Is Tesla Subsidized? Does Tesla, SpaceX, & Elon Musk Wealth Only Exist Because Of Subsidies?

[Elderberry]

Is Tesla Subsidized? What’s The Truth About Claims Tesla, SpaceX, & Elon Musk Wealth Only Exist Because Of Subsidies?

Clean Technica February 18th, 2018 by James Ayre

It’s pretty common nowadays to hear the claim that the only reason that Tesla, or SpaceX, or any of Elon Musk’s other ventures exists is because of government subsidies. I’ve myself heard the claim quite a lot over just the last few weeks. The funny thing: I haven’t heard any specifics from those making these claims about how they are “subsidized.” The general consensus when pressed seems to be: “Well, that’s what I heard (and I don’t like him).”

As someone who prefers a bicycle to a car, and who mostly thinks that space exploration is just a pseudo-religious spectacle, I don’t have any real reason to defend Tesla, or SpaceX, or Elon Musk … but the claim that those entities exist because of government subsidization still irks me somewhat, because having looked into the subject, it’s not really true.

Almost all of the supposed subsidization involved has occurred: only as part of broad programs available to essentially every company out there (the federal electric vehicle tax credit); relates only to foreign countries (Norway’s or China’s incentives for electric vehicle purchases); is just an example of the typical practice of states/cities to offer tax incentives to lure companies (Nevada’s support for Gigafactory 1, or New York’s for Gigafactory 2); was created on the state level as a way of lowering air pollution (California’s CARB credits); or was created as a means of lowering operating costs (NASA’s occasional development support for SpaceX)

More: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/18/tesla-subsidized-whats-truth-claims-tesla-spacex-elon-musk-wealth-exist-subsidies/

[Frank Cannon]

LOL. What a bunch of Commie drivel from the new Flat Earth Society......The EV Car pimps.

The tax credits that this no name know nothing azzhole glosses over are the whole damn shooting match. Without them Tesla wouldn't exist and the fact that ever country that eliminates them sends Tesla sales to zero is all you need to know about this welfare queen Musk.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

CleanTechnica is the #1 cleantech-focused news & analysis website in the US & the world, focusing primarily on electric cars, solar energy, wind energy, & energy storage. It is part of Important Media -- a network of 20 progressive blogs working to make the world a better, greener place.

[DB]

Musk gets government loan guarantees where if the venture goes wrong the taxpayer loses and if it goes right Musk wins. What a country...

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The eway to prove one way or the other is to go cold turkey on subsidies to see if Tesla folds like a cheap Solyndra.

[jmyrlefuller]

Almost all of the supposed subsidization involved has occurred: only as part of broad programs available to essentially every company out there (the federal electric vehicle tax credit); relates only to foreign countries (Norway’s or China’s incentives for electric vehicle purchases); is just an example of the typical practice of states/cities to offer tax incentives to lure companies (Nevada’s support for Gigafactory 1, or New York’s for Gigafactory 2); was created on the state level as a way of lowering air pollution (California’s CARB credits); or was created as a means of lowering operating costs (NASA’s occasional development support for SpaceX)

So the answer is yes.

Excuses or not, the answer is still yes.

[WingNot]

 The Bright New Automotive Future as promised by Musk and embodied in the Tesla automobile is a canard that has been a failed enterprise from the very beginning. Ruthlessly unprofitable and racking up debt at a prodigious rate, Elon Musk has conned Wall Street and the holier-than-thous in the greener-than-thou enclaves of The New Enlightened to believe that he – through his Magic Pony, aka Tesla – is the solution to all societal ills.