Tesla (Nadaq: TSLA) reported upbeat earnings Wednesday, and the stock responded by finishing up 8% on the week. That undoubtedly hurt the stock's many short sellers -- according to S&P Capital IQ, there are 23.59 million shares sold short, for a short interest of nearly 23%.

On a recent visit to Fool HQ in Alexandria, Va., Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk explained why he thought so many people may be skeptical of his "hard-core technology and design company" -- and why recent actions from Toyota (NYSE: TM) and Daimler may sway the skeptics.

Here's an excerpt from Musk's chat at the Fool (running time is approximately 3 minutes).