A Saudi government owned Tesla will lose me as a customer. If you're eager to do business with the Saudi government your moral compass is seriously out of whack.
I'm uneasy with Saudi Arabia having a large interest in Tesla. It seems like a national security issue. On the other hand, Tesla's stated goal is to transition the world to sustainable energy. Getting Saudi Arabia out of the oil business would be a big step.
I say all this as a Canadian in the middle of our un-diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia.
I don’t prefer one over the other, they each have their pros and cons.
Tesla gets a pat on the back for trying to be new/different. The quality of Tesla is nothing like established companies. You cant even blame Tesla, they dont have data like a company thats been around for decades.
Barely available outside the US. There's the Opel Ampera, which is mostly a GM Volt, but it's weirdly expensive so no-one buys it. The Leaf is the world's best-selling electric car, for now (especially if you include its very close relatives like the Renault Zoe; I don't think that's precisely the same platform, but it's close).
But isnt that the same problem with the Tesla?
Isn't the Leaf about to stop being the world's best-selling electric car?
Claiming Tesla quality is not as good as established players is wrong in most regards. Maybe GM built a better frame and maybe the fit and finish is a bit better but thats about it. In terms of battery, electronics, electrical, interial design, software integration, suspention, safty, surounding infrastructure and most other things Tesla is lightyears ahead of the Bolt.
Literllay every single Bolt produced loses about 7000$-10000$. It will not be produced in large not be produced in large numbers for many years at best.
The Bolt is probably better then other compliance cars because they can see the future as well. Also who would buy those even lower range cars now that there is more competition.
This does more harm than good.
Just because the current 'compliance car' and the Bolt are not the same does not mean its not for many of the same reasons.
They did built the Bolt to be able to comply with regulation EVEN while the Bolt itself is losing money per car.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/the-steadily-disappearing-am...
They are in the process of diversifying their investments, investing more in infrastructure and education, etc. Basically, they are betting against oil within 10-20 years.
Sounds like FUD. Citation needed.
I doubt Wall Street or private equity firms will be interested because the big payoff won't come as fast as they want.
But nation states that need to diversify away from fossil fuels have deep pools of patient capital and different reward functions than Wall Street.
I hope you don't fill your car with gasoline - chances are, even in 2018, it came from Saudi Arabia.
I hope your security is not supported by American military technology - once again surpluses of which are commonly sold to Saudi Arabia.
HN really needs to follow through with action behind the pompous grandstanding. Start your finger wagging with the man in the mirror.
HN has become a constant barrage of tirades against Google, China, Facebook, Tesla...any government not Canada or Norway etc etc. Yet following-through is always left to everyone-else. HN is children. Thirty year-old children.
Because it is more convincing, and will have a wider reach. By stating your initial points, you already make people think, but without triggering their emotional defences.
Arguing "A, B, C, and by the way you're a bad person" is less effective than arguing "A, B, C, think about it." If you want to "be the change", you should see the benefit of effective communication, no?
"Activism" in the form of posting a comment to HN or sending a tweet to Elon is hugely more likely to have real-world effects. And actual activism - driving a car around and talking to people, perhaps - is still more effective than a 0.000000014% drop (1 in 7 billion) in their budget sheets.
We can only continue to engage them and prod them in the right direction. Part of that involves doing business with them and with companies they invest in.
On a personal note, where do we draw the line? China for some is reprehensible as well. Do we just try to lock these people out of world trade to they uphold "our" values. We cannot reasonably expect every country to hold all our values equally. This is not to say some values are negotiable on a world stage but we must set our expectations properly as for the pace of which positive change occurs.
Tesla will still be Tesla regardless of who owns them. I won't be cancelling my order anytime soon or not support their product unless their corporate culture and response to others goes negative