Tesla Motors

Tesla self-driving vs everyday roads in New Jersey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nF0K2nJ7N8

I've watched about three minutes so far, and it's so stressful.

It's like every 30 seconds or so it either does or threatens to do something unsafe, or does something unexpected, like put on the brakes or signal, "for some reason."

yeah that was my main takeaway - so much more stressful than just driving the car yourself

It's like driving with a 15-year old behind the wheel.

Saw my first broken-down Tesla on the side of the road yesterday. Not that I haven't seen tons of other vehicles on the roadside (and even been one earlier this month in my 2007 Ford R.I.P.). But it just felt like a sign of the times.

Tesla mobile Supercharger with Megapack caught on fire

https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/01/Tesla-Mobile-Supercharger-.jpg

A Tesla Megapack used on a mobile Supercharger caught on fire and completely burned down in Baker, California.

We previously reported on this contraption that Tesla sometimes brings to busy Supercharger stations.

It’s a trailer fitted with a Megapack, Tesla’s biggest stationary energy storage system, and a bunch of Superchargers.

The result is a mobile Supercharger station that Tesla can bring to Supercharger stations when more capacity is needed – especially during holidays.

That’s exactly what Tesla did at its Baker, California, Supercharger station for people traveling for the New Year, but the mobile Supercharger caught on fire on January first, according to Tesla drivers stopping by the station.

...

This is the second known Tesla Megapack to have caught on fire. In September 2022, we reported on a Megapack catching on fire at a giant energy storage project in Monterrey, California.

To the surprise of no-one: "Tesla staged 2016 self-driving demo, says senior Autopilot engineer"

Another "Tesla driver killed after plowing into firetruck on freeway" but what stood out was this stat:

At least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles while using the system.

Tesla driver dies in fatal shooting at Supercharger station after ‘argument over charger’

Tesla, problems at the pump, guns ... it's the singularity.

I asked a good friend of mine for an update on his Tesla, and he gave me the rare unvarnished opinion. He said he loves it, especially the fact that he has not been to a gas station since 2018, and because he has not gotten into an accident or anything he hasn't had to deal with repairs or parts shortages or anything. On the other hand, he said he could not recommend it as your primary or only car, since the range isn't good enough to make longer tricks practical (he likes the way it leads you to charging stations as needed, but doesn't like how they're often out of the way when you're on the road), and he said in the winter/cold the mileage gets cut so much you'd be fucked.

While I'm not a professional auto interior designer, I feel like I've driven a sufficient variety of cars and trucks over the past four decades to have a measured opinion about the Cybertruck interior. To be brief: Are you fucking kidding me?

Legit lols at anyone defending this p.o.s. I'm on board with the conspiracy theory that the Cybertruck is some sort of long-game joke that Musk is playing out to make fun of any cult member duped enough to buy one.

I've said it before, the interiors of Teslas are terrible, its like made out of the same stuff they use to make the fake living room sets in furniture stores

I'm still a little skeptical that the Cybertruck will actually go into mass production, everything i've heard from car guys is that you can't just make a car out of one piece of molded steel like that, if you do many of them will slowly come apart and become undriveable within a few years. but hey I'm not Mr. Car Genius

That deep dash looks pretty dangerous, like “can’t see kids in front of the car” dangerous

the people 40 feet away still have their feet hidden by the hood lol

This joker is going to end up limiting production to just one truck, and then he's going to sell it for 44 billion, probably to some Saudi prince.

i see the speedometer has been removed to make more room for the deep dash

You could fit 10 deep dish pizzas on that deep dash

Why do Teslas never have front license plates even in states that require them? Did they not design for that?

There are continual arguments in every EV owners forum as to how much front license plates disrupt aero efficiency with little in the way of convincing results one way or the other. The dealer for my Mach-E asked me if I even wanted the front plate bracket installed. I chose to leave it off - I'd like to believe that the extra 0.01 in aero (or whatever it is) does matter.

"Stick around TeslaBros, we'll show you how to make deep-dish pizzas on the dash of a Cybertruck using only the power of a burning sun in a climate gone mad - but first, we have to have a serious talk about pedestrian deaths. You're not killing enough hahaha!"

deathrace2000.jpg

Beyond Thunderdome / Tron auxiliary vehicle

Honestly thought the revive was about this

https://jalopnik.com/whistleblower-drops-100-gigabytes-of-tesla-secrets-to-g-1850476542

well that's fabulous news

phantom braking it just happens nbd

It's just their way of making sure you're awake. Better pay for that blue check before your car goes HAL 9000 on you.

