Ok, OM - it has been a unique 3 years and against all sense I guess, I still have hope, as an EV is simply superior in many instances (and others mfg's also trying it says positive to me).
The established car manufactures have to be doing surveys regarding the sales potential of electric vehicles. Since they already have most of the infrastructure in place. So, (and this is supposition), I suspect the demand isn't there yet. The individuals who are rallying around Elon Musk most vigorously, genuinely believe that we need electric cars this very moment, but are making the unfortunate assumption that every body on the planet feels the same way. Whether that's right or wrong doesn't matter. It gets categorized as an attack on good old Elon, while at the same time, the electric crowd chooses to believe there's a massive conspiracy between the car makers and oil companies in place. This drives them to Tesla, where Musk is more than happy to foster the "poor Elon" dynamic. "I'm out to save the world, and everybody's against me".
So, then we come to Musk's "brilliant idea",of cutting out the middlemen to save YOU money. It sounds good, prima facia, but there's a possible alternative motivation in play.
Musk wants all those paychecks for himself. Reasonably speaking, when you only have a couple of models, and a promise of another maybe 2 years from now, why on earth would you need a dealer network anyway?
So, Musk is capitalizing on the poor reputations of
used car salesmen to assassinate the characters new car salesmen. You could more than likely walk into a Chevy dealer tomorrow and drive out with a "Volt". If you wanted the new Tesla model, you could cut Musk a check, and continue to ride the bus for a couple more years. Oh well, whatever floats your boat.(Or maybe, "whatever inflates your tires" might be a better metaphor).
Then there was the big "Tesla vs. Maserati race". The Tesla pulled a hole-shot on the Mas, and then got its a** kicked. When the news hit the tech press, somehow, the Tesla had won the race!
So here, Musk was exploiting the inherent characteristics of
ALL electric motors, which is the fact they produce maximum horsepower when they are stalled.
Stalled, as when you are sitting at the drag strip "Christmas tree", waiting for the green.
Well, that's not "superior Tesla engineering", that's just the way s*** works.
OK, so Musk "put his own money into Tesla". Frankly, I don't see how he could have avoided doing so. If you were running around seeking government loans, investments, tax credits, contributions, and whatnot, what do you think people would say if you didn't risk your own money. Wait, I know, they'd call you a "sleaze bag and a grifter". So Musk "primes the money pump", so to speak, and the fans roar in approval.
For better or worse, that's my interpretation of the "high points" of Musk's "world domination by a preponderance of pure bulls*** campaign".
BTW, how much do you think Musk siphons out of his enterprises for a salary? Oddly, that topic never comes up. Never mind, I'm sure he's doing this, "out of the goodness of his own heart". Just ask him, he'll tell you.
RE turning a profit, looks like it'll still be a while (ongoing build out factor) and the media-frenzy is unlikely to abate..
Maybe. At least if he doesn't divert the funds to "the Mars mission".
