I agree that a widely held negative view of the technology would be detrimental to many of our favorite startups. However, so far it seems that the popular (not

I agree that a widely held negative view of the technology would be detrimental to many of our favorite startups. However, so far it seems that the popular (not political) press has been very factually oriented. For instance the bad press from the several problems that Fisker had with launching their vehicle did not spill over and cloud Tesla's reputation. (Although not all of Fisker's problems had to do with batteries, obviously.) Hopefully Boeing is only ruining their own rep (though the impact on US-headquartered manufacturing is unfortunate). Tesla is, so far, unscathed. Interestingly enough, Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Staubel created some kind of hybrid propulsion system for aircraft, that I believe was purchased by Boeing. So there are definitely connections (if not continuity of technology) between the companies. [Edited for clarity]