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by new_realist 1979 days ago
Raising money?

If Tesla cared about their mission, they wouldn’t sell pollution indulgences. They would sit on their emissions credits to force the auto industry to transition to EVs that much more quickly. Yet they sell them in order to stall the EV programs of their competitors.

And, therefore, when you buy a Tesla you’re just enabling an extra polluting SUV to be sold to someone else. Because they sell pollution rights your purchase has created for them, there is no net environmental benefit to buying one.
2 comments
spoonjim 1979 days ago
They're making cars, pretty decent cars, and spurring the industry towards electric much faster than they would have without Tesla. If they end up setting a bunch of investor money on fire to do this, whatever. The world needs this more than it needs those investors to make money.
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new_realist 1978 days ago
As evidenced by the hypergrowth of EVs in Europe over the last few quarters, it is government regulation which is shifting the industry to EVs, not Tesla. I agree that Tesla’s strategy is to boil the ocean with investor money by pushing costly, immature technology before it can be used in mainstream autos.
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new_realist 1978 days ago
As evidenced by the hypergrowth of EVs in Europe over the last few quarters, it is government regulation which is shifting the industry to EVs, not Tesla. I agree that Tesla’s strategy is to boil the ocean with investor’s money.
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chii 1979 days ago
> Tesla cared about their mission, they wouldn’t sell pollution indulgences.

Why not? It makes them money. Who has ever claimed that TSLA cared about anything else but making money?

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perl4ever 1979 days ago
Without expressing any opinion on pollution credits of my own, Elon Musk has been claiming Tesla had a mission other than making money forever. I didn't think it was obscure.

"the overarching purpose of Tesla Motors (and the reason I am funding the company) is to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution." (2006)

'“The acceleration of sustainable energy is absolutely fundamental, because this is the next potential risk for humanity,” Musk said. “So obviously, that is, by far and away, the most important thing.”

But autonomous cars have the potential to “save millions of lives,” according to Musk, so that is also critical, he said.' (2019)

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