On the positive side, something I would like to see more of is electrically-assisted bicycles. Haven't actually tried one yet, but I've heard good reports and no government has yet tried to bribe me into buying one. It's another hybrid where people like one aspect of it, but only some of the time.

Green-crazies are still obsessed with making people do what is demanded by green-crazies, not giving people something they actually like and want, which might also have 'beneficial' side-effects. I have now come to the conclusion that it is indeed a power trip for such people who aspire to rule other humans, but use "It's for the greater good" as their excuse.

And I want the BBC funding progressively reduced until they understand this. Whether Tesla has actually bribed BBC journalists to write puff-pieces for them, I don't know. But the love shown at the BBC seems a bit too much like politicians who have an 'understanding' with promoters of certain products and services later receiving financial recognition and consultancies. There are other electric car manufacturers than Tesla but you could be forgiven for not realizing it from BBC coverage. It is probably almost impossible to prove malfeasances, but contracts could be written more strictly to avoid such conflicts of interest.

Thanks for the advice, tomo. Unfortunately I've just fractured a clavicle crashing one of the traditional types, so I'm not going to be riding anything for a while.

May 20, 2018 at 8:21 PM | michael hart
Sorry to hear about your injury. If handlebars are a problem, is it time to try a unicycle? Battery powered obviously....

Buckle-up, here we go. "Tesla to slash thousands of jobs in profitability drive"

In a perverse way, it makes sense. Even with green investors (very green), government backing, liberal amortisation, and free advertising by the BBC, Tesla loses money on every car it produces. So as it stands, if they actually make more cars to fulfil their order books, they will likely lose even more money.

They were never going to build an efficient car-manufacturing machine that could compete with the Toyota's, or even lesser companies of this world, overnight. This is an admission they have given up.

The shares actually bounced up significantly after Musk's quarterly gung-ho speech a few days ago. He also flat out admitted that his production forecasts were always optimistic because 'he is that kind of guy'. It was funny reading some websites discussing how all the short-sellers had thus clearly received a bloody nose, seemingly more interested in politics than investing and share prices. Maybe it was just market relief that he is actually going to start telling it as it really is. Who knows? We will likely never know, because I don't recall anyone ever conducting a poll asking investors why they really bought or sold when they did. But it is one thing for the band to play on as The Titanic slips beneath the waves, and quite another to be buying tickets for the next instalment of Strictly Ballroom at the same time. Lol.

Tesla on fire:UK director Michael Morris' car bursts into flames.
Ouch, that's gonna sting. But credit to the BBC for reporting it.

Tesla time at the BBC: Regulators accuse Tesla's Elon Musk of securities fraud

Analysis - Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter, San Francisco:

Whatever the state of mind Elon Musk was in when he announced he had "funding secured", it could end up costing almost everything he holds dear. It would be nobody's fault but his own.

Wall Street veterans - and indeed, anyone with a modicum of knowledge of how the financial markets work - predicted this very scenario the moment those tweets were posted.

Mr Musk is famously an unconventional chief executive, but when it comes to the financial markets, you can't flout the rules without serious consequences.

Yes, almost an outbreak of reality at the BBC. But I can't recall the BBC acting as if they were "anyone with a modicum of knowledge of how the financial markets work" previously.
It's probably more than the end of the beginning for Tesla, and closer to the beginning of the end. We can still expect it to get blamed on Musk himself, rather than deluded supporters like the BBC offering the company so much free advertising bordering on propaganda.

michael hart

A "Me Too" campaign has been successful in Hollywood and the media in bringing witnesses forward, cases to Court, and now Convictions, concerning sexually predatory males.

The BBC has been subjected to a similar campaign involving sex discrimination over salaries and status.

If any BBC presenters would like to start a private or public debate along similar lines, concerning discrimination against those compelled to present the minority interests of a powerful few within the BBC, about Climate Science, Global Warming and whether anybody should take any action, Musk would be a good introductory topic for conversation.

Have the BBC been complicit in promoting Musk's greed and ego, to the detriment of BBC Licence payers? Where are the internal memos and warnings about similar "South Sea Bubbles" and "Tulip Fever", and have the BBC been involved in blatant advertising, marketing and pyramid selling or just deceitful practices?

What do BBC presenters REALLY think? Or are they not allowed to say?

tomo, it is almost as if Musk keyed the original Tweet as a silly fantasist joke and then accidentally sent it.

I wonder if in reality, he can remember why he did it.

Tesla depreciation rates will have accelerated. 60-0 thousand dollars in under 3 years now seems achievable