VIDEO: Tesla CEO 99 percent sure of DOE loan, calls NYT writer "a huge douchebag"
Since it was announced that the highly quotable Bob Lutz would be departing from his General Motors management spotlight, automotive bloggers and reporters everywhere have been mourning the loss of an executive with such an exquisite way with words. Now it appears that the pining may have been premature, thanks to the emergence of another top management type with the brass, it seems, to freely speak his mind in public.
In a new interview with Yahoo! Tech Ticker's Sarah Lacy, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was asked what he thought of an earlier New York Times piece that voiced opposition to a government loan for the electric car maker. With a huge smile indicating his delight in the opportunity to speak about the issue, Musk announced that "Randy Stross is a huge douchebag". After a brief pause he added, "...and an idiot." Take that, Mr. Fancy Pants reporter guy!
In the course of the interview, Musk goes on to explain exactly how he felt the writer in question cherry-picked from the facts to make a case for Department of Energy loan denial, going on to vigorously defend the Tesla business model. In the conversation that followed the opening barrage, it was very interesting to note the certitude expressed by Elon that Tesla Motors would receive the low interest loan requested from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program. Noting that his company is a "perfect fit" for ATVM funds, he states, "The odds of us getting that money ($350 million) are 99 percent..." alluding to assurances given in private meetings, Musk suggested the funds are coming and coming soon. Hit the jump for the entertaining and informative video.
Gallery: Tesla Model S
[Source: Tech Ticker via Tesla Motors Club]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Aprime 3:07PM (4/13/2009)
If he dies in an electrical fire, there won't be any tears coming from me.
Feels like Tesla is a company founded by a bunch of kids, you got the original dude who just keeps stabbinb Elon and Elon himself calling people names... And... Oh, do I really need to elaborate this further?
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ckm 4:13PM (4/13/2009)
@chuck
Too bad Elon Musk didn't design the car or even have the idea. He's just taking credit for Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning's vision, hard work and engineering.
Besides, Tesla needs around $850 million to build their sedan, $350 million will just stave off bankruptcy a little longer.
LM 5:26PM (4/13/2009)
Because if you run a company, you have to be completely serious and boring for the rest of your life. Lighten up, he was just having some fun.
Polly Prissy Pants 5:24PM (4/13/2009)
It's like a scene from "Idiocracy."
Sektor 3:09PM (4/13/2009)
From the childish remarks it is easy to see who the real douchebag is.
Tesla, a company run by idiots making cars for idiots.
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wonkydonkydotnet 3:25PM (4/13/2009)
Exactly!!
As in: "Yo Musk! -Who you callin' douchebag? -Douchebag!"
chuck 3:28PM (4/13/2009)
"Tesla, a company run by idiots making cars for idiots."
Right, Musk is the immature one here. Because anyone who can design, develop and produce the first electric sports car, comparable in performance and price to a Porsche GT3 must be an idiot. And anyone who can make a beautiful, high-performance electric sedan for the price of a BMW 5 series, without the help of any major automaker, is just stupid. And anyone who wishes to do their part in weaning America from her addiction of oil while diminishing CO2 emissions, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and noise pollution is CLEARLY a moron!
Mike P. 3:35PM (4/13/2009)
While I think Musk is an ass, I have to commend him for actually having the cajones to go out and build the Roadster and Model S. It's leaps and bounds better than anything any other company has done.
He's still an ass though.
I would like to see Tesla concentrate on a lower-priced vehicle next. But I guess that comes with time.
bc 3:43PM (4/13/2009)
Unless your electricity comes exclusively from wind, hydro, or nukes, electric cars don't necessarily do those things. The biggest fallacy of the electric car movement is that electricity magically appears at the plug with no environmental effects whatsoever. And if electric cars were to become popular enough that charging no longer just uses up slack demand capacity and requires adding peak capacity, we'll be using more oil and natural gas to generate electricity, because that's what fuels most utilities' surge capacity generators. Nobody seems to be taking a look at energy consumption as a system, not just pieces.
Sektor 3:48PM (4/13/2009)
@chuck:
Their efforts are commendable, but there are many things about Tesla that are just too shady (huge down payments in vehicles not yet available, extremely aggressive marketing, millions in "loans" from the government), largely thanks to Elon Musk, who was never involved with the automobile industry in any way, shape or form. I just find the guy too obnoxious.
Red 3:57PM (4/13/2009)
@ chuck,
What does maturity level have anything to do with designing cars? I know of many actors and actresses who can be complete douchebags and still give an Oscar-worthy performance. Name-calling is what elementary school children do. Elon Musk is a man. He should start acting like one. Not everyone is going to like what you do, but as a man, you pick yourself up, work your ass off like working your ass off is going out of style and you prove the haters wrong THAT way.
Elon Musk = Kanye West (pre-gayfish) of the car industry. All that brain and all that talent with zero common sense. Smh.
MemphisNET 4:08PM (4/13/2009)
Just because you're smart doesn't give you a free pass to be a jerk. Childish remarks like that is just the first stepping stone in a self-destructive pattern. You think investors want to be affiliated with someone like that? It will bite him in the ass eventually.
V3LOCIP3D3 4:15PM (4/13/2009)
Does anyone realize the hypocrisy in every comment on this post? "WHHAT?! Elon Musk called a man a douchebag?! What an immature douchebag!" ~someone with little self-awareness.
=great example of irony.
jeff 4:35PM (4/13/2009)
@bc - "exclusively" from wind, hydro and nukes?
That's a huge overstatement. Even in the "worst" case scenario of the US mix, electric vehicles charged largely by coal fired power plants still come out ahead of their gasoline powered equivalents (go try out Argonne National Laboratory's GREET model, free at their website). Any improvements made to the US's generation mix will only make it better, and there's lots of room for renewables to grow. In Canada, driving electric is already way ahead of gas-powered vehicles, thanks to the >50% contribution of hydro power.
A thermal powerplant is much more efficient and much more easily controlled and contained than a million ICE vehicles.
Kill The Fanboys 5:35PM (4/13/2009)
" Tesla, a company run by idiots making cars for idiots."
That made me laugh.
I get mixed feelings towards Tesla, I don't know exactly what to think of them... I want them to succeed but I really don't see it happening.
Mike 5:50PM (4/13/2009)
Hey Sektor you sound like an idiot so you must be an idiot.
Alex 3:11PM (4/13/2009)
I think Musk is a smacked-ass but i have to chuckle at him publicly calling a reporter a douchebag.
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BoxerFanatic 3:15PM (4/13/2009)
I don't think ANYONE should be getting government loans to do private business, banks, auto companies big or small, or John Q. Scheister.
Does that mean I am in the same group as the reporter?
"and that is why you FAIL."
Grow up, and get a clue.
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chuck 3:18PM (4/13/2009)
Well maybe, but the fact is that it has already been decided that our government wants to encourage the development of new technologies to keep us on the forefront of development. Considering this, Tesla is a pretty damn good investment
BoxerFanatic 3:19PM (4/13/2009)
One more point...
If you can vigorously defend your business model, then perhaps it should be viable without taxpayer dollars...
And depositors shouldn't have to be worried about the delivery of their products...
And this guy is calling other people names inappropriately?