This story is about Tesla’s moats, but I don’t mean to imply that Buffett would invest in Tesla. Tesla is far from the value investments of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. Rather, Buffett’s comments are to demonstrate the importance of moats. Morningstar even has a guide called Why Moats Matter. Understanding the moats a business employs is clearly important to understanding the business and its future.
It’s pretty common nowadays to hear the claim that the only reason that Tesla, or SpaceX, or any of Elon Musk’s other ventures exists is because of government subsidies. I’ve myself heard the claim quite a lot over just the last few weeks. The funny thing: I haven’t heard any specifics from those making these claims about how they are “subsidized.” The general consensus when pressed seems to be: “Well, that’s what I heard (and I don’t like him).”
Tesla has shared that it began mass production of its new solar roof tiles at its facility in Buffalo, New York, last month. Surveys of the homes of deposit holders are now underway.
Solar roof tile production at Tesla’s production plant in Buffalo, New York, has now begun — as of the end of August — according to the company’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO), JB Straubel.
