So what happens to the thousands of Tesla owners

[leftyladyfrommo]

if Tesla goes down?

[sop]

1. Maybe Biden will bail Tesla out, like Obama did with General Motors and Chrysler.

[JHB]

3. Only on the condition that Musk divests all ownership interest and stock

Such a bailout is to ensure stability and ensure the company's workers and suppliers' workers don't pay a steep price for folly elsewhere. It can't be allowed to be a bailout for the vandals.

[jmowreader]

19. This is going to be a difficult one

Any action the government takes toward getting Tesla into the hands of a responsible buyer will cause the Hard Right to brand Biden a socialist and the Republicans to impeach him.

If the government does nothing it will cause the Hard Right to blame Biden for doing nothing to protect the “millions of Americans” who bought Musk’s low-quality cars and for the Republicans to impeach him.

I think we’re looking at the modern-day Volkswagen Beetle. They haven’t made those cars in decades, but so many of them are out there that there’s a huge aftermarket parts industry.

Fortunately for the electric car, all the companies that make cars are either already in the electric car business or are planning to go into it.

[grantcart]

24. You do realize that he kept the companies running but the shareholders

Lost their wallets. When the companies recapitalized the government sold their shares and got the money back.

[sop]

25. Seriously, I doubt Joe would even consider it.

Tesla's in trouble because all the other car makers will be selling better EVs for less money in the not too distant future.

[70sEraVet]

2. They will achieve the same status as Yugo owners!

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. I think I saw a Yugo once. nt

[Just A Box Of Rain]

31. I drove one. I was actually considering buying one as my first car.

The proletarian nature of the car was something I actually found appealing (along with the price).

However, when I tried doing some "hard braking" as a test, it felt like the (very thing) brake lever bent ever-so-slightly--so I took a pass and bought a 1959 VW Bug instead.

[ProfessorGAC]

32. Late In His Career, My Dad...

…sold Buicks. (He was a driver that delivered milk to the supermarkets until the co-ops in Wisconsin and Michigan squeezed the IL dairies out.)
Anyway, the dealership decided to have one line of cheap cars. They picked Yugo.
The car in the showroom was 10 feet from my dad’s desk.
When we went to buy my wife a Regal, she was fascinated by the tiny car. (I though it was ugly, though.)
My dad nixed it in a half-second. He said he test drove a brand new one with an out 6 miles on it. He thought it was a piece of junk and would never recommend one.
That’s likely why they quickly went the way of the dodo.

[yellowcanine]

33. Ouch. Low blow.

I remember Click and Clack telling a woman to buy a used Toyota rather than a new Yugo at the same price because "New Junk" is still junk.

[Zorro]

4. Tesla isn't going down

Despite all the feverish dreams of the Musk haters.

[BannonsLiver]

26. What is it that you admire so much about him?

[former9thward]

37. There is zero evidence Tesla is going down.

If you know of some maybe you can link to it == which the OP did not do either.

[BannonsLiver]

38. That wasn't what I asked, and you're not who I asked, but thanks, I guess.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. I know this sounds dumb but what if their computer goes

down? What if their phones quit working because the whole system goes down? My friends Tesla is just a huge computer.

[Amishman]

11. software is the least of the worries, I would expect an open source project to spring up

with a high chance of the actual source code getting leaked somehow.

physical components would be my worry

[jmowreader]

20. Physical components are not a huge problem

Titan Gilroy of Titans of CNC, a massive machine shop in Texas, has two things going for Tesla owners: a love of Teslas and every kind of CNC machine tool you can think of. Right now he’s probably thinking “I better take my car apart and scan all the parts in it in case I need to start selling Tesla parts.”

[getagrip_already]

6. it's complicated.... It could become a very stylish brick.....

Tesla didn't just sell cars, which could conceivably be serviced with after market parts and service techs.

They also sold SW, which is tightly integrated into the cars, it's navigation system, security, performance, and autopilot system. As a Tesla customer, you don't own that SW; you just license it. It could shut down at any time and there would be no way to regain functionality, leaving the car lifeless.

