Thank you for this fascinating comment! I keep forgetting that Musk has said that pretty much everything he does has the bottom line goal of getting people to Mars, which of course would mean SpaceX is his top priority. You've really outlined a lot of intriguing points about how all that could work together (and how even if Tesla doesn't last forever, it wouldn't be the end of the world.)

I had also forgotten about how he had said one of his purposes for Tesla was to spur EV development. That has definitely worked!

And interesting, I hadn't drawn the connection between Solar City and Mars, but it makes perfect sense.

Thank you for this enlightening response!