If you give a million monkeys 100 million dollars each and let them invest it at random, statistically one of them will become the richest person on earth. Elon musk is possibly dumber than a monkey but there’s no reason the same principle shouldn’t apply to him
— The Great El Wokismo (@canderaid) December 28, 2024
E.W. Niedermeyer, “cyberbullying elon musk since 2015”:
Just one of the countless lies and false promises but very funny to claim you'll refurbish this suicidemobile when you can't even sell your overstock of new models
insideevs.com/news/744506/…— I feel like Batman or halo (@milesklee.bsky.social) January 2, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Tesla sales will be flat to down this year, despite having a brand new halo vehicle (Cybertruck) and refreshed Model 3. It has gone from demonstrating its fake self-driving system in on-road videos to putting on shows in movie studio lots. This scam is out of juice, the abyss beckons.
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.io) December 31, 2024 at 11:23 AM
The single factor keeping this confidence game going has been Elon Musk’s ability to continually raise the stakes of his shameless come-ons. Now that he is de facto co-president, and promising a race of mechanical humans that will usher in a post-scarcity age, there’s nowhere to escalate things.
Tesla has failed to build a sustainable car business, reinvesting in core product to stay competitive. It has failed to rebuild its upscale halo with Cybertruck. It has had 8 years to deliver “Full Self-Driving” and is changing the entire plan as it flails. Robot pump is pure cringe. What’s left?
This, by the way, is why you’re seeing a pivot back to SpaceX as Musk’s main branding vehicle. The Mars colony fantasy is the last way to raise the stakes, the SpaceX fanboy cult has stayed strong as the Tesla cult fractures, and Wall Street still dreams of the SpaceX IPO. It’s his final escalation.
You can always rely on the rocket/space freaks to excuse a little Nazism. It’s more or less baked into the fandom.
The EV fans are noticeably less reliable in this regard, to their credit.
it’s being spun as its “biggest quarter ever” even tho it missed its annual projections so don’t worry the financial press is taking good care of it
— shauna (@goldengateblond.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 12:19 PM
And nonetheless stock basically doubled since the election.
Not that this is new, but if this happened in any non-ally nation it would be nonstop coverage of the worst corruption the world has ever seen.
Perfectly legal in America to buy the president and double your wealth on future self-dealing
— firegravity (@firegravity.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 11:53 AM
people have no idea how cartoonishly evil Tesla has been over the years
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.io) January 2, 2025 at 7:08 PM
not Hertz literally calling renters mid-trip offering to let them keep their rented 2023 Tesla Model 3 with only 30,000 miles on it for $17,913
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.io) December 27, 2024 at 10:47 AM
The Cybertruck also destroyed the otherwise-admirable consistency of Tesla's generally handsome, restrained design language. Not only does this destroy brand equity, but it provides a dramatic visual symbol for Musk's turn from a broadly appealing personal brand to juvenile, fashy edgelord.
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.io) January 2, 2025 at 1:40 PM
People will ask "how could this happen?" The answer is simple: because Musk built up a cult around himself, where he could do no wrong. Everyone who attacked Tesla critics, said "never bet against Elon," and insisted that any pushback on anything just helps short sellers helped create Cybertruck.
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.io) January 2, 2025 at 1:44 PM
You know who Elon sounds like here?
…Stockton Rush, the Titanic Sub enthusiast.
Look at all the lawsuits Musk is facing for his business practices and tell me he is best suited to decide regulatory policies.
pic.twitter.com/4N5DhD6g5K— Ryan Shead (@RyanShead) January 3, 2025
Elon Musk has united the country. Everyone hates him.
— Captain Obvious™️ (@TheFungi669) January 2, 2025
We can but hope…
if you want a preview of Elon Musk's political career, got talk to everyone who spent $60k on a Tesla during the pandemic that is now worth $15k
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.io) December 27, 2024 at 10:51 AM
sentient ai from the future
as a parent of a trans kid, this morning has a special salience. posted on a reddit sub i track:
https://www.reddit.com/r/cisparenttranskid/comments/1hshf0e/these_fash_motherfuckers_are_playing_for_keeps/
and the links in that post are important to propagate, i think:
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/republicans-release-top-bill-priorities
https://www.madycast.com/p/the-gops-transphobia-is-as-much-of
i think we need language for “my child is trans, so i am trans” as a political slogan. because the number of trans folks out there is simply too small to be recognized politically. morally, sure, but not number-wise.
maybe a spartacus meme? i dunno. i am tired.
