Recession is not needed, they are tied to production numbers. Once they hit 250K (probably next spring) made Teslas, the subsidy slowly goes away. It is going to be less and less and then it disappears. The poor bastards who signed up for an 35K "cheap" car will never experience the full 7.5K subsidy... Not to mention they are not really making it 35K. With options it is around 45K but that is another trick from the magician... The resale value is also not very good, (it is similar to diamond's) so if one doesn't mind to buy pre-owned that is the way to get into a more affordable Tesla...
I read an article where the model 3 had little road testing development because Elon said "improved manufacturing technologies". As someone in the industry, boy, will owners be disappointed.
He's taking a cue from Porsche......which is very shrewd. Porsche options can sometimes total 30-40% of the base price !
You would think the new semi reservations are flying off the shelves: "track of the reservations and has so far tallied incredibly disappointing 55 reservations. For reference, Nikola Motor Company, a BEV and fuel cell truck startup, a Tesla offshoot, got about 7,000 reservations worth about $2.3B for its Nikola One truck last year." The analyst expect Tesla to kill the semi program, due to its unfeasability at the promised specs. https://seekingalpha.com/article/41...ing?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-widget
EXACTLY....we would need diesel fuel prices in the $20/gal range to justify the cost of these vehicles. Ain't gonna happen in our lifetime...and the next recession will kill the OPEC cartel....resulting in falling prices at the pump.
Interesting, but your comparing fuel cell ie no huge recharge times to battery ie huge recharge times, fleets don't like to keep there vehicles stationary for longer than needs be, these batteries are going to be massive therefore huge charge time and fast charging puts more strain on the batteries which with a 60K replacement charge most likely will also put companies off. It would work well for slower, shorter distance more congested routes.
The bottom line on Tesla's Australian adventure: ""South Australian taxpayers will be subsidizing its operation with up to $50 million over the next 10 years," the ABC reports. The battery can store enough energy to power around 30,000 homes for more than an hour. But officials are hoping it can help stabilize the system and ease the power load during peak demand — key goals in South Australia, where the entire state endured a blackout in September 2016." TL;DR: It is a taxpayer subsidized big nothing...