Tesla Could Be Hogging Batteries and Causing a Global Shortage, Says Report (gizmodo.com)

According to a report from the Korea news outlet ETNews, Tesla's solution to fixing a manufacturing bottleneck responsible for a $619 million loss last quarter could be causing a global battery shortage. Panasonic reportedly gave most of its cache of batteries in Japan to Tesla so that the automaker and Gigafactory 1 energy-storage company could keep up with its ambitious production schedule. Gizmodo reports: In early October, Tesla struggled with a "production bottleneck," but by the end of the month, Panasonic stated it would increase battery output at the Gigafactory, now that it understood the issues that led to the bottleneck and could automate some of the processes that had been done by hand. But this likely did not help Tesla fix any immediate shortage issues. ETNews claims that Panasonic is coping with the shortage by shipping batteries in from Japan. And many Japanese companies in need of cylinder batteries have turned to other suppliers like LG, Murata, and Samsung -- but those companies have not been able to meet the demands. Reportedly, companies that had contracts before 2017 aren't affected by the shortage, but several other manufacturers have not been able to place orders for batteries, and won't be able to order more batteries until the middle of next year.

Comments

Re: Business 101

[Rei]

Yeah, who would pay $35k for a vehicle that's faster than a BMW 330i, $5k lower MSRP, handles better (according to Motor Trend), and which every former BMW owner I've talked to who's sat in has said is more comfortable. Which can be preheated/precooled remotely (including melting ice off your windshield), no carbon monoxide concerns, with no idling wear, no idling noise, and without draining a tank that you have to go out to a chunk of concrete and stand outside in whatever weather you're wanting to avoid while paying out the nose to pump carcinogens into a tank. Which starts each day in your normal life with a full charge in exchange for ten seconds of your time (5 to plug in, 5 to unplug) in the comfort of your garage, rather than randomly hitting you up for 5 minutes of your time, regardless of what's going on. And which even on long trips - the exception to the rule - can charge enough during meal and rest stops to not slow you down at all.

No, I can't understand why anyone would buy such a thing.