It seems that Tesla has had critics since the day it came out of stealth — or before that. Even CEO and co-founder Elon Musk didn’t expect the company to succeed. He simply poured his money into it on the slim chance that it would succeed, and would thus help humanity to avert tremendous climate catastrophe. Of course, he feels differently about the company now that it has succeeded than on Day 1. But this story isn’t about Elon Musk.
Those of us who have been following Tesla for a while can surely remember that the company was being attacked in the press, by many on Wall Street, and by auto industry experts the day we first learned about young automaker. As I highlighted recently when launching an annual “Tesla Death Anniversary” celebration, a “Tesla Death Watch” series kicked off on another media outlet way back on May 19, 2008 — 11 years ago. Every year since then — well, probably every day since then — someone somewhere has been claiming that Tesla’s death is just around the corner, that it will go bankrupt any day.
Needless to say, Tesla is still here. And the claims continue.
Industries at risk when Tesla succeeds:
Oil
ICE cars
Car dealers
Rail and other energy transportation
Auto parts
auto service
Gas stations
Did I forget some? You wonder why there is so much FUD out there.
Netflix disrupted cable, Uber disrupted cab drivers, $Tsla $NFLX $UBER— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) June 4, 2019
Yes, for sure, many people in the oil industry (including investors) and in the auto industry (including investors) would love to see Tesla crash & burn. Yes, for sure, many people predict Tesla’s imminent death simply as a hope. (The power of now?)
But if you look back on the record of people claiming Tesla is near its end, or at least won’t last for another 5 years, it looks really bad. We do that from time to time in a Tesla Flashbacks feature, but it seems others are doing it more and more on Twitter — in some epic ways. Below are a few tweets I’ve recently spotted that help to highlight how horribly off the mark many short sellers and critics have been.
Almost 10 years now of $TSLAQ saying there is a Tesla demand problem. But every year Tesla sells more and delivers more cars than the previous year. https://t.co/SU5AXMfUq3
— $TSLAQ is a crowdsourced short and distort (@ElectroCar) May 31, 2019
Dead #DumDum walking folks!
(I know. #babycharts is a fraud and won’t follow through)$TSLA
☠️💀 $TSLAQ 💀☠️ https://t.co/k0NCurIr1f— Bark 🧦🐶🕺🏼🪑 (@BarkMSmeagol) January 30, 2019
#BabyCharts #FraudWatch day 7
And the #DumDum pied piper sings his tune for all #dumdums to hear$TSLA
🥴🤡 $TSLAQ 🤡🥴 pic.twitter.com/10tWsLMH5y— Bark 🧦🐶🕺🏼🪑 (@BarkMSmeagol) February 6, 2019
#BabyCharts #FraudWatch day 3
He’s still around. Nothing very interesting or amusing to share though. Just same old garbage. $TSLA
👶🤡 $TSLAQ 🤡👶— Bark 🧦🐶🕺🏼🪑 (@BarkMSmeagol) February 2, 2019
Found this gem while looking thru pics on my plane ride home from vacation. $TSLA still 9x. $GM nowhere.
Remember who is giving u advice, @wolfejosh pic.twitter.com/IVOYF2aHqU
— ES (@defnotES2) June 2, 2019
Flashback day:
In 2/2016 after $TSLA shares "crashed and burned" Adam Jonas downgraded and cut his forecast to 246K S/X/3 in 2020:
"Low demand for electric vehicles … leads us to reduce volume assumptions for the Model 3"
A few months later, ~450,000 Model 3 were reserved.
— Not_an_Analyst (@facts_tesla) May 23, 2019
In Feb. 2015, Elon Musk famously predicted that by 2025 $tsla could be worth $700B
Was based on revenues increasing 50%/year, and 10% net margin and P/E of 20 in 2025
Elon was called insane. https://t.co/L5jKwMZmBs
4.25 years later, revenues have grown 60%/Y, ahead of target
— Not_an_Analyst (@facts_tesla) May 20, 2019
Look at that cute babygigafactory from 2016!!!😍
👶🏭 pic.twitter.com/oIKEIpWFwQ— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 29, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Hey @markbspiegel , about that massive electric competition in 2016-18… 🤔🤭 pic.twitter.com/m38AmHxA9S
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 27, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Just another $TSLA prediction from 2015.🤭 pic.twitter.com/9f9hvJz9oy
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 29, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Hey @WPipperger , any update on when the Model 3 sales will crash?
