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Comment by TheAlchemist | Hacker News Reader

> Musk can't sink any lower at this point, and his stans will persist.

You sure about that ?

For now they are largely looking away (and boy it's hard !) from his 'far right' adventures. But it was just reported that he met with Trump. And it's pretty clear that if Trump is elected and does cancel EV subsides as he says he will do, Tesla is dead and he knows it.

So now, we have both of those guys, having something each other wants - Trump wants Musks money now, and Musk wants ... taxpayer money once Trump is elected. I bet, Musk reputation can and will go much much lower in coming months.

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If your life was changed by investing in TSLA you will look the other way the rest of your life. For many millennials that was their ticket to a good life.

His detractors do a poor job of knocking him down a peg. I am speaking as someone who was there on day 0 of r/realTesla.

Even today with garbage like that recent 60 minutes hit piece on SpaceX, it is easy to dismiss because of all the easily disprovable claims. So much criticism on Musk is just so lazily produced and not properly vetted and its a shame because there is a ton of material to get him with.

> as he says he will do

Depends if there really is business clash between ICE donors and Musk.

What is promised to public is not important if your voters are true believers.

Same for Musk, he can spin anything to his believers as well.

Nothing you wrote has a spec of evidence. The current administration has been clearly targeting Elon Musk and Tesla/SpaceX, so why on earth wouldn't Elon support their opponents?

Nothing you wrote has a spec of evidence.

everyone with a logical mind would see it. your political opinion should not cloud your judgement… people like you are the reason we have a senile old man leading our world to wars. I cant fathom why americans hate trump so much but are so lenient of biden and democrats that sent us to the worst conflict the world has seen in decades

Just a word of advice regarding the effect of associating with Trump: don’t make the mistake of thinking everyone holds the same opinion as you

The effect of sucking up to someone who previously said this about you might be even worse:

"When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican..."

Musk is a vindictive child and he has an axe to grind against Biden and the "woke" left. You'd think he wouldn't do something self defeating because of some slight but he turned $40 nillion into $10 billion buying Twitter for the stupidest reasons.

Based

I mean his standing is based on what he is capable of, not what he does given the circumstance. We know he would side with Trump if it benefits him. I don't need to see the scenario play out for me to judge him for it.

> if Trump is elected and does cancel EV subsides as he says he will do, Tesla is dead

You know that Tesla operates outside the US as well, right? Where 95% of the worlds population live?

And they face fierce competition from BYD. Things are not getting any easier despite Musk saying "legacy" can't keep up.

BYD isn’t legacy.

Musk isn't talking about BYD as legacy.

Musk isn’t saying BYD can’t keep up.

I know, yes. But US still account for a very big share of their revenues.

Check what happens to Tesla sales when countries cut EV subsides. New Zealand did it in January. Here is the data:

https://evdb.nz/ev-stats

The truth is, without subsides, Tesla would sell a fraction of what it does now, and it would certainly not be profitable (hell, it probably won't be profitable in 2024, even with the subsides !).

But at the same time, tear downs of their cars show they have healthy 30% margins when their competitors are selling their EVs often at a loss. Their current balance sheet looks much better than their competitors given the assets that they have for the EV transition. If governments are serious about transitioning to EVs then either they kick the other car companies into gear or accept that Tesla(and the Chinese) will be the only real serious players.

His 'stans and TLSA uber-bulls insist Tesla is no longer a car company but an AI one. So they probably don't care anymore.

I know some uber-bulls have long insisted Tesla stop selling cars to the public so they can be horded for the imminent Robotaxi fleet that will soon be deployed en masse by 2020.

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