"Investors" did have confidence in Bernie Madoff.
Same applies to Tesla.
There's Federal tax credit + State tax credit.
Tesla is selling carbon allowance for $150M/year.
Tesla isn't making base Model 3, but the top $55k version. $35k version will create more loss than the $55k version.
Soon they will hit 200,000 or so cars made so they will lose hefty Federal tax credit.
Insurance is growing because you have to service accident damage at their certified overpriced service stations.
And they are still burning money like there's no tomorrow.
Then you have 8 year warranty on battery and drivetrain. Most cars are still in warranty but on older ones, drivetrain and batteries are starting to fail - more expences on cars already sold.
More the Tesla cashflow is desperate, more stupid promises Elon makes to attract attention.
Elon Musk is marketer (he can sell you shit while you believe it's cake). Not businessman.
And he's got lots of government cronies to back his stupid ideas with govt money.
Elon Musk never cared about Tesla profit. He's interested only in keeping this Zeppelin flying so he can get most money out of it. And then let it explode in investors face.
Volkswagen AG marketcap is less than double of TSLA.
VAG makes 100x more cars, has profit, can cope with $20-30 bln fine by US government.
TSLA is just burning money, more cars they make, more money they burn.
and they are ugly as sin, they look like they were designed as props for a bad science fiction film.
The Model S is as well-made as any car I've ever seen, and most folks I've heard discuss Teslas disagree that they are ugly. The one I've looked at close up was impeccable in terms of fit and finish.
Your subjective appreciation of beauty is your own, but it isn't the mainstream view. Build quality I have personally seen is top tier.
Tesla Model S interior fit and finish is as 80's communist cars.
"leatherette" worns out on certain areas within year or two.
I see them all the time and they remind me of a Saturn crossed with the cars from Demolition Man, the x-type looks a lot like an Aztek
I guess the Consumer Reports can't recommend the Model 3, for what a Model S costs it had better have decent fit and finish.
Who are most folks that you have heard discuss them?
Mostly fanboys.
LOL at first I was going to ask, "have you been mostly talking to fanboys?"
Weird thing about Tesla is you don't find many fence-sitters. It's either fanboys or haters.
I'm all for electric cars, as long as they're not computer controlled. I have become a complete hater of self-driving cars, because of the control freaks that make them utterly vulnerable to outside control.
OTOH, I'm a complete fanboy of electric motor reliability compared to the Infernal Combustion Engine.
So, I don't want a Tesla anymore. Unless I can get one that cannot sense a damn thing or has so much as ABS. I want a completely analog electric car, or I'll stick with my 1980 VW pickup with mechanical fuel injection.
The only thing you could hack my truck with is an axe.
stick with the 80s car, probably gets better mileage than new cars. My wife has a car with many self driving features and everyone I tell about it seems to be very afraid of the possibility of it being hacked and the hackers causing an accident. But of course that is insane, someone would have to want to murder you and be capable of that type of hacking, unless you are a celebrity or have really pissed off some homicidal super hacker that is exceedingly unlikely. It seems to me that it would be exactly as common as people tampering with brakes or putting a car bomb in a car, it would happen from time to time but not be commonplace at all.
Here in the real world the automated features on her car have already prevented several accidents.
That said I prefer a mostly analog car myself, I hate how the new ones have to think for a while after you stomp on the gas before they go. I like a cable connected from the pedal to the engine.
Musk stated publicly that he didn't care about Tesla profit. He stated his intention was to change the automobile industry and make them produce electric cars, which has been achieved.
I believe he also intends to create industry suitable for Martian development, which all his companies do. While I don't disagree with the dismay of investors in Tesla as a for profit concern, Musk has proved to be a genius at achieving suitable Martian development infrastructure, which has always been his publicly stated goal.
Profit has not, and I wouldn't expect it. This is why I wouldn't recommend investing in Tesla, unless I sought to develop Mars rather than generate profit.
Elon Musk is running Tesla for profit - just his personal.
Who's not making profit and won't ever be are investors.
He's not going to change the automobile industry but it going to make it into history books as author of what could be the closest to Ponzi scheme in history of automobile - selling promises for over 10 years while tunneling money bit by bit out of company.