Elon Musk “hates” running Tesla

Elon Musk becomes relevant, UK wants to ban diesel trucks and Lordstown. This and more in The morning shift by July 13, 2021.

1st Gear: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is back at the booth for more today

Elon is pursued by shareholders who allege that Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity in 2016 was wrong. The merits of this trial are sort of neither here nor there, unless you’re a stakeholder, but the ongoing trial has given us a good look at Elon as a person. He spoke yesterday and should do it again today. He said yesterday he hated running Tesla.

Of The Wall Street Journal:

The billionaire CEO, who has a track record of sometimes brutal and surprising statements, said on Monday that he doesn’t like being Tesla’s boss. “I hate it and would much prefer to spend my time on design and engineering, which is inherently what I love to do,” he said.

Mr Musk made the comment after opposing attorney attempted to show how his “willpower” and faith in his vision for Tesla’s future exemplified his ability to control the SolarCity transaction.

Elon also hates having a lawyer questioning him.

Mr Musk has previously displayed flashes of his sometimes combative nature in the case, making him a confrontational witness in a 2019 deposition, calling [Randy Baron] “Reprehensible” to “attack sustainable energy”.

To explain the behavior, Mr Musk told the court he did not respect Mr Baron because the lawyer had previously worked at a law firm whose partners got engulfed in an ethics scandal and went to jail. for their misdeeds. “I think you are a bad human being,” Mr. Musk told Mr. Baron.

Mr Baron asked Mr Musk why SolarCity’s performance varied significantly from the projections Tesla gave 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 car in 2017 and 2018. At the time, Tesla was struggling to bring the car to market.

“These were the toughest three years of my entire career,” he said, later calling the time atrocious. “The company was in dire straits. Most of the time I thought we were out of the woods, we weren’t. “

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

2nd Gear: GM still thinks it’s a cool new tech company

He’s building a $ 71 million “studio” in Pasadena that focuses on electric cars and range and everything we’ve been told the future will bring. GM takes a flyer, to be clear, because spending $ 71 million on GM is more or less the same as you or I buying a pack of gum. But, you know, for today he gets a second of good publicity.

Of Automotive News:

The automaker said on Tuesday the new eight-acre campus will allow expanded cutting-edge technology teams to accelerate its goal of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. The site is also closer to West Coast technology hubs and major universities and design schools. Its opening is scheduled for the second half of next year.

“Our positioning will allow us to attract dynamic candidates in areas that will strengthen GM’s proven design capabilities and challenge conventional thinking about what our future portfolio of connected products and services may encompass,” said Michael Simcoe, GM’s vice president of global design, in a statement. declaration.

GM has not disclosed how many designers it will hire at the new plant, but the automaker said it plans to significantly increase the workforce from 65 to 70 employees at the current design studio in California.

It must also be said that GM’s biggest push in electric vehicles – involving tens of billions of dollars – is really impressive. Now I just have to hold the landing.

3rd gear: UK to ban diesel trucks from 2040: report

Anyone I know in the UK absolutely cannot stand Prime Minister Boris Johnson and while I agree he is a complete clown the government there seems to be do at least a few sensible things despite his presence.

Of the Financial Times:

The sale of new diesel trucks in the UK will be banned from 2040 as part of the government’s transport decarbonization plan due to be unveiled on Wednesday, according to people briefed on 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 have net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The document, which has yet to be approved by ministers, is expected to be released the same day the European Commission sets out how the EU aims to meet its target of reducing emissions by 55% from 1990 levels of by 2030. Brussels wants to increase taxes on polluting fuels and introduce for the first time an EU-wide tax on aviation kerosene.

According to a proposal from the British newspaper, the sale of small diesel trucks would be banned from 2035 and larger ones weighing more than 26 tonnes from 2040, according to government and industry figures.

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

An important aspect of our electric future that is interesting is how governments will compensate for lost gasoline taxes. It will probably take the form of some sort of road use tax, or a tax on kilometers driven. Freedom is not free, etc.

4th gear: Lordstown Motors

The New York Times has an interesting story this morningg on one of the financiers behind Lordstown Motors, Trump’s favorite auto startup it’s also a disaster. It turns out, unsurprisingly, that something less than due diligence was done.

It was in June 2020 and [David Hamamoto], a former Goldman Sachs executive who invested in real estate, was looking for a company to go public through a merger with his shell company. He had raised $ 250 million from major Wall Street investors, including BlackRock, and spent more than a year examining more than 100 potential targets. If he couldn’t make a deal quickly, he would have to return the money.

Then, about nine months before its deadline, Goldman’s bankers made Mr. Hamamoto a tantalizing pitch: Lordstown Motors, the fledgling electric truck maker President Donald J. Trump had hailed as a job saver. What followed was a rapid merger and then a debacle that put two of the biggest forces shaping the financial world on a collision course.

[…]

Since he knew little about electric vehicles, Mr Hamamoto hired McKinsey to assess whether the technology Lordstown had licensed to others could be put in place to build an electric truck, several people briefed on the matter said. . The consulting firm said the technology was viable and the deal was done within weeks.

Mr. Hamamoto’s scrutiny of Lordstown’s affairs was very likely far less than the inspection a business undergoes in a conventional initial public offering. When going public, a company is required to adhere to strict reporting standards regarding its finances and outlook. In contrast, PSPC mergers offer companies that would have difficulty going public on their own an easier path to public procurement.

[…]

So for a business like Lordstown – which had no income and no trucks to sell – to be successful, having a management team capable of overseeing such a complicated business was all the more important. But Mr Hamamoto did not focus much on assessing the work experience of Lordstown’s management team, including Mr Burns, who would continue to lead the company after the PSPC merger, said two people familiar with the matter.

I recommend reading the whole story, which is a good picture of how Wall Street works. Check out the folks playing the big money slots at any casino in Vegas and it’s pretty much the same as the New York Stock Exchange.

5th gear: Ford no longer uses the term “Chairman”

Bill Ford is now Ford’s “president” instead of “president,” in the automaker’s effort to use gender-neutral language.

Of Detroit Free Press:

The board of directors voted on July 8 to amend Ford’s bylaws effective immediately and adopt gender-neutral language, including the title “president” instead of “president” as well as various other revisions. The company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dated July 9 shows the actual edition of the company’s original document with the use of tags.

[…]

Ford spokeswoman Marisa Bradley told Free Press on Monday: “Our roles at Ford are not gender-exclusive and these changes help limit ambiguity and foster the inclusive and equitable culture we strive for. . “

A story like this is a perfect Rorschach test because both it matters and it doesn’t. If you find yourself instinctively mocking, look inside.

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