this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
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(page 6) 36 comments
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[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (23 children)

Everyone forgets where the German cars, Henry Ford, etc came from politically.

I was looking into my first EV, and politics just didn’t weigh that much into the decision. Now, the “infotainment as a perpetual service”, that turned me off and away from Tesla. With CarPlay my car dash will never lose service, and will always be free to use with updates from Apple/Google. I can’t imagine why people would ever pay for their infotainment when CarPlay is better or equal in all cases to the alternative.

That said, if Tesla and other brands were equally weighted in my purchase decision, I’d then happily rule Tesla out based on merit.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's @[email protected], for those who can follow Mastodon handles. Worth following!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Thanks. I'm still figuring all this stuff out.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

And the board is probably afraid to fire him now too.

[–] [email protected] 200 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Nobody at Tesla headquarters voted to alienate their customer base. No board meeting decided to turn their electric car company into a political lightning rod.

This is technically not true. The board keeps Elon Musk on as CEO of Tesla, and they granted him the biggest bonus package ever, while he was already very controversial and clearly was losing his mind, because they thought he would be able to make them money.

[–] [email protected] 87 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're right, that's not just technically untrue. The board voted with their wallet, by giving him even more money than ever, so he could continue doing what he is doing. The people on the board wouldn't give a shit if only Nazis buy their cars, as long as there's enough of them to keep buying.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Well joke's on them though, because it seems Musk has found a way to tap US citizens directly, so he probably doesn't even care much about Tesla anymore now that it is failing.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (7 children)

8% drop in car sales isn't great but I think the article is overselling the idea that the company is straight up dying. (Sadly) Most people just don't make a connection between how they spend their money and the politics of the people they prop up.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Yet another asshole businessman with a business plan to fuck over the good name of Tesla.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (10 children)

Remember 2015? A Tesla parked in your driveway told your neighbours that you valued innovation, that you possessed an environmental conscience, that you had a stake in the future of the planet. The cars weren't perfect, but they meant something. They represented hope - for clean energy, EVs, and a world beyond fossil fuels.

This was me years go. I knew climate change was real and an imminent threat. I wanted to vote with my wallet for a cleaner future. I also wanted to strike a blow against the National Automotive Dealers Association for their regressive practices that hurt consumers and drive prices for cars higher for everyone. Buying a Tesla did those things. I charge the car on sunlight from my house. I don't have to support the petroleum industry's damage to environment and people around the world. I was proud to be doing something rather than just talking about needs for changes against climate change.

Musk doesn't get any of my money from this car. I don't pay for any of the Tesla monthly services. I'm don't want to be seen driving with a Tesla logo on the car. I'm ashamed that my good intentions funded a fascist.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There is no shame in your ownership of the vehicle based on your intentions; I would humbly assert that anger is a more appropriate reaction to the current leadership of the company that made it. If strangers judge you, that’s on them.

If I had had the means to purchase one 10+ years ago, I would have. Most people who claim they wouldn’t are not being honest with themselves or disapproved of the virtue signaling associated with them at the time.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Don't feel ashamed. You did nothing wrong. Life failed you, not the other way around.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

Nazism has no place.

[–] [email protected] 100 points 2 months ago (11 children)

About a week ago I saw a brand new model Y (still had the 90 day temporary plate) sporting one of those "bought before elon..." stickers.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Dr Dorothy Bishop resigned from the Royal Society back in November 2024 because of Musk. Everybody knew. And being an FRS is a huge, huge deal to a British scientist.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

I didn't know till ...tomorrow.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Temporary plates could be someone moving out of state. Are you sure it was the latest model?

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[–] [email protected] 73 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Elon has always been a terrible person, but he was once focused on things that society actually needed, like electrifying transportation to avoid climate collapse.

He seems to have gone sharply downhill into total insanity by taking ketamine while locking himself in a rightwing echo chamber. It’s the perfect storm of dissociating from reality.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Potential ketamine addiction aside, he's just gravitated toward where he sees more money and unfluence for himself. He wanted the prestige of being a leader in tech, so he used his influence and money to build SpaceX. Then he bullied his way into the ownership of Tesla, desperately wanting to appear as a genius to libertarian and liberal minds alike, but he's never been any less of an authoritarian. When Trump rose to power the first time, he sat and watched and along with the rest of the Silicon Valley Moguls, he began to move himself into positions of influence with populist politicians, borrowing the evangelical right's playbooks and throwing himself into the spotlight no matter the reason. He pivoted off his falsified image as some kind of American self-starter into MAGA rhetoric.

Musk doesn't have lofty ideals or any real focus on the betterment of society. I don't think he ever did. He just wanted to be a real life Tony Stark and command the influence that came with it. Now he doesn't need to, because he's got Trump in his back pocket and is mostly untouchable by any normal means.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Man, talk about copium.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Musk chased right-wing approval, but the only thing he got was declining sales and a dying brand.

I mean he got tens of billions of dollars in increased wealth so I dunno if I'd say that.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Well VW is still around. Maybe Teslas will be classic cars in 80 years.

/s: They will all self immolate.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

VWs never randomly caught fire. And also they don't look like if Transformers could somehow breed, but had an abortion.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

I checked on where Edsel prices have gone. They mostly match inflation. Not a worthwhile investment as a car that people are interested in decades later because it's an infamous failure.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Tesla might have to go on welfare... by having the US government buy thousands upon thousands of Teslas. 🤮

[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Swasticars for a fascist government. Makes sense.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

The popo using cybertrucks would really be the cherry on the techno-feudalist hellscape cake.

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[–] [email protected] 218 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I believe this is the part where we get sued for not buying his cars.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Like companies getting sued for not advertising on Twitter

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think he would be relieved to get rid of Tesla if someone would buy it. The full self-driving promise was always a matter of interpretation, and the cars they build are more expensive symbols of status than practical products. Tesla can’t compete with global EV manufacturers, that’s a Damocles sword waiting to fall.

SpaceX is where the money is now, and all the electric innovation Tesla did can be used for something else.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 months ago (4 children)

The full self-driving promise was always a matter of interpretation

There's nothing to interpret. It does not fully drive itself.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

@OutlierBlue @TeamAssimilation but it will next year, right? Let's just ignore all those times it's veered into the wrong lane or onto train tracks or whatever, it's fine. Next year, next year, next year.

And Mars in a decade.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Starship was supposed to be doing trips to mars each year by last year. Instead it has sometimes managed to not explode on a suborbital trajectory. But of course regulations are what hold it back...

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago

Musk is getting $8 million each day from the US government to destroy the US government. He was given $44 billion to destroy Twitter. He's not worried about money.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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