lifecycle emissions. Thus, Tesla strive to source as much renewable energy where possible for their factories in an effort to reduce our manufacturing-phase emissions.

Underpinning company's strategy for regional manufacturing is a reduction of carbon emissions that result from shipping parts and finished products. From a sustainability standpoint, having vertically integrated Tesla factories in each region helps to reduce the carbon footprint for their operations.

Source: Wikipedia

Tesla’s battery packs are designed to outlast the car. Tesla talks about a million-mile battery, and how much it will help in reducing the carbon footprint. Furthermore, battery recycling has the potential to further reduce emissions as components of a battery pack can be captured and reused, displacing much of the need for raw material mining and the associated emissions.

Through efficiency improvements and water reuse systems, Tesla work to lower the per-product water usage in company's manufacturing process. In addition, water reduction efforts are included in their sales, service, and delivery facilities. Where possible, company's service technicians use a waterless car wash method to maintain Tesla vehicles while minimizing environmental impacts.

Tesla's main manufacturing facilities are not only working to increase water-use efficiencies, but also to improve wastewater and stormwater management. Other projects include water mapping to identify opportunities for either recycling or increased passes in company's closed-loop systems as well as leak identification.

In 2019, Tesla delivered over 367,000 EVs globally: That is more than 2x as many as any other automaker in the world and almost 3x as many as the largest non-Chinese automaker - Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance.

As of the end of 2019, Tesla (including SolarCity prior to its 2016 acquisition by Tesla) had installed almost 3.7 Gigawatts of solar systems and cumulatively generated over 16.6 Terawatt hours (TWhs) of emissions-free electricity.

"It is our goal that eventually all of our manufacturing energy needs are satisfied through renewable sources where possible. Additionally, we are hoping to see more Tesla vehicle customers installing solar panels or Solar Roof along with a Powerwall. We are striving to always remain a net contributor to renewable energy generation."

Full report here.

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Adam Jonas, Analyst, Morgan Stanley. Photo: autonews.com

"We would expect Tesla to shut the Fremont plant temporarily, in line with most global automakers," Jonas wrote.

The analyst stressed that they are confident that Tesla has sufficient liquidity and access to capital during this time.

"We believe Tesla has sufficient liquidity and access to capital during this time," Jonas wrote. "The stock now trades below our revised $ 460 target and a more balanced risk-reward drives the move to Equal-weight."

The stock is now trading below Morgan Stanley's $460 price target.

"Ultimately, we believe we are at a point where, while economic uncertainty leaves the stock in a volatile position, we believe the stock is in a place where investors can potentially begin to add exposure," Jonas writes.

Just like other companies around the world, Tesla is experiencing a significant decline in the price of its shares. Despite this, the automaker has enough money and liquidity to deal with the temporary crisis due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Featured image: Tesla

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Information in the article is provided for informational purposes only. I do not own shares of the company and do not intend to buy them within 72 hours.

During Battery Day, Tesla unveiled a completely new structural battery pack consisting of new 4680 lithium-ion tabless cells. The company has worked hard to bring the new battery to market as quickly as possible, which, at a lower cost, will be more efficient and have a number of other advantages. A recently leaked photo of a battery pack from the signing ceremony at the Tesla Fremont factory has received a lot of attention, as the author of the post claims it is a 4680 cell structural battery pack.

On July 10, Reddit user u/LurkeOnly posted a photo of the battery pack. In a message in the post, he wrote that it is the "4680 Battery signing" ceremony and the battery is ready. However, 11 hours after publication, this post was deleted by the author. In the photo, we can see the battery pack, which has many different signatures and drawings. Among the names, we can find such employees of the company as Kris Wickstead (Senior Manufacturing Engineer), Dennis Arias (Welder), Anthony DiBello (HV Battery: Global Manufacturing Engineering), Tony Freitas (Manufacturing Engineer). All employees work in different US cities: Carson City, Nevada, San José, California, Reno, Nevada. However, it is likely that they all developed a structural pack.

