This is the logical next move 100%
âIs this really a case of âI want this car and Iâm trying to come up with as many reasons to make it a tax write offâ? (which is a totally acceptable answer)â
That does play a part in all of this. Not sure if you saw one of my replies, earlier, but I outlined my background and why I decided to legitimize my car collecting and automotive hobby with an LLC and content creation revenue stream.
Youâd be surprised when it comes to Chargers. The STLA Large platform that this EV variant is based upon, will also come in an ICE version later this year. Therefore my proposed products would be cross compatible. Getting access and use of the EV variant now, will have me set up and ready when the ICE units hit dealerâs lots.
Duly noted! Thanks.
My plans for this is very preliminary, and I missed my opportunity, due to the winter storm, to meet with contacts who are automotive engineers and have experience in this space, during my scheduled attendance at CES 2025.
Not a major setback, but now everything will just have to be done remotely, versus over drinks at an afterparty.
But I need to salvage this deal first. Or, as others have suggested, find alternative ways of accessing someone elseâs unit.
Iâm sorry you wasted your time with all that math, as I indicated in the original post, the only numbers from that one agreement that mattered was the RV. They were running at MSRP, which did not account for my ~$11,000 in discounts and rebates.
Hereâs the actual basis for the Total Monthly Payments, from the latest version of the agreement, for 24M/500mi:
| Depreciation and Any Amoratized Amounts | $13,010.57 |
|---|---|
| Rent Charge | $141.47 |
| Total of Base Monthly Payments | $13,152.04 |
Want to run those numbers for me again? 
*Grabs a notepad.
Ok so youâll need roughly half the views that he estimated
If youâre serious about that endeavor, I would attend one of the JEC conferences, not CES.
Even at 10% of those numbers, I would be ecstatic with those results.
Not sure if everyone is seeing it in my other replies, I go through cars regularly, and the LLC and content creation piece is simply a way to help augment some of existing costs, while providing certain protections and provide tax benefits. On top of that, I get a fun new hobby that meshes well into an already established lifestyle.
In the long run, yes; I would love for this to become a decent additional revenue stream. But if I break even, thatâs acceptable as well.
I saw what you said, but I think thereâs a big difference in the prioritization of your approach here if your primary goal is to make content/drive revenue or if you primary goal is to minimize your tax liability by making this into a hobby job. If the latter is what youâre doing, thatâs cool, but itâs something very different.
I donât see how a 3 year lease is supportive of the former of those two goals. It seems to me if youâre actually trying to have this be a business use first, you need to either establish a relationship with the dealer to borrow or purchase it so that you can properly instrument the vehicle for development purposes.
I understand that. It was simply that I knew people who were also attending CES this year, that have experience and contacts in that space. We are connected through a startup, that I invested in early, that debuted their product in Vegas this year. A product that uses CF-SMC, and therefore I wanted to get their thoughts on my ideas and suggestions on where to go next. This is something WELL outside my area of expertise and would depend on those who have more.
But duly noted on JEC. I have previous awareness of that conference, as the startup also debuted their initial components there, last year. And those I had planned to connect with at CES had been at JEC in 2024.
I appreciate the assist!
This is what I agree with. You had everyone together on the phone call the other day to make a pitch to provide cars for you but youâre stuck on the lease numbers instead of the bigger picture.
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I do wonder if thereâs enough of a market to justify the tooling expenses needed to set up for SMC on something this niche. Youâll certainly have lower recurring costs running production with SMC, but the NRE upfront is going to be way, way higher.
I would expect to see significant test data to justify the kind of production costs youâre talking about though that would make a lease definitely the wrong answer.
Awesome news: youâre in the black because you didnât get the car!
Youâre too old for this shit, sir.
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The guy uses LH to pump up his YT channel 
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If I were him, Iâd simply ask my grandchildren how to make more successful YT content.
300 subs 
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Iâd simply wouldnât do it.
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Thatâs 140k views. How do you plan to get there from 3k views today?
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I like the âviews and subs are up 400%â as a way of saying âI now have 300 subscribersâ part⌠None of this makes sense as a way to pull in a much larger audience much less to pay for an EV that anyone will be able to rent at National for $39/day very soon.
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Letâs not discourage car content creators. Even just as a hobby, seems like it could help or provide entertainment for some folks.
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Nothing wrong with that, but it would change how I would financially approach a vehicle compared to if I was actually using this for real income generation.
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