I think this is too binary. By all means don't count on it, but we can and should expect better.

Corporation are tools wielded by committees of people.

If you don't like the outcome, change the people.

You can't change the people owning or running a corporation, but you can change the rules they operate under.

In this case, though, I don't think the rules should be changed. I'm fairly certain that Tesla is not the first automaker to have come up with this kind of money-saving idea. This has to be well-trodden ground in consumer rights.

In this case, people should vote with their wallets, and the occasional class-action lawsuit, or, if things get too far out of line, expect the same kind of regulator intervention that would happen against any other car company. If regulators would not intervene against any other automaker trying this sort of thing, then I don't think they should intervene against Tesla.