Buying a car can be a grueling process. Keith Barry writes in Consumer Reports, “In an era of online shopping and instant gratification, the traditional way of buying a car can seem like a painful throwback. Some dealers are still doing business the old-school way: insisting buyers haggle over the price, hiding fees and charges until the last minute, and making customers wait hours to sign form after form.”
Tesla is what stock market pundits call a “story stock.” But, in fact, there’s more than one story here, and there are several very different reasons to invest, or not invest, in the innovative automaker. Some boosters want to be part of Elon Musk’s bold mission to change the world, while others simply see a company with meteoric growth and fanatical brand loyalty. Some skeptics point to the unlikelihood of a small startup scaling the auto industry’s proverbially punishing barriers to entry, while others just can’t get past Musk’s unconventional personality and snarky tweets.
After a couple of slow performances in previous months, in November, the European passenger plug-in market was back at cruising speed, with +31% year over year (YoY) sales. There were some 37,500 registrations, pulling the year-to-date (YTD) count to 345,000 deliveries (+34%). In broader context, 2018 EV market share grew to 2.4%, thanks to a 3.2% market share in November.
Let’s face it, Tesla videos are flooding YouTube. As avid watchers, we’re all over Model 3 Owners Club, Now You Know, Teslatunity, Tesla Geeks, Teslanomics, KmanAuto, Sean Mitchell, Bjørn Nyland, and NZCUTR. We even follow LikeTesla on Twitter. And we just checked in with E for Electric for Model 3 Christmas tips. However, there’s one particular Model X video that’s putting a hypnotic spell on Tesla fans everywhere.
Salespeople in car dealerships tend to push buyers towards gas-powered cars. Electric vehicles, in contrast, typically get low priority. But two former Tesla employees are setting out to change that with a new concept for an auto retailer that, instead, is setting out to embrace electric cars.
Sometimes there is a reason to report on rumors. This is one of those times. There are many rumors swarming the interwebs about Tesla and its inventory. And I am going to guess what they mean.
The most popular CleanTechnica stories of the past month, surprisingly, led with a story about why to not buy a Tesla. (Sort of.)
Earlier this year, we published a free report on EV safety, The EV Safety Advantage. As we approach the end of the year, we’re publishing sections of that report as articles here on CleanTechnica.
In this section of the report, we tackle the topic of fires. Which is more at risk of fires — gasoline cars or electric cars? Well, of you know the answer — it’s in the title.
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Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have to give the short sellers credit for their dedication. Hedge fund manager Mark Spiegel even follows the market while taking a bath — two computer screens perched near the tub keep him apprised of the latest ill winds. Much of his time is spent sitting at his dining room table, sending a steady stream of tweets explaining why Tesla will eventually crash and burn, making Spiegel an even wealthier man.