LesGS
@sentient ai from the future: As a trans guy, now in my mid-60s, I so deeply appreciate the efforts you are taking on behalf of your child. Yeah, it could be a epic struggle to get the medical and therapy care we needed “back in the day,” but it felt more like, to me, that we were (mostly) struggling against ignorance and indifference. Most people didn’t know we existed. Now they do, and it’s become volatile, and we’re trying to hold our own against ignorance and a *huge and hostile* interest in getting all up in our business, and those malicious and ignorant people thinking they know us better than we know ourselves.
Thank you for letting your child manifest who they are.
Gretchen
@LesGS: I keep wondering how the libertarian, keep government out of our business people are fine with letting government into our doctor’s offices. Whatever the issue, some car-dealer who got elected to state leg doesn’t have the knowledge base to interfere in our doctor’s recommendations. Why is this even a question?
sentient ai from the future
oh yeah, lemme connect trans rights and transphobia with the nominal subject of the post (even though it’s an open thread)
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/25/elon-musks-transgender-daughter-in-first-interview-says-he-berated-her-for-being-queer-as-a-child.html
sentient ai from the future
@LesGS: STOP CUTTING ONIONS IN MY COMMENTS
seriously, thank you for the kind words
Gretchen
@Gretchen: I loved Tim Walz’s « mind your own damn business! »
LesGS
@Gretchen: And these people are so up in arms about “parental rights.” Where is sentient ai’s right to get their child the care they need?
Damnit. It’s maddening. Let’s just invite these car and real estate dealers to our doctor and therapist appointments, and give them the deciding voice.
LesGS
@sentient ai from the future: Sorry! I can’t help it! I see your fierce, tenacious love and I feel such gratitude that there are parents like you.
Mai Naem mobile ¹
I noticed Musk, even pre-ownership of Twitter, would have his idiot followers attack anybody who even mildly criticized their God. I personally feel there’s times he’s intentionally does crazy stuff to manipulate tesla’s stock price so that he and his cronies can make $$$.
Aussie Sheila
Musk will be a good synecdoche for every billionaire that people hate, even if some fuckwits still think the demented crim is somehow on their side. Whatever he hints and spouts, he is finished come 2028.
Bashing the demented crim should continue of course, but targeting Musk and his fascist billionaire friends now, will pay dividends going forward.
I would focus on that dipshit and his ‘mates’ from now on. And I would tie them to Vance and the GOP so tight they smother.
West of the Rockies
Muskrat has pissed on the left for a couple of years. Now he verbally shat on the loony right. Way to build your customer base!
Dark prediction: he rushes his Mars program, gets people very publicly killed, gets investigated, goes to prison.
Baud
Via Reddit, if true, this ties together a lot of threads about right wing culture.
bbleh
The Mars colony fantasy is the last way to raise the stakes.
I assume a lot of folks have seen the articles and posts pointing out that, among other issues, Mars has no magnetosphere and thus no protection from (very high-energy, biologically damaging) cosmic rays, which means any “Mars colony” would have to be underground or shielded like a space station, which in turn raises the question why build such a facility down a deep “gravity well” that (due to distance and orbital mechanics) is difficult and expensive AF to access when you could just put it out in space somewhere nearby that’s stable and comparatively convenient, eg at a Lagrange point?
I mean, at least Teslas fulfill some basic vehicle-type functions. A Mars “colony,” um …
Geoduck
@West of the Rockies:
Cyril Kornbluth predicted it all the way back in 1941.
Baud
West of the Rockies
Also, subjective opinion, I don’t think any Tesla model vehicle is attractive. The hot-selling sedans don’t look all that wildly different from a Hyundai or Camry. It’s not a distinct body design
Don’t mean to poop on those cars. I owned a Hyundai once. Mine was a forgettable experience.
Aussie Sheila
@West of the Rockies:
There’s no such thing as ‘rushing’ the Mars program. It would take nearly a year to get there if the planetary alignment between earth and Mars was optimal. Then there’s the small matter of its lack of atmosphere and accessible water and its hellish temperature gradients. It’s all bull shit. Musk is bullshit.
