Ask HN: Why do so many people want to see Tesla fail?

Do that many people want to see Tesla fail, or are just many people skeptical about what Tesla is saying and doing?

Elon Musk is brash, impulsive, and overly self-confident. These qualities are what make some people follow him with a cult-like dedication, but they make many others want to see him fail.

Personally I don't care about all that. He's not a great person. He's a bit obnoxious. But I think that from a purely technological standpoint, Tesla is having an important positive impact on civilization. So I want to see it succeed despite Musk (and despite his best attempts in recent months to bring it all crashing down).

People who short Tesla stock have become an industry. Tesla is a volatile stock and they've made seriously good money on the dips.

So they have a vested interest in amplifying all bad news about Tesla. At times as some have commented Elon has been his own worst enemy.

It's messy but he's inventing the future with Tesla and SpaceX. I've got a friend with a brand new Tesla. He took bets a while back on when the first fully self driving car would be available. This week he drove on our town's main artery, Grand River avenue, from Dusty's Cellar in Okemos to Biggby's Coffee in East Lansing. There are many signal lights, varying speeds with MSU students dashing out in front of you. He drove the entire 3.9 mile stretch with one finger on the steering wheel to prove a point.

I guarantee you without Elon Musk's efforts to save Tesla this future would have arrived many years later. If that doesn't get you excited likely nothing will.

Just sorry my Dad who first had his drivers license in 1930 didn't live to see it.

It looks pretty similar to the typical Apple hating.

Why do you think people WANT to see Tesla fail?

I'll call out Musk as an unstable and (when it comes to things like the boring company) an ignorant idiot, and I'm absolutely amazed at the cult of personality surrounding him, and I think you'd have to be a fool to invest into tesla given his behaviour and all the financials/news about the company.

But I WANT solar panels and electric cars to take off in a massive big way, and i'd LOVE tesla to be able to provide an affordable electric car.

I think its everyone saying 'people WANT tesla to fail' who are exposing more of this personality cult, because the rest of us can separate the objective facts around the company and its leadership from our personal feelings towards its products and industry.