• @[email protected]
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    26
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    3 months ago

    after what he has done to californias fast rail system, with the hyperloop scam, he deserves much more. he kept it long enough until trumps admin blocked any funding for it, through ELAINE CHAO.

    • bluGill
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      13 months ago

      California has done enough to kill that proejct even without Elon/Trump. For the amount of time and money invested they should be operating the entire line from San Diego to Oregon as of a few years ago.

  • @[email protected]
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    3 months ago

    Musk already got what he wanted. He bought Trump, and Trump will give Palantir every ounce of government data to analyze, which was likely a sticking point for Palantir to cement them as the only viable product for the US governments future military applications. Once pandoras box is open for classified data its a little bit hard to close it, especially once they gain a dependence on it.

    Palantir then buys his crappy xAI platform that recently bought Twitter.

  • queermunist she/her
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    113 months ago

    At some point prices will get so low that it’ll make sense to buy a Tesla and rework the body so no one knows it’s a Tesla.

      • Buelldozer
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        43 months ago

        If you can buy a Tesla cheap enough the usable parts, such as batteries and motors, can be moved to a different frame or vehicle. Even an ICE vehicle that you’d like to electrify. It’s all just parts.

        • Gordon Calhoun
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          73 months ago

          I like the way you think. When Tesla tanks and gets sold off for pennies, could you please start a Tesla Conversion business? I’d like to have a useful EV pickup that can carry a slide-in truck camper. I don’t need any of that self-driving shit or connections to the Cloud or giant touch screens. Just pedals, gauges, levers, buttons, and a steering wheel.

          • @[email protected]
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            43 months ago

            There are some companies working on electric crate engines for conversion, I forget the names but they should be ready sometime soon

            • Gordon Calhoun
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              23 months ago

              That’s pretty wild and really cool to ponder. Battery placement and balancing its weight safely seems like a steep hurdle for bolt-on EV conversions.

              • @[email protected]
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                23 months ago

                Seems like there’s potential space in a lot of the undercarriage, or as flat packs at the base of the engine and trunk compartments.

    • @[email protected]
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      33 months ago

      They’re already selling at virtually no markup. They’re also old, very mature production lines. There’s not much more price drop to be had, unless Tesla starts selling them at a loss.

      • queermunist she/her
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        13 months ago

        Well either they sell them at a loss or they just let them sit on lots forever.

        Tesla would rather recoup some revenue than just scrap all their remaining inventory.

  • Bobby Turkalino
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    993 months ago

    The Bay Area is probably the only thing keeping that company alive. Every stoplight you pull up to there has at least a couple Teslas

    • @[email protected]
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      753 months ago

      I know a lot of people who bought teslas before musk became a full blown oligarch and feel uncomfortable about it

        • @[email protected]
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          23 months ago

          i also wonder what people in cali are thinking when they bought the cybertruck, because i seen quite a few to them. i noticed they try to obscure the windos,s o people dont know that are driving it.

        • dustycups
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          23 months ago

          I cant wait till we start seeing them with all the conspicacy-nut writing all over them but the other way around:
          Vaccines work, fuck musk, lgbt rights are himan rights etc.

        • @[email protected]
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          643 months ago

          Any car is sold at a loss. As someone who recently paid one of these off, I can’t stomach a new car payment in the face of our melting economy because six years ago I didn’t foresee the head of a car company turning out to be a freaking nazi.

          Considering my Tesla replaced a VW TDI, I’m feeling particularly salty and completely disillusioned about ethical consumption under capitalism, etc. etc. I wish people on Lemmy could have some empathy and not just assume that everyone driving a Tesla is sanctioning anything that Elon Musk does.

          • @[email protected]
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            103 months ago

            I’m currently driving that VW TDI – best car I’ve ever owned in 35 years. Next vehicle wasn’t going to be a Tesla, but perhaps an F150 Lightning if they ever get their head out their asses and offer a regular old e-pickup – I don’t want quad cab and a short bed, just two doors and a regular full size bed would be great. Alas, that’s hard to find in ICE, let alone electric.

            • @[email protected]
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              33 months ago

              That emissions cheating soured me on them

              (Though I do believe they used a clever method)

              Glad it’s so good!

