Yep, I Actually Did It...

When my two youngest kids and I took a Tesla Cybertruck for a test drive several months ago, we were (more than) impressed. My daughter Eloise (10), most liked the fact that it had heated seats in the back and she said, “it was very comfortable.” Emry (14), who is a young car and vehicle enthusiast, couldn’t believe how “cool” it all was, the inside and the outside. And I? Well, I’ve never been much of a car guy, but there wasn’t any question that this was the most impressive vehicle that I’d ever driven. It was that obvious.

I borrowed it two more times, overnight, to try it out so to speak, and after much deliberation, I did it. I bought a Tesla Cybertruck. I first drove a Tesla (owned by a client) many years ago, and was blown away then, at its simplicity, its acceleration and uniqueness. I still remember my client insisting on me to step on it, to actually feel the acceleration at the time and I remember we went far beyond the limit (full disclosure, but he made me!) but wow, was it something else.

But the cost? Seriously? These aren’t cheap vehicles, I’ll be the first to admit, although the price has fallen considerably in recent years. I mean, of course, when priced in bitcoin. Some of you are asking, “Pardon me?” You see, three years ago, it would have cost about four bitcoins to buy a Cybertruck. Today, it costs less than one. The gains (when measured in paper, fiat currency, like the cash we all consider to be money) have been significant and most of you have at least read my article called “Bitcoin for $400 please, David” (ask me if you haven’t and I’ll send it to you).

Just like my clients, who also bought bitcoin in 2022, the gains since then have been significant (and crazy significant, if you go any number of years further back). I’ll probably write another article soon. So, given what has happened in bitcoin, I decided that I could consider purchasing what I think is the most innovative and different car out there. In fact, Emry and I recently visited the amazing Forney Museum of Transportation in Denver, Colorado and found ourselves asking why, when we look around at the roads today, why are the cars so boring and common in design? Decades ago (even a century ago!), they were stylish, they were classy and such variety was common. Anyway, I realize some of you have seen the Cybertruck and think it’s the ugliest vehicle on the road (hi mom!). It does tend to be an either-or camp, aesthetically, but when I first saw the design, when it was released in 2019, I remember thinking. “Wow, THAT is one heck of a different vehicle!” From the future, it seemed.

What do I like about it?

Yes, it’s all electric and I no longer go to the gas pump, which seems kind of novel. Tesla has sold more vehicles, globally, than any other manufacturer when analyzing battery electric vehicles (BEV)1. If you add in plug-in hybrids, the leader shows BYD.

The full self-driving (FSD) is unbelievable. And yes, some of you have told me your car does some self-driving too. The Cybertruck can navigate to any address, change lanes, pass, manage roundabouts and deal with construction, pedestrians and other random stuff that comes up, and I have to say, it’s impressive. Even more impressive is the data that shows self-driving has significantly less accidents than humans at the wheel do (Elon expects all the car companies to be forced to consider licensing his FSD package and appears way ahead of the field). I have to also say that it actually makes driving consume much less mental energy (not a topic I’d really thought of, until I had this to compare it to).

Emry and I were on the 18th hole recently and it was a smoking hot day. What luxury to use my phone app to turn on the air conditioning and get the car ready for our soon-to-be-sweaty bodies to arrive.

While some of these things may seem trivial, I have to say, they add up: no need to fumble for keys to unlock, lock or drive it - my phone is my key and everything happens automatically. No more getting music or a podcast ready, as it’s already playing for me when I sit in the driver’s seat. I can send my destination address to it before I open the door, and the map is ready to go for me, with the trip time, and all the route-planning done. I can charge my phone without a cord, it has heated and cooled(!) seats and crazy, funky features like a light show, outside boombox music, a built-in storage unit in the bed that can be used as a cooler and the list goes on.

So, David, you sold bitcoin to buy it then? Nope. I couldn’t justify that either. Why you ask? Bitcoin has been the strongest asset and it’s in an uptrend. So, selling what amounts to my best asset, to buy a rapidly depreciating asset like a car wouldn’t make much fiscal sense. Not to mention, if I were to sell a bitcoin right now, I’d owe as much in capital gains tax as the cost to finance the thing over eight years will be! But David, I thought you don’t like borrowing? You’re right, I don’t. But it doesn’t make sense for me to sell assets like units of our #AllINsync pool, gold or silver, or bitcoin, when I can borrow in a currency (Canadian dollars) that continues to lose purchasing power every year, and so, that’s what I did. [It’s a good reminder that when you see a fancy house or car, the person doesn’t necessarily own anything (it might be the bank!)].

But what if bitcoin goes down, you’re asking? I’m not concerned about that. I think the inflation rate will inflate away my liability (in the same way that the Government of Canada or the U.S. government (or almost any government for that matter) is planning to continue deal with theirs. I don’t expect bitcoin to compound its growth rate at the same pace, though it continues to experience wider, global adoption, including institutional interest, which will reduce volatility over time, but (limited) supply remains a positive factor. More demand from more investors for an asset that has a limited supply would mean higher prices (at least that’s what my Economics textbook says).

Will it outperform the 4.85% financing I took? You know me (and some of you know me quite well), but I’ll be sure to keep you posted!

I’ve been saying that 2025 has, without question, been the first year I can say that almost every client and every person I run into is talking politics. And while I have to constantly navigate markets, as changing priorities and governments come and go, I’ve never seen such political-type division and now the spillover even from countries, or governments, to entrepreneurs. I don’t quite see how anyone can expect to say he’s not easily the most innovative and future thinker, the CEO of Tesla (among many other businesses). SpaceX just managed to save astronauts stuck in space, Starlink stood and sent thousands of internet terminals to Ukraine in 2022, and I could go on. When I see the young generation criticizing billionaires, I’m not sure if they truly realize how that wealth (on paper or real) is generated. Any country that wants to thrive needs entrepreneurship, innovation and people, that are willing to invest capital.

Over the last 15 years, Tesla $TSLA stock is up approximately +20,396%. A $10,000 investment then would be worth just shy of more than $2 million dollars. Elon didn’t make the stock rise over that time period. Investors did. A CEO doesn’t make their stock rise, it’s demand from investors that does that. So, I do feel quite strongly that if you want to blame Elon for becoming the richest man in the world, blame the investors (and yes, that includes many government pensions, company pensions, mutual funds, etc.) who are keen on being part of the ride and have bid the stock up. And we won’t even get into his other founder roles at PayPal, SpaceX, Starlink, and the list goes on. It’s easy to criticize others, and I suppose I have to accept that some of you may criticize me for my choices.

I’ve tried to remind myself over and over again, through the years, that I’m not perfect. In fact, I’m VERY far from it. And most of you would probably agree (that I’m not, but perhaps also yourselves! haha). Either way, given the way I communicate, given the way I operate, the advice, recommendation and counsel that I provide to clients, I thought it important for me to put these thoughts down on paper, so you could see how I made, rationalized and reconciled a new purchase.

Your feedback is, of course, welcome! And for those of you that have not had the opportunity to drive something that really is an invention far ahead of its time, I encourage you to consider going for a demo drive, it’s really quite an experience! Just ask Emry, he has already staked a claim to the passenger seat and has proudly dubbed himself the Cybertruck manual mastermind. Spending his time pointing out hidden features even I didn’t know existed!

Sincerely,

David Cox, CFA, CMT, FMA, FCSI, BMath
Senior Portfolio Manager, Wealth Advisor
Raymond James Ltd.
Phone: 519.883.6031
Unit 1 – 595 Parkside Drive I Waterloo, ON I N2L 0C7
www.financiallyinsync.com
 @DavidCoxRJ