Milking the Drying Up Cow

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How do you make money when half of the profit you make depends on government? You make EVS, is how.

But first, you get the government to require that other companies either reduce what’s called their “carbon footprint” – or buy credits from you for making EVs. The credits are viewed by the government – by the regulatory apparat – as equivalent to the company that buys them reducing the amount of “carbon” its operations produce, thereby satisfying the regs without actually reducing the amount of “carbon” produced by that company’s operations.

It works like a supermarket coupon for 10 percent off.

Just without the free exchange.

A more accurate description would be supermarket “a” having to buy credits from supermarket “b” in order be allowed to sell anything at all.

This, in a nutshell, is the business model that built Tesla – and which now keeps it afloat. That – plus artificially inflated stock valuation based on government (via the regulatory apparat) essentially requiring that more EVs be manufactured – and eventually, only EVs –  leaving people no alternative to buying them.

The Wall Street Journal reports that half of Tesla’s second quarter profits – which by the way are down by about 45 percent – were “earned” (to misuse a word) via “selling” carbon credits to other companies that are effectively forced to purchase them in order to be allowed to sell anything at all.

Hence the air fingers quote marks bracketing the latter word. A “sale” that involves coercion is like a “date” that involves rape, in other words.

And rape can be financial as well as sexual.

Tesla used financial rape to finance the development of its first batch of EVs – chiefly by making other car companies (which at the time made no “zero emissions” EVs of their own) pay to offset the costs of designing and manufacturing them – by using the government to coerce them into buying credits from Tesla to satisfy government requirements that they also make “zero emissions” devices, irrespective of the absence of any market for them.

This costs them, of course.

But it was easier to just cut Tesla a check than it was to design and manufacture EVs of their own that they knew they would probably not be able to sell. Lots of hassle avoided by just paying up.

And so they did, bankrolling their own “competition,” which of course it isn’t, really – because absent government, there would be no Tesla. Except, perhaps as a very low volume manufacturer of extremely expensive toys for those with the money to spend on them.

Other companies that don’t make vehicles also “buy” credits from Tesla, which is the only manufacturer of “zero emissions” EVs exclusively. Tesla gets a lot of credit – and extorted cash – for that.

Screenshot

The other car companies now build EVs, too – but only enough to satisfy the “zero emissions” regulations and sales quotas that have been imposed in states such as CA. Not enough to “sell” carbon credits of their own – much as some of them would probably love to get into that “business.”

As recently as last year – the final year you could still buy cars like the Charger and Challenger as well as a V8 in a Ram truck – Stellantis was “buying” credits from Tesla worth millions annually (and billions, overall; you can read more about that here).

It no longer has to buy them – because it no longer sells the Charger and Challenger or the Hemi V8. Of course, it no longer sells those vehicles – or that engine – which used to provide the earnings needed to pay the credits and kept Dodge and Ram in the business of selling vehicles.

Dodge and Ram may not have to pay Tesla, going forward. But that’s like a person declaring bankruptcy so as to avoid having to pay creditors.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s “earnings” – all this italicizing can be tedious but it’s necessary in the interests of etymological honesty – are down by 45 percent, not counting the half of that that’s due to government taking (and redistributing). If that taking were taken into account, Tesla’s latest “earnings” would be half what Tesla just reported. Put another way, Tesla’s losses would be unsustainable – a word the Left loves to use to deride businesses that don’t require government to remain in business.

These are the facts, though it is hard for them to break through the battle-armor of obfuscation that shields Tesla and other “green” rackets from scrutiny. Tesla in particular has been portrayed as a kind of show-’em-how-it’s-done operation – and the “legacy” automakers as stupid brutes, brontosauri too dim to understand the import of that bright light in the sky that keeps getting brighter and brighter as it gets closer and closer.

And in a sense, that’s true.

They failed to understand that grift is the future – though now many of them have seen the light and want a piece of the action, too. The problem there is the pie’s already mostly been eaten and now it’s just crumbs left to fight over.

. . .

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46 COMMENTS

  1. How is that shitbag company worth &700B? Musk is an incredible fraudster with the character of a 9 year old. how’s that Hyperloop doing? underground traffic tunnels? mission to Mars? SpaceX? How does he get away with all his corruption? Oh, He is EV Jesus.

