A few years ago a Democrat relative sent a screen shot and a link to Consumer Reports calls latest Tesla best vehicle they've ever tested, right wing goes nuts along with a note that one of her friends was buying one. I questioned why conservatives would go nuts. But without reading the article, I assumed it was because Elon Musk and Teslas were so highly subsidized with tax dollars.
I, as a conservative, love to see entrepreneurs succeed. And I would love to see Tesla succeed AND wean itself off subsidies. I would also like to see more established companies, like Toyota, make an electric vehicle with the high quality Toyota buyers expect from that company.
Because Tesla is having some problems. For example, Tesla employees report flawed parts are causing Model 3 delays.
Not long ago I watched a TV show with a title something like, "How They are Made," which featured in that episode about how the Tesla automobile was made. It was a very slow building process with a very high "hand made" aspect to it. Sometime later when Elon Musk announced a very ambitious production rate for the cars, I didn't go nuts, but I did question whether he could pull it off with so much hands-on work involved. Turns out he couldn't.
In any event, good luck Musk. But please quit clamoring for tax dollars.
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12:45 PM 3/16/2018
I stumbled across this. Please tell me what tax dollars Tesla gets that every other manufacturer doesn't get? And finally, according to this web page, Tesla is #8, behind Ford (6) and GM (2) in the list of subsidized companies. But, keep in mind, that they counted the $7500 EV tax rebate as a part of Tesla's subsidies, but not GM and Ford - though both of those companies make vehicles that qualify for it. In fact, all car manufacturers have qualifying cars, and ALL will reach the 200,000 car limit eventually. So, of the $3.5B they say Tesla has received, $1.5B of that is the tax rebate - which Ford and GM will both receive eventually.
Also note that Ford received $27B in bailout money - which they erroneously claimed they didn't receive.
https://subsidytracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/ford-motor
Posted by: Carl | July 20, 2018 at 11:52 AM