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I wrote an article just a few days in the past that I feel must be categorized as “venting.” As soon as being an especially influential website overlaying Tesla’s optimistic, I really feel actuality has pushed us to cowl increasingly more issues at Tesla. Naturally, many Tesla followers (particularly TSLA shareholders) haven’t been thrilled with this, and a few even hate us — or, I ought to in all probability say, me — fairly vehemently. I don’t assume ignoring actuality is wise, even when actuality stings, and the push from so many individuals to disregard or deny actuality has irritated me. So, as a few of these issues are “confirmed out” extra, it’s arduous to not set free a few of that frustration with tribalism and reactionary hate. Additionally, I need to level out that there are a lot of good individuals who maintain a number of shares of TSLA for good causes and it may be very arduous to make any adjustments in that world (shares and cash administration). There’s a distinction between wishing for the most effective (or having a really optimistic mindset) and hating on individuals for mentioning inconvenient truths and disagreeing with you on some issues.
I used to be overwhelmed with appreciation from all the help offered underneath that article — feedback I simply bought to studying just a few days later due to different obligations. Additionally, unsurprisingly, there have been many, many very good feedback underneath the article. I might — and perhaps ought to — put up many extra of them in their very own articles, however one popped out at me to repost, after which I made a decision to seize just a few extra underneath the same theme to incorporate right here as effectively. The theme is within the headline: “What goes mistaken at Tesla?” When you don’t assume something goes mistaken, that’s nice, however I don’t see how anybody can objectively have that opinion when Tesla gross sales dropped in 2024 and it was not that way back that we had been being informed Tesla gross sales ought to enhance ~50% a 12 months (on common) by way of 2030. On to the feedback:
From disqus consumer “CMG300” (the remark that jogged my memory I might repost feedback as new articles and simply referred to as for that to be executed):
“I don’t need Tesla to fail as a result of they’ve an ideal product (that’s been allowed to stagnate) and a ton of sensible individuals working for them (albeit, a notable absence of brains sitting on the high).
“As astute readers could have picked up, I really feel that the most important downside at Tesla is the CEO. He’s gone from hero to villain in a really brief time.
“I really feel he’s deserted the mission (transitioning the world to sustainable vitality). That is essential as a result of sensible individuals are motivated to return work and provides their greatest for Tesla BECAUSE it’s a worthwhile trigger. As they’ve strayed, there’s much less and fewer purpose for high expertise to remain and we’re seeing a continuing mind bleed out of Tesla.
“To the extent that Musk even exhibits up for work at Tesla, he’s extra fascinating in throwing his weight round (firing the SC group, devoting all assets to autonomy), than to pushing the getting old product lineup ahead.
“Musk can be participating in rampant ‘useful resource tunnelling’. That’s to say, he’s doing his greatest to strip out the precious components of Tesla and redirect them to areas that he personally controls. The newest instance is his battle of curiosity in AI. With him pushing aside Tesla buying GPUs in order that his non-public AI firm might have them. One other instance is with the Twitter takeover. He pushed as lots of the engineers at Twitter to stop as he might, then backfilled the hole by pulling over a bunch of Tesla software program engineers on a short lived foundation. Oh, and he broke his on rule and immediately started promoting on Twitter/X.
“Oh, and the way might I neglect his politics. Not a lot must be stated right here aside from he retains attacking his pure buyer base. As competitors ramps up within the EV area, individuals will look elsewhere first as a result of Musk is doing his greatest to make driving a Tesla a political assertion.”
From Matthew Inexperienced:
“I’m fairly sad with Musk for his politics as effectively. However the largest concern I’ve is the discount in automobile high quality and options. My 2018 Mannequin 3 has radar and sonar and switch sign stalks and an enormous quantity of energy. The most recent Mannequin 3s have modified battery chemistry (nice, however not nice) and eliminated the radar and sonar and the flip sign stalks. Buying and selling ‘up’ to a brand new Mannequin 3 means I will likely be successfully buying and selling right down to a lower-quality automobile.
“The large challenge right here is that I understood the Mannequin 3 to be a compromise again in 2018: it was arduous to construct a high-quality automobile at that worth vary, so some issues wanted to go. No dashboard (as a substitute a middle console), a really fundamental inside, and many others. I nonetheless cherished the automobile as a result of nothing else prefer it existed. However now it’s six years later and a few very nice stuff is exhibiting up in the marketplace. I anticipate Tesla to enhance the automobile, not cut back its function set. The lengthy vary remains to be practically $50k earlier than authorities rebates (and excluding FSD)! Why shouldn’t I purchase a automobile that’s nicer than the one I’ve for that sort of cash?”
citizenjs writes:
“For just a few years, it’s been fairly apparent that Tesla would have (and now has confirmed to have) a difficulty with producing only one.5 mass market fashions (3+Y) that they had been sluggish to refresh. There was at all times going to be a ceiling for gross sales, with the one query being what number of.
“The Toyota Corolla has spent a long time as the highest or near-top promoting automobile on the planet. But when Toyota introduced at some point that they might mainly abandon all market segments besides Corolla + a Corolla hatchback and make up the distinction by simply promoting extra Corollas, that may be universally (and accurately) considered an insane plan.”
*Wealthy writes:
“I really feel that Tesla has peaked and is now in decline relative to their automotive merchandise. The reason being much like what has occurred to many companies up to now — ‘yes-men’ administration, a ‘group-think’ board of administrators and solely a part-time CEO who makes use of an antiquated administration fashion — authoritative rule by concern. (Very similar to his new boss.)
“Jogs my memory of the Osbourne Pc firm who had all of it at the start of their trade, moveable private computer systems. Then gross sales of their minimal product line stalled and so they went bust, whereas the CEO had been too busy with talking engagements and TV appearances about promised future merchandise that got here too little and too late.”
MadDash writes:
“I feel that far an excessive amount of emphasis is positioned on the Robotaxi and FSD and never sufficient on rising the mannequin vary. Tesla wants a small, cheaper automobile. There are a really restricted variety of patrons for a polarizing automobile just like the Cybertruck, and this automobile has no future in Europe. Possibly Australia? Possibly China? I feel Tesla is a good firm, and I don’t care about Musks politics – I purchase the product. If politics was such a significant part in individuals’s shopping for technique then no one would purchase a VW. VW spent a long time mendacity to and deceiving its prospects, and had factories in China utilizing pressured Labour (Uyghur individuals). I solely see the Robots being appropriate for industrial purposes within the close to future, and I feel the Robots endure the identical downside as FSD – the large breakthrough is at all times simply across the nook.”
To which, Username Taycan responded:
“When you’ve been following Tesla for any size of time you may need observed that the optimism is at all times as a result of some challenge which is at all times simply over the horizon, however by no means truly seems over it.
“We’ve had the manufacturing facility that constructed the manufacturing facility (atleast twice), we’ve had Tesla’s unsurpassable battery tech, their was the SC moat, the flying Roadster, allegedly a manufacturing prepared Semi then Tesla is nugatory with out FSD, oooh we’re an vitality firm now, no, no we’re a robotics firm … and an AI firm…
“One thing so simple as spending a day sitting down with designers and sketching out a mannequin 3 primarily based decide up or a van, or … and extracting extra worth from the work they’ve already executed would mark them out as what they’re, a small automobile producer, and would you do this if a good portion of your wealth was leveraged towards the Tesla share worth?”
As at all times, our feedback part is a gold mine. The feedback are often higher than the article itself. Thanks to all of you commenters talked about above, and everybody else, for chiming in!

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