Image from Tesla’s website

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has called for people to volunteer their time, to help Tesla hit production targets and prove the “haters” wrong.

Tesla Asks for Model 3 Factory Volunteers to Prove ‘Haters’ Wrong

By Dana Hull
30 March 2018, 01:12 GMT+10 Updated on 30 March 2018, 02:55 GMT+10

Tesla Inc. exhorted its factory workers to disprove the “haters” betting against the company and is letting a small number of volunteers join the effort to ramp up output of the crucial Model 3 line.

In a pair of internal memos last week, the heads of engineering and production spelled out measures to free up workers for the Model 3 line and challenged them to reach production goals. Doug Field, the engineering chief, told staff that if they can exceed 300 Model 3s a day, it would be an “incredible victory” at a time when short-sellers and critics are increasingly doubting the company’s ability to fulfill CEO Elon Musk’s vision of building a mass-production electric-vehicle manufacturer

“I find that personally insulting, and you should too,” Field wrote in the March 23 email. “Let’s make them regret ever betting against us. You will prove a bunch of haters wrong.”

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Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-29/tesla-urges-workers-to-prove-haters-wrong-ramp-up-production

The “haters” in this case seems to be a reference to shareholders and investors. Tesla has recently seen its share price collapse, in part because of failure to hit production targets. As a result a lot of traders have reportedly shorted Tesla stock in anticipation of further falls in value.

If Tesla collapses, the failure will represent a remarkable destruction of US taxpayer’s funds. In 2015 LA Times reported Tesla had received over $4.6 billion in government subsidies. $4.6 billion of public money which could have been spent repairing roads or helping poor people ended up as corporate welfare for a private company.