Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[Barrister]

I just can't get past how ugly it is.

Oh it's hideous. I just always think of that Simpson episode when Homer destroys his brother's car company.

But remember the ending to that episode, where Bart goes "I thought your car was really cool Dad", and Homer says "Thanks, I was waiting for someone to say that".

I still think Cybertruck looks really cool although it isn't for everyone.

Homer's car was kind of cool also.

[crazy canuck]

OvB and CC - the problem with that theory is that the break price was "only" $1 billion.  Although objectively a lot of money, it was peanuts compared to the drop in market value prior to closing.  So there was no financial sense in which Musk "had" to buy the company.  It would have been straightforward to cut the $1 billion check and a good deal to boot.  But it would mean acknowledging defeat.

.

You are again assuming a rational decision maker.  Musk would have had to admit he was wrong.  But instead he went all in.

[OttoVonBismarck]

OvB and CC - the problem with that theory is that the break price was "only" $1 billion.  Although objectively a lot of money, it was peanuts compared to the drop in market value prior to closing.  So there was no financial sense in which Musk "had" to buy the company.  It would have been straightforward to cut the $1 billion check and a good deal to boot.  But it would mean acknowledging defeat.

Every legal analysis I read on it said he could not simply exit for the $1bn break price, that was only if he could demonstrate his financing fell through.

[The Minsky Moment]

Every legal analysis I read on it said he could not simply exit for the $1bn break price, that was only if he could demonstrate his financing fell through.

The alternative remedy sought by Twitter was specific performance, meaning Musk would have to buy the company at the agreed price.  I.e. he couldn't do worse than what he decided to agree to do anyways.  There was no logical reason to drop the litigation and settle for the maximal remedy demanded by his adversary unless that was what he wanted to do for other reasons.

As for his litigation options, put aside Musk's counterclaims, which although legally weak, could and did cause some real embarrassment to twitter.  It is not common for Delaware courts to force specific enforcement of merger deals.  There are some precedents, and there have been some settlements that take those precedents into account. But it is far from a forgone conclusion that it would happen.  The financing contingency was a significant obstacle because it appeared that the lenders were providing accommodationary financing to maintain good relations with Musk.  If the lenders believed that Musk truly wanted out, much of that financing could have vanished without provable collusion.  The other complication was that although Musk agreed to provide a significant portion of the purchase price as an equity investor, the "specific performance" would be performed by the named buyers - two limited liability entities created as acquisition vehicles.  Musk's contribution alone would not be enough to complete the deal.

From a pure litigation perspective it didn't make any sense to cave to your adversary's maximal demand EXCEPT that in this case, that was the only route that would end with him owning the company.

[Syt]

Meanwhile, seems Cybertruck will not be coming to Germany anytime soon:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/12/16/tesla-cybertruck-not-street-legal-in-eu/

[...]

And it's the Blade Runner-style aesthetics that are wowing audiences, including Blade Runner's artistic director Syd Mead. He told Business Insider that Elon Musk's latest toy was "stylistically breathtaking."

That it may be, but, to be driven in Europe, the Cybertruck would need to be redesigned in different materials. Or, perhaps Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is banking on the Cybertruck being sold in the U.S. only? Many motor vehicles in the U.S. are exempt from pedestrian protection protocols.

According to EU auto standards expert Stefan Teller the Cybertruck would have to undergo "major modifications to the basic structure" because the Cybertruck "contradicts the European security philosophy."

Teller, who works for the German safety organization SGS-TÜV, said that the EU mandates pedestrian crumple zones on motor vehicles.

"The bumper and [hood] must be able to absorb energy to protect pedestrians," Teller told the German car magazine Automobilwoche, a standard that the Cybertruck would fail.

EU standards for motor vehicles are getting tougher. Members of the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection voted in February to approve a range of new vehicle safety standards including automatic detection of pedestrians and cyclists, and a new direct vision standard for lorries and buses to enable drivers to have a better view of other road users around their vehicles.

MEPs also voted for the installation of speed-limiter devices on all new cars from 2022. MEPs also green-lighted the requirement for motor vehicles to be fitted with aviation-style "black box" Event Data Recorders, which record critical information on the status of a motor vehicle in the moments before a collision.

The Cybertruck could no doubt meet pedestrian and cyclist detection standards—technology already fitted in new Tesla vehicles—and, similarly, the "black box" requirements would also be a shoo-in for a tech-focussed company such as Tesla.

Musk is proud that existing Tesla models exceed EU safety standards. On December 4, he tweeted that: "Model X just earned 5 stars from Euro NCAP in safety testing."

However, pedestrian-safety omens for the new Cybertruck don't look good. On December 7, Musk was spotted at the wheel of a prototype Cybertruck as he and celeb pals left the Nobu Japanese restaurant in Malibu, California. Despite a sign telling Musk to turn right, he turned left, driving over the plastic sign in the process. As many have pointed out on social media, the traffic sign was about the size of a small child.

[...]

[Jacob]

IF Metall has asked the largest Danish Union - 3F - to support them in their strike against Tesla. It seems 3F is going to take action.

I'm not sure how significant the direct impact will be, but the conflict spreading beyond the borders of Sweden carries some symbolic value I'd think. And, of course, if it spreads to Germany it has the potential to get a bit more inconvenient for Tesla.