At the moment, part of the community believes that a 4680 structural pack is actually captured in the photo. Some have even stated that their sources have confirmed this information (although the next day this tweet was also deleted). This sounds plausible enough and fits well with the timing of the anticipated progress that Tesla could have made, given the statements made by CEO Elon Musk during the Q1 2021 Earnings Call.

Sources have confirmed that this is indeed a Tesla 4680 cell based structural battery pack, built a few days ago. https://t.co/UuWYAmaXlD pic.twitter.com/8RKktUlW0J

— 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 🔋 (@truth_tesla) July 10, 2021

Another part of the community strongly doubts that this is really a new structural pack for 4680 battery cells. The first thing that raises doubts is the difference between the photographed pack and the one that was presented during Battery Day in 2020. The top of the pack that covers the battery cells looks completely different. Nevertheless, it is worth considering the fact that a pack for Model Y was shown at Battery Day, and in the recent photo, there may be a pack for another car model, probably of a larger size.


Image: Tesla

Another strong argument is that the leaked photo shows a battery pack that is identical to the one shown during the presentation of Model S Plaid. Musk stated that the vehicle uses 18650 battery cells, which means that the new photo is highly likely to show a battery pack with time-tested battery cells. @ajtourville/Twitter supports this theory with the fact that the inverter and BMS in the leaked photo are located in the front and not in the back, which is the opposite of the structural pack rendering shown at Battery Day and the technical drawings in the Tesla Structural Pack patent.

The inverter and BMS are located at the front of the pack, not the rear... which is the *opposite* of the Structural Pack 3D rendering shown at Battery Day and the technical drawings in Tesla's Structural Pack patent pic.twitter.com/eDDLt62Q4W

— ALEX 🚀 (@ajtourville) July 10, 2021

At the moment, the community is at a loss. We can only expect that someone from Tesla's team will confirm or deny one of these theories.

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Tesla Battery Day did not yield a direct answer to a question that many were eagerly listening for. During the presentation, the cherished words that Tesla's new battery will last one million miles were not sounded. However, this does not mean that the company has not achieved this. A new video from Tesla hints to us that the company has reached its goal, and its new 4680 batteries will last at least one million miles.

January 17, Tesla posted a new video inviting experts to join its battery cell team. The video was accompanied by the song, ‘Honey Bee’ by Don Hinton, in which the cherished words "walk a million miles" ring out. This has become a great Easter egg that indicates the company's success in developing a million-mile battery.

Come work on cell / battery production at Giga Texas & Giga Berlin! https://t.co/PhsI5bb0uD pic.twitter.com/jEUatMLDmE

— Tesla (@Tesla) January 17, 2021

Back in October, the head of Tesla's battery research team, Jeff Dahn, shared some details of his research during an Energy Storage & Sustainable Engineering videoconference. Dahn revealed that, after three years of testing, he found that his cells had a lifespan of over two million miles. He has tested his battery over 20,000 cycles at a depth of charge-discharge of 100%, and found that his battery can last 15,000 cycles and still have 90% of its capacity. If we multiply 15,000 by his estimated driving range of 217 miles, we get 3.25 million miles in the worst-case scenario, which is when the battery fully discharged and charged every cycle. Therefore, Tesla's progress in obtaining a battery that lasts a million miles is obvious.

Anyone who follows and tries to figure out what Tesla is doing can understand this game from its atypical CEO Elon Musk. Musk never thought standardly and did not do what others expected of him. Parts of the Tesla community and analysts were angry that the company did not announce the long-awaited million-mile battery on Battery Day, and didn't realize that Tesla had already achieved it. The bottom line is that the million-mile battery was just a positive side effect of what the company actually achieved. In-house mining of valuable metals, building high-tech factories to make batteries, new designing, and new battery chemistry are the real achievements of the company, which will ultimately lead to something more than batteries lasting a million miles.