And one other thing they maintain - The distributed charging system. Tesla has thousands of rapid charging stations throughout the country. If those shut down, Tesla owners go from 30 minutes for a full charge to hours and hours, if they can find a competing station.

So this isn't at all like chrysler going under. If tesla goes under, you have a $75k driveway ornament.

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I am so worried about my friends. They saved for two

years and haven't had this car a month. They love the car and were so excited.

[getagrip_already]

10. they will probably be ok - the above is a worst case scenario....

More likely the company will continue as a smaller entity. It's battery and solar products are still very popular, and they can likely maintain a large enough staff to keep the lights on at the car company.

A more likely end would be for a freeze on new features, a closure of sales and service centers, and a shrinkage of power stations (or they will become 3rd party owned).

I wouldn't buy one aat the moment, but current owners should be ok for a while yet. Don't expect a lot of snappy new models though.

I would never one, but that's because I don't like their service policies (all that sw can be turned off if you don't go them for parts and service). N right to repair. And when you sell the car, all optional features get disabled and the new owner has to re-license them.

[GoneOffShore]

22. The EU continues to look at RTR legislation, which will be a good thing for Tesla owners here.

Amazing how many are on the roads in France.

[Zorro]

12. Your friends will be fine

No sense in you worrying about them.

I believe Tesla has the highest overall profit margin per vehicle than any other car company out there. Tesla the company isn't going away.

Musk's Twitter issues are more Tesla shareholder concerns, since he's driving the stock price down.

[PatSeg]

16. My son loves his Tesla,

though he said that if he'd known back then what he knows now about Musk, he would have shopped for a different electric car.

It is an amazing car. It would be great if someone else bought or took over the company.

[hatrack]

34. Pretty certain Teslas can charge at any public DC charger (ChargePoint, Electrify America, etc.)

Provided they have membership, smartphone app or a credit card.

Adapters that connect Teslas with CCS chargers are pretty standard these days.

[getagrip_already]

36. true, but they aren't as fast as the fast tesla charging stations.....

You can charge your tesla at home also. But it can take overnight to get a full charge.

I'm not sure how fast the public stations are, but they won't be as fast as a tesla station. Charging is metered by the cars software, and it will derate non-tesla sources.

[dembotoz]

9. would set electric cars back years

to many americans tesla means electric cars. if tesla bad all electric cars bad

[Wounded Bear]

17. Nah, the big 3 are too deeply invested now. EVs are here to stay...nt

[hunter]

13. I figure GM or some other major automaker will buy it at the salvage auction...

... and turn it into a captive brand.

It could be a Chinese company if the political winds are blowing that way.

[Mr.Bill]

40. That would bring things full circle.

The Tesal plant in Fremont was originally a GM plant. The '65 GTO I had in high school was built there. I knew people who worked there.

[JCMach1]

14. They get bought by Apple, Google, or Microsoft

Watch this space

[PatSeg]

18. I've been hoping for awhile

that someone buys it from him. If he loses enough money with his Twitter adventure, I figure it is a possibility.

[JCMach1]

29. Apple especially as they have been trying to get into cars for years

It's a ready made solution.

[PatSeg]

30. Yes

For now, it is really a great product. I'd hate to see the company go under. It would be great to see someone come in and take over before that clown destroys it.

[Tomconroy]

15. Can you say Delorean?

[Emile]

21. You beat me to it! Spot on

[GoneOffShore]

23. Edsel Delorean Musk?

[niyad]

27. you nearly owed me a keyboard.

[hatrack]

35. Kaiser-Failure

[carpetbagger]

39. Musk doesn't even need coke to flaunt the cray cray. Nt.

[mitch96]

28. New boat anchors?

[Mr.Bill]

41. I remember a few years back

Musk released all his patents to public domain in the interest of facilitating uniformity in the industry. That might nake it easy for other companies to make parts for them.
https://www.google.com/search?q=elon+musk+shares+tesla+patents&source=hp&ei=fDJwY8ePO4amqtsPzrOYmAk&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAY3BAjaioM2HGAhdqOjqR4iK_iKDpeKes&oq=musk+tesla+patents&gs_lcp=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&sclient=gws-wiz