[2000rpm]

I am a Musk Fanboy. Let me try to the list the reasons below
- His achievements are extraordinary. He has accomplished what no one in the automotive world has done for last 100 years
- He did every thing from scratch, without the legacy support of an established firm like Toyota / Ford / VW / etc
- His vision is truely disruptive, just look at how he explains the concept of Boring Company. A very simple thought but no one was ever able to articulate this.

Let me try to put it here in my own recall - "The reason for traffic is that we are trying to evacuate 3D structures (like office buildings) using 2D networks (roads). To stuff from 3D structures you need 3D road networks. Thats what the Boring company can do. Theoretically 3D networks can be built in air as well, but from a safety perspective, underground networks may be far more reliable"


- He doesnt just give Gyaan, but also takes action
- Also, you can trust him to do something when he says he will do it.
- Another thing is, he is very very genuine and unfortunately, outspoken (unlike gates). But for someone like him, that is pardonable.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by srini1785

However what has social justice got to do with tech. Tesla/Musk are technocrats and true they do live in a sterile bubble. The question is when did Tesla/Musk claim that they were Social justice warriors?. That's not their job. Of course, you can fault them legally if they practice apartheid in their organisation which they don't.

I never said Tesla/Musk are social warriors. I said a.o.:

As a human being he is seriously compromised, if not retarded on some topics/issues. I am always very cautious about people who are essentially one trick pony. I prefer people to be balanced in life and outlook on life, to show empathy and interest in their complete environment.

The Musks of this world are disruptors and they are the driving force behind a number of changes. But I am very concerned about their ultimate goals or thinking behind it. Talented as Musk might be, he is also a very shallow man in many other ways/aspect.

The main issue I see is with these people that worship the ground Musks walks on.

They simply appear to stop thinking for themselves and stop being critical. They become as one-dimensional as the Musks of this world. They simply don’t even see the world as it is. I don’t think the world is going to be better place at all because we can travel to Mars, or all drive Tesla’s/electrical cars (even though there might be an environmental advantage).

I prefer people with a more open balanced view of the world. Just my preference.

Jeroen

[Ravi Parwan]

I think this thread is also fast becoming a love or hate thing. People are either with him or against him. The against crowd is also mainly due to his personal proclivities. I tend to agree with both sides, he is a genius, a workaholic and a disruptor in his professional capacity.
In his personal side, he is brash, unapologetic and eccentric. These are qualities that to a large extent stem from his intellectual side and most likely feed his breakthroughs.
In the end, disruptors are the ones who bring out the best in the society and the individual and I have no doubt that Musk will join the ranks of the Ford, Ferrari and Lamborghini.

[frozen.ash]

I have been a big fan of Elon Musk for quite a long time, for being simply the greatest scientist of our generation. The stuff that he has achieved in just a few years is astounding to say the least. And all this at quite a young age.

However, it has been proven time and time again that the celebrity status that he has gained over the years has started to get into his head. You tend to find missing in him the maturity and humility that one would expect from a role model of his caliber. This has led to several outbursts from his end in public and on social media platforms for the most menial of reasons. He would be well advised to cut down on his arrogance, and give people the respect that they deserve, and to accept points of view that are different from his, especially because his mannerisms are rubbing off on to his fans and supporters as well.

Curious to see how things turn up for him and how far his dream projects would be taking him in the coming years.

[RMN]

Tesla is one of the few companies that has had such a significant growth & influence during the social media age, or rather "the troll age". These kind of fans were expected to happen. Internet is the only place where you can easily bash people & their thoughts without much logic. Unfortunately, Mr. Elon himself has started to stoop to these levels. He has changed A LOT over the last 2-3 years.

[dark.knight]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, but this time I'll heavily measure my writing because of the risk of getting bashed even though, ultimately, I write the truth. I'll also put it across in extremely simplified Q & A format for easy understanding.

Q: Who founded Tesla?

A: Martin Eberhard & Marc Tarpenning, actual engineers, founded Tesla.

Q: What were their background?

A: They were tech entrepreneurs who built an early version of e-book reader, then collaborated to create Tesla Motors.

Q: So they solely built the first Tesla car?!

