Posted on 10/23/2017 2:29:43 PM PDT by Hojczyk
Musk and his companies' investors enjoy most of the financial upside of the government support, while taxpayers shoulder the cost.
The payoff for the public would come in the form of major pollution reductions, but only if solar panels and electric cars break through as viable mass-market products. For now, both remain niche products for mostly well-heeled customers.
Musk declined repeated requests for an interview through Tesla spokespeople, and officials at all three companies declined to comment.
The subsidies have generally been disclosed in public records and company filings. But the full scope of the public assistance hasn't been tallied because it has been granted over time from different levels of government.
New York state is spending $750 million to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo for SolarCity. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company will lease the plant for $1 a year. It will not pay property taxes for a decade, which would otherwise total an estimated $260 million.
The federal government also provides grants or tax credits to cover 30% of the cost of solar installations. SolarCity reported receiving $497.5 million in direct grants from the Treasury Department.
That figure, however, doesn't capture the full value of the government's support.
Nevada has agreed to provide Tesla with $1.3 billion in incentives to help build a massive battery factory near Reno.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Ping.
I think it’s just great that this country can afford to subsidize luxury cars for the rich.
Elon Musk and Jim Jones both founded and grew cults in the wacky soil of Northern California. Musk was a bit more sophisticated how he got his government money. Jones confiscated his follower’s welfare checks.
Ah yes Saint Elon. Every great charlatan like Elon Musk knows how to fleece not only sheeple investors but state, local and federal governments alike.
LA Times suddenly discovers corporate welfare. It’s like the homeless problem, it only appears during Republican administrations.
So what?? Musk didn’t lobby for or institute any of the subsidies, he was just astute enough to compete for them against other companies, and win. And especially in the case of SpaceX, it looks to me like the US is getting a damned good return on its investment.
And the batteries for those electric car batteries require large amounts of cobalt which is largely mined by children in the Congo: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3597685/posts
He’s such a compassionate liberal. . .
Cut his ass off !
Because he is a pig at the trough
Charlatan? The guy managed to land a rocket booster on a barge. Call him what you will, but he’s brilliant
Rather see the money go to him than the Teacher’s unions or something. He actually produces.
I do like his idea of the Hyperloop he’s building on the East Coast. 600+ mph transport underground. Much better plan than high-speed rail above ground.
The state of New York build Musk a state of the art boondoggle factory for $750 million. There are kick-back investigations going on over this as we speak. Musk pays New York State $2.00 in rent annually. He then sublets the factory to Panasonic for, well, we don’t know how much. Its a secret. Panasonic builds, or will build solar panels there. Not state-of-the-art solar panels, as promised, but just solar panels. And everyone, except the taxpayer, laughs all the way to the bank.
...oh, and by the way, the plant is fueled by subsidized electricity from Niagara Falls, and NOT, by, solar panels. You can’t make this up.
What separates Elon Musk from every other guy with too much money and a passel of yes-men who hang on his every word?....... Not much. Elon “P.T.” Musk.
The fact that he has actually delivered things no one else has been able to. An electric car that people actually want to buy, and a proven ability to drop a used rocket booster onto a barge floating in the middle of the ocean
The guy is a genius, and can deliver. Calling him a charlatan is absurd. What exactly have YOU accomplished? Besides deriding the accomplishments of others?
That rocket booster did not land successfully. It tipped over and went into the drink. It was scrapped.
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