Sales of Tesla cars are

are apparently going down here.

It is not something I know much about. My SIL, a very environmentally conscious person, bought a new EV last year. She did it with money inherited from her mother and believes she has made an environmentally responsible choice. As she lives in another state I have not seen this vehicle. 

Brother Cat is less enthusiastic about it but has supported her. They have so far been able to charge it using their solar panels but the long term cost is, according to his reckoning, "not that cheap". I have not inquired too closely for fear of upsetting my SIL. My brother is aware that, should the battery need to be replaced, the cost of such a replacement could be very big. It is just one of his concerns.

Here in this state a  NIMBY sort of protest has just erupted over plans for TESLA to build a battery factory on a piece of contaminated land in an adjacent suburb. People do not want it there. They want the land, closed to the public for the past eight years, to be recovered as a green space. Those opposing it  apparently see themselves as environmental warriors of some sort. Perhaps they are. They are also opposed to Elon Musk and anything related to him. 

The two things do not seem to go together but this is their thinking and they are making their thoughts heard. I doubt it will stop the plans going ahead. If their council decides to oppose it then there is little doubt that the government will step in and overrule the council.

Recovering the land as a green space would be very difficult to do. It is contaminated with a particularly nasty chemical. A great deal of soil would need to be removed. Other soil would need to be brought in. Suitable vegetation would need to be planted in an area which had been "landscaped" and more. The whole process could take years. All that also makes it unlikely to happen.

I thought of all this as I read through the comments being made this morning. At some point I may be asked for my opinion as to whether the project should go ahead.

I think my response will be something along the lines, "The factory needs to go somewhere. I would like all factories to be contained elsewhere but that is not going to happen. What I would like to see is the requirement to plant three or four times the number of trees that an area the size of the proposed site can hold." 

That way some good might come out of the proposal.