An e-mail from Texas Tech official: “I’ve never felt more welcome as a Tesla owner/customer in my entire life.”
A photograph of the middle school playing field in the Desoto neighborhood in Fairfax County where a recent Tesla-owned school bus was pulled over.
The Tesla Autopilot side mirror hanging on the wheel of a Tesla Model S that was stopped at a traffic light in Longmont, Colorado.
Even the top solar panels on a Tesla Model S, by FAR the most expensive electric car. (Courtesy of Tesla)
A Tesla Model S goes through a Santa Monica traffic stop in Los Angeles as a photographer takes a picture.
Texas decided this week to warm up to Tesla after several months of escalating tension. What happened to help ease those tensions and turn the Lone Star State away from automaker bashing?
Ask, “Are you better off being dead or rich?”
The answer: Probably “poor.” Just ask Uber, Tesla, or their investors.
Just looking at the data, they’d probably invest more of their resources or time in the first category.
Take the case of the art business. It’s called “syndicated print galleries,” like the downtown Dallas gallery pictured above, which specializes in regional works of art.
They accept art as part of a commission for every sale that also includes a 10-percent fee.
The galleries take most of the money from the commissioned art, and the work by the artist is basically for free. When people walk in, they may not see that — they would only see the print size or color scheme, and the quality of the artwork.
But by accepting the commission without the art — at a price point below that of art galleries and the amount of time and effort needed to create work in that style — they’re basically keeping more money out of the artist’s pocket.
As a for-profit business, if a gallery wants to continue to exist, it has to regularly replace paintings or sculptures that it won’t sell. To do that, galleries require artist fees, because those commissions are non-negotiable.
That kind of payroll cost hurts galleries as more artists choose to create work exclusively with a gallery or subscription service.
And that’s just one side of the story. Because the gallery has to pay the artist a percentage of the commission, it might have to charge more for a more popular piece.
The artists are less likely to work with the gallery if they’re a risk on the gallery’s part. If they make it through the whole process, artists are likely to work for artists-only offerings at an art gallery.
Arts institutions in Texas are also burdened by what’s called “subscription costs.” It’s the whole point of the subscription service — you pay a set annual fee for a catalogue and access to a collection. But subscription services can get expensive if you’re paying for all or parts of an entire year.
Plus, the artists who aren’t commissioned work or join an artist-only offering are more likely to give up their artwork.
If only Texas taught its college students one thing. It’s the best way to get rid of you is to start a Kickstarter campaign.
That’s why Texas-based Rhonda Rhodes applied for an open slot in the Washington Breadbasket, an annual free lunch program. She raised $5,000 and eventually became a Sweetgreen intern.
Rhonda Rhodes raised $5,000 for a spot in Washington Breadbasket. She became a Sweetgreen intern after the Washington Breadbasket funded her campaign.
But her Kickstarter campaign was also the catalyst for the poor reputation that led Texas to warm up to Tesla.
Her campy comedy-rap video pointed out the luxury car maker’s poor operating and environmental record. The video got 50,000 views on Facebook and lots of bad press, as Naysmart pointed out.
Then, for several months, Texas politicians and ranchers alleged that Tesla was guilty of everything from price gouging and cheating consumers to causing a gas glut that pushed up gas prices.
Texas turned off the charge lights: Low-profit electric cars were suddenly on the radar.
