Another Iceberg, Right Ahead 227
Tesla had to recall most of them to fix loose bolts in the
wheel hubs. “It’s bloody Lotus’s fault, but it’ll be seen as
Tesla, the upstart car company, doesn’t know how to make
cars,” Elon said.^59
One famous customer who had ordered a Roadster
was the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. He became interested
in environmental issues when he was invited to the White
House where he listened to a speech by Al Gore. Later at
the Oscars, he arrived in a Toyota Prius to market the car.
“I’m photographed constantly by paparazzi when I leave
my home so it was just a responsible thing to do as an
environmentalist,” he said.^371
The customer confidence was now in free fall. DiCaprio
and other famous customers like George Clooney, Matt
Damon, and the founders of Google didn’t get their cars.^59
They had already paid a large deposit several years ago.
One customer had even visited Elon’s home to give him an
envelope with cash to pay for a Roadster.^159
When one customer ordered a Roadster, his friends said
he would never see his car because Tesla was just a Ponzi
scheme. Now the customer thought his friends were correct
and he had lost his money. “Right now, we are facing an
issue which is a crisis of confidence among our customers,”
Elon said. “You can only tell them delay so many times and
they start thinking ‘man, is this company ever going to get
me a car?’“^331
Michael “Flea” Balzary from the rock band Red Hot
Chili Peppers ordered his Roadster after watching the
documentaryWho killed the electric car?“So then nearly a