Revenge 250
your money from Bear.” Later the same year, Bear Stearns
became one of the companies that didn’t survive the so
called credit crisis.^396
By the end of 2012, it looked like Tesla could become a
profitable company. “Overall, I feel Tesla was really kind of
past the point of high risk,” Elon said. “And it’s the classic
phrase of going through the valley of death – and I feel as
that we are through that valley at this point.”^198
As death was far away, Tesla wanted to expand outside
of the US. It’s a big job to get into each market because
each country has its own rules for cars. What are the safety
requirements? Do you have to sell through a dealership?^200
But expanding to some countries would be easier than
expanding to other. Norway is the country with the most
Model S customers compared with the size of the popula-
tion. The five million inhabitants ordered 1 000 of the 20
000 pre-ordered cars.^202 If that’s not all, the number one
customer is also from Norway. A Norwegian who lives
above the Arctic Circle, in Narvik, has bought twelve cars
from Tesla.^443 There were also reports from Norway that
you have to pay a higher price for a second-hand Tesla than
for a brand new Tesla. This is because it takes a few months
to order a new Tesla and the Norwegians want their cars
today.
The European country is also the world’s fifth largest
oil exporter, so why are they using electric cars? The
answer is that the Norwegians are well aware of peak oil,
and they know that their oil production has declined since
year 2000.