Anyone volunteering for any trip there as Musk’s ‘guest’ is a fool and soon to be corpse.
West of the Rockies
@Aussie Sheila:
I was thinking more of a mid-launch explosion or perhaps early on the way to Mars.
Aussie Sheila
@West of the Rockies:
Heh! Any of that would be good. I’m not a scientist by training, but JFC, even I know that his bs about Mars is simply beyond any technical capacity known. It’s sure fire death for any human, and a bonfire of dollars for any government or corporation. Garbage all round.
p.a.
“Freedom for me, but not for thee” is the pig behind lots of ideologies’ lipstick.
Shalimar
@sentient ai from the future: Most of us are familiar with Musk’s family history. Trans rights are always on-topic in any Musk thread.
Baud
@p.a.:
QFT
PaulWartenberg
The only thing keeping Tesla afloat is that the electric vehicle market is still very small compared to the rest of the automobile market. There are not enough reasonably-priced EVs out there for people to buy.
If the other automakers were to come out soon (please) with EVs priced under $40k they will gobble up most of Tesla’s audience and that would be the end of that company. Even an expansion of hybrids – I drive one, it’s very nice – on the market should eat into Telsa’s piece of pie.
I keep begging Chrysler to release an EV version of the PT Cruiser – the small-nosed engine block would be a boon – and price it under $30k and it would sell like hotcakes to middle-low income people who need local transit.
eclare
@PaulWartenberg:
I don’t know why, I don’t find the PT Cruiser to be a good looking car. Maybe it’s the low front end that slopes up toward the back?
Just me.
TBone
DougJ can’t even with this real FTFNYT headline & article today
Baud
@TBone:
Why does God need
a starshipan A.I.?Dorothy A. Winsor
@West of the Rockies: Musk is as likely to go to prison as Trump is, ie it’s not happening. Rich and powerful men are not being held accountable in the US at the moment.
NeenerNeener
@Baud: I learned a great word in that Reddit thread: “villainaires”.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I see a report Assad was poisoned in his apartment in Moscow. That’s what he gets for keeping bad company
mrmoshpotato
@TBone: Answer: No! But The Tweet Of God will happily call that author an idiot – repeatedly!
Dorothy A. Winsor
On a totally trivial note, tiktok took a book review I posted yesterday and smothered it in its crib. It was for Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Tiktok doesn’t want you using certain words including “murder” or even “dead.” You see posters saying “unalive” and “unalived” to get around it. I refuse because it’s too stupid. Anyway, that post has something like 150 views whereas the one from the day before has over 4K.
I guess that’s tiktok’s attempt to be socially responsible.
prostratedragon
Mr. Bernstein from Citizen Kane on the secret of making money.
lowtechcyclist
@TBone:
I think all the world’s major religions and most of its minor ones as well could set aside their disagreements long enough to join in ridiculing this idea.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: And then threw his infirmed body through a window. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
catclub
ummm, how are the Chevy Bolt and Volt doing?
Nissan Leaf? Toyota Prius? BMW i3?
I would be pretty interested in a Tesla for $17k
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: Well, ya know…if we’re living in a simulation, then..yes.
p.a.
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
@mrmoshpotato:
Putin’s intern training program showing cracks.
satby
@PaulWartenberg: I keep looking at used BMW i3s on Carvana. Yeah, they’re older cars, but most are pretty low milage since they’re low range city commuter cars. But they’re really cheap now and my friends got one last year they love. If most of your driving is local one with the range extender option is pretty much a steal right now.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The victim was rendered lifeless in a very violent manner!
Is “violent” ok, or should it be “a very not nice manner?”
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: “considerably less than gentle manner.”
lowtechcyclist
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
The same thing is true at Patheos, where Fred Clark has his Slacktivist blog. I find that the character map provides an easy workaround: at Patheos, you can get away with ‘mürder’ (and the like). You might try that at Reddit.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
catclub
@Dorothy A. Winsor: homicide, assassin, capped,
double tap, joined the choir eternal,
rikyrah
Even if I wanted an EV….
I would Never Ever Ever…
Buy a Tesla 😒😒😒
rikyrah
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Got a link to the TikTok review?
rikyrah
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
😒😒😒🤔🤔🤔
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Nominated!
mrmoshpotato
@catclub: wang chunged tonight off this mortal coil
rikyrah
@sentient ai from the future:
Your child is fortunate to have you as an advocate.