Check out 0:19 timestamp - “million miles”. 😂

cc: @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/u5xe6MeDWG

— Dave Lee (@heydave7) January 18, 2021

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During the Q2 2022 Earnings Call, Elon Musk urged miners to ramp up lithium mining and refining as it is a business where it is impossible to lose. Tesla is working on lithium refining activity because the best way to learn how to accelerate something is to do it yourself.

What we often underestimate when we talk about Tesla is that the company really made the world start switching to electric vehicles. This is exactly the case; if not for Tesla, the automotive giants would continue to produce millions of gasoline burners each year, which would pollute the environment. Along the way, the manufacturer made many breakthroughs that kept pushing competitors into the race, spurring development in the right direction. Now Tesla is thinking ahead again and is trying to prevent a collapse in the world of batteries. According to the company's CEO, Elon Musk, the manufacturer is ready to enter the business if the industry cannot expand quickly enough.

During the Q2 2022 Earnings Call, investors were again asking about lithium, the main metal for battery production. Musk and other key company representatives made several clarifications, recalling that it is a very common metal, but due to the fact that there are not enough players in its mining and refining, its prices are extremely high. Musk once again urged miners to enter the business, saying that it is impossible to lose in this business.

“I would like to once again urge entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. The mining is relatively easy. The refining is much harder. So, the lithium is actually a very common – sort of very – like lithium pretty much everywhere. But you have to refine the lithium into battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which has to be extremely high purity. So, it is basically like minting money right now. There is like software margins in lithium processing right now. So, I would really like to encourage, once again, entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. You can’t lose. It’s licensed to print money.”

SVP, Powertrain and Energy Engineering at Tesla, Drew Baglino, explained that the company is working very closely with its suppliers to increase their capabilities. In fact, the problem of lithium deficiency does not threaten in the next couple of years, but if we look in the future, then, given the growth in the number of EVs, in 10 years the world will face a shortage of metal for the production of batteries, if miners do not start acting now. He said that Tesla is ready to step into the game to accelerate this growth and is already making its own investment in a facility in Texas. In addition, the company is working on refining lithium because “the best way to learn how to accelerate something is to do it yourself.”

“The other thing I would say is – we are working with our suppliers to ramp their capability as quickly as possible. And it’s not like we have a problem in the next year or 2 years to – specifically to your question. But when we look 10 years out, yes, we need to do more to accelerate the growth. And that is why we are making our own investments, like we are building a facility here in Texas. This already is going up, you can see it in the flyovers. We are working on lithium refining activity as well ourselves because the best way to learn how to accelerate something is to do it yourself. So, these are the things we are doing to move it all forward.”

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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On October 28, NASA announced it will now launch the Psyche asteroid mining mission until October 2023. The spacecraft will fly towards the Red Planet where it will use a Mars gravity assist by 2026, and NASA estimates it will arrive at the Psyche asteroid in August 2029.

The agency shared on Friday that the Psyche project is undergoing an independent review to investigate the causes of the mission’s delay and determine whether the spacecraft will be able to overcome the issues to successfully launch in 2023. The independent review board is still finalizing its report which will be shared by NASA once complete.

“I appreciate the hard work of the independent review board and the JPL-led team toward mission success,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “The lessons learned from Psyche will be implemented across our entire mission portfolio. I am excited about the science insights Psyche will provide during its lifetime and its promise to contribute to our understanding of our own planet’s core.”

“I’m extremely proud of the Psyche team,” said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. “During this review, they have demonstrated significant progress already made toward the future launch date. I am confident in the plan moving forward and excited by the unique and important science this mission will return.” The entire Psyche mission is expected to cost $985 million. NASA already invested $717 million, which includes the spacecraft manufacturing and SpaceX’s launch services, among other things.

