Posted on 08/18/2025 9:34:15 AM PDT by Red Badger
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“”””When is the last time a gasoline-powered car just sitting there blew up?””””
In the 1990’s I had a Ford F-250. It started on fire while sitting in my driveway. It was not running and had been sitting for several hours. Apparently they had some issue with alternator wiring or something like that.
I'd be much more worried about a Tesla, or any EV for that matter, catching fire overnight in my garage while I'm sound asleep.
Didn’t have to look too far
February 12, 2012: “Tesla does not need to ever raise another funding round. We may want to do so, but we are in a strong cash position, and we don’t need to.”
Musk gave this answer in response to a question about the company’s liquidity and cash burn. Musk is often very careful with his language to qualify his bold statements and predictions, but the implication here seems to be that Tesla no longer needed to raise capital and dilute its shares. Since Musk made those statements, Tesla has completed 14 fundraising rounds, raising an additional $5 billion in funding as recently as December 2020.
January 10, 2016: “In ~2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, eg you’re in LA and the car is in NY.”
One of the most often-cited examples of Musk misleading Tesla users and investors involves the company’s autonomous vehicle technology, or lack thereof. In 2016, Musk promised Level 5 autonomous Tesla vehicles that could travel unmanned from Los Angeles to New York by 2018. In 2024, Tesla has only managed to deliver a Level 3 autonomous system that “requires a fully attentive driver who is ready to take immediate action at all times.”
The notorious “funding secured” tweet is one of the few instances in which Musk did not leave himself enough wiggle room to avoid regulatory fallout. When the SEC investigated Musk’s tweets, they found Musk’s tweet about a potential Tesla buyout “lacked an adequate basis in fact.” Musk and Tesla ultimately agreed to pay $40 million in penalties tied to the SEC fraud charges.
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