The anti-trans hysteria is brought by people who are phucking evil. No other way to describe it.
p.a.
Would like to hear from PEV owners in the ice belt & sun belt, as I’ve read from owners online that the cabin heating/cooling issues are real.
ETA: I’m looking trad hybrid myself. Don’t need plug access issues given my usual trip destinations: northern New England.
zhena gogolia
@sentient ai from the future: Yes, the Spartacus idea is a good one.
Barry
@Gretchen: “I keep wondering how the libertarian, keep government out of our business people are fine with letting government into our doctor’s offices.”
It was always a lie.
The Audacity of Krope
It’s just us. Just normal humans they will work to death to provide for their own opulence.
TBone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: this author, in an article about the recent death of net neutrality, put it thusly. She’s from Philly.
https://crooksandliars.com/2025/01/6th-circuit-overturns-reinstated-net
Baud
Just learned that Speaker Johnson has created an official House Speaker account on Blue sky.
Starfish (she/her)
@West of the Rockies: The comment about Tesla’s design being good before the cybertruck was eyeroll worthy.
The stupid strange door handles would freeze shut so people couldn’t get in their cars in winter.
The windows on some of the models have to roll down just a little bit for you to be able to open the door. They automatically do this. Who designs this crap?
TBone
@Baud: are we (is he) thinking he’ll still be Speaker after today?
This headline hahaha!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-johnson-warns-against-palace-drama-in-friday-s-unpredictable-house-speaker-vote/ar-AA1wTUBH
Starfish (she/her)
@Aussie Sheila:
We can send a billionaire?
Baud
@TBone:
I don’t predict what they’ll do.
HinTN
@catclub:
Pre-wrecked or regular?
/ I know you’re referencing Hertz.
The Audacity of Krope
God can speak to us through whichever medium it chooses. I suspect this is less likely to be religious hucksters or, similarly, the NYT.
TBone
@Baud: palace drama is a direct quote that made me spit coffee!
Baud
@The Audacity of Krope:
I hear God prefers nearly top 10000 blogs.
Baud
@TBone: I make a concerted effort to try to not find them interesting.
Starfish (she/her)
@Dorothy A. Winsor: This happens on YouTube too, and it is hilarious because everyone is talking about murder all the time. I blame all the murder podcasts that everyone was listening to during the pandemic. There is just so much murder to discuss.
At the same time, this obsession with murder does not seem healthy.
The Audacity of Krope
No, that’s Baud, silly.
But when it comes down to it, aren’t we all a little piece of god?
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: you’d think so, and so would I, but we’d be wrong!
mrmoshpotato
@TBone: Oh yeah. Today is the preview of
coming attractionsthe upcoming White House Shitshow – Shitshowier.Baud
The preferred term is “redrum.”
mrmoshpotato
@The Audacity of Krope: Alanis Morrisette
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
I have one prediction: four hours from now, there won’t be a Speaker of the House.
It’ll take them more than a few minutes to hold a vote, and during that time, the office will technically be unoccupied.
I join you in having no predictions about, say, six or eight hours from now.
mrmoshpotato
@Starfish (she/her):
LOL!
Agreed.
Starfish (she/her)
@catclub: I thought Chevy quit making one of theirs, and there was about to be a riot. Chevy was trying to change the way they are making something, and they were removing one of their electrics that a lot of people liked.
TBone
@mrmoshpotato: ha!
matt
That idiot doofus with his ‘occupy mars’ tshirt. smh.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@rikyrah: Try this link.
All of you are very creative! Not being able to say “murder” makes it hard to review a lot of mysteries.
lowtechcyclist
@lowtechcyclist:
I meant TikTok, dammit. I can’t keep all these different social media straight.
The Audacity of Krope
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Why do you think this is my only active social media presence? I can say whatever I want.
Murder, murder, murder, murder.
He can try if he wants to. I’ll even supply the catapult to send him.
I loved Dogma. For 90s songstresses, though, I riff off Joan Osborne.
🎶What if god were all of us…🎶
Dorothy A. Winsor
@p.a.: We recently bought a Prius hybrid. We particularly wanted all the safety features for Mr DAW to drive.
