Tesla early on didn't receive lots of govt investment early on. The got a loan for 400 million $ and that money started to come in around 2012 or so, and that money was paid back a few years later. And Tesla competitors got much bigger loans that they have not yet paid back.
And after that their costumers got tax reductions for buying EVs, but that could be used by all car companies. This is not investment.
They get clean energy credits from other car companies, based on emissions regulation. Again, not investment from the government, rather a mechanism for the government to implement emissions improvements on the industry as a whole.
Tesla also received tax reductions for their large industrial installations, but that is something all companies get when they to large scale investments. Its simply how things are done in the US (and many other places).
I think the comment is a perfectly relevant and accurate response to those wholesale assertions you made.
> His companies all depend on government subsidies to exist. Tesla, SolarCity, SpaceX — these are not free market capitalist successes, they’re all fundamentally dependent on Big Government.
And after that their costumers got tax reductions for buying EVs, but that could be used by all car companies. This is not investment.
They get clean energy credits from other car companies, based on emissions regulation. Again, not investment from the government, rather a mechanism for the government to implement emissions improvements on the industry as a whole.
Tesla also received tax reductions for their large industrial installations, but that is something all companies get when they to large scale investments. Its simply how things are done in the US (and many other places).