CNN reported today that Tesla’s sales have “cratered” in China. Other outlets reported the info in a similar way. Yes, Tesla’s domestic sales in China were low compared to last month. This is completely normal for Tesla because of its shipment and delivery process. The first month of the quarter … [continued]
Tesla’s critics are in denial about Gigafactory 3’s stamping press, as they have been about many things.
A while ago, I started a semi-regular series in which I examined specific cases of Tesla FUD (or “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt”). The plan was that I would look at a FUD topic that it seemed a ton of stock analysts were suddenly communicating about Tesla. The idea began because in my regular check-ins about how Tesla was doing, I would often find my newsfeed dominated by a bunch of writers claiming the same basic idea, and how that idea showed that Tesla was in big trouble.
One year ago, when Tesla’s 3rd quarter 2018 production and delivery data came out, many Tesla critics were stunned — absolutely stunned. They had been saying for months that Tesla absolutely could not produce the number of cars Tesla ended up producing. They also said with great conviction that Tesla absolutely could not show a profit in the 3rd quarter, or any quarter. Tesla blew the criticisms out of the water with production, deliveries, and a solid profit.
If you were to search for a typical article about Tesla in the media outlet RT (formerly called Russia Today, and Russia’s most prominent international information/propaganda outlet), it is likely that you would come away with the impression that Tesla is a company led by an incompetent CEO producing pathetic, highly dangerous, and unpopular cars.
What is journalism? Is it sharing a story? Is it getting to the truth of something despite the challenges or the consequences? Could it be a journey to the truth?
How do you decide the core message of a story? How do you know when the process of discovery is far enough along to publish your findings? How do you know when you’re ready to have an impact on a reader or viewer who you may never cross paths with?
CNBC recently published an article claiming that Tesla workers said they took shortcuts while working in harsh conditions in order to meet Model 3 production goals. This is a bold accusation that CNBC backs up with two names sources and several unnamed sources. The two named sources are husband and wife, Carlos and Maggie Aranda. There are some reasons you may want to be cautious before assuming these claims are true.
USA Today published an article yesterday with the headline “Why Tesla ‘has a problem appealing to women’: Electric cars, Elon Musk may be off-putting.”
The article goes on to talk with a couple of women who described why they don’t want a Tesla and list their own reasons — and that’s fine. However, they don’t represent all women, especially many female Tesla owners and female Tesla fans planning to purchase a Tesla.
There’s an interesting thing that happens every quarter. Once solid estimates for Tesla’s quarterly production and delivery numbers are in, short sellers and critics jump to the next quarter and typically claim that delivery will fall off tremendously because pent-up consumer demand has been exhausted and sustainable new demand is going to be much more limited.
Among people closely following Tesla, it seems that the biggest topic of the past week has been biased and misleading coverage of Tesla, and electric vehicles or cleantech more generally, from major media outlets.
