Part 9/11:
A key theme from the earnings call is Elon Musk’s pride in Tesla’s R&D prowess. He claims that Tesla’s R&D investments deliver more value than those of other automakers because of the company's exemplary talent pool. Musk draws a colorful analogy, comparing a single engineer like Nikola Tesla to thousands of good engineers elsewhere.
“The difference is so immense that one Tesla engineer can do what many others cannot,” Musk states. This emphasis on innovation underscores his confidence that ongoing R&D will continue to give Tesla a competitive edge.