Late Stage Capitalism

28 readers

1 users here now

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Tesla's dirty little secret: Its net profit doesn't come from selling cars (archive.is)

submitted 4 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 years ago (2 children)

Wait so could I create a shell company, manufacture exactly 1 car and sell it to myself, and then sell regulatory credits forever? Essentially making money with 0 expenses.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 years ago (1 children)

What does regulatory credit mean here? What exactly is Tesla doing here? I don't understand finance capital much.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 years ago* (last edited 4 years ago) (1 children)

A regulatory credit is essentially "points" you get for emitting low or no pollution. The more of these credits you have, the more pollution you're allowed to make without facing trouble, I think (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Tesla has been getting these credits for free from the government because their whole schtick is making "environmentally clean electric cars". So since they're getting them for free, they've just been selling them to other manufacturers. Instead of making a profit from creating cars, they're getting most of it from selling credits they got for free, essentially making money for no reason.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 years ago

according to the article:

Eleven states require automakers sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles by 2025. If they can't, the automakers have to buy regulatory credits from another automaker that meets those requirements -- such as Tesla, which exclusively sells electric cars.

Tesla has so many of these credits because the cars are electric. Now if the manufacturing process as well as the source of the energy were taken into account...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 years ago (1 children)

I think you get a certain number of credits for each car sold, so you would still have to produce and sell a lot of cars.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 years ago

Hm. Next question: can we somehow pass off bicycles as cars, legally speaking :thinking face:?