I can’t drive it. The controls are way too different from my Subaru Crosstrek. There are no buttons or dials on the radio. Apparently my phone is needed. Also the shifting is funny. You have let go of the shift lever.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Why do people still read The Fishwrap of Record?
Kosh III
Although I’ve loved science-fiction since I discovered Tom Corbett Space Cadet in the late 50s, a Moon, Mars or anywhere else colony is not feasible. L5 habitats maybe but even that is fantastically expensive and difficult.
Nevertheless, I’d love to live on Minbar or Deep Space 9 or anywhere else but the soon to be burnt to a crisp Earth.
Baud
@Chief Oshkosh:
Conversation with friends at dinner parties.
TBone
Mebbe Gym Jordan will distinguish himself yet again. Oh, I meant “extinguish.”
Kosh III
I recently read an article(forgot where) by the head of a major Chinese EV company predicting a price war. It was focused on China but said it could easily spill over to rest of the world. I say bring it on!
lowtechcyclist
@matt:
I’d love to tell him, “you first.”
I’d be delighted for him to be the first human to land on Mars.
And shortly thereafter, he’d become the first human to die, erm, “unalive” on Mars.
kalakal
@West of the Rockies:
I think he takes over the Artemis program, screws up Starship HLS and gets 2 astronauts stranded on the moon
Chief Oshkosh
@catclub:
Mr. Praline: ‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
The Audacity of Krope
Parody fodder. Or terminal centrist dipshittery.
TBone
@Chief Oshkosh: you win! I dunno what today’s prize is, but you win it.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Ah, right. Thanks for reminding me. They’re the ones with the most banal and/or wrong-headed contribution to any discussion
outside of theater or fashion.The Red Pen
@catclub:
The Volt has been off the market for a long time. There is no 2024 or 2025 Chevy Bolt. It’s being promised for a 2026 return.
The Bolt has been a big seller as EVs go, but the Model 3 outsells it 10-to-1. I can’t figure out why.
lowtechcyclist
@Kosh III:
Even after global warming causes the breakdown of civilization and reduces the Earth’s population by a few orders of magnitude, it’ll still be the only livable place in the solar system.
I expect the human race will survive it all, and eventually build new civilizations thousands of years from now. I wonder just what they’ll be able to reconstruct of the history of our civilization.
p.a.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My dear late friend had an early Prius, was a fine car but just sitting in the passenger seat I was uncomfortable with the controls.😂
The Audacity of Krope
For us.
Chris
@Gretchen:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in a couple decades of following politics, it’s that the number of people who are actually anti-government as some sort of first principle is zero. Being anti-government is always a proxy for something. Anti-poor-people, anti-intellectual, anti-antiracism.
The Audacity of Krope
You just never meet them. They’re isolated in caves with no means of communication. Just the way they like it.
lowtechcyclist
@The Audacity of Krope:
I’ll take the folks from Tralfamadore into account when they show up. Ditto the sentient descendants of bacteria millions of years from now in environments inhospitable for humans.
The Audacity of Krope
@lowtechcyclist: Bro, Venutian civilization is lit. IYKYK.
p.a.
https://youtu.be/ps3VuMxyovM?si=io0JAFGkfT6lkUNj
Will mammals survive the next supercontinent?
Chris T.
@West of the Rockies:
No, and that was one of their main attractions way back when: they didn’t look weird like the Leaf. Now that there are normal-looking EVs from Kia and Hyundai and so on, the only advantage they have is the Supercharger network, and they’re messing that one up too.
Timill
@The Red Pen: Plus
4. Teslas have access to the Supercharger network. Bolts didn’t when they were available (AFAIK).
Chris T.
@eclare:
I liked it from some angles. In person and other angles, not so much.
Starfish (she/her)
@The Red Pen: Number 3 has been a big hurdle for EVs, and that is why a lot of EV sellers are cutting out the car dealerships with direct to consumer sales. The car dealerships are very sad about it because it means they can’t make commission off of them.
Chris T.
@satby:
They’re not bad vehicles. I find them really odd-looking though: from the back it seems like a plastic car leaped on top of a metal car and is now halfway done eating it.
lowtechcyclist
@The Audacity of Krope:
It would have to be Venus, because Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids, in fact it’s cold as hell. ;-)
Chris T.
@The Red Pen: The interior of a Tesla is also cheap and plastic-y.
