WUWT reader “bouldersolar” writes in with this and a couple of photos, which I’ve combined into one.
In Colorado I got back almost $50,000 from the state and federal governments to buy this car.
Before you think this is just too ridiculous to be true, read this article.
This stems from a comment he made a couple of days ago on WUWT:
Speaking of annoying people with your Tesla. As a Tesla owner in Boulder Colorado I have a bumper sticker on it that says” Environmentalists took money from the poor to pay me to buy this car”
I am amazed at the violent reaction I get from all those Boulder peace loving non violent progressives to this message.
He should just leave the car unlocked with the key in the ignition(???). That way everybody who paid for it would theoretically get a chance to drive it.
I am moving to Colorado and buying one! WOW!
What i always find so amazing is how the Commie Socialist Progressive Leftist Democrats continually claim that it is the Right that is in the pocket of and taking care of the wealthy in the country. In reality most of the money that flows through the government to upper income groups and individuals does so as a result of programs that originated from the Left. Nearly 2/3rds of what the government does is to cut checks to people and most of that goes to people who, by any rational measure, have incomes which indicate they shouldn’t be eligible for subsidy. Back when the debt ceiling charade was in full bloom, Thomas Sowell had a column where he suggested one good way to get us well on the way to a balanced budget would be for the government to just quit writing checks to millionaires and billionaires.
Even the Left’s most sacred of sacred cows, Social Security and Medicare. is about as regressive a system as one could design, even if that were your intent in the first place. The lowly burger flipper ( as an aside, I see that fast food places in North Dakota are offering up to $15.00/hr to start because the ongoing boom in OIL drilling has made it nearly impossible to attract applicants. So much for GREEN ENERGY JOBS.) pays a full 15.3% of his meager wages in payroll taxes, but because the tax is capped at $105,000, the person at the threshold of the top 1%, who earned $335,000 in 2009, pays a 4.8% rate. Of course it declines dramatically for the rest of the segment. Although AARP’s stereotype of old folks is that they are all one government check away from eating Alpo in a refrigerator box under a bridge somewhere, almost true in my own case.. the reality is that old crocks are the wealthiest of the age demographics and the Dems’ crown jewel has been systematically redistributing wealth from the poor and downtrodden to much richer old crocks on golf courses in expensive retirement communities in Florida for decades.
Ag subsidies, supposed to save the family farmer, go almost without exception to giant agro firms. Green energy stimulus money went to billionaire political contributors, no garage based innovators need apply. I could go on but my anger is dissipating.
What is most amazing is the number of people who still buy into the notion that any politician actually “cares” a jot for any lower income folks. except as they constitute a reliable voting block for their reelection.
It worse than you think Anthony
Tesla’s June 30, 2011 accounts (available at Investor Relations at the Tesla web site) show accumulated losses of $522,175,000. Since inception in 2003, Tesla had delivered 1840 roadsters world wide at June 30.
That’s a loss of $283,790.76 per car! Despite revenue of circa $100,000 per car!
So, tell me again, how much subsidy did Henry Ford’s customers get when they bought model ‘T’s?
Hmm. Colorado is a great place to live, but it get stranger and stranger.
Yesterday’s Denver Business Journal:
Notwithstanding the foreboding sense of deja vu from the Solyndra debacle, ten states “wanted this” project – it must be a good thing that we got it… (right?) Well, I hope GE can do what the government couldn’t.
Then there’s:
Colorado panel debates stoned-driving threshold
http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_18848981?source=pkg
Sure hope they work this one out. It should make people think twice about taking that extra “hit”.
Last but not least, there’s:
Colorado approves two leases for Christo river project
Citing potential revenue, the state land board agrees to open up 7.7 acres for canopies over the Arkansas River. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19067783
Next up: Using pink, 3-ply ultrasoft, Christo and his life partner will t-p Colorado State capitol building.
More on the tesla:
$43000 State, $7500 Federal rebate. I won’t be paying state income tax for a while. Car has been keyed and superglued. (Superglued the button). Sign was on the outside but was constantly ripped off so I put it on the inside window. When I drive it in Jefferson County instead of Boulder I get a lot of thumbs up reaction to the sign.
Benn driving he Tesla non stop to Steamboat Springs which is 176 miles and two mountain passes from Boulder. i Arrive with a third of a “tank”. Never had “range anxiety” with this car. Once on the way back raced a Porsche turbo “whale tail” up to Eisenhower tunnel and beat him. Car is charged 100% by solar along with my present RAV4 and the previous EV1 I had. Fantastic acceleration and performance. (The “Tesla grin” is due to the g forces acting on your face when you floor it). I recommend anybody looking for a high performance gas two seater to buy this instead even if you don’t get a rebate and are not an “environmentalist”.
Felt guilty about the rebate and sent the proceeds to the local EFAA charity.
