Is it part of the oil conspiracy to kill electric vehicles?
Given how GM, Nissan, and others have electric vehicles, I dont think this could stop the new wave of buyers.
Anyone want to take a stab at why this is happening?
They believe it to be a good investment and think (a) Tesla's management will do better without the public market's constant scrutiny and/or (b) their own books could benefit from less apparent volatility.
> Is it part of the oil conspiracy to kill electric vehicles?
Probably not. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has been set up as a hedge against their oil-based economy.
Only recently have EVs become viable, thanks to decades of improvement in battery technology.
As for Arab countries depending on oil, they are not entirely governed by morons. They know very well that they can't depend on oil eternally. Their easily accessible reserves will dry out, making extraction more and more expensive, and most of the world is trying to move away from it, for environmental and strategic reasons.
So they are doing the smart thing: use their easy money to invest into the future. Dubai is building a resort-like city to attract investors, Qatar is buying everything related to sports, and the Saudi invest in EVs. How well their investments will turn out remain to be seen but it is clear that they have a plan to diversify themselves.
That was one of their own oil ministers. They can see the writing on the wall.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese multinational Softbank to build 200 GW of solar power by 2030 at a cost of $200 billion.
https://qz.com/1240862/what-saudi-arabias-200-gw-solar-power...