Second, it doesn't take in to account
Big electrical generation plants are considerably more efficient at energy conversion than a typical gasoline or diesel engine used in automobiles
He's not morally wrong either. He represents the company and his job is to protect shareholder value. If he agreed to pay back the $10B loss by Treasury, he might open up the company to lawsuits from all the investors that lost money in the bankruptcy process. This would undo all the good done by Treasury making the investment. In addition, while on the face of it Treasury lost $10B, the gains to the economy by supporting the company and its supply chain will likely exceed the loss through additional revenue and taxes. The Bush and Obama administrations made the investment, knowing that it would likely not return 100% of the capital investment when the stocks were sold -- it was a long shot that the stock value would ever be high enough to recover the full $50B. Overall (economy wide) if the result is better than what would have happened should the government have done nothing, then government did it's job by stabilizing the economy.
Now, as to how this affects my personal decision making: I just purchased a new car, and it was a Ford.
He didn't take the money, Treasury chose to invest the money under direction of both the Bush and Obama administrations, in order to keep GM and its supply chain from collapsing. While they lost money on the face of it, the economy gained value, likely in excess of the $10B loss. If the end result exceeds the scenario where government did nothing, then government did it's job by stabilizing the economy.
This isn't personal. His job is to protect shareholder value. He indicated, in the interview, that if he paid back the $10B loss he would be opening GM up to lawsuits from every other shareholder who lost money in the bankruptcy.
The VAST majority of 1/2 ton trucks are sold to people who only use them to drive around town. They might get used to haul a few plants, a couple pieces of landscaping lumber, or a couple bags of mulch every few months. Nothing more than that.
Around here, they might get used to pull a boat trailer from the house, 20 or 30 miles (at most) to the boat ramp. Usually a couple times a year... I'm not seeing the problem with using the type of system Tesla has been using for this.
Fast, cheap, good: pick two.