Chevy dealers seem to hate to sell the Bolt. I went to a dealer and sat in one and was completely ignored. (I didn’t fit in it — I’m not as tall and muscular as Adam Silverman but I’m, er, “not small”. Most of my lifts aren’t terribly impressive but my leg press, which doesn’t require a stable back, is enormous.)
satby
@Chris T.: Gets rave reviews online and from the friends who bought theirs. BMW quality, nice roomy interiors, fun to drive, and they’re both tall guys. I’m sooo tempted.
Chris T.
@Starfish (she/her):
That’s actually common in some cars, e.g., my old 1991 Acura 2-door. It’s not to make it possible to open the door, it’s to make a good seal when you close it again. This is for doors where there’s no metal frame around the top part of the window.
Chris T.
@satby: The physical and camera views are good too, not a lot of blind spots. Overall I think the i3 is pretty good. I haven’t compared it to, e.g., the Hyundai Ioniq though.
Notthatproud
I don’t comment much, but I felt compelled to today. Tesla is a successful car company and it’s foolish to pretend otherwise. Their primary market is China, not the United States. Their manufacturing is profitable. People used to argue that they were only profitable because of credits they sold to other companies, but that’s not the case anymore. This can still be the biggest year of sales for them even if they miss their sales goals—those things are not related. In 2024, Tesla sold about 1.8 million vehicles. Honda sold about 4 million. Toyota sold about 10 million. Globally.
There is no doubt that Tesla is massively overvalued, and I will personally never buy one of their cars. But they are a real car company that is in fact reinvesting in its core product—as demonstrated by the fact that they have an updated Model 3 this year.
The Audacity of Krope
@lowtechcyclist: Haha, love it. Makes me glad I didn’t go with Europa.
Keith P.
@The Red Pen: I’ve been driving my brother’s Volt for the last 5 years. It’s been great – saved me a TON of money and frustration going to the gas pumps. When it dies, I’ll probably get a Prius Prime. The new ones look really, really good (finally)
Dave
@Barry: Also largely because “our” really always meant “my” and that my is not generalized.
It’s much like “fuck your feelings” the operative term was always “your” their feelings are of course important.
There is a common thread in this about the short sighted narcissistic entitlement that seems to be a consequence of the environment that we live in that is based on selling everything to you and everything including you is commodified but damned if I’m smart enough to figure out exactly what that point is.
Dave
@mrmoshpotato: I’ll be genuinely surprised if they don’t turn it into an ego driven shit show for at least a while but not predicting details beyond that.
The Audacity of Krope
Indeed, they seem ready to let the government into our very orifices.
Central Planning
@The Audacity of Krope: I tell my kids I am their god because I created them. They just roll their eyes at me.
RobertS
@West of the Rockies: If only. Nobody is going to mars.
These people are idiots. The only people who talk about ‘Going to Mars’ are people who don’t know what it takes to do it, or con men. But I repeat myself.
It would make the Apollo program look like a high school science project.
Starfish (she/her)
@Notthatproud: A lot of folks with Teslas have complained that it is hard to get replacement parts to get their cars repaired.
You make a good point about them being profitable even if they missed their sales targets. All the other companies adopting their charging technology helps them.
RobertS
@The Red Pen: I’m sure that the Bolt’s battery problems didn’t help.
The Audacity of Krope
@Central Planning: You’re lucky I’m not your kid, not least because I’d simply retort that makes you the devil.
Princess
@Baud: Like, he’s even going to get to be House Speaker again.
Glidwrith
@RobertS: What were the problems?
bluefoot
@sentient ai from the future: I like this idea. My nibling is trans. They are so much more comfortable in their own skin, much happier, post-transition. It boggles my mind that anyone would deny someone the right to be who they are.
I know people do, and some exist to get their hate on and get off on others’ suffering, but I don’t understand it at all.
I’m trying to find ways to help locally, and be an out and proud ally.
Omnes Omnibus
@PaulWartenberg: I absolutely hate the PT Cruiser. And the Nissan Juke.