Featured Image Source: SpaceX & NASA

Tesla's new Cybertruck factory has already attracted a lot of attention as states and counties continue to struggle for the opportunity to get thousands of jobs. The Del Valle Independent School District is considering an incentives deal that could potentially save the California automaker up to $68 million on its property tax bill over 10 years if it brings a major assembly plant - and thousands of jobs - to Travis County. 

According to the agreement, published on Thursday, June 18, Tesla is supposed to build a 4 million- to 5 million-square foot facility that would eventually employ 5,000 or more workers on a site just off Texas 130 in Southeast Travis County. If the Del Valle school board approves the agreement and Tesla moves forward with the factory on the site, construction could start in the third quarter of this year, according to documents filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office, Statesman reports.

The Travis County Commissioners Court is also considering a separate incentive agreement with Tesla, although the terms of this deal have not been made public and it has not yet been approved by the commissioners court.

The proposed Tesla incentives deal with the Del Valle school district is a Chapter 313 agreement. That refers to Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code, which allows state school districts to grant a property tax break for an economic development project. The state is then required to repay the school district for the amount of property tax it gives up in the agreement.

The Travis County site is a roughly 2,100 acre property in the Austin Green development, at Texas 130 and Harold Green Road. The property is currently a sand and gravel mining site owned and operated by Martin Marietta, according to documents filed with the comptroller’s office.

Source: countymapsoftexas.com

“To continue to meet increased demand and provide new products, an additional manufacturing facility is required in the United States,” Tesla said in its application. The company says eight states were identified as “viable contenders” for the facility, which the company wants to locate in the central U.S.

“The current focus is on Oklahoma and Texas as potential locations for the new facility,” Tesla said.

A potential incentives deal with the Del Valle school district will be a key factor in deciding where to locate the facility, Tesla said in its application for the Chapter 313 agreement.

“Local and state tax incentives serve a critical role in getting the project approved and operating successfully,” the company said. “This is especially critical in Texas due to the high level of real and personal property taxes relative to other states. Since school taxes are the largest component of local property taxes, the Section 313 tax limitation is especially critical to create a level playing field between Texas and other state vying for this project. Therefore, obtaining the 313 limitation is a determining factor in the decision whether to locate the project in Texas.”

Austin Chamber of Commerce official Charisse Bodisch said local economic development officials have had multiple discussions with Tesla executives about possibly bringing the factory to Travis County.

“While we have engaged in multiple discussions with Tesla, the company has not made a final decision regarding its next Gigafactory,” said Bodisch, senior vice president, economic development at the chamber. “The potential location being explored is an underutilized site that is in clear need of revitalization, and it would be a perfect fit for an environmentally focused organization like Tesla.”

Auto manufacturing jobs typically pay about $35 an hour, or $65,000 to $75,000 a year — and that’s at the low end of the range, according to Austin economist Angelos Angelou. Engineering, administrative and other jobs associated with the plant could be expected to pay much higher, he said.

“It would bring thousands of good-paying jobs — non-union jobs — at a time when the economy needs new jobs, and it provides for further diversification of our economy,” he said.

Angelou said that if Tesla does in fact choose the Austin region for its next factory, it would be “a great win for Texas and Austin.”

Source: Tesla

Terms of the deal

Based on the property value estimates in the Chapter 313 application, the proposed incentives deal with the Del Valle school district would potentially give Tesla a tax break of about $68 million over the 10 years of the deal. The Chapter 313 agreement works by capping the property value the district can use for the Tesla site when it collects maintenance and operations tax. Under the terms of the state tax code, the project’s value would be capped at $80 million.

The Del Valle school district’s effective millage rate -- the amount a property owner plays per $1,000 of property value -- for collecting maintenance and operations tax is 1.31%, according to the documents filed with the comptroller’s office.

At that rate, the $80 million cap on the Tesla property means the company’s annual bill from the district for maintenance and operations tax would be $1.048 million. Over 10 years, that would be a total of $10.48 million.

