Tesla’s Strategic Direction

My colleague Jon LeSage writes in his GreenAutoDigest:

TESLA SEEKING JOINT VENTURE PARTNER AND OTHER INTERESTING NEWS FROM CHINA

If you take a look at which global automakers have joint ventures with government-backed Chinese companies, you’ll notice only one missing: Tesla. Even Chinese automaker BYD, the global leader in electric vehicle sales, has a JV partnership with Daimler.

But Tesla’s place in China may be changing soon. Last week, CEO Elon Musk met with Chinese vice premier Wang Yang. It’s the first time that Wang has met with only one automaker executive and a sign that a joint venture may be formed with Tesla and the government. Tesla and other automakers are likely to stay committed to a strong presence in the world’s largest electric vehicle market whether or not government subsidies continue softening this year.

I respond: Hi, Jon. In my ongoing quest to identify excellent cleantech investment opportunities for my clients, I’ll be at ACT (the Advanced Clean transportation Expo) on Tuesday.  Can I see you there?

Are you aware that Donald Trump (of all people) has reportedly met numerous times with Elon Musk?  Do you know what they’re talking about?  I’d love to attribute some level of decency to Trump; I’d love to believe that he’s honestly interested in helping the U.S. move in the direction of innovation and progress, vs. further enriching himself and his oil buddies at the expense of the environment.

Is there any hope?