G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com
Tesla Model 3 to be Unprofitable per UBS
Per the Street insider web site, UBS analyst, Colin Langan is stated as saying for the Tesla 3 to be break even they will need to sell at $50,000 each. Until Li-Ion chemistry costs drop and Tesla can get economy of scale in building auto's, the ability for Tesla to make a profit let alone break even on the Tesla 3 auto is going to be impossible.
This story is based on the UBA analyst hosting a call with Jon Bereisa, President and CEO of Auto Lectrification. Jon is a 35 year veteran of GM responsible for the VOLT program as well as the EV1 program that they killed off.
Interesting is Jon is a conservative individual and Tesla called in to defend and call Jon wrong as Jon says Tesla's cost per battery pack is about $260 per kWh and GM for the BOLT is $215 per kWh. This is in comparison to GM who says the BOLT will be $145 per kWh and Tesla who says their cost will be $190 per kWh.
Interesting is that the story goes on to say that the Analyst is very skeptical about Tesla's cost estimates after talking to MIT and others in the industry who say at the price Tesla is stating cannot include factory variables, engineering plus R&D, overhead, SG&A, etc.
Based on stated facts from auto makers around the world of needing 45-55% markup to break even, this would imply that the Tesla 3 would have to sell by some at $45-48k and others say $50k.
Street Insider Story