Hello Pkeet99,
I understand your question, and my wife and I absolutely considered the exact same question before buying our Model X. Yet, we did not even flinch at the prospect of putting down our hard-earned cash on that beautiful automobile. Here's why...
Tesla is more than a car company. It is a social movement, and it is a critical one. Tesla, in a nutshell, is a private response to climate change. It is a challenge to the status quo of burning fossil fuels, and that is a status quo that will almost certainly lead to the end of human civilization. Big business and governments have been far too slow to recognize and respond to climate change. Yet, Elon Musk had the intelligence and the integrity to create a fortune, and then bet that fortune on the prospect of providing a solution to climate change: namely, sustainable transportation, renewable energy, and renewable energy storage. Mr. Musk continues to double down on his commitment, building his network of companies at an incredible pace, but constantly pushing his organization to the brink. He does this because he understands the urgency of our predicament.
Have you ever said to yourself, "Had I been there back in the times of slavery, I would have stood up"? Have you ever claimed, "Were I there during the Holocaust, I would have raised my voice"? Well, climate change is probably the biggest challenge any human being will ever confront, and we are here: we happen to be living and making decisions right at this pivotal moment in history. My family, children included, has chosen to stand up. Yes... it comes with risk; standing up for what is right always does. But we have all agreed that we don't want to go down without a fight. No matter how things turn out, we want to be on the right side of history.
Yours truly,
Art Lightstone
PS.
In September of 2018, when we bought our Model X, Tesla had its best quarter to date. We were so proud to have contributed to that positive financial period. The next period, the final quarter of 2018, was even better. The first quarter of 2019 was much worse by comparison, but only when comparing it to the previous quarter (which was the "best" quarter in the company's history). Thus, expansion into Europe (with more than 10,000 cars caught in the delivery pipeline), and a base effect of comparing last quarter to the stellar previous quarter, is largely responsible for the appearance of the soft quarter at the beginning of 2019. Tesla is expanding its production facilities (including the Fremont plant, the Gigafactory in Nevada, and the completely new Gigafactory in China), and it is expanding its vehicle offerings at a breakneck pace: including the new Model Y SUV, the new Tesla Roadster, the Tesla pickup truck, and the Tesla semi. None of this could possibly be done without spending a lot of cash, but the payoff will be huge. If you just test drive a Tesla... any Tesla, you will see why this company is highly unlikely to fail. Their cars are simply like nothing else you have experienced. Add to that the Tesla Supercharging Network, the incredible safety ratings, the free over-the-air updates (that constantly add new features to the cars), and the ability to add autopilot or even full-self-driving to these cars at any point you might wish to down the road, and you have a product that no other car company can possibly compete with. They just can't. Other car manufacturers are constrained by their corporate missions. If they promote their EVs, then they will cannibalize their gas cars. If they promote their gas cars, then they will not only look completely backwards and insensitive to climate change, but they will, of course, cannibalize their EV sales. Other manufacturers are basically stuck between a rock and a hard place.
PPS.
After just six months of owning our Model X, we could no longer tolerate driving our one remaining gas car (a Honda civic). We sold that Honda and ordered a new Model 3 just a few weeks ago. You will notice that people who drive Teslas
rarely buy any other car afterward. That says something. In fact, it says a lot.