I don't think it's a surprise that Tesla would not exist without government subsidies (I say this as someone who thinks the Model S is an excellent car). From a piece in today's WSJ:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-savior-elon-musk-1432938547

...Tesla likely might not even exist without a former State Department official whom Mr. Musk hired to explore “what types of tax credits and rebates Tesla might be able to drum up around its electric vehicles,” which eventually would include a $465 million government-backed loan...

In 2017, he plans to introduce his Model 3, a $35,000 car for the middle class. He expects to sell hundreds of thousands a year. Somehow we doubt he intends to make it easy for politicians to whip away the $7,500 tax credit just when somebody besides the rich can benefit from it—in which case the annual gift from taxpayers will quickly mount to several billion dollars each year...