Thanks for the insight. I don't pay enough attention to their "business" practices and crazy money scheming. Although - now that you mention it - a guy I know at work dropped $10k on the deposit over a year ago for their SUV that was supposed to deliver sometime this year? or is it 2016... either way - that's a tall stack of cash for nothing in hand. And if they're doing the same on wall street with some extra 0's on the end - yikes. It's too bad the cars are so sexy.
The difference, I think, is you suspect Tesla might actually try and sell a commuter car in the next five years. I think the mars colony is more likely. I mean, yeah... theoretically you can buy a Model S for $72k or whatever. Nobody does, though. The ones you see 'round here are loaded up with 30-40k in options so that they can compare and contrast with their buddies in the Porsche Panameras. The Model X is going to cost more than the S. Meanwhile you can lease an electric Fiat around here for $80 a month, which is less than you pay in interest on your Tesla. Musk's downmarket play is SpaceX. He's doing it by imitating the Soviet design bureau. Tesla is every bit the bespoke coachbuilder Duesenberg was. And yeah - Cords were cheaper, but they sure weren't cheap.