If it hadn’t last $2-million on Bitcoin, the number would have been bigger

By Gary S. Vasilash

A few things from Tesla Q2 numbers

Consider this:

Models S/X production numbers were:

• Q2 2020:      6,326
• Q3 2020:      16,992
• Q4 2020:      16,097
• Q1 2021:      0
• Q2 2021:      2,340

Were they not electric vehicles, the phrase “running out of gas” comes to mind.

To be fair to the people in the Tesla plants, for the Models 3/Y:

• Q1 2021:      180,338
• Q2 2021:      204,084

So they’re certainly busy.

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Here’s an interesting understatement:

“Solving full autonomy is a difficult engineering challenge in which we continue to believe can only be solved through the collection of large, real-world datasets and cutting edge AI.”

The emphasis on the dataset comes from the more than one-million Teslas the company is collecting data from.

However, there are plenty of companies that believe that in addition to the critical datasets there is a need for a sensor suite on the vehicles in order to assure that the real world is discerned by the vehicle in real time.

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The company also stated in its report to shareholders, “Public sentiment and support for electric vehicles seems to be at a never-before-seen inflection point. We continue to work hard to drive down costs and increase our rate of production to make electric vehicles accessible to as many people as possible.”

Presumably much of this growing support among the public is predicated on the availability of EVs from OEMs other than Tesla. Vehicles like the Audi e-tron and the Mustang Mach-E.

That last phrase—“accessible to as many people as possible”—seems to echo what Mary Barra has been saying for some time.  At the Aspen Ideas Festival in June Barra said, “As we move to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, it is on us to lead positive change and implement inclusive solutions that bring everyone along, especially our employees and communities.”

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So here’s a question: Is it possible that its Q2 net income of $1.1-billion, its largest-ever quarterly profit, notwithstanding, Tesla is coming from behind for a change?

Behind in terms of the development of automated driving, as it tries not to use an array of sensors.

Behind in terms of having vehicles that come at a price point that are more affordable?

As for the first, the need for things like LiDAR seem clear.

As for the second, time will tell whether companies like Volkswagen and GM are truly going to give Tesla a run for its money on the closer-to-entry end of the EV market.