[Jacob]

I guess there's some potential impact:

On Tuesday, the spokesperson for Denmark's 3F, said its dockworkers and drivers would not handle Teslas destined for Sweden, referring to "speculation" that the carmaker would try to circumvent the Swedish port blockade by shipping its vehicles to Danish ports for onward delivery via truck.

Such a workaround "is no longer possible," the union spokesperson said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/business/tesla-denmark-sweden-union-strike/index.html

[grumbler]

Meanwhile, seems Cybertruck will not be coming to Germany anytime soon:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/12/16/tesla-cybertruck-not-street-legal-in-eu/

(snip)

Article from 2019 not-anytime-soon or 4 years later not-anytime-soon?

Has anything been done to the design in the last 4 years to address the issue?

[Zanza]

Pickup trucks like the Cybertruck have historically not been sold in significant numbers in the EU, but that could of course change. The market in the US has about 25 times the size of the EU market, so homologation might just not have a business case. Additionally the curb weight of the Cybertruck means that you need a commercial vehicle license, not a normal passenger car license to operate it in Europe. That will limit appeal.

[Zoupa]

This fucking thing weighs 3 tons and can go 0-100 in like 5 seconds. How is this legal.

[Syt]

Meanwhile, seems Cybertruck will not be coming to Germany anytime soon:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/12/16/tesla-cybertruck-not-street-legal-in-eu/

(snip)

Article from 2019 not-anytime-soon or 4 years later not-anytime-soon?

Has anything been done to the design in the last 4 years to address the issue?

Hard to say, newer articles seem to repeat the 2019 content. A different more recent take comes from here:

https://www.businessinsider.com/cybertruck-elon-musk-tesla-not-sold-europe-anytime-soon-2023-12

After years of waiting, the Cybertruck is finally here — but European Tesla fans shouldn't get too excited.

Although deliveries began on Thursday in the US, it isn't available in Europe, despite the European Union being both an important manufacturing hub and a key market for Tesla. There are a few reasons why it's unlikely to be sold across the Atlantic anytime soon.

The first is simple: the Cybertruck is extremely heavy.

Documents submitted to US regulators show that the minimum gross vehicle weight range is 8,001 to 9,001 pounds, or 4 to 4.5 tons, which could prove an issue if Tesla wanted to sell the pickup in Europe as is.

"The vehicle's gross vehicle weight for the dual-motor version is high, above 3.5 tons," Pedro Pacheco, vice-president of research at Gartner, told Business Insider.

"That has implications for European regulations, because it means that, most likely, a passenger vehicle driver's license will not do," he added.

Weight worries

To drive a vehicle heavier than 3.5 tons in the EU, drivers must have a category C1 license — meaning that to drive a US-built Cybertruck on European roads, you may need to apply for a truck driver's license.

Another obstacle is that the Cybertruck's charging port isn't compatible with European chargers.

The Cybertrucks rolling off Tesla production lines in the US work with the Tesla NAC standard, which has been widely adopted across the US, but not with the CCS network used by most European nations.

Pacheco added that Tesla would probably seek to make adjustments to ensure that an EU Cybertruck could drive on European roads, including making their charging tech compatible with CCS and reducing weight.

The bigger question is whether Tesla can be bothered making these tweaks, considering the relative unpopularity of hulking pickups like the Cybertruck in Europe.

"Pickup trucks are somewhat small in terms of market adoption in comparison to what you see in the US market," said Pacheco.

"For a vehicle in the category of the Cybertruck, there's not a huge market in Europe, because pickup trucks generally are not very common."

The European market for pickups is mostly focused on what Pacheco calls "entry-level pickup trucks" – small by US standards but better suited to European roads and cities.

Production challenges

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has floated the prospect of producing a smaller version of the Cybertruck for the European market before, describing it as "highly likely down the road" in 2020. However, there have been no updates since, and Pacheco said he thought the small size of the market was probably a factor in Tesla's disinterest.

At any rate, Tesla is likely going to have enough trouble satisfying demand for the Cybertruck in North America without worrying about other continents.

The US carmaker stopped taking orders for the electric pickup outside the US last year – a step Musk said it would only take if demand exceeded supply "to a ridiculous degree."

Since then, the Tesla boss has admitted that the company faces enormous challenges in scaling up production of the Cybertruck and satisfying the more than 2 million preorders Tesla has received.

In an earnings call last month, he said that the automaker had "dug its own grave" with the Cybertruck's unique design, and said that it would likely be years before Tesla hits its target of making 250,000 Cybertruck a year.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

[Barrister]

Elon is such a petulant child.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1732773421610606801

He's now sarcastically suggesting that Disney is supporting child sex abuse because it advertises on Facebook and Google, and that sexually explicit material is being provided to children on those platforms.

I mean - there is perhaps a reasonable point he could make, that content moderation is hard for social media companies, but of course he just goes for snark instead.

[Josquius]

It continues to be weird how hated Disney is from both the right and left for completely different reasons. The right's reasons generally being insane and occasionally broken clock being right twice a day when it helps them.

[Jacob]

Hmm... would Facebook and Google have need to sue him to protect their reputation?

[crazy canuck]

Hmm... would Facebook and Google have need to sue him to protect their reputation?

They might have trouble proving any damage