Tesla laying off 10% of workforce . . . just as gas prices are spiking.

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[i][b]Photo above[/b] - I'm sooooo eager to see this hit the street. How about you?[/i]

First all, even though I'm going to defend Tesla this time, it doesn't mean I approve of Elon Musk in any way. America needs entrepreneurs. We need affordable cars. We need energy diversity. Tesla pushing the panic button and firing thousands doesn't get us any closer to these goals. (See link below).

Just because I've been a consistent critic of Tesla doesn't mean their business model is crappy. They launched their first car with huge government tax rebates for rich guys who wanted an ultra fast electric sportscar. Subsidies for the upper class, while the rest of us live paycheck to paycheck. You gotta love the chutzpah. Even the Obama administration was taken in by Musk. A decade of subsidies. So great that they were extended to GM and Ford. Any car built in the USA, with union labor – come on down, and score a subsidy. Up to $10,000 tax rebate now!

In the meantime, Elon was expanding production worldwide. Again, a great idea. And he went to China first, as so many carmakers have. And China, as part of the permitting process, got access to Tesla's battery tech. Ooops . . . who didn't see that one coming? Cheap BYD (build your dream) battery cars, made in China, began flooding the planet (but not America, yet).

GM and Ford do NOT use Tesla Battery Tech. The result is the hilariously expensive electric Hummer, with the world's record worst efficiency for any electric vehicle. And the F150 Lightning, which has been recalled 5 times already, and gets around 120 miles of range if you ask it to do truck-things, like towing.

Okay . . . GM and Ford are NOT the reason Tesla is giving 14,000 workers pink slips. It's Hyundai/Kia. A company that gets zero US government tax subsidies. On the road, I've NEVER seen an electric Hummer. I see hundreds of battery Evs from Hyundai and Kia. GM used to make the affordable, compact Chevy Bolt. Until repeated battery fires resulted in a total recall, and a years' long warning to park outside. Then a complete and permanent halt to production.

[b]Back to Tesla. [/b]I get it why they're tanking. The cybertruck is a POS. The Telsa model 3 and Y keep getting MORE expensive, not less. The long promised “affordable” model 2 is on permanent hold. Who wants to own a growth stock that has no sales growth?

Tesla has my sympathy, but not my investment dollars. Their share price yo-yo's more than Bitcoin. They struggle with basic stuff like “panel gaps”, fit and finish, and even designs that don't put everyone to sleep. Telsa had a 10 year lead on the competition and squandered it. Money that should have been plowed back into product development was instead thrown at Twitter, and set alight in a huge bonfire.

The problem is Elon, not Tesla. The shareholders and board should do their job and replace Elon. America deserves to have great cars. Tesla is an essential part of the equation. So are Hyundai, Kia, even GM and Ford. Even though Tesla had 400 recalls in 2022 alone, covering 25 million vehicles – before the cybertruck even hit the street.

I'm just sayin' . . .

[b][u]Tesla laying off more than 10% of staff globally as sales fall | Reuters[/u][/b]