TO THE EDITOR:
General Motors, by signing on along with Ford and others to use Tesla’s Supercharger network and technology, effectively becomes a subsidiary of Tesla (“Tesla to give GM vehicles access to Superchargers,” autonews.com, June 8). Based on GM’s proven record of mis-analyzing the future of the auto industry, Tesla should fear it could be dragged by the Detroit automaker into history’s dustbin, should it slide into bankruptcy again.
GM entered bankruptcy in 2009, thanks to clinging to the obsolete industry wisdom that consumers don’t buy fuel-efficient cars in times of cheap gasoline. Yes, they do, but GM responded incompetently. Tesla has to hope GM’s track record improves, but evidence to date (the Volt, Bolt) shows it won’t.
Tesla has 17,000 Supercharger hookups in the U.S. but will need millions now, including in sparsely populated places such as LaPorte, Calif., and Dinosaur, Colo.
Do Tesla, GM and Ford know how to achieve this correctly or how to finance it? It can be done, but not by any financing method they currently know of.
NORMAN HIGBY, Menlo Park, Calif.