He convinced the government to subsidize the sale of his products to consumers. It makes sense on paper because we want more people driving electric cars. However, Tesla of all companies doesn’t deserve the “handout”, even though it’s to consumers. They don’t deserve the boost in sales, recognition, etc.

It’s not technically a scam (the best kind!) but it’s helping out the richest man and biggest asshole in the world, so it might as well be.