Transcript (en)

Okay, all right. So it's a quick update on Tesla's auto loan program. Hold on one sec. All right. Oh, wait, mute. Hello? Yeah, all right. So I'm sure people have been reading about the auto loan bailouts and all that sort of stuff. So it's kind of a travesty at what's going on, although I don't think it's going to last too long into the Obama administration. there was a $25 billion loan program that Congress approved to fund energy, the development of energy-efficient vehicles, essentially to wean ourselves off oil. And ironically, the big three then came to Washington and said, now give us that money for our day-to-day operations building gas guzzlers, which is obviously sort of a version of the intent. And unfortunately, with the job situation being the way it is, Congress has acceded to that demand and is, in my opinion currently giving 15 of the 25 billion to the big three to fund their day operations which I believe gets them to about February I not kidding It not even an exaggeration Although the Speaker Pelosi has also said that as soon as the new administration comes in, they're going to replenish that fund. So I think it'll be okay. But certainly if you have the opportunity to express to anyone in D.C. or in the press, the importance of developing clean energy vehicles, please take the opportunity to do so. In the case of Tesla, if Tesla actually is not applying for any bailout funds, although some of the players have mistaken that, what Tesla has done is applied for funding to develop lower cost mass market vehicles, and essentially the exact intent of the legislation. And so hopefully there's still some money left over to actually do that after the big three have taken what they will take. So the Tesla Roadster I think a lot of people are familiar with that That the two sports car In fact my car which is production unit one is parked outside See if anyone's curious to see it. There's also a Tesla sales and service center on Santa Monica Boulevard. So if you want to pop in and take a look at the car at that time, you're also welcome to do so. And we're about to deliver our 100th production Tesla next week. and that's interestingly enough our 100th customer is Sam Perry if anybody watched the when Obama won and Oprah was crying on some guy's shoulder that same guy is our 100th customer it's a bit like he's sort of everywhere so anyway he's a really great guy and lives in the Bay Area. He's going to take delivery of his car on Tuesday. So I'm going to hand him the keys personally and thank him for being a customer And there an important point about Tesla which is whenever somebody buys the Tesla Roadster even though it a sports car and it kind of a fancy sports car every penny that Tesla makes goes into development of lower cost mass vehicles So the company doesn't issue any dividends, nor will it ever. My salary is minimum wage. So I'm a volunteer, basically. So it's just an important point because sometimes people think, well, gee, what's the point of making these expensive cars, which are sort of toys for rich people? How is that really helping the environment? The important point to bear in mind is that when you have new technology, it takes time to optimize that technology. If you think back to the early days of cell phones or laptops or pretty much anything new, it's expensive in the early days. Because the first job with a new technology is you've got to make it work. and you make it in small volume, you sell those cars. But the critical point is that you can't get to the low-cost cars unless you start with the expensive cars. And that's a point that's sometimes lost.