              • @[email protected]
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                03 months ago

                The dumbest part is that after I got my car updated (the Passat only needed a firmware update) the fuel economy was not even one MPG worse. It’s been a decade and I’m still regularly getting slightly better than 50MPG on the highway and low-30s in the city. There was no reason to cheat.

                • @[email protected]
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                  13 months ago

                  No way!

                  Was the cheat focused on the rest of the fleet (larger cars?), but applied to all [JIC]? 🤔


                  50+ wao

          • @[email protected]
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            13 months ago

            No one cares when you bought. You’re supposed to flood the used Tesla market to suppress new sales happening NOW.

            I’ve heard a lot of excuses from Tesla drivers about how they can’t afford to stand for their ethics. It’s pathetic. How are we to believe this from anyone who could afford one in the first place?

            Plot yourself on the historical spectrum of “what was I willing to give up for my ideals” and that brave moral stand about not having a car payment looks pretty fucking limp.

            I have empathy for you. I’m just more concerns with your soul than your car payment.

            • @[email protected]
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              13 months ago

              I’m in a different position financially than where I was six years ago.

              Flooding the used Tesla market is not a strategy I had heard before you mentioned it, actually. Maybe if I was in the same position that I was six years ago financially, I would be making different choices. But I’m not.

              As for my soul, Lemmy talks a big game about focusing on the class struggle, but whenever I admit to having a Tesla, everyone piles on like I am the worst person ever. I got flat out scammed by VW and I certainly didn’t fucking know that Musk was quite as massive a tool as he has shown himself to be now. Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention. But all I’m saying is that I’m not the real enemy here.

          • @[email protected]
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            43 months ago

            He was a boldfaced liar six years ago, too. You fell for the “full self driving by 2016” scam and the other false claims and fabrications.

            • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ
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              23 months ago

              That’s assuming a lot. I wanted a car that was fast, electric, had easy charging, good range, and didn’t cost $100,000. 5 years ago, that was a Model 3.

              Didn’t give a shit about Musk’s lies, always knew he was full of it and was a typical scumbag CEO; I did not peg him as someone to go full on Nazi mode.

              • @[email protected]
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                03 months ago

                If you knew then that he was a liar, then I really don’t see how you can complain about it now. You evidently knew which business you were getting into.

            • @[email protected]
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              23 months ago

              We did not purchase full self driving. My husband rightfully thought that it was a bit of a pipe dream. I’m too much of a control freak to allow a car to drive for me. Also six years ago was 2019 so if you think I fell for “full self driving by 2016” then I think you can’t do math.

              • @[email protected]
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                13 months ago

                Are you suggesting that full self driving was fully implemented by 2019? Because it’s 2025 and it’s still not ready. How have I failed at math?

          • @[email protected]
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            23 months ago

            people on Lemmy could have some empathy and not just assume that everyone driving a Tesla is sanctioning anything that Elon Musk does.

            Costs 1 EUR and takes 10sec to put a sticker on a Tesla that says “I bought this before Elon went mad” and plenty of people on Lemmy would understand I bet. It’s more of a gesture to show that one having a Tesla does not support the actions of the its CEO. A Tesla without even a sticker on is assumed to be owned by someone who knows yet either does not care or even supports Musk.

      • Mike
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        163 months ago

        They just weren’t paying attention then because Musk has always been exactly that.

        • GladiusB
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          43 months ago

          Do you look up every owner of the manufacturer of everything you buy? I agree he has been this way for a while. But people buy cars for transportation. Not for their owners.

          • @[email protected]
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            3 months ago

            True, but most CEOs are unknown to consumers, only to employees and share-holders. Usually there is a “culture” of a company that is a blend of PR, advertising, marketing, etc. Here Musk became associated with the brand though. Tesla existed before Musk and worked well… but was nowhere near a popular. I hate Musk yet I feel it’s fair (and please if you have data showing I’m wrong, do share, I’d love to remove any wrongful attributed credit from him) to say he made Tesla enormously more popular than before he invested in it. So… you are right in most cases people buy cars, and other products, without knowing about the CEO but that specifically does not apply to Tesla where the hype precisely came from a self branded as IronMan.

