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Tesla Acquires SolarCity: Little Can Stand in Elon Musk's Way When He Wants Something (cnbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares a CNBC report: You have to hand it to Elon Musk. He didn't just sell the deal of his life last week when shareholders of Tesla and SolarCity agreed to a merger. He pulled off the deal amid widespread criticism from business ethics and corporate governance experts who slammed Musk from the moment the $2.6 billion deal was proposed. Any skepticism Musk deserves he created for himself, but that skepticism now needs to move from the deal to something else: Just what exactly have Tesla investors gotten themselves into? Some pundits point to the deal as part of Musk's master plan to create a car powered by solar and to develop batteries that radically change how we generate and store energy. Musk noted earlier this month that a solar roof for cars is "probably" going to be added as an option for Tesla buyers.
But a good place to look at the lingering confusion as the combined electric-car and solar-power company moves forward is the reaction from stock analysts. Musk's vision is so bold that some on Wall Street remain unable to fully comprehend it or, in the least, grasp how it's a catalyst for Tesla shares in the short term. "Whatever the synergies are down the road, it's negative for current holders," said Efraim Levy, analyst at CFRA Research.
Obviously, Elon Musk has a direction he's planned for the world, not just for Tesla, and he's going that way and damn the stockholders if they aren't interested in being there for the ride.
This is all fine, but the corporate governmental structure that would fit it is to be a "B" corporation. Then your stockholders know what they're signing on to and the courts don't get to hold you to producing profit without regard for the long-term viability of your company or the world around it.
Bruce Perens.
Regardless, 0 - 60 in 2.4 seconds ain't too shabby. Time to test the brakes...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
What pisses me off is that Minecraft was valued at 2 billion dollars and was sold to MS without anyone even thinking twice about it. But actual useful stuff that humanity needs? Lets fuck around and delay and wring our hands about it.
Good-bye
I think you must have made an error in your math. Assuming you are in the US, then I think you are probably not including the federal subsidy of $7500 for an electric car, plus many states have additional subsidies (yes, the state subsidy must be reported on your federal income tax the following year, so is not the full face value).
For my personal situation, I have two Nissan Leaf's in my family and know each one cost slightly less than $14,000 out the door, thanks to these subsidies totaling $13,500 off which made for almost exactly a 50% discount on the vehicle. I have 33,000 miles on my daily commuter Leaf that is 1.5 years old, which I estimate has cost about $330 in electricity at the rate of about $1 per 100 miles (I pay much less than this since I charge for free at my work 5 days a week and charge at home only a few times per month). Regularly scheduled maintenance costs are very low for an electric vehicle. For this period maintenance has been less than $200 *total* for the 1.5 years I've owned the car. I recently spent around $400 for new tires (I got a pretty good deal on the tires though) if we want to count that too.
So for 1.5 years & 33,000 miles I'm out less than $330 in energy and less than $200 in maintenance ($600 if you must count the tires as maintenance), which is far less than any gas vehicle would be during that time period for that mileage, and with a purchase price rivaling the cheapest gas vehicle.
Now, if you want to make the argument that the electric cars are not worth it without the subsidy you might have a case, but since you want to present your argument in the form of smart money (i.e. the opposite of the "stupid people who aren't putting two and two together") then I need to point out that electric can be a smart choice too. Your post smacks of self-congratulation and pride to the point of being blinded to what is actually a fairly good commuter choice.
For the record, long term wear-and tear on the electric is somewhat of an unknown at this time. Early Leafs have held up well, but at some point in the future there is an expensive battery replacement (under warrant for 5 years), but I'm counting on the price of the battery coming down in 5 years and there possibly being aftermarket choices. The is the only part that is a gamble. My other number prove themselves.