« Dear Class of 2014: Thanks for Not Disinviting Me | Main | Don't »

May 17, 2014

Tesla Posts $50 Million Loss; Toyota Withdraws Support

Adding in the Federal tax credit of $7,500 per vehicle and a state rebate of $2,500 per vehicle,
the state and federal incentives totaled as much as $45,000 per vehicle that Tesla sold for as much as $100,000, depending on the model and options.[vi] Essentially, regular taxpayers who buy typical cars, trucks and minivans are heavily subsidizing an additional car for a clientele whose average income is just under $300,000 per year.
-- CFP

Posted by gerardvanderleun at May 17, 2014 7:02 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Wow! The stories around the Tucker, and DeLorean, were a bit different.
Who was "in charge" of US National Economic Fascism THEN?

Posted by: CaptDMO at May 17, 2014 7:09 AM

This what the alternative energy and environmental pushes have always been about: government subsidies. It was never about the environment or alternative energy sources it was always about the money. Just as globalwarming was never about the environment or the other scares they put out it was always about the money and the regulations to control the people.

Posted by: GoneWithTheWind at May 17, 2014 7:09 AM

The rest of us are here to make sure the Hoi-poi can lead fulfilling and purposeful (and profitable) lives.
Just ask 'em.

Posted by: ed in texas at May 17, 2014 9:38 AM

See 'em, key 'em.

Posted by: John at May 17, 2014 9:50 AM

HEY!!! You're suppose to line up and go OOOOOOH! when the swells drive one of these by. No they're not for you. Your car is a Tata.

Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck at May 17, 2014 10:30 AM

Isn't this the way communism is supposed to work? Remember the Volga automobile produced by the Soviet workers/management and you have the answer.

Posted by: Terry at May 17, 2014 10:52 AM

Not exactly new news: The whole electric car scheme is intended to be welfare for the rich.

Posted by: Donald Sensing at May 17, 2014 2:46 PM

Years ago, I wrote to a blog that I kept primarily to learn how to write. I gave up on the thing, mainly because....
A. It was a lot of work.
B. For the most part, I was simply repeating what others had written.
C. I figured I had learned all that I could, and that wasn't going to be enough to keep going.

All that said, one of the posts I am most proud of had to do with the experiment Arizona ran with providing incentives for alternative fuel vehicles. Alternative Fuel Clunkers. What is going on with Tesla today is nothing new.

FWIW, I'm still driving that truck. A couple of years ago, the computer that runs the thing crapped out, and there were no parts available to fix it. The guy at the garage said that he might be able to build one, but I declined: If the parts to a system need to be custom-built every time something breaks down, I didn't want it.

Posted by: azlibertarian at May 17, 2014 3:37 PM

I keep telling folks that battery powered vehicles are the technology of the past. 100 years ago, 1/3rd of the cars on the road were BPVs. My great-grandmother owned a Baker Electric. Henry Ford's wife drove a BPV. By the 1920s, it was clear that ICE vehicles were far superior to BEVs. ICE vehicles are better than ever, but modern BPVs are really not much different than Grandma's Baker Electric. Don't get sucked in.

Posted by: Fat Man at May 17, 2014 8:57 PM

I checked out a Tesla on display at a local shopping mall. It had a definite "kit car" feel to it, despite the leather, gadgets, and 100k price tag. I have no issue with saving gas, but not like this. VW has perfectly acceptable diesel cars for under 30k, Ford and Honda offer high-mileage hybrids that are still real cars, and, as Fat Man notes, plain old internal-combustion gas engines are nothing to sneeze at these days.

Posted by: waltj at May 18, 2014 1:03 AM

Fat Man - Grandma's Baker Electric was much more stylish. Curved side windows, nickle plated head lamps....

Posted by: BillH at May 18, 2014 6:57 AM

Where does all the power come from to charge and recharge these things? Um, maybe gas or coal fired generating stations? Or nuke? Who pays for that? That's irrelevant; follow the money from our pockets to offshore accounts of the pork-barrel corporations.

TANSTAAFL

Posted by: chasmatic at May 18, 2014 8:57 AM

here's what gets me about Tesla: it is the perfect model of the paradox of modern "capitalism" thoroughly distorted by government intervention.

Elon Musk, the principal at Tesla, is also the head of SpaceX, a marvelous private initiative launch service that the world has been needing for decades. He does that, and then turns around to also become a monument to crony capitalism with Tesla.

Posted by: Don Rodrigo at May 19, 2014 7:34 AM

Post a comment




Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)