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He’s also attracting a ton of right wingers who never would have bought a Tesla. I wonder if there’s a strategy there

vaidhy 4y ago
I am probably stereotyping here.. but the kind of people who get attracted to the right wing conspiracy theories tends to be more rural, non-college educated middle aged white men (and women) who also are likely to come from more rural parts of the country. I do not think the audience for Tesla is there. You need density to build charging infra. You need most of your trips to be short-distance away and your use mostly commuting. While they might feel happy about elon and kanye sticking it to the other side, they are not in market for an EV.
- ModernMech 4y ago
  You are stereotyping. The Jan 6 insurrection was perpetrated in large part by doctors, lawyers, state legislators, United States congresspeople, business executives, etc. The head of the oath keepers, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, is a Yale educated lawyer. It wasn’t the uneducated who were sending fake Certificates of the Vote to the VP. They were practicing lawyers and elected representatives of the government. The wife of a SCOTUS Justice is one of the biggest proponents of right wing conspiracy theories. It doesn’t get more elite than that.
synu 4y ago
Of the people who love culture wars and hate liberals, and yet at the same time also believe in climate change and want to buy an electric vehicle, aren’t they much more likely to buy the new electric f150? In general this combination of beliefs seems like too small of a segment to build a company with a market cap like Tesla’s around.
- wikfwikf 4y ago
  You don't have to believe in climate change to buy an electric vehicle. You might believe in energy independence, or you might just think it's going to work out cheaper.
  - synu 4y ago
    That’s fair, though isn’t the combination of people who believe those things plus also want their car purchase to explicitly signal their socially conservative political views (if we assume that actually is the strategy at work here) still a niche, rather than what would otherwise be valued as the largest car company in the world?

I am probably stereotyping here.. but the kind of people who get attracted to the right wing conspiracy theories tends to be more rural, non-college educated middle aged white men (and women) who also are likely to come from more rural parts of the country. I do not think the audience for Tesla is there. You need density to build charging infra. You need most of your trips to be short-distance away and your use mostly commuting. While they might feel happy about elon and kanye sticking it to the other side, they are not in market for an EV.

ModernMech 4y ago
You are stereotyping. The Jan 6 insurrection was perpetrated in large part by doctors, lawyers, state legislators, United States congresspeople, business executives, etc. The head of the oath keepers, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, is a Yale educated lawyer. It wasn’t the uneducated who were sending fake Certificates of the Vote to the VP. They were practicing lawyers and elected representatives of the government. The wife of a SCOTUS Justice is one of the biggest proponents of right wing conspiracy theories. It doesn’t get more elite than that.

synu 4y ago

Of the people who love culture wars and hate liberals, and yet at the same time also believe in climate change and want to buy an electric vehicle, aren’t they much more likely to buy the new electric f150? In general this combination of beliefs seems like too small of a segment to build a company with a market cap like Tesla’s around.

wikfwikf 4y ago
You don't have to believe in climate change to buy an electric vehicle. You might believe in energy independence, or you might just think it's going to work out cheaper.
- synu 4y ago
  That’s fair, though isn’t the combination of people who believe those things plus also want their car purchase to explicitly signal their socially conservative political views (if we assume that actually is the strategy at work here) still a niche, rather than what would otherwise be valued as the largest car company in the world?