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Comment by SilverBirch | Hacker News Reader

The obvious point is it’s not exactly impressive to dominate a market that everyone else realises is uneconomical. The key is his PR managed to produce massive overvaluation in a ZIRP environment. But then what we’re really saying is we’re impressed by the PR not the engineering.

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Neither cars or EVs are uneconomical markets. There is money to be made, just not as much as the hype

Cars aren't uneconomical, but take a look at other car companies. You don't become the richest man on earth by running a car company. They're very efficient, and basically, not that profitable. The innovation of Tesla is they manufacture cars with a share price of a tech company.

If you're talking about a pure free market that I don't think you're correct. Right now, a 2023 Tesla mode 3 starts at 40,000, compared to 20,000 for a Subaru Impresa. According to www.fueleconomy.gov over the course of 10 years I'd save 16,000 in fuel costs. Furthermore, if you need to replace the battery in that time period, then the savings drop to only 6k. So even with government subsidies, gas cars are more economical than electric cars. I don't see how the market can survive without help from Uncle Sam.

In the market and world we live in, Tesla is making $5 billion a quarter. I don't own one and it's not the product for me, but it is a profitable company.

Tesla got over 2.5 billion in direct government subsidies and people who buy an electric car get a tax credit up to $7500.

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