  2. WSJ has an excellent article out about how Tesla’s “self driving mode” has been responsible for over a thousand crashes that were reported to NHTSA but have been redacted and hidden from public view.
    https://www.wsj.com/video/series/tesla-autopilot/the-hidden-autopilot-data-that-reveals-why-teslas-crash/68D26569-0251-4637-A035-A5131D8883B8?ace_config=%7B%22wsj%22:%7B%22djcmp%22:%7B%22propertyHref%22:%22https://wsj.ios.app%22%7D%7D%7D&ace_environment=iostablet,webview&wsj_native_webview=ipad

    • After a quick search it appears that the EPA has simply been mandated to create their requirements under the authority of their own agency. No law was passed at least for these final 2027 final rules. The EPA is catagorizing carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases (GHG): ttps://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/final-rule-multi-pollutant-emissions-standards-model

      • And not a single auto executive has the sack to challenge the Blob even in light of the Chevron decision in the Supreme Court.

  3. Hi Eric,
    Quote:
    The other car companies now build EVs, too – but only enough to satisfy the “zero emissions” regulations and sales quotas that have been imposed in states such as CA. Not enough to “sell” carbon credits of their own – much as some of them would probably love to get into that “business.”

    This is all evidence we need. I really belive tesla wont be allowed to fail. Whatever poeple do goverment picked its winner. If nessesary poeple will pay carbon taxes for breathing to pump tesla stock higher.

  4. The “rules” and “laws” and “regulations” are presented as “save the planet” type MKUltra bullshit for the masses not because its good for the planet, but bc its good for not only the aforementioned grift/corruption, but also for the destruction of the Auto industry, and thus, industrial capacity and know-how as a whole. This is a long range communist plan, and guess what…they’ve won.

  5. “Carbon credits” are one of the biggest grifts of all time, the Fedgov making Eloon into a billionaire without him doing anything useful for society in general.

  6. Scotty Kilmer is a car freak on YouTube, he drove a Cybertruck.

    The steering wheel was making a grinding noise at the start, glass to the hilt. Mentioned the position of the headlights and wondered why they were approved for production.

    84 grand for a Cybertruck, they will all be the same.

    Said he would never pay that much, but he would spend a hundred dollars on a raffle ticket to win one. Sell it right away, make some money.

    It was screen city on the dashboard.

    2017 used Teslas sell for 13,999 USD at those car selling sites.

    • Got a good laugh over this:

      “While the video is undoubtedly alarming, it’s crucial to avoid panic and misinformation. The incident should serve as a reminder to handle EV batteries with caution, but it doesn’t negate the numerous benefits of electric vehicles.”

      • Hi Alex,

        That quote sounds suspiciously like those who said (paraphrasing) “Don’t be alarmed if you get COVID after getting vaxxed. It’s crucial to avoid misinformation, as the benefits of getting vaxxed still outweigh any negative effects.”

  7. Heads should roll over the electric car fiasco

    Policymakers have wasted billions chasing a net zero pipe dream. It is time they were held accountable

    Mercedes have quietly dropped their electric SUVs

    Ford is losing nearly $50,000 on every EV it Sells……. while Tesla’s profits dropped 45%

    the EV industry is on the brink of collapse…. hundreds of billions of euros dollars and pounds have been pumped into this industry by political leaders and the subsidy junkies that surround them

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/27/heads-should-roll-over-the-electric-car-fiasco/

    • No heads will roll. Instead, the auto industry will get bail-outs with “net zero” strings attached, and there will be a ban on the internal combustion engine. Just wait and see.

  8. After the milk cow has dried up, you can make her into porterhouse steaks and some good burger.

    If you haven’t noticed, everybody who owns a car drives their car from here to there and back again.

    It is all day long, it is uncanny. What in the world are they doing?

    There is no stopping them.

    The oil cow might dry up. Oh well.

    Vehicle manufacturing for one year worldwide totaled 94 million in 2023.

    Two tires for motorcycles, four for cars, trucks, farm machinery, 300 million tires needed or some number like that.

    All that work for just one year of manufacturing ICE and electric vehicles, Klaus is apopleptic.

    The coal cow won’t dry up for a few centuries, it’ll be chaotic for a few more years.

    Dry Hole Charlie drilled for oil in California, he struck it rich with the Lakeview Gusher, 578 days later, there were 9,000,000 barrels of oil, berms were built so it didn’t get washed out to sea.

    Oil must be a desirable resource or something. A cash cow.

    • Its also an unlimited natural resource that constantly replenishes itself in the deep Earth.
      The Russians have known this for decades, the science on it is solid.

