Honestly, I’m pretty much completely with David on this one. He hasn’t showed any bias at all, he’s just posted news articles that we should all care about, about problems that we should all care about.
I’ve had several Teslas, and just had another as a rental car last week. Build quality has always been problematic, and the level of service that made up for it in the Model X days is long gone. Some of that is just underinvestment, and some of it is actual malfeasance: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/ Autopilot is vastly oversold, and has been consistently misrepresented. Yes, it works much of the time; but when it doesn’t, people die: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/26/tesla-autopilot-fatal-crash Six or eight years ago, Tesla was the only option if you wanted a decent EV, and the self-driving was the cherry on top. And that came with a significant price-tag. Everyone’s hope, I think, was that Tesla would be able to deliver future generations of lower-cost cars while continuously improving software. And maybe that’s happening, but certainly not to the degree promised, and more experienced car makers are catching up. The world is changing quickly, as I think we all hoped it would. I don’t claim that any other manufacturer has overtaken Tesla across the board, but there are now a lot of very good options, from Ford, from BYD, from Polestar, all the way down to things like the Microlino, which Tesla could have built in their sleep… but didn't. The Cybertruck is a disaster, and now they’re puling the plug on Supercharger network development, which has always been their core strength. These are not trivial problems, and they’re not made better by being chained to the Twitter boat-anchor. Musk has surrounded himself with sycophantic yes-men, and convinced himself that he’s a genius. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/09/elon-musk-texts-twitter-trial-jack-dorsey/671619/ https://fortune.com/2024/01/19/behind-elon-musks-chaotic-twitter-takeover-yes-men-zoe-schiffer/ https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/09/elon-musk-texts-twitter https://futurism.com/chris-sacca-elon-musk-sycophants Meanwhile, I’m still on the waiting list for a terra-cotta solar tile, FOURTEEN YEARS ON, and now there are at least three other manufacturers who’ve actually shipped. Meanwhile, SpaceX has received sixteen billion dollars of federal money and cluttered the sky, and Tesla’s gotten more than three billion in grants and subsidies, over and above the loans. So this isn’t an “entrepreneur made good” story. There are some extraordinary people who work, and have worked, at Tesla and SpaceX, and a lot of good is happening. There are a lot of good things that wouldn’t have happened if Tesla hadn’t pushed forward. Pre-Twitter-bozo-era, Musk has, occasionally, said some really right-thinking and forward-thinking things. Now he mostly rants embarrassingly, wastes money, and begs for more. If I needed a new car right now, I _might_ get a Model 3, but the ones I’ve driven have been a really far cry from the quality of my 2017 Model X. Meanwhile, my Ford EVs have been low-drama, and I’ve gotten real visceral enjoyment out of an electric Renault. My Microlino is supposed to be delivered this month, we’ll see how that goes. But mostly, all this has been turning me into a bicycle person. I need an actual SUV maybe once a year. I’m on my bike four or five times a year. And like my Smart, I only need to charge the bike once a week. Anyway, I’m happy to hear what different people on the list think. I don’t think we need to quell debate. I’m curious what y’all are up to, and where you think things are going. -Bill _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
