Elon: NYT's Stross a "Huge Douchebag;" DOE Money in the Mail
From Autobloggreen:
Since it was announced that the highly quotable Bob Lutz would be departing from his GM management spotlight, automotive bloggers and reporters everywhere have been mourning the loss of an executive with such an exquisite way with words. Now it appears that the pining may been premature with the emergence of another top management type with the brass, it seems, to freely speak his mind in public. In an interview with Yahoo! Tech Ticker's Sarah Lacy, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was asked what he thought of an earlier New York Times piece that voiced opposition to a government loan for the electric car maker. With a huge smile indicating his delight in the opportunity to speak about the issue, Mr Musk said, "Randy Stross is a huge douchebag". After a brief pause he added, "...and an idiot." Take that, Mr. Fancy Pants reporter guy!
Elon went on to explain exactly how the writer in question cherry-picked from the facts to make his case for DOE loan denial and vigorously defended the Tesla business model. In the interesting conversation that followed the opening barrage, it was very interesting to note the certitude expressed by Elon that Tesla Motors would receive the low interest loan requested from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program. Noting that his company is a "perfect fit" for ATVM funds, he states, "The odds of us getting that money ($350 million) are 99 per cent..." and alluding to assurances given in private meetings, suggested it was coming and coming soon.