Better than Audi's "uncontrolled acceleration!"

There are continual arguments in every EV owners forum as to how much front license plates disrupt aero efficiency with little in the way of convincing results one way or the other. The dealer for my Mach-E asked me if I even wanted the front plate bracket installed. I chose to leave it off - I'd like to believe that the extra 0.01 in aero (or whatever it is) does matter.

Are front plates optional for everyone?

I live in Maryland, where front plates are required, and saw two Teslas with front plates this morning. I think you just have to have the holes drilled. I had never heard the aerodynamics argument previously - only "it makes my car look bad!"

Front plates are required here, don't know if you'll be pulled over but you may be ticketed when parked. (Often - always? - the same thing for backing into parking spots.)

There are plenty of gasoline-powered cars which have aerodynamic fronts.

I live in Arkansas, a one-plate state. When I moved to Minnesota, a two-plate state, I had to get a bracket installed on the front. And when I moved back to the one-plate state, I kept the license plate on the front as a souvenir, at least until the state trooper stopped me and said I couldn't have two different state license plates on my car.

(Which makes sense, I guess.)

When I lived in North Carolina, there was a cart in the mall where you could buy novelty plates to put in your front plate holder.

We've got an airbrushed pegasus on ours, bought as a joke 15 years ago, but now, I wouldn't be able to find the car without it.

_There are continual arguments in every EV owners forum as to how much front license plates disrupt aero efficiency with little in the way of convincing results one way or the other. The dealer for my Mach-E asked me if I even wanted the front plate bracket installed. I chose to leave it off - I'd like to believe that the extra 0.01 in aero (or whatever it is) does matter._


Yeah but I’m pretty sure states that have two license plates require that both be displayed, front and back. I see this phenomenon on other luxury vehicles too, Teslas just seem to be the worst offender. Not sure how these guys aren’t being stopped by cops.

plus they may be cops

No one may ever get the chance to make pizza on that stupid dashboard, because it's barely a car or truck: "Leaked Tesla report shows Cybertruck had basic design flaws.

time to load my tree into my new vehicle and carry it triumphantly home through the snow

Cybertruck struggles to get up a small, slippery hill while carrying a Christmas tree. pic.twitter.com/H13KMzA59W

— 🎄 Blue Tesla 🎄 (@BlueTeslaEV) December 12, 2023

Canyonero!

I'm sure this has been mentioned somewhere before, but I just realized that the Cybertruck reminds me of Danger Mouse's car, the Mach III

https://occ-0-2794-2219.1.nflxso.net/dnm/api/v6/9pS1daC2n6UGc3dUogvWIPMR_OU/AAAABb_28aFggX22mGKbCVkJv8XTbadAvyhGJ-a8NPPEcp_Y-TFqt5K1ajqXOkmV9rkX_ewN89kUx5wyxfcJgOVnVtxLLFVUNHjl-nL9yHKSw5SBRscBU2s8j7Rq.jpg?r=dee

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r8iGirYfejw/hqdefault.jpg

Not only is that Tesla Truck struggling, it appears to be struggling even while being winched. Which is to say, rescued.

I hate to give them any credit, but off-road wheels aren't the same as hauling junk on roadways wheels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQx3_aCWQsU

Oof:

Shares in Tesla plunged as much as 11% after the market opened Thursday, wiping $73 billion off the company’s market value hours after it warned of slowing growth in electric car sales and an existential threat from Chinese rivals.

lol none of that is news, what is up with investors

I don't follow this stuff that closely, outside of passive schadenfreude, but I guess there was just an earnings presentation with bad news. Bad news always hits worse when it's coming from the actual company.

https://wapo.st/3UD1Iu2

ya so i ride my road bike on this relatively short, narrow, very winding, very very rich road probably 2 maybe 4 times a year in summer. i use a road, witter, that turns off this road about half a mile before the crash location. it's a lovely spot and nowhere to drunk drive or autopilot. because you know what? you belong in jail.

Current WaPo headline:

A Tesla employee often used Full Self-Driving. He died in a fiery crash.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

(Spoiler alert: he was also drunk, which probably didn't help things.)

but i…