Modern EVs offer some of the latest, cutting-edge tech in the automotive industry, but life with that tech comes at a price. When the headlights in my friend Bill’s 2019 Tesla Model S failed, he didn’t initially give it much thought. He scheduled a service appointment, dropped off the car, … [continued]
This month Xcelerate Auto is launching a first-of-its kind product for the EV space. It’s an extended EV battery warranty that not only covers the EV’s battery and drive unit, but aims to improve the EV ownership experience in every way. “We take that goal seriously,” explains KJ Gimbel, Xcelerate’s … [continued]
It seems like most Americans are routinely hounded by annoying, scammy, spam phone calls telling you that you need to buy an extended warranty for your car. (Though, I haven’t been getting those for a while. Thanks, Biden?) I’m not sure why or how those became such common spam calls, … [continued]
I am a huge EV and Tesla fanboy. I know that in principal EVs are much less complex than cars with internal combustion engines. An internal combustion engine (ICE) replacement cost is ~$7000. It is much more complex than an electric motor. In addition, ICE cars have very complex transmissions … [continued]
Tesla delivered nearly 500,000 new electric cars last year. In 2019, it delivered over 367,000 cars. 2018, too, saw six-figure electric car sales. And Tesla is just one brand! Nissan has sold hundreds of thousands of LEAFs, Kia has sold thousands of Souls, etc., etc., ad nauseam. While those numbers … [continued]
My recent article on “Tesla’s Warranty Accounting Mystery” got a lot of comments, and to reply correctly, I feel as if I should share some further research. In this article, I’m going to specifically discuss the “goodwill” warranty claims that keep coming up, what I know about them, and what I think I think about them.
Back in January, I explored the popular short seller thesis that Tesla is unfairly cooking its books by not accruing enough money for its warranty work. Digging into the problem, I found the site WarrantyWeek.com, an incredible resource for those interested in the world of warranties and how they work.
Since Tesla stock has been on a rapid rise since November, there hasn’t been nearly as much FUD running across my feeds, but without fail there are a few analysts that are certain it’s about to all fall apart.
I wrote a lot of this article about two months ago. After the prior earnings call, a number of bears dug into the 10-Q and decided that Tesla had played with warranty numbers to attempt to show a profit. I ended up not publishing it because by the time I had done all of the research to feel pretty solid in my conclusion, it seemed like no one was pushing that Tesla had inappropriately played with its warranty accrual numbers anymore.
Reports have recently begun to surface about Model S drivetrains developing issues, and/or completely failing, and needing to be completely replaced. Mostly just issues with noise, but still, not a good sign. Greater than expected issues with said drivetrains could have a notable effect on Tesla’s profitability, via greater-than-expected repair … [continued]
