Posts Tagged ‘TSLA’
Tesla Model X Launch
I attended the Tesla Model X launch last night at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, and liked the car so much that I made my fourth Tesla reservation. Why? The Tesla Model X is a SUV that combines the practicality of the minivan, the cool of the SUV, and the performance of a sports car. The Model X appears to seat 7 adults comfortably, without requiring any movement of the middle row to access the back row of seats partly because of the new fangled falcon retractible doors. The luggage compartment in the front and the back of the car is substantial, and I have a picture of two ladies sitting in the front of the car which is smaller than the back. Acceleration is projected to be 4.4 seconds from 0 to 60 mph which is clearly in the range of a high performance sports car.
At the end of the presentation by Elon Musk, there was an opportunity to make a $5,000 or $40,000 refundable reservation before reservations became available on Friday at noon to the general public. I had to get in line to make a reservation and probably had at least 30 people in front of me. I suspect this will be the fastest selling car in the Tesla model line-up, and the stock price should react favorable, but the stock was down almost 10% at one point this morning. I bought some Tesla calls and wrote some puts this morning and suspect that we should have a near term announcement that reservations for the Model X were larger than expected.
The falcon doors were a hit.
The lines are very similar to the Tesla Model S
Tesla was giving rides to reservation holders in the Model X
The adults in the third row appeared to be comfortable
Room in the front trunk for a pair of ladies
Update: I received reservation sequence number #16 for the Tesla X.
Tesla Motors Exit
We finally divested the last of our stake in Tesla Motors. Although we had a fantastic IRR (250%+) and multiple (4.2+) on this investment, it was hard to sell the stock and move on. Since we do not have Limited Partners (LPs), we did not have to sell or transfer shares to our LPs 180 days after the lockup expired. Instead, we sold covered calls for income after the lockup expired and sold the stock gradually over six months.
I admit that there was a bit of an emotional attachment, and I remain a huge fan of Tesla Motors. I own a Tesla Roadster S and have a reservation for a Signature Tesla Model S. But rather than wait for Morgan Stanley’s $70 target, we’ll redeploy the proceeds into other investments that have a higher IRR potential over the next 12-18 months.