      • You are correct.
        First of all, let’s get rid of the term fossil fuels.
        Naturally-occurring hydrocarbons are abiotic.
        Hydrocarbon products are constantly being created deep within the earth by yet-unknown processes well below the layers that contain fossils. Keep in mind that hydrocarbons migrate upward and pass through fossil layers picking up remnants of fossil material; hence, the present-day scientists’ stupid, ignorant mistaken assumption that hydrocarbons are derived from fossils.
        Oil interests are drilling wells at 5,000 feet, 10,000 feet, and 15,000 feet and deeper, and coming up with oil deposits well below the layers and levels where fossils were known to exist.
        As Russia gained much expertise in deep-well drilling and coming up with oil deposits far deeper than that of the level of fossils, abiotic oil at extreme depths was actually a Russian state secret for a long time.
        Peak oil and fossil fuels are discredited dishonest concepts that environmentalists and others are latching on to, in order to display their hatred of oil being a renewable resource as well as to push prices up.
        Follow the money.
        Naturally-occurring hydrocarbons have done more to advance civilization than any other influence. It is the discovery, creation and utilization of ENERGY that propels civilizations upward and onward.
        We have more oil underneath our feet than the rest of the world. In fact, we became energy independent under Trump. That trend was reversed with the Biden regime.
        In fact, one of Saturn’s moons (Titan) is primarily composed of hydrocarbons (without fossils).
        For a good treatise on abiotic oil, please google L. Fletcher Prouty. He is a scientist who gives a good explanation of abiotic oil.

        • Thomas Gold wrote a book called The Deep Hot Biosphere which detailed the science on the matter.
          Ask a skeptic how they account for Russia drilling a 20,000 foot hole under 2 miles of ocean and finding oil.
          Oil is literally everywhere.

  9. Elon Musk does keep the pot stirred up, whether he is stirring in male bovine fecal matter, or beef bullion. Mostly the former, I would say.
    He talks the talk, but rarely walks the walk.
    He’s a grifter.

    • In the spirit of giving credit where due, Musk has been helpful to the cause of liberty by freeing up X (formerly Twitter). Although I understand it’s not entirely free, at least it’s not the pure regime propaganda factory that it was in say 2020.

  10. Carbon credits have been little more than a GIANT SCAM disguised as making corporations appear to be “environmentally conscious”, though it has probably fooled a lot of people who bought the BS about “cliiiiiiiiiiiimate change caused by evil hewmons!”

    • The boys down in the CBOT pits love the carbon trade. Just like they loved the acid rain trade, they made money on both sides of the action.

  11. I saw a Cybertruck last week for the first time. It’s ugly and impractical. The person driving it used it as a rolling billboard for his business. It does garner attention because EVs aren’t all that common in my neck of Dixie.

    According to google, the ugly truckling goes from $80K and up to $102K. Yikes.

    • Hi Mike,

      Not only are Cybertrucks UGLY, there have been numerous problems with them since their introduction a few years ago, such as windows that aren’t bulletproof despite being advertised as such, and the edges of the doors and hood being sharp enough to slice your hands and even vegetables. Not only that, I’ve even seen video of Cybertrucks needing to be towed out of wooded areas by GAS trucks.

    • I saw my first Cybertruck too here in Tulsa. Looks like a shiny dumpster on wheels. I parked my Firebird next to it to offset the ugly.

    • >I saw a Cybertruck last week for the first time.
      So did I.
      > It’s ugly and impractical.
      Agree.
      They might sell 4 or 5 of them.
      If you can’t fit a lumber rack, it is not a pickup.
      And WTF does “cyber” have to do with “truck?”
      Not a damned thing, as far as I can tell.

  12. I have heard the argument from people who should know better that Tesla’s future will be robot taxis and the Optimus, their humanoid robot which Elon says he is planning to use to replace people on the EV assembly lines in the next few years.

    Just like the Cybertruck was going to replace the F150?

    Then there are the members of the crowd I call the Far Out Space Nuts, who admit that Musk is running a grift but that what he does with the profits building rockets is “too important to the future of humanity” to stop now.

  13. There is no better solution than to gut the government by 90+%. That is obviously not my idea.

    Big Mike/Tall Eric for the WH…

    🙂

    • Hi Maup!

      I’d take the gig of Transportation Secretary for six months – at no pay – just long enough to close down its operations.

      No Big Mike for me, though!

      • I’d do the same, except I’d be happy to do it u see a Big Mike presidency. Just to see the look on his/her face when the realization hits. And I’d be sure to hang on as long as possible so my work wouldn’t get undone.

        In fact that would be the best time. Get rid of it during an 8-year Dem administration, then you most likely get 8 years of Repugnicans who will most likely not replace it, so by the time the next Dem president comes around it will have been out of the picture for 16 years and a very uphill battle to reinstate anything.

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