3 ms·

How much money has SolarCity gotten from the government? Looks like at least 2.5 billion [1]. Tesla and SpaceX haven't been super dependent on government funds

How much money has SolarCity gotten from the government? Looks like at least 2.5 billion [1]. Tesla and SpaceX haven't been super dependent on government funds. But SolarCity definitely has. Musk's real super power might be in getting free money. I suppose the phrase here is don't hate the player hate the game. But it still rubs me the wrong way. As unpopular as that opinion may be. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-2015...

andys627 10y ago
Tesla got $1.25bn from State of NV: http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/04/nevada-strikes-billion-tax-break-deal-tesla/15096777/ http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/04/nevada-strikes-bill...
chatmasta 10y ago
Isn't the point of these government grants to give away "free money?" Would you rather they give the grants to some unproven electric car startup?
- forrestthewoods 10y ago
  I'd rather the government didn't pick winners.
  - chatmasta 10y ago
    So you're against government subsidies in general? This "free money" is part of pro-environmental policy. The point is to subsidize development in areas where it may be economically irrational without a subsidy, especially when the non-economic benefits are worthwhile to society. The nice thing about subsidies is they create a cascade effect. Once one company is having success in alternative energy, older companies are forced to catch up. The oil companies and automotive companies have all been dragging their feet. Tesla has already forced auto companies to ramp up EV development. Also, the government doesn't have to "pick winners." They can give the most money to Tesla, since they're clearly a better bet than an unproven startup, and still give money to new startups. Once a startup proves itself at the level Tesla has, it can get more money. There are plenty of subsidies to go around. It seems like a few billion dollars is a bargain price to pay for accelerated development of alternative energy.
  - erdevs 10y ago
    You'd rather they pick losers? Spread investments evenly without regard to any evidence?
tim333 10y ago
Whether the government funding is good or bad depends a bit on what the effect is. Glancing at the LA times article it seems to be aimed either at climate change, which may prove a worthwhile investment, or creating jobs in places like Buffalo which may pay for itself. Or not...
mulcahey 10y ago
Specifically in response to that Times article: http://electrek.co/2015/05/30/opinion-times-article-on-musks-empire-being-fueled-by-government-subsidies-is-grossly-one-sided/ http://electrek.co/2015/05/30/opinion-times-article-on-musks... Elon argues that the subsidies only make sense because they offset the much greater subsidies that the fossil fuel industry gets implicitly from negative externalities (to the tune of over 5 trillion): http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new070215a.htm http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new070215... Some people still like to argue that Tesla is propped up by government help, but by this slide they put up in their shareholders meeting, that's clearly not the case: https://youtu.be/DvVlNkL8f_o?t=2h9m20s https://youtu.be/DvVlNkL8f_o?t=2h9m20s
- forrestthewoods 10y ago
  Tesla and SpaceX are self-sustaining. SolarCity is not. SolarCity is also Musk's largest subsidy beneficiary.

andys627 10y ago

Tesla got $1.25bn from State of NV: http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/04/nevada-strikes-billion-tax-break-deal-tesla/15096777/ http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/04/nevada-strikes-bill...

chatmasta 10y ago

Isn't the point of these government grants to give away "free money?" Would you rather they give the grants to some unproven electric car startup?

forrestthewoods 10y ago
I'd rather the government didn't pick winners.
- chatmasta 10y ago
  So you're against government subsidies in general? This "free money" is part of pro-environmental policy. The point is to subsidize development in areas where it may be economically irrational without a subsidy, especially when the non-economic benefits are worthwhile to society. The nice thing about subsidies is they create a cascade effect. Once one company is having success in alternative energy, older companies are forced to catch up. The oil companies and automotive companies have all been dragging their feet. Tesla has already forced auto companies to ramp up EV development. Also, the government doesn't have to "pick winners." They can give the most money to Tesla, since they're clearly a better bet than an unproven startup, and still give money to new startups. Once a startup proves itself at the level Tesla has, it can get more money. There are plenty of subsidies to go around. It seems like a few billion dollars is a bargain price to pay for accelerated development of alternative energy.
- erdevs 10y ago
  You'd rather they pick losers? Spread investments evenly without regard to any evidence?

tim333 10y ago

Whether the government funding is good or bad depends a bit on what the effect is. Glancing at the LA times article it seems to be aimed either at climate change, which may prove a worthwhile investment, or creating jobs in places like Buffalo which may pay for itself. Or not...

mulcahey 10y ago

Specifically in response to that Times article: http://electrek.co/2015/05/30/opinion-times-article-on-musks-empire-being-fueled-by-government-subsidies-is-grossly-one-sided/ http://electrek.co/2015/05/30/opinion-times-article-on-musks... Elon argues that the subsidies only make sense because they offset the much greater subsidies that the fossil fuel industry gets implicitly from negative externalities (to the tune of over 5 trillion): http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new070215a.htm http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new070215... Some people still like to argue that Tesla is propped up by government help, but by this slide they put up in their shareholders meeting, that's clearly not the case: https://youtu.be/DvVlNkL8f_o?t=2h9m20s https://youtu.be/DvVlNkL8f_o?t=2h9m20s

forrestthewoods 10y ago
Tesla and SpaceX are self-sustaining. SolarCity is not. SolarCity is also Musk's largest subsidy beneficiary.