Based on the actual estimated value of the property over that same 10 years, Tesla would have paid $78.59 million in maintenance and operations tax -- an estimated savings of $68.1 million for the company.

The estimated value of the Tesla property varies from year to year, starting at $432.1 million in 2023, the first effective year of the deal, rising to a high of $773.3 million in 2026 and then dipping to $484.5 million in the final year of the agreement in 2031, according to documents filed with the comptroller’s office. The documents do not explain what criteria was used to create those estimated property values, or what would lead to the variation in the values.

Chapter 313 of the Texas tax code requires that a qualifying project create and maintain at least 25 qualifying jobs with a salary that is 110% of the average weekly wage for manufacturing jobs in the county where the job is located. For this project that would equate to an annual salary of $74,050, according to documents filed with the comptroller’s office. The documents do not detail the proposed annual wage for the 5,000 additional Tesla jobs -- the vast majority of the workforce for the facility -- that the company would bring to Central Texas.

Elon Musk is confident that Tesla will reach Level 5 autonomy in 2021, as from a technical point of view. Active work is underway, and the results are very positive.

In July 2020, at the World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he was confident the company "will have the basic functionality for Level five autonomy complete this year [2020]." According to this statement, in November 2020, a limited number of Tesla car owners received FSD Beta, which could drive the car without driver intervention. Although FSD Beta is still not perfect and requires constant attention from drivers, basic functionality for Level 5 autonomy has been achieved. This achievement allowed Tesla to expand the number of testers from 13 to 1,000 in two months of testing and several software improvements.

During the Q4 2020 Earnings Call, Musk, answering an investor's question, confirmed that Tesla will achieve Level 5 autonomy in 2021.

Investor question:

"Why are you confident Tesla will achieve Level 5 autonomy in 2021?"

Musk's answer:

"I guess, I'm confident based on my understanding of the technical roadmap and the progress that we're making between each beta iteration."

Musk explained that Tesla cars can already travel from one place to another through a series of difficult intersections, but the main difficulty lies elsewhere. He said that now it is only about "improving the corner case reliability and getting it to 99.9999% reliable with respect to an accident." The company "needs to get it to better than humans by a factor of at least 100% or 200%." However, this happens quickly because Tesla has a lot of training data given the number of vehicles in the field. Therefore, the software is improving dramatically.

Tesla's goal now is to transition over the neural networks in the car to video. To achieve this, Tesla's hardware uses only eight cameras, and software ultimately has to convert information into surround video. When we look at images of an event, we see only separate images—but when we watch a video, this gives us a complete understanding of what happened, and we can correctly and objectively assess it. The same thing happens with Tesla cars, which "see" in 4D. When Tesla cameras capture images, they combine them with time (4th dimension) to create surround video.

"So you've got 8 cameras operating simultaneously with synchronized frame rates. So you've got 8 frame surround video - 8 camera surround video. And then you've got to label basically everything in that video snippet and then train against that and have those neural nets operate the car."

Musk said he did see this as a question of getting work done. And anyone can see the results in the rapidly improving beta versions of FSD Beta, the videos of work of which can be found on the Internet. Tesla is going to further expand the number of people who will have access to FSD Beta, which demonstrates the improvement of this feature.

"So from my standpoint, it looks like a very clear and obvious path towards a vehicle that will drive 100% safer than a person. Yes. I really don't see any obstacles here."

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Tesla's battery supplier, LG Energy Solution, a subsidiary of LG Chem, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Indonesian government investment authority on December 19 to invest in a business in the country. The news follows immediately after the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime and Investment Coordination reported on December 16 that Tesla's battery supplier, China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), is investing $5 billion in a lithium battery plant that will go into operation in four years in the country.

LG Energy Solution held a closed memorandum signing ceremony attended by its President Kim Jong-hyun, Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, The Korea Times reported. LG Energy Solution confirmed the signing of the MOU, but declined to disclose any details, stating that it is "a non-binding MOU regarding local investment," and the details have yet to be confirmed.

