Elon Musk saying he would reverse a Twitter ban on Donald Trump provided the main headline from his FT interview at our Future of the Car conference on Tuesday, but Tesla’s incredible progress was the big subject of discussion.
I remember getting a test drive in a rattling converted Lotus Elise along Highway 101 15 years ago, in the company’s early days. Musk said Tesla was getting everything wrong at that stage in what was an “insane nightmare”.
Stringing together small lithium-ion batteries, which were in their early development stages for cars back then and had safety issues, was a big challenge. The company first turned to a barbecue maker in Thailand to make the battery pack, as part of its “dumpster fire of stupidity”, before deciding to do it in-house.
Now Tesla has an “aspiration” to be selling 20mn electric vehicles a year by 2030, up from the 1.5mn expected this year. However, Musk warned one of the biggest uncertainties in scaling to that goal was problems in lithium production in about three years, with a shortage of the equipment necessary to convert it into factory-grade materials.
Lithium will remain a key battery element, this week’s Big Read explains, and the US is aiming to expand mining of the metal, with demand for it expected to far outstrip supply.
Musk said it was not out of the question that Tesla would buy a mining company itself at some stage, in order to accelerate its growth. For his car industry audience, that made a lot more sense than his imminent purchase of Twitter. Richard Waters has more analysis of an interview where concerns about Musk’s ability to stay focused on Tesla were raised.
The Internet of (Five) Things
1. Coinbase chief says ‘no bankruptcy risk’
Shares in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase have lost a quarter of their value today after it reported a significant slide in its revenues and a sharp fall in trading volumes. The poor results together with concern over a regulatory filing prompted chief executive Brian Armstrong to state on Twitter that Coinbase had “no risk of bankruptcy”.
2. Airbnb prepares for peak demand
Airbnb is revamping its website in an effort to entice tourists to locations where it has more places to stay, as it seeks to ensure pent-up demand during this year’s peak season is not held back by supply issues. Where searches on Airbnb were primarily narrowed by location and then date, the redesign announced on Wednesday will introduce 56 different categories, with tabs filtering approximately 4mn listings by functions such as “surfing”, “skiing” and “camping”.
3. Sea set for fintech expansion in Indonesia
Sea, one of south-east Asia’s largest technology companies, is preparing a move into Indonesia’s insurance sector as it battles regional “super app” competitors for dominance in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. Meanwhile, buy-now-pay-later fintech Affirm has seen its shares fall 90 per cent from their highs and is expected to report fresh losses on Thursday.
4. PE groups battle for Toshiba
US private equity group KKR has approached Blackstone to prepare a joint bid for Toshiba, setting the stage for a showdown with Bain Capital. The two groups held preliminary talks in recent weeks after Toshiba said it would set up a special committee to assess potential bids from private equity and other investors.
5. EA and Fifa blow final whistle on soccer partnership
Electronic Arts is ending a 30-year partnership with Fifa, calling time on one of the most popular games partnerships in history after months of negotiations between the video game company and the football governing body. California-based EA will rename its game EA Sports FC.
Tech tools — the end of the iPod
“While supplies last”, you can still buy the iPod touch, the last remaining iteration of the iconic device, for £199/$199 on the Apple Store. Apple announced on Tuesday all the other ways that its customers could enjoy their music from now on, with the iPod line ending. The iPhone is now the main device for music, but I remember shirking it in its early days for the cheaper, lighter, contractless touch, and making calls over WiFi with it. Harry McCracken and Pocketnow have also been iPod reminiscing.
