Good luck - and I sincerely mean this. I cancelled my Model 3 preorder just this morning after waiting for over 3 years. Still no ETA for them here in the UK. Meanwhile the rest of the global automotive market has caught up. I genuinely hope that my £1000 interest free loan was at least some use to the company in that time.
> Tesla's stated goal is to advance the state of transportation
There's no denying that they've achieved this and given the other manufacturers a much-needed kick up the ass in the process. Practical, desirable electric vehicles are here and they're here to stay, and pretty much entirely thanks to Tesla.
A friend has had a few Model S's since they were released and they're incredible cars, just unfortunately too expensive for me to justify at the moment. I'm still backing Tesla in spirit but there's no denying that they have a lot of issues and that their USP is rapidly disappearing as other manufacturers bring practical electric cars onto the market. Unfortunately mass producing vehicles is a hard problem that Tesla still seem to be working out.
I'm not sure what you mean by that. AFAIK, the schedule was always for the second half of the year, and they've been reaffirming June for first deliveries. They are clearly struggling with European deliveries, but the factory has been at a steady run rate of ~250k model 3s per year for the last 9 months or so. Add in the additional 50-100k run rate of S/X to that, and the plant is at least 350k per year.
For perspective, BMW's largest plant produces ~440k/year.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate and support and enjoy them while they're here. Tesla's stated goal is to advance the state of transportation, and they can do that whether they're in it for the long term, or just shake things up for a while and force everyone else to catch up. Sort of like Tucker or Studebaker, IMHO.
I'm too young to have owned a Tucker when they were new, but I'd be proud to have done so. Whatever happens to Tesla, I want to be able to say I was part of it.