This is from June 2018: pic.twitter.com/Z6CtKGw3bH
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 6, 2019
This is from September 2018: pic.twitter.com/ikYpJ0k55a
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 6, 2019
This is from November 2018: pic.twitter.com/V0EN9f9IL3
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 6, 2019
This is from December 2018: pic.twitter.com/sHta79aRCa
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 6, 2019
This is from February 2019: pic.twitter.com/O4XKciWoaP
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 6, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Hey @TeslaAgnostic , seems like Leaf with 60 kwh battery is finally available for order. #DelayMatters@TeslaAgnostic two years ago: pic.twitter.com/jzvuo6wyvz
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 6, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:#ItsNotAFlood #JustAPuddle@librab103 one year ago: pic.twitter.com/tCmWhZPg4Q
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 5, 2019
The first I-Pace reviews were about to come out… pic.twitter.com/hDGg1EMhNi
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 4, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Seems like I don't really know the history of Dinosaurs.🤔🤭@Dope007 one year ago: pic.twitter.com/D48mJWZxrd
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 5, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
2 years ago Chevy Bolt had a slow start, selling about 6000 vehicles in its first 6 months in US. Luckily @markbspiegel had an explanation for these small numbers.🤭 pic.twitter.com/rdfZEtmYkd
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 1, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:@markbspiegel comparing Model 3 and Bolt two years ago: pic.twitter.com/lDMUfv5ZU0
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 29, 2019
THIS DAY IN HARE VS. TORTOISE COMPETITION:
Let's see how terrible the year has been for Tesla Model 3…$TSLAQ pic.twitter.com/0PXDo5S9AB
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 4, 2019
Horrible!!! pic.twitter.com/vKeZToiieq
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 4, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
One year ago @NetflixAndLamp made a prediction. Tesla tax credits being gone, Huyndai Kona would do a lot of damage to Tesla in the lower end of EV market.
HYUNDAI KONA GONNA GIVE IT TO YA $TSLA… pic.twitter.com/lvFuVJ1FLw
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 4, 2019
…OR NOT…🤦♂️
91 Kona sales in May… are you 🤬 kidding me!!! pic.twitter.com/MZ5Msjc8pn— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 4, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
It wasn't the Teslemmings who got the rude awakening.🤭
Hyundai has sold 103 Ioniqs in US this year from Jan to April.@markbspiegel 2 years ago discussing how Tesla is affected when full tax credit expires: pic.twitter.com/ihgibDKbJt— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 2, 2019
THE TESLA KILLERS!
May 2019 update.Let's see what kind of a bloodbath the Tesla Killers caused last month…
…Oh come on! Not again Tesla Killers!?!? That is no bloodbath, more like bubble bath.🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/q4JubPCgVd
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 4, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Waiting for the EV price wars is like waiting for the next star wars movie. It feels like it's taking forever.@markbspiegel 3 years ago: pic.twitter.com/hGGsSFWCd4
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 26, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Forever… six months… what's the difference!🤷♂️@WPipperger one year ago: pic.twitter.com/C5qJsXnroY
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 30, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Thanks for the warning @markbspiegel from one year ago.🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/GJtYnHyzk9
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 30, 2019
Like clockwork, every quarter:
Q3: M̵̵̵a̵̵̵r̵̵̵k̵̵̵ ̵̵̵m̵̵̵y̵̵̵ ̵̵̵w̵̵̵o̵̵̵r̵̵̵d̵̵̵s̵̵̵,̵̵̵ ̵̵̵b̵̵̵a̵̵̵n̵̵̵k̵̵̵w̵u̵̵̵p̵̵̵t̵̵̵ ̵̵̵Q̵̵̵4̵̵̵
Q4: B̵a̵n̵k̵w̵u̵p̵t̵ ̵Q̵1̵
Q1 '19: B̵a̵n̵k̵r̵u̵p̵t̵ ̵n̵e̵x̵t̵ ̵q̵u̵a̵r̵t̵e̵r̵
Q2 '19: Def bankwupt Q3
Nope. Just nope. pic.twitter.com/giZ1xP8v6Q— Bonnie Norman (@bonnienorman) June 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/AlterViggo/status/1130200819540742144
