a
Being an engineer, I would never use the word extrapolate in that context, and I would rarely use it at all without many, many assumptions and caveats listed. I know exactly what it means, and I perfectly understood the truth of Tesla's statement. Please don't make the assumption that I didn't. I certainly did, and this is why I am making the point that I am.
My point is that Tesla knew full well they could trick the public into thinking that they were at (or at least close enough that that milestone was imminent). Absolutely no meaningful, relevant information was conveyed by adding the extrapolated comment. It's sole purpose was for marketing/investor relations. From a purely technical standpoint, the only data point that mattered was the 793, but they decided to add the 1000 comment to address outlooks and forecasts made by management that that milestone would be hit by the end of the year and make it appear that they had met that.
By the way, I am not blaming Tesla for doing that. Look at practically any press release issued by any company and you will see basically the same type of statements--rooted in truth, but spun in a technically accurate, but potentially misleading way.
I think it is very clear that a very large number of people are under the impression that Tesla hit (or immediately after January 1st) 1000 units per week, mostly based on this statement. Now maybe you don't like the fact that I used the term "weasel words" to describe the fact that those people misinterpreted what was said. I guess I could have said, as some of you have stated, that they are "stupid" for not understanding what "extrapolate" means, but I think of myself as more understanding and can understand why people would have fallen into that trap and I assign the responsibility for the confusion on Tesla's use of unscientifically precise language in their statement.