According to officials familiar with the matter, the MOU envisions launching a range of battery-related businesses in Indonesia, from raw material mining to battery cell manufacturing. LG Energy Solution will lead a consortium of Korean and Indonesian companies. The estimated total cost of projects is likely to reach the trillion won level.

"LG Energy Solution has been exploring investment opportunities in Indonesia for a while, with a plan to engage in multiple processes of battery making through joint ventures in the country," a source said. "The MOU is showing that the company and the country have reached common ground from a broad perspective, but are still narrowing their differences over the details."

In mid-December, Tesmanian reported that in 2021, LG Energy Solution will begin manufacturing batteries with nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum (NCMA) anode materials, and will supply them to Tesla. LG's new battery business is set to become the first company to make NCMA batteries for electric vehicles. LG Energy Solution said it will manufacture batteries, 90 percent of which will be nickel, starting in the second half of 2021.

Indonesia intends to begin processing its reserves of nickel laterite ore for use in lithium batteries, making it a global hub for the production and export of electric vehicles, and aims to develop a complete home nickel supply chain. The country is focusing on extracting chemicals from batteries, making batteries, and ultimately making electric vehicles. That is why Indonesia has stopped exporting unprocessed nickel ore, as they wish to support investment in this domestic industry. Therefore, battery manufacturers are now looking to develop their business in the country.

Also, the Indonesian government recently announced that Tesla will send a delegation to Indonesia to discuss possible further cooperation in the supply of nickel. The country's government has repeatedly spoken about negotiations with Tesla.

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On March 4, an agreement was signed in the New Caledonian Congress to take over the Vale plant. Tesla is acting as a technical partner in the deal to advise the development and improvement of the manufacturing process as part of a long-term agreement to supply nickel for its production chain.

The Southern Province of New Caledonia, the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), Indigenous Customary Negotiating Body (ICAN) and the "Usine du sud: usine pays" have signed an agreement to take over the Vale plant. The agreement stipulates that 30% of the plant in the south will be transferred to SPSMC (which represents the interests of the three provinces), 21% to employees and local investors, 30% to the Prony Financial Company (emanation of the southern province), and 19% to Trafigura (the company specializing in commodity trading).

Source: Outremers360

According to the new agreement, Tesla is to become a technical partner for the future plant. In addition, Vale is to sell its €420 million worth of mining rights to the southern province, which is then to lease them to the future operator. “This is one of the founding elements of our agreement,” commented Sonia Backès, President of the Southern Province, explaining that “the fact that these mining rights are leased will allow for the profits that benefit these mining operations." “This will be the first time that communities have received money to build something for future generations,” Backès continued.

Source: Outremers360

Tesla is reported to be able to play the role of technical consultant in the design and improvement of the manufacturing process as part of a long-term supply agreement for its production chain. “Its [Tesla's] commitment will prioritize sustainability, which is at the core of its company mission,” added Congress President Roch Wamytan. Tesla will also explore options for generating and storing renewable energy there.

The new model for the operation of the plant "revolves around three components: control over resources, increasing wealth, and preserving the environment."

Source: Outremers360

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Cathie Wood's ARK uploaded $10.6 million worth of Tesla shares this week alone, signaling a strong bullish outlook on the company. The fund continued its series of purchases, backing up its portfolio with Tesla shares, the purchase of which was activated in October.

Tesla shares have lost about 65% in value since the beginning of the year. While this scares some investors, Cathie Wood, using a strategy of buying shares low and selling them high, continues to buy tens of millions of dollars worth of Tesla shares.

Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF Ark Invest (ARKK) managed to buy 20,458 Tesla shares on Friday, the firm's daily trading report showed. The purchase is valued at $2.52 million, based on Friday's closing price of $123.15. The purchase followed after loading on Wednesday. Thus, Wood's funds were actively buying Tesla shares in all trading sessions of the week, except for Thursday.

