I've been a Tesla investor for about 4 years now and TSLA stock comprises about 5% of our net worth. My earliest stock purchases were made around $180/share. Tesla has been a good long term investment thus far and I believe it will continue to be so for years to come. In the grand scheme, for a long-term investor, the slow Model 3 ramp is really inconsequential. Five years from now it will not matter whether it took them an extra six months to get production up to 5k/week. We saw similar delays with the Model X and Model S ramps and both cars are leaders in there respective luxury classes with extremely high customer satisfaction and ratings.
The bottom line is electric vehicles have several key advantages over ICE vehicles. I have been a Nissan Leaf owner since 2013.
Nearly silent electric motor, most of what you hear is simply road noise.
Instant torque and superior acceleration.
No motor oil, gas, transmission fluid, radiator, etc. and very few moving parts mean reduced maintenance costs and the electric drive train can easily last 500k+ miles because you no longer have the wear and tear brought about by extreme heat and friction
Refuel at home overnight using a 110 or 220 outlet. I use a 110 outlet in my garage.
You can produce your own transportation fuel with solar panels (I've had a PV system since 2007)
Those saying that established ICE car manufacturers will simply crush Tesla are missing the point. Part of Elon's plan was to force the established majors to get serious about their EV offerings, and that is starting to happen. I suspect some will see the light too late and go bankrupt, some will go on to sell millions of EVs. Tesla doesn't need to dominate this new market. Even a 5% world market share would make Tesla wildely profitable. One also needs to consider that for the foreseeable future the supply of batteries will be the limiting factor in scaling EV production. I'm not aware of another domestic car manufacturer with plans to build a battery gigafactory like the one Tesla and Panasonic have outside Reno Nevada. That is a serious moat, along with the supercharger network. It doesn't matter how many EVs you can build if you don't have the batteries to support that production.
Lastly, Tesla is no longer just an EV company. To date, they are moving into the following areas:
Commercial trucking with the Tesla Semi, which has seen impressive deposits from several giants in the industry
Solar Roof Shingle/Panels
Grid-scale battery storage (see South Australisa grid back-up)
Autonomous Cars
Factory Automation Technology
Each of these alone could be a very profitable stand alone business. I'm not saying Tesla will come to dominate all these sectors, but I like investing in a company that is creating its own electrified ecosystem (production, storage, transportation) and has several avenues to profitability.
Tesla is one of the most shorted stocks in history. That can be frustrating at times as an investor, but it will also set-up a nice (2nd) short squeeze once the Model 3 ramp is confirmed and revenue from the Tesla energy side of the ledger ramps.
Is Tesla a sure thing? Of course not, no single stock is a sure thing, and Tesla is certainly on the higher risk side. Majorty of our investments are in broad based index funds. For me its simple. EVs are the future. Once scale is achieved, these cars will be cheaper to own, more fun to drive, easier to maintain, and are better for the planet. Tesla is best positioned to lead and profit from this revolution. I am prepared for the consequences if I'm wrong. At this point, I'm well up on my inititial investment and despite the prognostications of the shorts, the stock will never go to zero. This is not an internet startup. There are physical plants and other tangible assets. Absolute worst case would be a buy-out.
This is not investing advice. Do your own research and invest only what you are prepared to lose. I'd suggest starting with a test drive.