The profit in the Tesla S is from subsidies and carbon credits, iirc.
Until they can get a battery with almost no chance of exploding, or catching fire, after thousands of recharges, electric cars are going nowhere.
Also, cold weather performance is an issue. I don’t think that a 200 mile range is sufficient, because when its -40C out, that battery will likely be dead in 8 hours, even if you had charged it and didn’t go anywhere.
Absolutely. From the Daily Beast, of all places:
"State and federal regulations provide manufacturers with lucrative tax credits when they manufacture and sell zero-emission vehicles. And rather than build green cars themselves to meet mandates, some manufacturers simply purchase credits from companies that make zero-emission vehicles—like Tesla. In the first quarter, Tesla said sales of such credits amounted to $68 million, or 12 percent of revenue."
Tesla's "profit" for the same period was $11 million. In other words, without its bogus carbon sales revenue the company would have posted a $56 million loss.