TSLAQ

TSLAQ is a loose, international[1] collective of largely anonymous[2] short-sellers, skeptics, and researchers who openly criticize Tesla, Inc. and its CEO, Elon Musk.[3] The group primarily organizes on Twitter, often using the $TSLAQ cashtag,[4] and Reddit[5] to coordinate efforts and share news, opinions, and analysis about the company and its stock.[6] Edward Niedermeyer, author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors, establishes the doxxing of Lawrence Fossi, a Seeking Alpha writer and Tesla short seller, as "catalyz[ing] th[e] loose association of individuals, some of whom were pure financial speculators [...] and others who were motivated by factors other than money."[7] The group was the subject of a Real Vision video which included interviews with prominent members @TESLACharts and @Paul91701736.[8]

Elon Musk Twitter
@elonmusk

Replying to @TESLAcharts

How big is your short position? Just curious.

June 17, 2018[9]

TSLAQ
$TSLAQ
NicknameTESLAQ
Named afterTesla Ticker Symbol + "Q" which is the NASDAQ notation for bankruptcy
FormationOct. 7, 2015 (Oct. 7, 2015)
TypeAnti-Tesla, Networked advocacy, Fraud deterrence, Pro-shorting
OriginsTwitter
Region
International
Key people
Lawrence Fossi, @TESLAcharts, @Paul91701736, Martin Tripp
Websitehttps://www.tslaq.org

The group has exchanged online verbal hostilities with Tesla fans[5] and Elon Musk, who once tweeted with a prominent member[10][11] and also tweeted the personal information of another.[12] Off-line activities performed by subgroups include aerial reconnaissance[4] and on-the-ground observations of parking lots used by Tesla for storage.[7]

Motivations

According to the LA Times, TSLAQ members believe Tesla is a fraudulent company and its stock will eventually crash.[4] Their self-reported main goal is to "change the mind of Tesla stock bulls and the media."[4] Tesla was the most shorted stock in the US in January 2020, with over $14.3 billion in shorted share value at its peak.[13] As per Business Insider, members "exchange research, news articles, and sometimes outlandish conspiracy theories about the company" and "[are] betting on the company’s death and have found much success in irritating the billionaire executive."[10]

Tesla has been involved in a number of lawsuits and controversies[14], including investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice.[15] Tesla has been accused of gaming the California Air Resources Board system for zero-emission vehicle credits by launching a "battery swap" program that was never made available to the public.[16]There is ongoing litigation alleging fraud and insider-dealing in connection with Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, which is a major organizing point for TSLAQ members.[17] Elon Musk revealed a "solar roof" shingle in October 2016 that later turned out to be fake as originally speculated by @TESLAcharts according to a Vanity Fair interview.[17][18] Musk settled fraud charges with the SEC after falsely tweeting that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 a share;[19] many questions have since been raised regarding Tesla's accounting practices inside TSLAQ and beyond.[20][21]

Consumer safety groups have called for an investigation into Tesla's Autopilot driver-assistance system for deceptive marketing practices.[22] The National Transportation Safety Board has cited Autopilot as the probable cause of multiple deadly crashes involving Tesla vehicles.[23] Tesla has been cited for numerous OSHA safety violations at its factory in Fremont, CA – far more than any other major U.S. auto plant[24]. Tesla has also been fined for numerous air pollution and hazardous waste violations.[25][26]

Additional claims from TSLAQ against Elon Musk and Tesla include that Tesla has reached a cliff in demand and that Tesla is distorting its sales numbers of cars.[4]

Musk's unfulfilled promises

As pointed out by TSLAQ member @Paul91701736 during an interview, Tesla has frequently failed to achieve its overly optimistic production projections.[4] According to Bethany McLean, "Musk’s believers argue that the details of his ventures don’t matter: It’s the grand vision that counts."[17] But, McLean reported, many skeptics have come to see Musk's stunts as "more unhinged than iconoclastic", and noted his "penchant for making grandiose statements that he either knows are not true at the time he makes them, or that he has no real intent of following through on. Others see Musk's promises as purposefully manipulative."[17] Musk has made numerous recorded "pie-in-the sky" promises about Tesla that have failed to come true:[27][28]