          • Mike
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            63 months ago

            Like the other guy said, Elon Musk is public about his shittiness. In the beginning didn’t even care about him, and yet I couldn’t escape him because he was constantly on the news.

            • GladiusB
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              23 months ago

              I am not denying that Elon is shitty. But people don’t buy cars based on their manufacturing owners. There is a need and they are fulfilling that need. Should they have known? Probably. But it’s also not a usual requirement for purchasing a car.

              • Mike
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                33 months ago

                Well, if you go back to my original comment, all I said was that Tesla owners were clearly not paying attention to even their News notifications on their phones, since Musk’s presence is ubiquitous. Tesla’s multitude of issues is equally as well-known.

                That said, I didn’t wish anybody any harm for buying a Tesla, although they probably will get harmed when the “self-driving” feature inevitably sends them speeding into a brick wall.

                But buying that garbage car was their choice.

      • @[email protected]
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        83 months ago

        Supports a literal Oligarch Nazi

        Feels uncomfortable about it

        Doesnt do anything about it

        Sounds about right for America in 2025.

        • Echo Dot
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          33 months ago

          Realistically though what are they going to do about it? They probably can’t sell the vehicle because of the now stigma attached to it and if they don’t sell it they probably can’t afford a new car.

          • skulblaka
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            23 months ago

            Nowadays? Yeah y’all missed the bus. The time to do something about this was several years ago, when Tesla’s atrocious build quality was becoming publicly apparent and Musk was inserting himself into every news story in the worst ways possible.

            “Pedo guy” comment in 2018 was the first major wake up call to most people who weren’t paying attention.

            Acquisition of Twitter in 2022, and the major fuckery involved with that, should have rung the bell for anyone left behind.

            At either of those times you still could have sold a Tesla to a Maga chud and still come out on top. Now you’re just stuck holding a bag. And my concern for said bag holders is relatively minor because people who really can’t afford a car are still driving 20 year old Hondas and Toyotas and Buicks. If you bought a Tesla new (and yes, it was bought new, because a used market did not exist at the time) you have car money. Buy an $8k beater, used, like the rest of us do.

            • Echo Dot
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              23 months ago

              Most people don’t research the CEO of a car company before buying a car. Who is the CEO of ford no idea he could be a complete lunatic as far as I’m aware, I don’t know because his personal attitude isn’t relevant to my car buying decisions.

              It’s ridiculous to expect people to not buy a Tesla simply because it’s CEOs in the moron most CEOs are. It’s practically part of the job description.

              • skulblaka
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                13 months ago

                Find me a person who doesn’t know who Elon Musk is, go ahead, I’ll wait.

                • Echo Dot
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                  13 months ago

                  It isn’t about who knows who the Elon Musk is it’s about who cares who Elon Musk is.

                  Why should I care who some random CEO is? If you can answer that question you will impress me because CEOs don’t have a lot to do with what the company does, they have a lot to do with how the company is perceived. Think about Tesla is that for whatever reason they decided to be a 100% perception company and a 0% results company. Presumably because their results are unimpressive.

    • @[email protected]
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      43 months ago

      I see a cyber truck almost every day. It makes no sense. They aren’t even like the same one.

    • bluGill
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      93 months ago

      Even in iowa you see them all over. There are so many drivers any car make other than the most exclusive will be seen soon if you fixate on it (read look).

      Stastics show tesla is a tiny brand by market share. However they are wer the only ev brand until reciently so people focus on them.

      • Pennomi
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        103 months ago

        And that’s really the only reason I have one - it was the only long range electric car available when I bought it. Now I would choose any of the many other options first.

        • @[email protected]
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          13 months ago

          I’d be curious about why you haven’t taken the moral stance and sold it.

          What’s going on in America needs people to take actual steps. Votes aren’t enough anymore.

          • Pennomi
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            33 months ago

            I don’t pay Tesla for the vehicle (I don’t even supercharge), so it doesn’t actually affect their bottom line if I sell it. Buying a new car does affect my bottom line though.

            Boycotts are only effective when they change purchasing behaviors, and this purchase is long done. I do encourage everyone who asks if I like my car to look into specific alternatives instead however.

