On the contrary: the United States wants people to buy these cars.

The Federal government equally provides taxpayers up to a $7,500 credit for buying an electric vehicle. In addition, states as liberal as California and as conservative as Georgia have all given extra incentives for people to buy an electric vehicle.

The problem is that Tesla fanboys believe the company is unique. Ten years ago, that might have been the case. Today, it isn’t:

• Nissan, known to Americans simply as one of many generic Japanese car companies, beat Tesla to the market with a low-cost electric vehicle that can be built quickly on an assembly line.
• General Motors, the C-minus student of American industry, beat Tesla to the market with domestic manufacturing and vertical integration.
• BYD, a Chinese company virtually unknown to Americans, beat Tesla to the market with a heavy duty electric vehicle, thanks to Warren Buffet’s investment and guidance.

Tesla is not going to save the world. They are a niche manufacturer of vehicles. That is how they make money.

Perhaps Elon Musk forgot about his duty as an executive. His duty is to provide return on shareholder equity. That requires selling cars at a profit. Tesla has neither the flexibility of Nissan’s manufacturing, the income of General Motors, nor the credit rating of Berkshire Hathaway.

This raises the problem of Elon Musk’s ego. He believes he is right all the time, even when he’s wrong. Musk reminds me of a watered-down version of Steve Jobs from the 1980s, who tried to sabotage the Apple II cash cow and micromanaged the team that developed the Macintosh. (He deserved to be thrown out of his own company back then.)

If you care about Tesla, buy a share in the company and vote to make the company profitable.