  • In 2012, Musk said "Tesla does not need to ever raise another funding round."[29] Since then, Tesla has had a total negative cash flow of over $8 billion and subsequently raised over $18 billion in additional debt and equity.[30]
  • Musk claimed that the Nevada Gigafactory would be a net zero-emissions facility, run on 100% renewable energy from solar panels covering the factory's roof.[31][32] The Gigafactory has been operational since July 2016,[33] but only a small portion of the solar panels necessary to power the factory have been installed.[34]
  • Musk planned to build a fully automated factory for mass production of the Tesla Model 3.[35] He called the factory an "unstoppable alien dreadnought", the "machine that builds the machine."[36] However, footage produced by a TSLAQ member of activity at the Fremont factory revealed that cars were largely being built by hand,[37] and Musk eventually conceded that "excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake."[38] Tesla ended up building some of its Model 3 cars in a tent using mostly manual labor who used shortcuts.[39] At large, Tesla has struggled with quality control, producing an abnormally high ratio of flawed vehicles and parts.[40]
  • In 2015, Musk said he didn't think making fully autonomous cars was very difficult,[41] and predicted "complete autonomy" by 2018.[42] As of 2019, Tesla was ranked last by Navigant Research for both strategy and execution in the autonomous driving sector.[43] Musk has claimed that Tesla vehicles are capable of "full self-driving", but Tesla's Autopilot is only a Level 2 Advanced driver-assistance system, requiring drivers to maintain full attention and be prepared to take control of the vehicle at a moment's notice. [44]
  • Musk said that Tesla would have more than 1 million robotaxis on the road in 2020.[45] Experts stated the prediction was unrealistic and Tesla had no chance of achieving it.[46] Later in April 2020, Musk admitted that "punctuality is not my strong suit" and robotaxis could be in operation sometime in 2021.[47]
  • Musk said that 2019 would be the "year of the solar roof," and was hoping Tesla would manufacture 1,000 roofs a week by the end of the year.[48] Publications estimated that solar roofs were installed on less than 100 homes and challenged his prediction.[49] Then in June 2020 ,Tesla cancelled many customers' orders for solar roof installations, saying they were outside of their service area.[49] Customers complained about being upset with this decision since they had placed $1,000 deposits for pre-orders as early as 2017.[50]

Hothi allegations, crowdfunding and defamation lawsuit

In April 2019, Tesla filed a lawsuit and a request for a restraining order against TSLAQ member, Randeep Hothi also known as @skabooshka.[6] The allegations spanned two episodes:

  1. In February 2019, Mr. Hothi was found sitting in his car in the Tesla Fremont Factory parking lot. Security ordered him to leave at which point Tesla alleged he exited at high speed and nearly struck an employee.[51]
  2. In a separate instance in April 2019, Mr. Hothi spotted a Tesla on the highway fitted with numerous camera systems and personnel in the car and he proceeded to film the vehicle believing it to be demonstrating and filming Tesla's Autopilot capabilities. Tesla alleged that he drove erratically and dangerously.[51]

In response to the allegations, using GoFundMe, TSLAQ members led by Fossi ran a campaign for and contributed to the defense fund, which accrued in excess of US$100,000. The allegations and the request for a temporary restraining order against Hothi were eventually dropped by Tesla after the company refused to produce footage from within the test car on the grounds it "risked the safety and privacy of the employees involved in the case." After reviewing the surveillance camera footage of Tesla parking lot from the February date in question, Fremont police declined to press charges.[52]

In August 2020, Hothi sued Musk and claimed the CEO's accusation that Hothi almost killed Tesla employees as made in a released email correspondence with PlainSite's owner Aaron Greenspan is defamatory.[53]

Martin Tripp whistleblower cases

In August 2018, former Giga Nevada Tesla employee Martin Tripp tweeted using the TSLAQ hashtag photos of scrapped Tesla car batteries that he claimed consisted of broken or defective cells. The photos were part of a larger leak and were provided to specifically "support allegations he has made about the safety and quality of Tesla's parts."[54] Previously, Tripp was fired from Tesla after confessing to the leak and was reported to the local police by Tesla’s security department after they said they received an anonymous tip about Tripp planning a mass shooting at the facility; the police confronted Tripp and determined he presented no danger to anyone.[55]

Tripp is engaged in a suit-countersuit with Tesla over the whistleblowing incident as a whole[56] – one of the multiple whistleblower cases against Tesla pending – and maintains a GoFundMe to help pay for his legal fees.[57] In August 2020, Tripp leaked confidential documents from Tesla v. Tripp on Twitter and in response Tesla "urged the Nevada court to sanction him."[58] Later in court, Tripp acknowledged intentionally violating the protective order after his lawyers withdrew counsel and was ordered to pay "US$25,000 in attorneys’ fees within 60 days."[59]

References
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  2. Kolodny, Lora (February 1, 2019). "Anonymous Tesla short sellers who fly over its parking lots taking pictures of cars have a new web site". CNBC. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
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