      • @[email protected]
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        13 months ago

        Tesla has basically only two models and even those two look quite samey, one is just more bloated, ao ofc you see them everywhere

    • mosiacmango
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      3 months ago

      They had near 100% EV market share just a few years back.

      Losing half the market in 3-4 years is a huge change for any company, even if some of it was inevitable as rivals caught up and suprassed their offerings.

  • @[email protected]
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    3 months ago

    Aptera can’t start shipping soon enough. Especially in sunny places like California. Drink Tesla’s milkshake. Drink it all up.

      • @[email protected]
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        13 months ago

        Rivian is great, but really pricey and requires charging. Aptera is solar powered (or at least charges up to 50 miles/day on solar power alone). That’s what makes it exciting.

  • @[email protected]
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    693 months ago

    Just imagine if there wasn’t a crazy tariff on Chinese cars the figure would be even lower. BYD are making some great cars

    • @[email protected]
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      333 months ago

      BYDs are everywhere now in Australia. Not sure what alternative brands are available in the US, is it just Rivian?

        • @[email protected]
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          33 months ago

          Ford has 3, the F-150 Lightning and the unfortunately named Mustang Mach-E, and the E-Transit van I think is primarily for commercial customers.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        rivian isnt even that widespread , and they are still testing some models. i can see them going for IONIQ 5, maybe mercedes, or bmw.

      • @[email protected]
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        293 months ago

        And other Chinese brands!. The MG4 is super popular in Australia too. Can get it for about $38k AUD ($25k USD).

        Even if Tesla wasn’t tarnished by association with Musk, they have absolutely nothing at the budget end of the market. ie for buyers that traditionally bought corollas, little Mazdas and Hyundai’s.

        And BYD has the whole range, if I want a luxury sedan the BYD Seal goes toe to toe with the model 3.

        I think China is going to eat everyone’s lunch here in the same way Japan did in the 70s/80s, and Korea went in even cheaper in the 90s and 00s (how many Hyundai Excels/Accents were there in Australia in late 90s early 00s).

      • @[email protected]
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        73 months ago

        I believe there was a 100% tariff in place pre-Trump meltdown on Chinese EVs in the U.S, making them less viable in that market. The EU also tariffs them heavily, which is quite a pity.

        • @[email protected]
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          53 months ago

          The EU also tariffs them heavily

          Yes, to tip the scales back towards fair competition pricing by offsetting the subsidies the Chinese brands are getting from their government. It doesn’t fully offset it though, they’re still quite a lot cheaper than e.g. VW BEVs

          • @[email protected]
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            13 months ago

            And chinese EVs are still competitive in the EU. Tafiffs are effective, and can be positive, to prevent dumping and stuff, just not across the board.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        On the more affordable end around here I see a lot of electric cars from Ford, Chevrolet, Kia, and Hyundai around here, and to a lesser extent Volkswagen. On the high end it’s mostly Mercedes-Benz and BMW, sometimes Porsche. Once in a while I’ll see Rivian but they don’t have a dealership in our state. Even more rarely I’ll see Polestar, which does have a dealership in a city at the other end of the state, and at least one person here has a Lucid Air.

        Edit: also on the high end, there’s at least one Hummer EV driving around here.

        • @[email protected]
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          43 months ago

          Depends on where you are in California I guess. I see more Rivians here than Cybertrucks.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        Are you asking if Rivian is the only company besides Tesla selling electric cars in the US?

        No, nearly all major manufacturers sell EVs. Something like 25 brands.

        Edit: although a few of those may still only be selling plug-in hybrids. I know Alfa Romeo is one, for example.

      • @[email protected]
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        83 months ago

        Rivian & the 2 or 3 models the big manufacturers have. I see way more hybrids than full electrics in my area.

  • @[email protected]
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    43 months ago

    What I’ve learned from insightful interactions in this thread is that Teslas are in fact the best car in existence, bar none. This whole situation about Elon Musk deciding to speak up as a fascist is just all very unfortunate. Other than the fascism thing, the only nits with Tesla is the image, and the countless broken promises, deceit and outright fraud should be ignored because other companies lie and cheat, too.