Would you still buy a Tesla?

[PurpleTree]

5 minutes ago, puporing said:

Electric cars actually go back pretty far around the same time as gasoline vehicles:

 

 

5 minutes ago, puporing said:

Electric cars actually go back pretty far around the same time as gasoline vehicles:

 

Exactly.

 

We can say that Tesla made electric cars “cool” and made great batteries with long range. But even then it’s unclear how much Elon had to do with it.

[puporing]

16 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

We can say that Tesla made electric cars “cool” and made great batteries with long range. But even then it’s unclear how much Elon had to do with it.

He was an effective hype man for sure, and there are aspects I can still appreciate from a "performance/aesthetic" standpoint.

The problem of "whom to attribute" "X" to is a longstanding one, with inventions, discoveries, successes etc. From my observations it's always a group effort to some degree, and built on existing works.  But people still are wired to "fall for" the charm of the singular hype man or prone to attributing something to 1 individual where there's often more than 1 key individuals. And even more so overlook the contributions of ordinary workers.

I'd say it's possible Elon contributed more as a "visionary leader" than other aspects, because you need someone who is able to motivate others to do the work to produce something top notch.

The problem though is that we massively overpay such "visionary leaders" not just in financial terms, but in other "various favors" they receive in society.

Edited February 8 by puporing

[integral]

9 minutes ago, puporing said:

Electric cars actually go back pretty far around the same time as gasoline vehicles:

2 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

Exactly.

We can say that Tesla made electric cars “cool” and made great batteries with long range. But even then it’s unclear how much Elon had to do with it.

Be careful distorting history. We would have no electric car competition between all the car manufacturers. They were all pushed and forced into making electric cars because of the explosion of Tesla.

The electric cars before Tesla were poor and not popular and had almost 0 position in the market.

Tesla force all the other companies to make electric cars. We would have none today.

 

[integral]

Elon did a lot of great things, he deserves credit, be careful blinding yourself emotionally.

[PurpleTree]

10 minutes ago, puporing said:

He was an effective hype man for sure, and there are aspects I can still appreciate from a "performance/aesthetic" standpoint.

The problem of "whom to attribute" "X" to is a longstanding one, with inventions, discoveries, successes etc. From my observations it's always a group effort to some degree, and built on existing works.  But people still are wired to "fall for" the charm of the singular hype man or prone to attributing something to 1 individual where there's often more than 1 key individuals. 

I'd say it's possible Elon contributed more as a "leader" than other aspects, because you need someone who is able to motivate others to do the work to produce something top notch.

Sure. But now this is also a big problem since the hype man went a little bit fascist-ish. So now the hype man and leader is dragging Tesla down with hos antics. Unless right wingers and MaGA start to buy EVs en masse. (hint: they prefer gasoline)

 

[puporing]

There are cases (though probably rare) where a Board of Directors kicks "the original guy"/CEO off due to their conduct or whatever other reason that is deemed to be harmful to "the corporation" (eg, as in the case of Chip Wilson with Lululemon). I don't know exactly Musk's position with Tesla and if there's any levers like that with Tesla. But it does and can happen if there was some kind of "internal division".

Edited February 8 by puporing

[Schizophonia]

1 hour ago, integral said:

Elon did a lot of great things, he deserves credit, be careful blinding yourself emotionally.

If we refuse to collaborate with everyone who has a shadow or simply who does not agree with us, we will quickly end up sucking stones in a cave.

[hoodrow trillson]

I'm a car guy, so I would never actually buy that garbage.  The current Elon retardation just compounds that even more for me.  No thanks lol

[Yimpa]

5 minutes ago, hoodrow trillson said:

I'm a car guy, so I would never actually buy that garbage. 

What about it makes it a garbage car?

[PurpleTree]

30 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

What about it makes it a garbage car?

It doesn’t have Gasolinaaa

 

[hoodrow trillson]

1 hour ago, Yimpa said:

What about it makes it a garbage car?

Too heavy.  Tire wear is terrible.  Interior feels and looks cheap under the guise of “futuristic minimalism”.  Everything is locked down by Tesla’s software.  No 5 minute/instant 400+ mile range fill ups at ubiquitous gas stations.  Sitting in a car for 30 minutes to charge it sucks.  Driving dynamics aren’t up to par with cars in their price range.  Suspension components are dogshit and shoddy.  Subjective, but they’re ugly and look like jelly beans; the Cybertruck is even worse.  Battery life takes a hit in cold climates, it may not seem like a big deal but as the battery ages that “hit” is an even larger portion.  Batteries have more of a finite life than an ICE that’s well maintained.  Lackluster service department.  Auto shops that work on Teslas are more scarce.  You cannot upgrade/tinker with anything except the cringy fart horn.  More stress on the electric grid.  Which means prices keep creeping up for everyone else.