During this week, Ark Innovation, through its three flagship funds, ARK Innovation ETF, ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF, and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, made the following purchases:

• Monday: 27,494 shares, valued at $4.1 million
• Tuesday: 19,125 shares, valued at $2.64 million
• Wednesday: 9,952 shares, valued at $1.37 million
• Friday: 20,458 shares, valued at $2.52 million

The combined purchases amounted to 77,029 shares with an estimated total value of $10.63 million. Last week there were also two purchases totaling 111,842 shares, worth $17.42 million. ARK Investment Management funds purchased more than 522,000 shares of Tesla since Oct. 3, when they started their latest buying streak, according to ARK trading data, as Wood is in a hurry to capitalize on the stock in the future.

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Legal Disclaimer --

This article is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as an investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Eva Fox, Tesmanian, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Eva Fox holds zero shares of Tesla, Inc., and currently (at the time of this article's publishing) holds zero options or securities in Tesla Inc. and/or its affiliates.

Tesla will switch to 48V low-voltage system in its cars, starting with Cybertruck. According to information from CEO Elon Musk, this will help significantly reduce the use of copper in the company's cars, which is an important breakthrough.

Tesla held its annual shareholder meeting on May 16. Musk gave several important updates on the company's development and upcoming plans. Among other things, he talked about a new low-voltage system of cars, which will bring significant changes in the amount of copper needed for them, which will have a dramatic impact on the company's demand for the metal.

Musk confirmed that Tesla is switching its models' low-voltage system from 12 volts to 48 volts. He said the change will take effect starting with Cybertruck, which will begin production this year, and Optimus. Then, all future cars to be produced by the company will also use the 48V low-voltage system

“Cars have been operating with 12V batteries for basically about a century, so for the first time in I think over a hundred years we're actually going to change from 12V outside of the drivetrain to a 48V architecture,” said Musk.

In traditional 12-volt systems, wiring and components have to be larger and heavier to withstand the high electrical loads. However, with a 48V system, Tesla expects to reduce weight and save on materials. This should lead to less use of copper in its cars. According to the assumption, only a quarter of the amount currently used will be needed.

“First approximation, that means we only need about a quarter as much copper in the car as would be needed for a 12V battery, so that's a big deal because people often worry about whether there is enough copper,” Musk said. “Yes, there is.”

Each Tesla car uses tens of kilograms of copper. In some models, they weigh as much as 82 kilograms. The Tesla Model S, for example, uses a mile of copper just to connect the battery to all the electronics.

Tesla has set a goal of producing 20 million cars per year. According to MINING.COM, the company will need 1,820,000 tons of copper to reach that goal, about 9 percent of global production in 2022. Based on Musk's prediction of reducing to a quarter of today's copper consumption, the company could save more than 1.3 million tons in annual production of 20 million electric cars, or more than $10 billion in today's prices.

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Tesla enters the lithium refinery business and has already selected one site in the US. According to Tesla's Senior Global Director, the company is additionally considering sites in Louisiana, US, and in Canada.

Tesla has the plan to grow its production capacity very quickly and is on track to produce 20 million vehicles a year by 2030. However, in order for the plan to be possible, the company needs the metals for the production of batteries. In 2020, Tesla entered the battery business. Although the company has short-term contracts to supply the materials needed to make batteries, in a few years the entire industry will face shortages, as mining is not ramping up as fast as the industry needs.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly urged miners to expand the production of lithium, which is a key metal for the production of lithium-ion batteries and the production of electric vehicles. “I’d like to once again urge entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. The mining is relatively easy, the refining is much harder,” he said on Tesla’s Q2 2022 earnings call in July. “You can't lose, it's a license to print money.”

Ultimately, to prevent future shortages of lithium, Tesla also decided to enter the lithium business. It did not come as much of a surprise, as in 2020, during Battery Day, Musk announced that the company would do it. After that, Tesla filed several patents for the method of refining lithium.

