Elon Musk

corporate scum

that station wagons with rear-facing seats in the back are a thing of the past is yet another sign of how corrupted our culture is

seriously

how do kids today tie action figures onto a spool of fishing line and let them drag far behind on the highway, occasionally reeling them back in to see how warped and deformed they are?

^for some reason my parents were cool with this

lagoon doing good work itt, appreciating it

We lease a Chevy Bolt EV and we love how peppy and quiet and easy to park it is. I think once major car manufacturers start responding to the demand signal for EVs, Tesla could very well be toast.

(the chevy dealerships in the DC/MD/VA area can’t keep Bolts on the lot - EVs are incredibly desirable cars, it’s just a matter of manufacturing capacity and charging infrastructure being brought into line with how much people want them)

electric cars are neato

elon musk needs to evade this threadjack and invent a glider imo

re: crossovers, I got my mom into a Kia Soul to ditch her shitty Chevy something lease deal and it's kind of the perfect car (aside from having to get used to the nature of a dual clutch transmission moving from idle). Enthusiasts bemoan their downsides over car-cars but how many people are driving in such a way that they notice any added body roll?

I think once major car manufacturers start responding to the demand signal for EVs, Tesla could very well be toast.

― El Tomboto, Saturday, November 23, 2019 7:28 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

^^^ a friend had a Renault Zoe as a loan car for a couple of weeks. First EV I've seen that was basically a regular car, also although it was expensive, the price was "only" a few thousand more than a high end Clio.

My last couple of cars have been leased, the lease is about to end on my (diesel) Ford Fiesta and I've been seriously considering an EV, though as I rely on on-street parking I'm not convinced I'll be able to keep it charged (I do about 300 miles a week). Would get a PHEV but that'd need even more regular access to a charging point, so I may cop out and go for a "self charging" hybrid.

my friend who covers FormulaE for a living and can bore for the olympics on recent breakthroughs in battery and recharge development (paradoxically given its frivolous rich-kid ambience it's where a lot of the current high-end EV R&D is happening) is *enormously* scornful of TESLA in general and musk in particular

There's a certain weird mix of insecurity and arrogant d-baggery in some Tesla drivers. Your faithful correspondent snoball was walking about the town earlier, when I happened to see a Tesla come out of a junction on to a main road. It appeared to 'stall' (do Teslas even stall?), and in a show of defiant overcompensation, the driver engaged Super Pursuit Mode or whatever it's called and roared off along the street. Or rather whined off down the street because no exhaust note.

Saw this just last week.

Don't get me wrong – the Subaru driver was at fault and "lost the fight" as soon as he went aggro. But.

The Tesla driver did jump into that middle lane PDQ without so much as a turn signal. And how that first sub-head is "Don’t these guys learn Teslas have TeslaCam?" does lend itself that the arrogant stereotype does have some basis.

The twitter thread above about the whistleblower is scary. Also is it coincidental that the truck press conference on the same day buried this news coming out?

hahaha how did I miss this

SpaceX Starship blows its top at Boca Chica

though as I rely on on-street parking I'm not convinced I'll be able to keep it charged

i had a teacher once who was a fairly early EV adopter, well before there were ever charging stations around and before there was much in the way of norms around charging, and i think he got into low-stakes criminal jeopardy by cadging charge from some city power source or something

that swatting story is nuts, even more nuts that no one's gonna be charged for it

I think the plan to install charging stations at my workplace was cancelled :/

I did have the right electrical service run to my newly-built garage a few years back just in case, though

So what's the over-under on Elon himself being the one behind the swatting?

my be informative to see the square truck w some actual paint on it

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EKOIbAPXkAg0Stl?format=jpg&name=medium

haha

a visual metaphor of grimes

honda e

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EKIzSNxW4AIxXfz?format=jpg&name=medium

not sure why the companies feel the need to make their e cars look electric but its kinda cute i guess

the bmw i3 goes to far in this regard imho, i dont think id want to drive around in this thing

