Elon Musk “hates” running Tesla

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Photo: AP (AP)

Elon Musk has become attached, the UK wants to ban diesel trucks, and Lordstown. That and more in The Morning Shift on July 13, 2021.

First gear: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is back on the podium for more today

Elon is being sued by shareholders who claim that Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity in 2016 was bad. The merits of that suit are neither here nor there unless you are a stakeholder of some sort, but the ongoing experience has given us a good idea of ​​Elon as a person. He took the position yesterday and is expected to do so again today. He said yesterday that he hates the Tesla management.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The billionaire CEO, who has a history of candid and sometimes surprising statements, said Monday that he did not enjoy being president of Tesla. “I hate it,” he said, “and would rather spend my time designing and engineering, which is what I fundamentally love to do.”

Mr Musk made the comment after the opposing lawyer tried to show how his “willpower” and belief in his vision of Tesla’s future showed he could control the Solar City deal.

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Elon also hates the lawyer who interrogates him.

Mr. Musk has already shown flashes of his sometimes combative nature in the case, making him a standoff witness at the 2019 testimony, calling [Randy Baron] ‘reprehensible’ for ‘attacking sustainable energy’.

To explain the behavior, Mr. Musk told the court he had no respect for Mr. Barron because the lawyer had once worked in a law firm whose associates were mired in an ethical scandal and imprisoned for their crimes. “I think you’re a bad person,” Mr. Musk said to Mr. Barron.

Mr. Barron asked Mr. Musk why SolarCity’s performance varied so dramatically from the expectations Tesla made to shareholders in 2016. Mr. Musk blamed the decline in solar panel installation and market share on Tesla’s urgent need to focus on developing its Model 3 vehicle in 2017 and 2018. Tesla was struggling at the time to bring the car to market.

“Those three years were the most difficult in my entire career,” he said, later describing the period as painful. The company was in dire straits. A lot of times I thought we were out of the woods, we weren’t.”

If Elon is mad about having to spend a few days in Wilmington, Delaware, in the middle of this hot summer, I blame him.

Second gear: GM still thinks it’s a great new tech company

It’s building a $71 million “studio” in Pasadena focused on electric vehicles, autonomy, and everything else we’ve been told the future will bring. To be clear, GM takes a flyer, as spending $71 million on GM is a bit like you or I buying a pack of gum. But, you know, today you get a second of good publicity.

From car news:

The automaker said Tuesday that its new eight-acre campus will enable expanded high-tech teams to accelerate the goal of zero accidents, zero emissions and congestion. The location is also closer to West Coast technology centers and leading universities and design schools. It is scheduled to open in the second half of next year.

“Our location will allow us to attract dynamic candidates in areas that will enhance GM’s proven design capabilities and challenge conventional thinking of what our future portfolio of connected products and services might include,” said Michael Simcoe, GM’s vice president of global design. statement.

GM has not revealed how many designers it will employ at the new facility, but the automaker said it plans to dramatically increase the number of employees from 65 to 70 workers at the current California design studio.

It also has to be said that GM’s larger push into electric vehicles – involving tens of billions of dollars – is seriously impressive. Now, you should just stick to the landing.

Third gear: UK to ban diesel trucks from 2040: report

Everyone I know in the UK can’t stand Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and while I agree he’s a complete clown, the government there does at least seem to be doing some sensible things despite him being there.

From the Financial Times:

The sale of new diesel trucks will be banned in the UK from 2040 under the government’s plan to decarbonize transport due to be unveiled on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the proposals.

The much-delayed plan will include several public consultations on measures designed to reduce pollution in the transport sector as the UK seeks to reduce net carbon emissions by 2050.

The paper, which ministers have not yet signed, should be published on the same day the European Commission sets out how the EU aims to achieve its target of cutting emissions 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. Brussels wants to raise taxes on polluting fuels An EU-wide tax on aviation kerosene was introduced for the first time.

Under one of the proposals in the UK paper, the sale of smaller diesel trucks would be banned from 2035, and larger trucks weighing more than 26 tons from 2040, according to government and industry figures.

The timeline compares to how the government is proposing to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, and hybrid vehicles from 2035.

An important aspect of our interesting electric future is how governments will make up for lost gas taxes. This will likely take the form of some type of road use tax, or mileage tax. Freedom is not free, etc.

Fourth gear: Lordstown Motors

The New York Times published a sensational story this morning about one of the financiers behind Lordstown Motors, Trump’s favorite auto startup that’s also a disaster. It turns out, to no one’s surprise, that nothing short of due diligence was done.

It was June 2020, and [David Hamamoto], a former Goldman Sachs executive who invested in real estate, was looking for work to bring to the public through a merger with his shell company. He has raised $250 million from major Wall Street investors including BlackRock, and has spent more than a year looking at more than 100 potential targets. If he can’t close a deal soon, he’ll have to return the money.

Then, about nine months before his deadline, bankers from Goldman gave Hamamoto a tempting offer: Lordstown Motors, the nascent electric truck maker that President Donald J. Trump has hailed as a job savior. What followed was a rapid merger, then disaster, that put two of the biggest forces that make up the financial world on a collision course.

[…]

Because he knew little about electric cars, Hamamoto hired McKinsey to assess whether technology that Lordstown had licensed from others could be bundled together to build an electric truck, several people familiar with the matter said. The consultancy said the technology is viable, and the deal was hammered out within weeks.

Mr. Hamamoto’s scrutiny of Lordstown’s business has likely been much lower than the company’s scrutiny in a traditional IPO. In an initial public offering, the company adheres to strict reporting standards about its financial resources and prospects. By contrast, SPAC mergers give companies that may find it difficult to go public on their own an easier path to access public markets.

[…]

So for a company like Lordstown – which has neither revenue nor truck to sell – to succeed, having a management team who could oversee such a complex endeavor was very important. But Mr. Hamamoto has not focused much on assessing the work experience of the Lordstown management team, including Mr. Burns, who will continue to run the company after the SPAC merger, two people familiar with the matter said.

I recommend reading the full story, and it’s a good picture of how Wall Street works. Go and look at the people who play big money slot machines at any Vegas casino and this is a bit like the New York Stock Exchange.

Fifth gear: Ford no longer uses ‘Chairman’

Bill Ford is now Ford’s “chairman” rather than “chairman”, in an effort by the automaker to use gender-neutral language.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The Board of Directors voted on July 8 to amend Ford’s bylaws to take effect immediately and adopt gender-neutral language throughout, including the title “President” instead of “President” as well as several other revisions. The company’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on July 9 shows the actual editing of the original company document using profit margins.

[…]

“Our roles at Ford are not exclusive to gender and these changes help reduce ambiguity, and advance the inclusive and equitable culture we strive for,” Ford spokeswoman Marisa Bradley told the Free Press on Monday.

A story like this is the perfect Rorschach test, because it is important and unimportant. If you find yourself making fun of yourself instinctively, look inside.

Reverse: DeuceNeutral: How are you?

My local dealer only took about a week recently to fix a recall, but then he also double-booked the service somehow, which is what I got yesterday morning a call from a guy saying he was outside my apartment building ready to pick up a camel. I told him I had canceled, he said it’s your car, do whatever you want with it, I said I would, he said he’s here, I said I’m sorry he only drove a mile back. The merchant previously explained that he was moving to a new phone and text system, and that things were going well. There is absolutely nothing disruptive in the traditional selling experience, so why ask.

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