Record showed that he received many helps from various government agencies over the years, but both companies are doing well now mainly because of him.
I didn't deny the fact that Elon Musk and his companies received many helps from various government agencies over the years, as I posted above.
How is this different from someone investing their entire life saving to start their own little business? You make it sound like Musk is one of the very few willing to take risks and investing his own money and you are idolizing him for it.
Musk is a smart businessman and he is only interested in making money. So let's not act like a young school girl that is about to wet her panties on the thought of meeting her favorite boy band and look at things logically.
Many people invest their life saving of thousands of dollars to start their own business because they may not survive comfortably with current job they have.
Like any investor, he thought that he could make good money in these 2 area, space travel and zero emission vehicle. He probably thought that his chance of success was more than 50-60%, but both ventures was almost go under.
Musk had hundreds million already after eBay bought Paypal. This fortune was more than enough to retire. But he didn't, and he almost lost it all if he didn't get last minute contract from NASA.
That why I titled this" "NASA saved his behind"
His car venture is only held together by government money and the carbon credits, as every single car he makes looses big money. Musk went in fully knowing this and he is hoping that the government and the carbon credits will keep the business afloat until the electric car takes off or the public is forced into it. The pre-payment for the model 3 is just another scheme to get the extra money now. Tesla is doing just that full time.
How can other established car makers follow such a model when their EV is just a small division of the company with a very limited budget.
Any company, new or old, will receive "carbon credit" for producing zero emission vehicle. Tesla isn't the only one to receive the credit, they may receive more because they only make zero emission vehicle.
Elon Musk is a businessman after all, his companies are like any other company they all have lawyers and accounting. They're all looking to get maximum revenue and minimum expense as allowed by laws(Federal, state and local). Both Space-X and Tesla are public companies, the CEO and board directors are responsible to make most money for share holders. That why people invest in the companies.
What are "government money" that Tesla received that no other car company can get ? If you count the $465M loan Tesla received from Dept of Energy in 2010 and paid off in 2013 with interest is "free government money" you're wrong.
A car company that received $50B (billion with a B, not million) was GM in 2008, how much did GM paid back ? As far as I remember government got back $38B, so the taxpayer lost $12B(billion with a B) in saving GM, but you don't care because GM is an established company with more than 100 years experience.
How about US government loan money to Japanese automaker Nissan in the tune of $1.4B ?
Tesla is also crowing about the fact that it’s the first American automaker that has fully paid back the feds through the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program. But then again, Tesla didn’t take much compared to Ford ($5.9 billion) and Japanese automaker Nissan ($1.4 billion).
These companies still have to allocate resources to their regular bread and butter projects in order to stay competitive. That is why their efforts seem lackluster, but this is not an indication that Musk and Tesla possess some superior technology not known to others. Plus the bigger the corporations, the harder it is to change their direction or focus. Something that Musk doesn't have to deal with.
I command Musk and wish his endeavors success, but the idolization of the guy and making him the next Steve Jobs by some is borderline crazy.
Whatever the reasons, all I know is not a single car companies in the world has EV close to either Tesla Model S and X.
More than a dozen companies with billions in R&D a year couldn't do any vehicle as good as Tesla did, EV or not EV, only model S broke the Consumer Report rating scale at 103 over 100. Now CR needs to change their rating scale so no vehicle in future will break that new scale.
Personally I don't care for Steve Jobs. To me he was just a CEO of a multi-billion company. Apple was so success mainly because of their employees and low to mid level managers. CEO and upper managers didn't do anything to make their products so successful.
He recognized that there is a gap in the market that the established automakers are reluctant to fill in. He also recognized that the very generous EV grants, handouts and carbon credits just might make his business plan viable before he can lower the manufacturing costs.
He has a huge potential to make billions here and corner the market. And if the always hungry for a new idol masses start adoring him as Earth's savior, while he makes his fortune, it's a freebie for him. He can then pull off all kinds of shenanigans like Jobs did and still be worshipped. 