Notthatproud
@Starfish (she/her): Yeah, I think their cars are kind of crap and they will likely face continued sales challenges. Car and Driver doesn’t rank Teslas at the top of any category anymore, iirc. There are now electric cars from Hyundai/Kia, which are very well regarded. You can get an electric F-150, if you’re a Ford person. Rivian’s truck is supposed to be excellent. Cadillac is making electric luxury vehicles. And BMW is making an electric 4 series. I am not a BMW fan, but those are known to be good cars. If you have a choice between a Tesla and a BMW, I think maybe 90% of Americans would take the BMW. I think there has to be a reckoning for Tesla’s stock at some point, but I don’t know when that will be.
RobertS
@p.a.: One thing that I like about my Leaf in the winter time is that you can pre-heat it in the driveway while its plugged in. Unlike an ICE vehicle, this won’t create additional wear.
gvg
@eclare: I haven’t seen a good looking car in decades though. Not really. Best I can hope for is not offensive. Possibly not too hard to keep looking decent.
Another Scott
That last one is why I would never ever buy a Tesla while Melon is at the head, unless I figured it somehow Ok that it was literally worth nothing as soon as I drove it off the lot. He plays games with prices to goose quarterly delivery numbers and treats everyone who has previously given him money as suckers. Who cares about your “resale value”? I gotta make my quarterly numbers!!
Ed Neidermeyer is the guy who wrote Ludicrous and, indeed, nailed him years ago.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
different-church-lady
Who needs a bunch of small marks when you can have one really big mark?
different-church-lady
@Baud: Testing us.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@PaulWartenberg:
GM started at the beginning of Dec delivering the Equinox EV at the $35K price point. It’s a very nice vehicle.
Nissan’s Leaf is in the $20K range and while Leaf owners are adorably cultlike in their devotion to the vehicle, it’s really dated.
And GM will release later this year the next-gen Bolt EUV (I have a Bolt EV) which should be around $30K and if my Bolt (and the Equinox) are any indication, it’ll be a great car.
fancycwabs
The thing you have to consider is that Tesla stock is also a cryptocurrency, but since cryptocurrencies are stocks in companies that don’t actually make anything, it’s slightly less of a pyramid scheme than your normal crypto.
different-church-lady
I want to never purchase another car ever again.
RobertS
@Glidwrith: Space travel with chemical rockets has exponential costs. You need 10lbs of rocket to deliver 1lb of payload. For Apollo, it took 6 million pounds of rocket to get the 23000lb command module to the moon back to earth. Thats about 300:1. For Mars, you need a much, much bigger spacecraft to keep the astronauts alive and fed for the 9 month trip, and then keep everybody alive on the cold and airless surface of mars. It’s worse than living on top of Everest. Hence the discussion about ‘one way trips’.
And that’s assuming that you can stay alive while getting bombarded by high energy particles. We’re protected by earth’s magnetosphere. Mars has none.
Another Scott
@p.a.:
[ chef’s kiss ]
Best wishes,
Scott.
Another Scott
@PaulWartenberg: @eclare:
There was a brief period when there were a few cars that seemed to be grown-up models of Hot Wheels that lots of us grew up with. It was neat, IMO, to see for a while, but the practicalities (and car companies convincing themselves that “everyone” wanted a 6000 pound, 19-20 foot long, 4WD box) seemed to kill them off fairly soon.
I’d like to see a modern, electric, version of something like a Opel 1900 Sportwagon, but I know that that’s not happening (for lots of reasons). IOW, a small wagon! Even Minis are getting huge these days…
Oh well.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
frosty
@Keith P.: My brother is on his second Volt. I think it was the best thought out hybrid. One drivetrain, electric. Gas engine to run a generator instead of power the wheels. Same layout as a diesel-electric locomotive.
Serial hybrid instead of parallel. I’ve never understood why no one else made one like this. I’d buy one. Not interested in a Prius or anything similar to it.
frosty
@different-church-lady: I’m with you. I bought a 2-year old Mazda 3 about nine years ago and figured if I could get 20 years and 200,000 miles it would be my last car (when the kids took away the keys). Halfway there!
bluefoot
@Another Scott: I would love an electric or hybrid old school single cab pickup. Not one of the monstrosities on the road today, but a normal-sized pickup I could use to haul things around. Alas…
Geminid
@bluefoot: I hear good things about Ford’s Maverick hybrid pickup truck.
