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Here at CleanTechnica, we routinely get people complaining that we cover Tesla too negatively. We also routinely get people complaining that we cover Tesla too positively. Lately, we’ve been getting quite a lot of complaints — from both sides. These come in emails through our contact form, comments under articles, on social media, and elsewhere. Lately, on the same day, or even within the same few hours, we’ve had people strongly upset in both directions.
I think there’s a broader issue that is causing much of this, but I wanted to clarify our approach here at CleanTechnica.
We provide writers with a lot of freedom. We do not allow people to publish clear misinformation, but we allow people to have different opinions and to express them. Some of our writers think Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD) is brilliant and will be revolutionary. Others think it’s a scam. Some think there’s no one better to run Tesla than Elon Musk. Others think there’s no one worse. I have my own opinions, but I am not dictatorial, especially in the case of running a media company. I think different opinions should be expressed — within reason — and discussed. (Of course, this excludes blatant misinformation/disinformation, spam, and disruption communication.)
But why do we even cover Tesla? Well, Tesla is the #1 top selling BEV producer in the world. It stimulated much of today’s EV market and got legacy automakers to take EVs and their own EV efforts more seriously. I’m concerned that if Tesla crashed and burned, legacy auto would still try to pump the brakes on EVs. Actually, with Tesla’s sales dipping rather than growing this year, I think some legacy automakers have already taken that opportunity to some degree. Tesla is still important for pushing the EV market forward.
Also, it’s important to remember Tesla is not one person. It’s more than 100,000 people. Many of these people are committed to the mission of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy and electric transport. Many are trying hard to help the world.
Then there’s also the solar, the stationary energy storage, and the electric long-haul trucking arms of Tesla. The company is doing good stuff, and it’s creating amazing products. It’s not just one guy and his chaotic political nosedive.
But, yes, sometimes we have more positive Tesla stories because Tesla is doing something positive, sometimes we have more negative Tesla stories because Tesla is doing something disappointing. Sometimes we’re going to cover Tesla’s stunning sales growth and what’s stimulating it, sometimes we’re going to cover Tesla’s declining or stagnating sales and we’re going to try to understand and explain them objectively.
I know that many people would like us to be biased fans who support Tesla all the time, and I know there are others who think the worst of Tesla and think we should be almost constantly criticizing the company (not just its CEO). But the bottom line is: we will do our best job to objectively cover the game, the players, the successes, and the failures.
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