In a 2008 video, Elon Musk talks about Tesla and more.
A video from 13 years ago in which Elon Musk explains why Tesla cars are so expensive has reappeared online and is now going viral on Twitter. Elon Musk’s Tesla is today considered one of the most valuable car companies in the world – but it hasn’t always been the case. In 2008 – which Mr Musk previously said was the “worst year” of his life, Tesla was losing money.
According to Space.com, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors told 60-minute correspondent Scott Pelley in an interview that the Falcon 1 rocket had failed, while the Tesla Roadster, a two-seater sports car, was rapidly losing money. At the time, Mr. Musk himself had debts.
“To save Tesla, Musk needed millions from investors. His fortune is gone,” Mr Pelley said.
At the end of this year, Elon Musk was in front of an audience of about 300 people from the film, television and music industries for an event organized by The Hollywood Hill and spoke about Tesla’s electric cars.
A video from the December 2008 event went viral after it was shared on Twitter yesterday by Silicon Valley Tesla owners. “Whenever someone buys a Tesla Roadster sports car … every penny Tesla makes goes into developing a smaller, lower-cost vehicle,” Mr. Musk says in the video. He countered criticism that Tesla’s expensive electric vehicles are just “toys for rich people” and don’t really help the environment, explaining that it takes time to optimize new technologies.
.@elonmusk talking about electric vehicles in 2008, because Tesla was almost out of money. pic.twitter.com/q41Tw9bfx9
– Tesla Silicon Valley Owners (@teslaownersSV) February 22, 2021
The video garnered over 2.2 million views on the microblogging platform, along with thousands of “likes” and retweets.
“My restaurants are struggling to stay open, but when you have a vision and you refuse to sit down, videos like this push me harder. Good on you Elon. Never stop believing,” one person wrote in the comments section.
“The greatest entrepreneur of our time,” said another.
You can watch the full presentation here.
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