Bill Arnold
Left-leaning Wikipedia haters have a powerful ally. :-)
Elon Musk and the right’s war on Wikipedia – The world’s richest man has joined a growing chorus of right-wing voices attacking Wikipedia as part of an intensifying campaign against free and open access information. (Molly White, Jan 2, 2025)
(Post at link includes plenty of (over 50) supporting links)
Bill Arnold
@Baud:
Goddess.
SeattleDem
@The Red Pen: I think it is door number 3. The salespeople are unlikely to be EV people, and the dealerships don’t like them because they don’t promise any work for the shop. The maintenance schedule is basically replacing the tires and windshield wipers.
Another Scott
@frosty: GM changed the 2nd generation Volt propulsion to be more like a conventional hybrid. There’s not a lot of details, but there were some big changes:
Presumably they made those changes to reduce costs and to compete with other makers models. If there were compelling real-world advantages to the old layout, they wouldn’t have spent the money to make those changes.
My understanding anyway!
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
RevRick
@fancycwabs: The price of Tesla stock is like that of tulip bulbs during the mania that swept the Netherlands in the 1630s. If Elon tried to unload his holdings, Tesla would soon be evaluated as a normal car company based on sales projections and profit and loss. It would be hilarious if it ended up trading like Ford: $9.86/share.
Another Scott
@p.a.: I have a 2023 Kia Niro PHEV. It was rated at 29-31 miles all electric range, I routinely get 42-44 in warm weather (even with AC), and ~ 35 in coldish (low 30s) weather. (I drive it in ECO mode and drive gently, but my commute is ~ 1/2 highway and I drive it at 60+ MPH there. It will supposedly stay in EV mode up to ~ 82 MPH, but I’ve never checked it. ;-) It has heated seats and “driver only” AC/heat modes. I don’t have any trouble with it being warm enough in EV mode.
Batteries really, really don’t like extreme cold, so take that into consideration.
Teslas were rather notorious for having wildly optimistic ranges, but I don’t know if the real-world ranges were from people with lead feet or what.
HTH a little.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Kosh III: There’s been huge overcapacity in the car business for quite a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if the US makers only stay in business as a result of the chicken tax on imported trucks (which lets them charge hugely inflated prices on domestically-produced ones).
Years ago The Truth About Cars had a “GM Deathwatch” continuing series. I wonder if they’ve revived it (but not enough to look).
:-/
It’s not going to be pretty, but it’s the nature of economic development. Cars and trucks are a perfected product and have been for decades. It makes sense for production to move from developed countries to less expensive developing ones, and them to fight for market share, and that’s going to be hugely disruptive to the USA, Germany, etc., etc. (A monkey-wrench in that move would be if transportation costs actually reflected the environmental damage, but that does not seem to be happening soon…)
Anyway. :-)
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Kosh III
@Another Scott:IOW, a small wagon!
I’d love a small truck, not the current small pickups that are almost as big as 60s trucks but 80’s sized Toyota or Datsun.
I had a 91 Tacoma which I drove till it died after a long long time. sigh…
Kayla Rudbek
@satby: if I can fit a bicycle inside it, I would probably consider it. My Prius aka the Blond Tardis is considerably worse for wear and we don’t take it on long distance drives anymore.
Kosh III
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Subaru Crosstrek
At least two of us here are HILF(highly intelligent life form) lol
Seriously:
I’d get the Subaru all electric Soltera(a Toyota collaboration) but at 263 mile range it’s just not feasible. I rarely drive but when I do it’s often a 200 mile trip one way, in very rural areas with little or no charging stations.
JaneE
Teslas as cars were not well made. Musk was smart (and rich) enough to build out a charging infrastructure at the same time which really helped him get off the ground. Now Tesla has competition. Especially in China.
Mars is a pipe dream. Someone should tell Musk to do a dry run colony in Antarctica. Breathable atmosphere, overall warmer, no cosmic rays and lots easier to resupply. If he can support a million people there, then he can try for Mars.
Kosh III
@JaneE:Musk to do a dry run colony in Antarctica.
Maybe the Danes will sell him Greenland since the Felon wants it anyway.
Central Planning
@The Audacity of Krope: Late to your reply, but I would wear the devil label with enthusiasm.
Aziz, light!
Despite Elmo’s childhood fantasies, nobody is going to Mars. It’s a marketing gimmick to keep SpaceX in the spotlight, where it will continue to rake in massive federal contracts for many years to come.