Only slightly OT….. finally we have a politician stating what needs to be stated.
“I do not accept the premise, I do not accept the choice, that we must pick between energy and the environment.”
“His [Obama] energy policies are driven by the concerns of activists in his party. My policies are driven by the concerns of American workers without jobs.”
Whether you like the messenger or not, don’t let this message become muted.
http://suyts.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/finally/
Re Robin Hood & rich/poor.
According to legend, he took it from the local tax-collector and returned it to the overtaxed populus.
Bouldersolar says:
October 14, 2011 at 11:11 am
“Car is charged 100% by solar along with my present RAV4 and the previous EV1 I had.”
Could you describe the system(s) that allow you to accomplish this.
Bouldersolar – thanks for the update on the performance.
How long does re-charging take? I guess you have to be storing your solar charge somewhere or do you have the Tesla at home during the day?
Anyone earning over a certain income should be MADE to purchase one of those things – without any subsidies attached.
It’s the only way to advertise how ridiculous those electric carts really are in real world motoring.
It reminds me of the anti-hero Superciuk from Alan Ford comics, who steals from poor people and gives to rich, like an anti-Robin Hood of sorts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ford_%28comics%29
I breezed over to the Tesla site and found these numbers:
300Wh/mile (188Wh/km). Multiply 300Wh/mile (188Wh/km) by your daily driving distance to estimate your daily vehicle energy consumption.
I wonder now what the storage capacity of the battery bank on that car is ? I assume I’d like to be able to drive 600 miles in a day, for instance driving over to ski in Utah from my home in Nevada. Could it do that ? The SUV I drive does it in two tanks of gas, figure 40 gallons of regular unleaded..
Required reading for those participating in electric car debates:
Who are the biggest electric car liars – the BBC, or Tesla Motors? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/18/bbc_tesla_edinburgh_e_car_shenanigans/page4.html
Bottom line: London to Edinburgh (roughly LA to San Francisco or New York City to Buffalo) in 19 hours despite prepositioning two high capacity charging stations.
@M.A.Vukcevic says:
October 14, 2011 at 9:56 am
He really was a genius. The Tesla thing is a dishonour to his name.
Gary says:
October 14, 2011 at 10:39 am
The “poor” don’t pay much if anything in income taxes. The shrinking middle class OTOH…
Income tax is not the only tax. As far as I know you don’t have VAT (value added tax) in the United States but don’t you have other sales taxes? In Britain it is not unusual for relatively poor people to pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes of all kinds than the rich who can employ lawyers and accountants to advise them on tax dodges. The impact of “green” taxes will probably be greater on the relatively poor too. I would be surprised if the situation is very different in the United States.
Based on the Boulder – Steamboat numbers cited above, I would need a bit more that 2X the existing capacity in that car. I wonder what the “S” sedan would do?
Range on the sports car seems to be a bit better than 260 miles. And then how long does it take to “fill the tank” on conventional 110 VAC ?
I assume that the car comes with an inverter to be able to feed off of conventional voltage sources.
@M.A.Vukcevic says:
Technically, it was Marconi and David Sarnoff who did in Tesla when they beat his radio patent fight with their much deeper pockets.
As for the car pissing off hippies–excellent. It pisses me off that our taxes paid for it. They should “share the wealth.”
I live in Boulder too and am amazed at your bravery. I knew someone with a Hummer who was constantly harassed. He joined a volunteer fire dept so he could have a fire fighter license plate to polish his image. No luck, saving homes & human lives wasn’t enough, he was still hated. Then he added a large decal for Animal Rescue and was beloved.
Bouldersolar says:
October 14, 2011 at 11:11 am
Awesome! Thanks for the road report. Don’t think I can afford one though :^(
It’s a shame we can’t broadcast power to a Tesla on the road.
Ira Glickstein, PhD says: “Robin Hood “took from the rich and gave to the poor” (keeping a bit for himself :^).
A guy’s gotta live, yaknow? Those bowstrings and arrows are exPENsive! Not to mention beer, green camo duds, beer, medical insurance, beer. Early on, he tried taking from the poor and giving to the rich (keeping a bit for himself), but it didn’t work out, for some reason. We don’t need Robin Hood, any more. We have the government.
Yay, Glick!!!
Pretty car, but I won’t be trading my Gallardo.
It is a beautiful car and all it needs is a credible power train to make it into a car people want. There is always the question of how this light car holds up in a crash, and the cost of insurance. You have to wonder how many of those left greenies giving this guy grief depend only on a green battery propelled car.
What is the Tesla’s range during use on cold winter nights?
Gras Albert, as I recall Al Gore is a major investor in Tesla, and Tesla received financial support from the US Government in the form of “stimulus grants and/or loan guarantees. Am I wrong? If not, Rep Issa should investigate Tesla, which appears headed for bankruptcy, before any more taxpayer money is squandered on this loser.