THE MUDFACTORY REVISITED$TSLAQ's experts on building factories had a lot to say about Tesla's Gigafactory 3's aggressive timeline early this year. Recently they've been very quiet for some reason.🤔
Let's look at few of those older tweets… pic.twitter.com/aTNxeeqKPj— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 2, 2019
January 2/3: pic.twitter.com/vosxWD2N8L
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 2, 2019
January 3/3 (@commuternyc edition): pic.twitter.com/JnV63dnNJi
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 2, 2019
February: pic.twitter.com/exJIsHyU0a
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) June 2, 2019
https://twitter.com/tesla_truth/status/1135430735840473090
https://twitter.com/AlterViggo/status/1133948505834151936
https://twitter.com/AlterViggo/status/1133518140552417280
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Last year on this day, that criminal, who runs over people with his dad's car, spent 2 hours watching a truck at Tesla parking lot. Good job!👍
Hopefully no one got hurt that time. pic.twitter.com/iiJ76kNT3c— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 24, 2019
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 20, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Hey @markbspiegel , I have a response for you… pic.twitter.com/VwzPtsIwnq
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 20, 2019
THIS DAY IN $TSLAQ HISTORY:
Today I learned from a battery expert that Li-Ion batteries are not commercially competitive.🤔@markbspiegel 4 years ago: pic.twitter.com/wejBhBbn3A
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/tesla_truth/status/1135288951172820993
Here's @cleantechnica 's comparison from yesterday:
🤭 pic.twitter.com/3Gl4bGcBUV— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 23, 2019
Years you say?🤣@librab103 one year ago: pic.twitter.com/hf2W5Hg6Oo
— The Short Shorts Historian (@TeslaHistorian) May 23, 2019
And then there are these two, completely incorrect forecasts from Volkswagen that these same critics never bring up:
$TSLA
Thanks. Would be cool if somebody can draw comparison between "Elontime" and other OEM's time.
Some info on Audi timescale for those interested in the subject:https://t.co/DiN2ZDKwyE pic.twitter.com/EkZI5dpmLt— Vladimir Grinshpun (@VGrinshpun) June 5, 2019
Retweeting the #1 FUDster.@nealboudette Wonder how other (read: "real") car companies do on their targets?
"Volkswagen Plans to Sell 300,000 Electric Cars a Year by 2018"https://t.co/LbtijIBPd9
— Groggy T. Bear (@GroggyTBear) June 3, 2019
And we’ll end with these:
https://twitter.com/tesla_truth/status/1136732591283793920
I purchased a @Tesla #Model3 Performance because it turns out it's way cheaper than buying my own rollercoaster. 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/Wf8ZNLHr02
— Al≡x Gay≡r (BAN SHORTING) (@alex_gayer) June 3, 2019
Had a blast yesterday pulling our @Tesla Model 3 forward with Summon at our lunch restaurant yesterday as literally everyone in the restaurant gawked at the car driving itself. #TheFutureIsNow #GetWoke
— Kyle Field (@mrkylefield) June 3, 2019
The U.S. ICE auto industry had a 78-day supply of unsold cars & trucks as of May 1, up from 70 days. A 60-day supply is the traditional benchmark.
This represents about 1m unsold cars & 3m unsold pickups, SUVs, crossovers & minivans.#TeslaWaiting? $TSLAhttps://t.co/R22qYRJYuz
— 🔋Tesla Opinion🔋 (@TeslaOpinion) June 1, 2019
Exactly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2019
Base on the TSLAQ 🐻🐻’s theory, anyday from year 2010 can be the day of Tesla bankruptcy.
I will like to congratulate to all $TSLA shareholders & followers, we have been thru more than 3200+ times of bankruptcies & we still here 😂😂😂
— Vincent 🚀🟠 (@vincent13031925) June 2, 2019
Related:
- Beware Of Forbes: Anti-Tesla Troll Mr. B.S. Lives There
- Tesla’s 11th Death Anniversary — No Joke!
- A Short History Of Tesla Critics’ Claims
- From Broder To The 2018 Tesla Short Seller Storm To Today — What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
- That Time 1 Huge Tesla Shareholder Got Spooked & Sold 7% Of Tesla — CleanTechnica Exclusive
- Where In The World Is Jim Chanos? #Tesla #Pravduh #King
- Tesla Flashbacks, Take 5
- 8 “Impossible” Goals Tesla Achieved
- Tesla News Flashbacks: 2009–2014
- Tesla — Dead For 10 Years
- 11 Tesla FUD Claims Of Years Past
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