A: No, they just founded the company, and led the way, here are a few names who directly made the first Tesla concept car :

1) Peter Rawlinson who worked in Lockheed Martin, Lotus, Jaguar, a vehicle engineering specialist, played a big role in the making of the 1st Model S

2) Peter Hasenkamp, an experienced supply-chain specialist and operations manager played a big role in leading to testing and production in 3 years time.

3) Jonathan Butler, legal compliance specialist, paved the way for quick operations commencement by liaisoning,

4) Doreen Allen, sales, marketing and consumer satisfaction specialist, built the platform for consumer satisfaction with Tesla.

Q: So what did Elon Musk do?

A: Partly bankroll, before spreading his tentacles, weeding out the real talented people as above, and claiming credit.

Q: So Elon didn't hand-build the factory, build and assemble each car, do the marketing, do the presentation, do the R&D and do the selling all by his lonesome?

A: No, no, no, no, no and God, No.

Q: So Elon isn't the real life Iron Man?

A: Tony Stark is a fictitious character with 2 MIT Masters degrees, Elon Musk is a real life character with a fictitious qualification.

Q: But, but.. all the praise, the interviews, articles, fandom?

A: PR

That said, all due credit to Musk for funding the project, marketing his products via himself & achieving great success, financially and reputation wise. Purely by the fact that nothing would've been possible without the funding, he deserves the credit for being there first and tapping into a project that even a behemoth like GM had backed out of since production costs were high and fuel was much cheaper at that point.

[parambyte]

Absolutely right, @dark.knight.

Also Tesla doesn’t make profits from selling its cars (even though the model S is amazing, I have no excitement for model X, their truck or Model 3). It made its first profit and then others, from selling carbon credits.. Not cars. So theoretically you could start a business of growing trees, and sell carbon credits earned thus and become profitable.

Incidentally JD Power puts Tesla at the bottom for quality. Kia and Dodge at the top.
Tesla has been so new that reviews haven’t seeped into the market yet. Search around for how many people found finishing poor, and paintwork not up to the mark for such an expensive car compared to even a cheaper Chevrolet.

Tesla is a big PR game.

Dyson scrapped its promising electric car project because it felt it cannot be profitable.

Although I love electric cars and am looking forward to more exciting options in India, they aren’t all the “green and goody goody”.
A lot of essential components for those batteries, motors and magnets come from conflict areas and mined with extreme harm to the environment. Not that ICE is clean, but electric isn’t God’s Angel in White Lace Gown either. I tried discussing conflict minerals with Musk on Twitter and got trolled by angry abusive fanboys. Lost interest in Tesla brand.

Rivian is a more interesting company with a far better and more exciting product. And will probably be a bigger hit than Tesla because they focus on trucks and SUVs which are what are selling right now (so much that even super car specialists have launched SUVs). Check out Rivian’s Tank Mode. Why didn’t anyone think of it earlier.

[smooth indian]

Originally Posted by GTO

Tesla has the kind of fan following that can be compared only to "Apple". Both companies started off as the industry underdogs, have visionary + enigmatic founders, use a different approach to things, are super-duper cool, they think different and their purposes (Apple & the creative arts, Tesla and its zero-emission EVs) connect to the heart. Top that up with brilliant PR & marketing, and you build a brand whose value far exceeds anything you ever imagined.

The personalities of their founders / CEOs also have a lot to do with it. Ask your friends or family who the CEO of Chrysler, Mercedes or Toyota is and you'll get a blank stare. But I can bet you 100 bucks they know who leads Tesla.

While there are similarities between Jobs and Musk, I think Steve Jobs generally talked about his company, computers and things related to computers and his companies. With Musk his comments often stray into things not related to his repertoire. For example his comments on the rescue of school boys in a Thai cave were uncalled for. Steve Jobs also rarely suggested solutions for things outside apple's realm. He was more or less happy with touting apple's achievements which, he defended passionately. Musk on the other hand tries his hand at stuff like 'hyper loop' or selling fire guns just to keep himself in the spotlight. I also can't remember Mobs trying to verbally arm twist politicians like Musk attempted with Santa Clara county officials.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Except that Tesla does not spend even a cent on marketing.

I would say they spend marketing money in non traditional ways. They encourage owners to refer other friends, and do reward both the referred and the referee with things that cost money. Credits in purchasing car/solar, free supercharging, turbine wheels and such. I have recieved credits from Tesla for referring a friend to buy Solar, and also a Tesla. I have been satisfied with the product, so I do not feel dirty referring friends.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

I would say they spend marketing money in non traditional ways..

