Is the future of electric vehicles damaged by the chaos surrounding Tesla? Absolutely not. Whether the company survives in its present form or not is irrelevant. The future of EVs will not be determined by anything that happens in California but by decisions being taken 6,000 miles away in Beijing.

This has not been a great summer for Tesla chief Elon Musk. Production problems have delayed development of the model S car. This has added to costs and stretched the company’s finances. An attempt by Mr Musk to become involved in the rescue of young footballers trapped in caves in Thailand resulted in him heaping unsubstantiated abuse on one of the rescuers.

For a few weeks it seemed Mr Musk was going to take the company private, and for an even shorter period it was suggested that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund would be the unlikely source of cash.