In regards to Teslas being more “environmentally friendly”, that’s dubious at best.  Yes, you move some smog/pollution from the immediate area of a city since Teslas don’t have exhausts but you’re just concentrating it more towards where the power plants are which are burning extra coal and polluting at an even larger scale than before, which are always near where poorer people live.  Not to mention, the cobalt mining, the crazy amount of pollution China cranks out now making those batteries.  It’s even MORE destructive to the planet than making an entire ICE car.

I could go on with that farce company and their garbage cars lol

Edited February 8 by hoodrow trillson

[MarkKol]

I would rather support the former nazis (bmw, vw, merecedes, audi) than a 2025 wannabe nazi Elon Musk

He did it to himself with that salute in actuality he’s not a nazi but he’s imposing his billionaire will on the government, even if he did everything correctly, what gives him the right to do anything? The American people never voted for him.

His main shtick is smaller government & getting rid of regulations he and his companies have to comply with.

I would rather buy that Chinese jumping car than his shit, Fuck him and fuck Tesla. 

[BlessedLion]

On 2/8/2025 at 5:37 AM, integral said:

I’ve experienced driving Teslas and from that experience I could tell you there was some of the best cars ever manufactured.

The engineering intelligence that went into this car is obvious when you drive one.

That being said it doesn’t matter which company you’re buying a car from. It’s all part of the same inequality capitalist corporative black hole.

You’re a consumer consuming in the end.

Just make a good financial decisions and investments instead, and focus on yourself. Instead of pretending to be a social justice warrior. 

No. It’s not this simplified. Fuck Elon and his Teslas. The fact that sales have dropped this much is awesome 

[BlessedLion]

On 2/8/2025 at 9:52 AM, integral said:

I just don’t believe an individual activism like this.

It’s fine to be vocal about disliking a public figure and warning everyone about it, but it’s another thing to alter your lifestyle for some greater good.

Life is very challenging and you should be doing everything you can to succeed and not over focus on an idealistic agenda.

Most people make minimum wage and live paycheque to paycheque barely surviving, if you wanna make a difference, get extremely rich and then funnel that money into something useful for society. 

Yeah, roll over and fund the psycho who is trying to dismantle the government. I think not buying his product is a powerful message. Not everything in life is about optimizing your comfort 

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

Try to position yourself in life to not be in need of a car, would be a good neutral position to take in this case. Boycott all the car products instead of trying to boycott this one specific company, trying to pose yourself as a morally superior being. Who knows what you'd do if you were a billionaire

[PurpleTree]

5 hours ago, NewKidOnTheBlock said:

Try to position yourself in life to not be in need of a car, would be a good neutral position to take in this case. Boycott all the car products instead of trying to boycott this one specific company, trying to pose yourself as a morally superior being. Who knows what you'd do if you were a billionaire

You guys are losing the plot. It’s not about “morally superior activism”

It’s about not supporting a lunatic ass*hat with your money = capitalism.

[integral]

4 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

It’s about not supporting a lunatic ass*hat with your money = capitalism.

All your claiming is you don’t like bigger pictures.

Do you support the brutality of the Chinese government? Then why not stop buying everything from China?

But I guess that’s too broad of a thing to be emotionally invested in?

99% of public out cries go nowhere, and when it does change society by passing laws or something, it’s all backhanded sweep under the rug and replaced by some new law in the future, overruling it under everyone’s nose.

Whatever people gain fighting the rich without money or power is a waste of time because it’s trying to fight symptoms, not the root of the problem.

Every small victory will always be wiped clean in the end.

Look at the housing crisis we are in, none of that has to do with Elon.

There is value in people speaking out, but I think the lowest form of that is where people decide to put their money. It’s such a lazy approach.

if everyone did it all at the same time and we were all coordinated together, then it would be very effective. But that’s not how it ever plays out in practice. Most people don’t care at all.

Edited February 12 by integral

[PurpleTree]

14 minutes ago, integral said:

Do you support the brutality of the Chinese government? Then why not stop buying everything from China?

I try to boycott Chinese product.

[Salvijus]

Probably 90% of the products we purchase come from shady sources and people. 

 

Edited February 12 by Salvijus

[Joshe]

On 2/8/2025 at 11:57 AM, integral said:

Electric cars wouldn't exist if Elon wasn't around we would still only have fossil fuel vehicles.

Sounds like you drank the kool aid. You believe that electric cars wouldn’t be on the map if it weren’t for Mr. Mega Genius and that Tesla is one of the nicest cars in existence? Hmm. I smell something. WHAT is that smell? Is it a suppressed Elon fan disguised as a consciousness worker? Jk, but for real. 

The first point is false, which you can verify yourself with AI and the second is an opinion, like this: Aesthetically, the Tesla is shit. Absolute shit. It’s curves are absurd and just look at its logo. It’s like one of the worst logos ever. When you look at that logo for 30 seconds, how does it make you feel? Lol. It’s fucking repulsive. 

One way to contribute to the greater good is by not supporting entities that are detrimental to it. So yeah, I think it’s a responsible thing to do. 

 

Edited February 12 by Joshe