True, they spend their money in a very different way. They are one of the few car makers that have showrooms in prime shopping streets. Whereas other brands are/have moved to mainly peripheral of cities, Tesla is present in what tends to be the most expensive retail location imaginable

Jeroen

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

I would say they spend marketing money in non traditional ways. They encourage owners to refer other friends, and do reward both the referred and the referee with things that cost money. Credits in purchasing car/solar, free supercharging, turbine wheels and such. I have recieved credits from Tesla for referring a friend to buy Solar, and also a Tesla. I have been satisfied with the product, so I do not feel dirty referring friends.

I would call it incentivising the sale both for the referee and the referral because in this case I have to buy the product to get it. Same for the referee. Its not how legacy car companies would sell their cars.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

True, they spend their money in a very different way. They are one of the few car makers that have showrooms in prime shopping streets. Whereas other brands are/have moved to mainly peripheral of cities, Tesla is present in what tends to be the most expensive retail location imaginable
Jeroen

There is another point of differentiation though in that Tesla does not have a dealership model and therefore no middle men in the sale either. Their showrooms arent big either partly because it is prime real estate and partly because their selling models doesnt need them to 10 different variants of their cars on display. Most of the advanced features are software driven.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

There is another point of differentiation though in that Tesla does not have a dealership model and therefore no middle men in the sale either.

True that. I was a first day reservation holder, and I waited 2 years for my Model3. When I made my payment, it was sight unseen. They cannot possibly sell with this model, of no dealer, no test drive - if not for the policy of 7 days to return the car. I had the comfort of knowing I could return the car if I ended up not liking the car. I do not have any stats on how many cars were returned, or how many cars are actually returned. In the thousand that they have sold, I am sure there are people who have returned their cars. And that policy should be costing them money. Not marketing costs but non traditional overhead, if you will.

[OrangeCar]

Source.

A Tesla YouTuber Wants a Gas Car and Now YouTube Keeps Taking Down His Video: The YouTuber suspects "The Tesla fanboys formed like Voltron and ganged up to flag my video for removal on youtube"

In this age of online trolling, bullying - brand custodians can become extreme.

Although many have shot back saying the youtuber should not blame fans for his video being taken down.

Interesting times ahead. Cannot wait for a real good Tesla competitor to come up. I wonder if the fan boys are Tesla fan boys or electric car fan boys.

[carthick1000]

I can say myself a Tesla user but not a fanatic. I neither own Tesla shares nor do any business with Tesla. However, I like Tesla / Musk combination for a very simple reason. In the whole world of automotive OEMs, is there such a short feedback line to get a new feature in your car?

Someone on twitter asks for a new feature (which can be implemented in software)

Musk says 'Sure'

In the coming days/weeks/months, Tesla rolls out this feature to the whole compatible fleet of cars.

Try this with any other conventional (horizontally integrated) OEM and I wish you good luck. You either have to pay extra to get even a simple thing or have to choose a higher end variant of the same model.

[wheelguy]

Tesla’s shares saw an 11% increase in a day, which in turn increased Musk’s net worth by $7.8 billion. At the start of the year, Musk’s wealth was just over $30 billion and he was nowhere being close to the top 10 richest people in the world.

It looks like there’s no stopping Elon Musk when it comes to increasing his estimated net worth. A report by Bloomberg has revealed that the Tesla CEO is now the fourth richest man in the world. It has been a meteoric rise for Musk who has seen his wealth grow by a whopping $57 billion in 2020.

As per the Bloomberg report, Tesla’s shares saw an 11% increase in a day, which in turn increased Musk’s net worth by $7.8 billion. At the start of the year, Musk’s wealth was just over $30 billion and he was nowhere being close to the top 10 richest people in the world. However, a $57 billion jump in his wealth means that Musk is now ahead of some of the wealthiest people in the world and has an estimated net worth of $90 billion. In terms of increasing their net worth in 2020, Musk is only behind the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos. Bezos, who is the founder of Amazon, has seen his net worth go up by $73 million in 2020.

Tesla’s shares have been growing at breakneck speed in 2020 and are up by a whopping 350% since the turn of the year.

Source