To shoot the people trying to vaccinate their kids?

It really pisses me off that these children are dying due to the ignorance and intolerance of their parents and other adults around them.

Offer Teslas at 50% off to the farmers! They get an EV at a bargain price, Tesla sales (and stock) booms. Or better yet the federal government just buys all the surplus Teslas and gives them away to farmers for free. Two problems solved with a single incentive, and it shows he cares about the environment after all!

What has Musk built?

His wealth comes from daddy’s emerald mine.

He started an online payments platform that didn’t do very well and ultimately merged with PayPal.

He bought his way into Tesla and forced the cofounders out.

He founded SpaceX and gave himself the title of Chief Scientist but all the real work is done by actual rocket scientists and not him.

He’s founded other companies like Starlink & Neuralink with his vast fortune but he largely stays out of their way.

He bought Twitter and has made a mess of it.

And so on…

Tesla still had a small edge over the competition.

Too bad they wasted it all on things like “fart mode” and games instead of useful features like improved speech recognition and integrating it with things like the radio, Bluetooth, etc.

Same with fart mode, probably.

I’m one-and-done with my Model Y. I got it shortly after the Y was released in part because I felt it was a decent EV for the price at the time, and in part because their Supercharger network is a nice option to have (and I’ve used it a fair amount).

Even if Musk wasn’t such a public buffoon and acted more like other auto industry CEO’s I wouldn’t buy another Tesla either. The vision-only system sucks not only in inclement weather, but bright sunny conditions as well. It’s also terrible at detecting rain for auto-wipers, oncoming cars for auto high beams, etc. The build quality of the cyber trucks is sketchy. They haven’t made any significant design changes in years, other than maybe replacing the steering wheel with a yoke (and I refuse to even ride in a car with one). They seem too proud of creating things like “fart mode” and holiday light/music shows instead of something actually useful like improved speech recognition & more robust voice commands (“tune radio to wxyz”???) and on and on…

The way I see it, when it’s time to replace my Model Y there will be plenty of other competitive EV choices from big automakers like Honda, Toyota, etc. as well as newer ones like Rivian. And now that the Tesla charger has become an SAE standard and non-Teslas can charge at Superchargers there’s even less incentive to stick with a Tesla EV.

If meat grinder fodder is sufficient for Putin’s needs then Trump sees no reason not to do the same thing here.

Has anybody checked to see if all the dolphins have left the planet yet?

His plan was to pressure them the way he’s used to pressuring people in his business dealings. The only problem is that countries like Ukraine aren’t just businesses that he can stiff, drag to court, etc.

If Elon can own 5+ companies then surely they can manage one!

Not that I’m a Tesla apologist, but keep in mind they are more than just a car company. Also in their portfolio:

• Solar panels
• Residential power storage (Powerwalls)
• Commercial/utility grade power storage (Megapacks)
• Vehicle insurance
• SuperCharger network
• Robotics

Granted, things like robotics are clearly mostly hype at this point, but they have sold & service Megapacks in countries including the US, Canada, and Australia. Their Supercharger network is also seen as a valuable asset given it’s really the only highly reliable nationwide one. Add to that the fact that it’s now an open standard that other EV companies are adopting, and non-Tesla EVs can now charge at many Supercharger stations, and the value of that asset can’t be understated.

I have no idea what the Tesla EV revenue is compared to all this other stuff, but it’s all likely helping boost the value one way or another…

So-called Christians: “His silence means he approves of what we are doing”.

He probably legitimately believes white males have a natural immunity to HIV, so only minorities & women will be harmed by this.

But we like this fascist leader because he’s only hurting other people and not us (yet).

I hope every last union member walks off the job if this happens.

So when will the 3 day special operation begin?

But it’s not just Tesla that wants to buck the dealership model. Rivian and other EV startups want to bypass it as well. The dealers see that as a threat to their business model in multiple ways.

My understanding is that the independent dealership model came about as a way to prevent the big automotive manufacturers from becoming too big & monopolistic. Imagine if Ford, Honda, and Toyota could collude on selling cars throughout the country. They could stifle competition by fixing prices, etc.

So state governments passed laws prohibiting them from selling directly, instead requiring them to partner with independent dealers who would be intermediaries in the sales process. Unfortunately those independent dealers have become mini monopolies themselves, with lots of political power in their pockets. So now that companies like Tesla, Rivian, etc. want to sell directly, the big dealerships are pressuring their politicians to keep the dealership model in place.

Exactly why I used to subscribe to the Washington Post until Bezos wiped his ass with it. I’ll have to look into subscribing to The Atlantic now.