Don't get too excited - it was a raffle. Jeff Lawson was one of over 800 folks who ponied up for the charity drawing; The Messner Foundation Considering what the dual motor 70kWh Model S goes for, I imaging the State & Federal taxing authorities may expect him to cough up a bit more than the $200 he paid for the ticket that got him the new car. .
Same reason why if you win a car on a gameshow, better hope you win some cash too so you can pay for the taxes lol.
So the charity doubles their money, ($160k in proceeds) The winner pays ~$20k in taxes assuming 25% tax bracket. Not a bad price. I read about a charity auction once where they erroneously priced the item higher than actual. The winner after seeing the tax bill wanted to refuse the item because taxes were higher than if he went and bought it himself.
