[awkwarddaturtle]

Jesus. Look at the top comment and the replies in this thread. I find it hard to believe it is real HN commenters and not a TSLA PR campaign here.

"What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great."

Seriously? This is being voted up?

Also, the top commenter here "simonsarris" is a top commenter in the other TSLA thread.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14914310

It's like a TSLA/Elon cult meeting in this thread.

[dang]

Accusations of astroturfing and shillage are not allowed on HN unless you have evidence. (Plenty of explanations of this in the comments via https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=true&page=0&dateR....) Not only do you have no evidence, you're seriously misassessing HN if you think it isn't replete with sincere Tesla fanatics.

Worse, you broke the HN guidelines badly by smearing a particular user. We ban accounts that do that, so please don't do it again.

Moreover, you've been engaging in the kind of tedious flamewar that I pray every day, in vain, will not appear today on Hacker News.

So: lots of reasons not to comment like this.

Edit: actually, this account has been using HN primarily for political and ideological battle and flamewar in general, so I've banned it. This isn't what HN is for. (No, this is not because of TSLA shillage or whatever immigration policy you disapprove of.)

[tpolischuk]

The comment you are quoting is a snippet out of context. I'm not sure why you're so upset.

'Whether Tesla survives or not, these billions are some of the best spent money on the planet in the last 50 years. What are the accumulated losses so far? $5-10B? Even if Tesla were to spend another $50B and go bankrupt, I would still maintain it's great. What Tesla has achieved is so important in the long run for the environment, for ending the strategic dependence on oil dictatorships, and for renewing the belief in technology. And the cars are really nice too. Speculating, as some do, that the EV revolution would end with a Tesla bankruptcy is silly, not just because Google and Apple (and probably other companies) would be more than happy to take over before or after a bankruptcy, but also because consumers and the the auto industry have now been shown where to go. None of us can unlearn what Tesla has taught us. There is no way back now. Tesla has already won.'

[whatok]

Putting Tesla anywhere near a list of factors for "ending strategic dependence on oil dictatorships" is pure hyperbole at best.

[awkwarddaturtle]

> I'm not sure why you're so upset.

I'm not. But it's interesting how I just got swarmed by 3 commenters.

> The comment you are quoting is a snippet out of context.

The context makes it even worse.

"None of us can unlearn what Tesla has taught us. There is no way back now. Tesla has already won.'"

I can't believe you think that the "context" makes it any less cultish. The comment is almost messianic.

[prettygenius]

People can be very devoted to their brand. It doesn't mean they're automatically shills.

"OMG THIS GUY COMMENTED ON TWO TESLA THREADS, GET HIM!"

[throwfast1]

they have what appears to be a great product -- I am a lowly network security engineer and think I would enjoy working for them and interacting with their teams.

the reality is the tesla team has continually delivered (often later than expected) in spite of incredible odds including significant short interest in the company and the probably increase in short interest after articles like this.

I am rooting for them, despite the fact I probably will not buy one for a few years I like what they are doing and believe they are a net positive.

[jessriedel]

I don't see the jump from noting that the same enthusiastic fanboy is in the HN thread and the TSLA thread to "It's like a TSLA/Elon cult meeting in this thread." If you just note the connection without the inflammatory language, it's much more productive.

[awkwarddaturtle]

> I don't see the jump from noting that the same enthusiastic fanboy is in the HN thread and the TSLA thread to "It's like a TSLA/Elon cult meeting in this thread."

Have you read the comments and the replies?

[merb]

well seriously tesla is way way better than any german car company (and I'm from germany). Tesla burns trough cash (yes that's bad) and the germans "burn" (pollute) the cities. not that much better.

just looking at the diesel summit, what a big kind of joke.

[lafar6502]

Even accounting for recent VW emissions scandal, have you looked at their engines fuel consumption? Like a 170 hp diesel engine burning about 6 liters/100 km (47mpg? This is much better than any hybrid and much better than all EVs regarding CO2 emissions.. Just let this continue and we can forget about electric for a long time

[sireat]

Without resorting to hyperbole a reasonable case can be made that Tesla losing $5B is more utilitarian than SNAP,GRPN,ZNGA losing $5B.

It is all about how society allocates its capital/claim checks(to use Buffett's term).

Case is simple: we need to move away from fossil fuel economy at some point before it is too late.

We can argue whether TSLA approach is wrong and whether we have plenty of time to adapt.

[dlandis]

And yet those comments are making more substantive points than yours. You are just expressing disbelief.