Thread by @TESLAcharts

1/ I certainly hope the NHTSA's new investigation is a turning point, my skepticism comes from a long history.

Consider: Joshua Brown was decapitated while using Autopilot in early May of 2016. Tesla raised equity a few weeks later without disclosing this fact. $TSLAQ

2/ Goldman Sachs led that raise - having magically upgraded Tesla that very morning. The SEC opened an investigation into both Tesla and Goldman on the entire affair. The NHTSA dutifully opened an investigation into the Brown crash.

3/ The SEC quietly issued a no-action letter long after the controversy settled down. The NHTSA did one better: they effectively exonerated Tesla and claimed data showed Autopilot was 40% safer than a human driver.

4/ Elon and Tesla touted that 40% number every chance they could. Only problem? It was bullshit. The NHTSA worked hard to keep the data behind the analysis from the public. When it was finally released, the data showed no such thing. It was essentially fabricated.

5/ The scandal behind this 40% number is one of the great mysteries of the Tesla/NHTSA relationship. Someday it will all come out, I hope.

6/ Meanwhile, the NTSB has been loudly criticizing both Tesla and the NHTSA for *years*, and yet the NHTSA has sat on their hands while people have died. And not just on the Autopilot issue. On *every* issue. China has done way more to regulate Tesla than the NHTSA.

7/ The NTSB is the most venerable transportation safety organization in the world. You'd think their unprecedented public rebuke of the Tesla and the NHTSA would have had an impact. You'd be wrong.

8/ So yes, I know this is a new administration with new leadership in key agencies. I know Elon was snubbed by Biden. I know Biden is pro-union and Elon is a union buster. I know the NLRB ordered Elon to delete a tweet that is still up. I know.

It doesn't matter until it does.

*rebuke of Tesla