Shanghai did come online crazy fast and a big win for Tesla. However, that is China and if the government wants it to happen it will happen. Texas is not China. I really doubt you can go from bare ground to producing vehicles in 15 months in the USA. Tesla is having plenty of issues with the German plant. (Nothing out…

The original plan was for the Model Y to start production 1 year after the Model 3. It actually started production almost 3 years after the Model 3.

He may also just live someplace were smog isn’t a problem. I grew up in central Michigan. Flat as a pancake, steady breezes, and lack of cities of any size meant that smog wasn’t a thing. I took clean air for granted. It wasn’t until me moved to Birmingham, AL (horrible air quality) and my wife started having asthma…

The compliance costs in the USA are next to nothing. The NHTSA fine for missing CAFE fuel economy targets is $55 per mpg.   You can’t tell me someone willing to pay $90,000 for a Hellcat isn’t willing to pay a few hundred more to completely ignore fuel economy regulations. 

Mercedes has started offering gas, hybrid, and EV versions of their mainstream cars. The EQA, EQB, EQC, and EQE all follow that format. Yes, it is a compromise but it is also a much cheaper way to build an EV than starting from a clean sheet of paper.

EV sales were up 43% globally in 2020. Tesla lost EV market share globally.

In industry speak an electrified car is anything from a 48V mild hybrid to a full EV.

Dodge used a specific transmission fluid in the early Caravans. It improved fuel economy but broke down faster. That explains failures from not changing the fluid.

Dominion Energy paid the cost difference for a school district in Virginia to buy 50 electric Thomas Built Buses and for the charging infrastructure.

You heat the bus with a heat pump in most climates. -32F would require a back-up resistance coil. (The mini split air to air heat pump that heats my home works to -22F and doesn’t have a back-up coil.)

... and use the correct transmission fluid.

Exactly right. I find it odd that David didn’t tell us what the labor rate.

I honestly don’t know.

Heavy duty trucks are MASSIVELY cleaner than they used to be. Comparing 1990 emission standards to 2015:

I’m not stock derivative expert but I did read you linked article on call option. The last reason it gives to buy a call option is for tax reasons to avoid capital gains.

Toyota Group makes way more than cars. It is a huge conglomerate.

Toyota is the most profitable automaker in the world - they must be doing something right.

Long haul trucking - especially in countries outside the USA were overall length restrictions include the tractor and trailer. BEV trucks work great for local and regional but there is only so many batteries you can fit in a truck and every pound you add in batteries is a pound of freight you can’t carry.

How do they get out of the plant building phase?

We are already seeing that in Europe. The EU’s 95 g/km CO2 limit meant that a bunch of new PHEV and EV models launched in Europe in 2020 with more to come for 2021 and beyond.