In September 2022 it became known that the manufacturer is considering building a lithium refinery on the Gulf Coast of Texas. During the Q3 2022 Earnings Call, Musk confirmed the plan: “Yes. We're also building lithium refinery,” he said. Another company executive said the location is in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, which had been considered a potential location, with no official confirmation from Tesla.

At Corpus Christi, Tesla has already made significant progress, and on December 5, the project was approved for local tax incentives from the Robstown Independent School District. In addition to this positive news, more information has become known. During his speech at the meeting, Tesla's Senior Global Director Rohan Patel said the manufacturer, in addition to the Nueces County location, is considering sites in Louisiana and Canada for the lithium refinery, according to Caller-Times. The company expects to select a location in the coming weeks. Tesla representatives declined any other comments.

Building a lithium refinery in Canada might make sense. The manufacturer's recent activity in the country, which included hiring for some key positions, hinted at this. In addition, according to recent information received by Drive Tesla, Tesla is already close to signing a deal to establish a facility in the region north of Toronto, Ontario. Although its purpose remains unknown, there is a high probability that it will be associated with the lithium refinery.

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It takes a lot of electricity to mine cryptocurrencies with a PoW model. Based on recent research, it was found that the overall amount of electricity required for the Bitcoin network, which also uses PoW, was more than what 159 countries consume yearly. The Ethereum Foundation has explained that “If the switch to PoS is successful, it could reduce Ethereum’s energy use by up to 99.95%.”

While the transition to PoS will have a tremendous impact on energy efficiency, until the network implements blockchain sharding, gas costs and transaction fees on layer 1 are expected to remain high.

There is a high level of security in PoS, as anyone who tries to validate a bad block is barred from further validation, with the bad actor losing their stake. The potential for massive losses creates a strong disincentive for validating bad blocks.

Under the PoS model, there is a greater opportunity to participate in the governance of the network. This stands in contrast to the PoW model, where only miners with powerful hardware partake in governance activities.

Despite delays, it seems that the dream of the world’s oldest smart contract blockchain becoming an energy-efficient model is going to become a reality in June 2022. When the difficulty bomb is introduced, it will mark the beginning of the end for PoW mining on the Ethereum network, and set the stage for the Merge, which will usher in the superior staking system that will improve scalability, security, and accessibility.

Will this be enough? Most likely not. However, it will provide a secure and stable layer-1 foundation for Ethereum to scale its reach on layer 2 networks through the use of ZK-rollups and other technologies. To learn more on the Ethereum visionary’s thoughts and plans for ETH, read Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s recent publication called “Endgame.”

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California has passed a new law enabling state and local office political contestants to receive donations in cryptocurrency.

California has passed a new law enabling state and local office political contestants to receive donations in cryptocurrency, which will take effect in 60 days. It was adopted after the state's Fair Political Practices Commission approved the new requirement, reports Finbold. Under the new law, candidates can receive donations in cryptocurrencies if they can immediately convert digital assets into fiat.

The law stipulates that this candidate must work with a registered cryptocurrency processor to handle the transaction. The processor must also perform essential Know Your Customer (KYC) practices like collecting the contributor’s name, address, occupation, and employer.

Notably, politicians running for federal office are currently allowed to receive donations in cryptocurrency. In general, most states are divided on allowing campaign donations of cryptocurrencies, citing issues such as transparency, market volatility, and a lack of regulations.

Previously, the U.S. Federal Election Commission shared an advisory regarding Bitcoin contributions to campaigns. It states that committees can receive Bitcoin provided they liquidate the asset. However, the FEC has stated that holding Bitcoin does not relieve political committees of their obligation to return a contribution if it is from a prohibited source and exceeds the contributor's contribution limit.

The FEC notes that crypto donations have been allowed in federal elections since 2014. However, some state governments have opposed the idea by passing laws prohibiting donations. The Commission added that political committees should value digital currency contributions based on market value when a donation is made.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

Follow @EvaFoxU