I'd say partially it's new and sexy, but I imagine the suggested long term is it could help show America as a leader in green tech which should help attract outside investment into other green tech ventures, helping to kickstart a new economic driver.
What Tesla is doing is creating an entire new venture from scratch from nothing, for them to hit profitability and make any solid return is likely to take a decade. VCs are unlikely to dump $500m for a 10 year wait, sure they'll know within a few years whether it was a good investment, but it's not likely to be viewed as a safe bet.
What Tesla is doing is creating an entire new venture from scratch from nothing, for them to hit profitability and make any solid return is likely to take a decade. VCs are unlikely to dump $500m for a 10 year wait, sure they'll know within a few years whether it was a good investment, but it's not likely to be viewed as a safe bet.