I had the strangest dream a few nights ago of piloting a Tesla Model 3, and finding it quite horrid. I’ve not driven one in real life, and I can’t see myself doing so, as it’s the sort of thing you can’t bring yourself to do for fear of being seen, embarrassed, in one. Or just fearing for your life.
The below Mastodon post (for which I have not done the maths, or even the math) was interesting in breaking down how the purchase price is divided. If only car makers could be this transparent.
Elon Musk thinks he’s worth a $56B pay package. Tesla has 140,000 employees in the U.S.
That’s $400K per employee he’s stealing.
It also works out to $35K per Tesla automobile made in the U.S. this year.
So if you buy Tesla’s cheapest model, 75% of your monthly payment is going directly to Elon, while the other 25% goes towards paying the factory workers, buying parts and supplies, and keeping the factory running.
(The usual Mastodon embed code does not seem to work presently.)
Another post, from Emeritus Prof Christopher May, was equally interesting, and mirrors something we’ve said:
While some are worried the Tangerine Tyrant’s likely ratcheting up of tariffs will dent international trade, elsewhere optimism about trade still rules.
Shipping firms have ordered in the last year a record number of new container ships; certainly some will be replacing old vessels, but this acceleration in shipbuilding suggests that shipping firms take the view (like some economists) that any closing of the US economy will merely prompt more trading between other countries.
Regardless of the US’s position on tariffs after Donald Trump is sworn in as president, the rest of the world’s countries expect to be doing business amongst themselves. There is historical precedent for this (e.g. China during the Ching Dynasty). I did advance a similar position, albeit about the car industry, in the latest Autocade Year of Cars, how the US car could wind up very different to what is sold elsewhere. This, too, has historical precedent.
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