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71RJhz0+kYL._UY560_.jpg

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/img/pages/5DMLTE88P3E1QLC.jpg

audi a3 plugin hybrid is nice and looks like a normal car

https://images.hgmsites.net/hug/audi-a3_100551445_h.jpg

if i were getting a new car i might like one of these except that its too short to sleep in so idk

in the future, it will be coolest for your e car to look like the ford explorer eddie bauer edition

more apparel companies shd do editions its fun imo

mazda 3n, geoffrey beene

j. crew saturn VUE

i kinda love the look of the honda e -- shame we won't be getting it in the US

just noticed it has a camera instead of a side mirror

Straubel said it couldn't be done. or maybe they've changed the laws.

aren't vehicles designed to crumple for crash safety? will this crumple? I don't get designing a truck around being damage-resistant.

that truck is never getting released my guess

looks prefolded to me

the whole "this can withstand a sledge hammer" angle is so incredibly dumb, how is that a legit concern for anyone who isn't living in a crazy fantasy world

a crazy fantasy world where cars bang into hard objects or even each other

but this is Tesla we're talking, any small dent to the frame is gonna cause the entire thing to be totaled anyway

I've been a passenger in a BMW i3. The interior isn't as far out as the exterior, but it is very basic for such an expensive car. Also look at how narrow the wheels are.

how is that a legit concern for anyone who isn't living in a crazy fantasy world

They could make the bodyshell lighter, then it'd have more range and a better power:weight ratio through not having to heft all that unnecessary weight around.
Although try GISing 'Tornado Intercept Vehicle'. Maybe someone could convince Elon Musk and John McAfee that the ultimate macho totally-in-no-way-overcompensating-for-something-no-sir stunt would be to drive a Cybertruck into a tornado while blasting Kenny Loggins' 'Danger Zone'.

aren't vehicles designed to crumple for crash safety? will this crumple? I don't get designing a truck around being damage-resistant.

― wasdnuos (abanana), Tuesday, November 26, 2019 5:59 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is classified as a light truck so doesn’t have the same crash safety requirements as a car.

As for electric cars is general - I had a Hyundai ioniq for work last week and this is potentially the Tesla killer. Nothing remarkable about it really it’s a family hatch back but it’s Au$15k less than the cheapest Tesla, much better put together from what I’ve seen, is quick like any electric and will pretty much drive itself when you turn on cruise control, following the lane and the car in front.

Whatever else you think about Hyundai they really know how to build a good quality car to a price. Part of this is having electric, hybrid and petrol versions of the same car to drive scale economies on everything that isn’t the electric drive train.

of course that Audi A3 hatchback hybrid isn't in the US

stop denying the USA the hatchbacks, car companies! we don't all want crossovers wtf

and yes I am a nerd with a hybrid hatchback even if it is a jumped-up lexus-branded prius

Some ways, we're lucky that Zuckerberg isn't charismatic and that the president is a dumb ass and Elon Musk has all the subtlety of his silly cybertruck when it comes to swatting somebody.

But that's three guys. It's the dudes you don't hear about that scare me.

Larry Ellison, now that guy is a complete shithead and probably richer

The other thing about this Hyundai is that it happily trundled around, in 35 degree heat and the AC on high)all day at between 11 and 12kWh/100km. Tesla’s are very heavy cars and can’t get close . Model 3 is around 16kWh/100km and the X and the S are in the 20s.

That big battery with all that range you need once in a blue moon costs energy and money to haul around. The Hyundai gets way more range out of a smaller battery and costs a lot less to run. Hyundai are, very quietly, getting really good at this electric car game.

of course that Audi A3 hatchback hybrid isn't in the US

stop denying the USA the hatchbacks, car companies! we don't all want crossovers wtf

I drove an A3 hatchback in Italy this summer. I loved it and would consider buying one if they still made them here.

Let’s do this

Just got to the courthouse for the first day of the Elon Musk defamation trial. He’s expected to take the stand today for the first time ever to defend himself against a British man he called a “pedo guy” on Twitter. Here are the cameras waiting for him.

This is my day 1 thread. pic.twitter.com/07y4Hlg6Ba

— Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) December 3, 2019