Unfortunately the worst case is very much worse than that: Gross misdirection of investors as to what constitutes renewable energy potentially impacting Tesla's market cap. Gross misdirection of politicians precipitating insane expenditure on hydrogen infrastructure with direct dilution or depletion of funding for actual renewable and sustainable transportation. Usurping of subsidies for environmental vehicles, hastening of taxation on EVs, funding previously earmarked for solar/wind energy and grid storage cycled directly back into the pockets of big oil and big auto, muddying of media coverage as to what constitutes environmentally friendly technology (there are already school programs teaching this stuff as green), direct stalling and displacement of EV programs undertaken by big auto (good and bad in that), direct promotion of FCVs vs EVs as environmentally equivalent and superior owing to longer range and faster refuelling, serious potential for misleading and bribing 'average' green-conscious consumers propelled by offers of subsidised vehicles and free hydrogen for life and false promises of contributing to a green future for all.
On balance I think maybe this is not very cool and needs to be taken really rather seriously.
Julian thank you for all the links and the other information in your posts. It is incredible to what lengths these entities will go in order to preserve their positions.
I agree that it is very uncool what you described above. People sometimes become uncool when they fight for survival.
I could be wrong, but I think that all the muddying of the facts regarding renewable energy, misdirection of politicians and tax money, and all other factors that you mention above, will fall like a house of cards once ev vehicles are available to all drivers, not just to small segments in selected geographies.
I am trying to make a point that the best way to fight back might be to make evs available, and
any driver is smart enough to choose, not just TMC community. I am confident that drivers will choose a better car, regardless of misinformation, politics, earth preservation, sustainability or anything else mentioned above. Subsidies might sway many people though.
The most pressing issue that I see is to make evs widely available. It seems to me that the ice car makers will not help their own demise by making good evs. Ironically that might lead to their demise. They are in a very difficult
double bind situation.
The only survival maneuver that I see for the ice car makers is to enter the ev space with good ev cars and to phase out ice cars over a number of years. That is a very costly move. So far they seem to be focusing their fight on the different fronts. They might be buying time with these maneuvers and such moves might be effective in prolonging their survival.
If one assumes that the ice cars are safe from the ev competition in most market segments for the next say 10-20 years, as evs are scarce, I just wonder what sort of a CEO is likely to change the course of a business because of a distant threat if his/her alternative is to cruise profitably during his/her tenure.
Tesla CEO put Tesla business on its current course by taking some incredible personal sacrifices and risks. That is something that gives me hope and inspiration, not to mention all the gratitude for investment gains.
