TESLA and Elon Musk - anything not elsewhere

[Uninformed]

“Tesla lays off more than 10% of its workforce”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68818113

‘Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global electric vehicle workforce.
In a memo, first reported by news website Electrek, billionaire owner Elon Musk told staff there was nothing he hated more, "but it must be done".
The world's largest auto-maker by market value had 140,473 employees globally as of December, according to its latest annual report.
Tesla has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.
"We have done a thorough review of the organisation and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally," said the email from Mr Musk.
"There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle."’

[roadscholar]

Musk's branching out into TRUCKS is the OceanGate of business decisions. The cars seem fairly workable.

I've seen a bunch of videos on the pickup and his version of a semi tractor saying they're bad. Astonishingly bad. Obviously bad, hence the astonishment.

They're supposed to be trucks, are they? That means: carrying and pulling loads. And that's what Mr. Super-Genius ignores. The pickup has a tiny volume & weight capacity (not to mention its appalling aesthetics). His tractor-trailer attempt is apparently trying to replace Macks and Peterbilts. But the batteries weigh 11 tons. And the range before charging is not what Musk claimed it would be so many on-the-road business hours would be consumed by stopping for a charge.

The splashy websites for both trucks gave a lot of data... but somehow, net carrying capacity was not listed. And the range was listed as "approximate." That may have changed, admittedly. But from what I've seen, I agree with the critics: the trucks seem to offer half the capability at twice the price.

(IMHO, the most practical large trucks would be diesel-electric. You get the advantage of regenerative braking, and the diesel can run at an optimal efficiency. Or so I've heard. The efficiency of the diesel-electric powerplant has been known to the locomotive industry for many decades. The tractors might be more expensive, but they would at least stand a chance of affording both competitive performance and fuel efficiency. Not perfectly green, but better.)*

I'm always surprised when guys like Stockton Rush and Elon Musk mistake their genius for infallibility. They seem so smart. But all their ideas, to them, are great ones. Arguably, the smartest folks are vigilant to the possibility that one of their ideas may not actually be a good idea. And then move on.

*Come to think of it, these may already be around. Last time I was in a semi, the trucker had to swerve to avoid hitting the pterodactyls.

[Suranis]

This is Tesla's Semi truck, spotted in the wild. The owner seems to have given this some paint so he spoiled the Vision of the Musk, but otherwise... it still looks stupid.



And a more in depth discussion (which, disclaimer, I haven't watched yet)

[RTH10260]

"but otherwise... it still looks stupid."

Visually, well, people are used to the yuuuge motor hood of American trucks might feel so. Looks like a delivery van to me.

[zekeb]

He'd be better off designing something a little smaller for in-city deliveries.

[roadscholar]

"but otherwise... it still looks stupid."

Visually, well, people are used to the yuuuge motor hood of American trucks might feel so. Looks like a delivery van to me.

Definitely better-looking than the cybertruck. That thing...yikes.

[Suranis]

He'd be better off designing something a little smaller for in-city deliveries.

Internal Combustion Engines are still arguably better for long distances anyway, if only because of ease and speed of refueling.

[Sam the Centipede]

Definitely better-looking than the cybertruck. That thing...yikes.

How important is the pick-up truck and similar market outside North America? It's certainly not a big sector in Europe outside the actual practical use by tradesmen, farmers, etc. Too big and expensive to run on smaller European roads and there isn't the "look at my shiny inappropriate truck, ain't it great?" vibe in any part of Europe that I can think of. SUVs yes, trucks no.

I'm not saying it won't sell a few, but as an oddity rather than as any sort of generally aspirational item.

Africa surely is immune to its allures as well as probably lacking the electricity supply infrastructure. Most of Asia too, I'd have thought. Aussies perhaps? - would the cityside bogans at the billabong fancy a ʞɔnɹʇɹǝqʎƆ for carrying the jumbuck in their tucker bag? I don't know what current Aussie macho culture rates as ripper.

[bob]

“Tesla lays off more than 10% of its workforce”

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[Dave from down under]

Definitely better-looking than the cybertruck. That thing...yikes.

How important is the pick-up truck and similar market outside North America Aussies perhaps? - would the cityside bogans at the billabong fancy a ʞɔnɹʇɹǝqʎƆ for carrying the jumbuck in their tucker bag? I don't know what current Aussie macho culture rates as ripper.

No idea either of macho culture either…
But the 4WD EV TV adds are for standard looking SUVs.
With Hydrogen being considered move viable for long hauling and other working vehicles after petrol/diesel

[zekeb]

Definitely better-looking than the cybertruck. That thing...yikes.

How important is the pick-up truck and similar market outside North America Aussies perhaps? - would the cityside bogans at the billabong fancy a ʞɔnɹʇɹǝqʎƆ for carrying the jumbuck in their tucker bag? I don't know what current Aussie macho culture rates as ripper.

No idea either of macho culture either…
But the 4WD EV TV adds are for standard looking SUVs.
With Hydrogen being considered move viable for long hauling and other working vehicles after petrol/diesel

I get my Aussie motor news from John Cadogan.

[Dave from down under]

[John Thomas8]

[johnpcapitalist]

Yet another Cybertruck embarrassment: sales have been halted due to a potentially dangerous manufacturing defect.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/2413 ... edal-stuck

Cybertruck owners say deliveries halted over bad accelerator pedal

Over the last few days, Tesla has delayed some Cybertruck deliveries. The company hasn’t specified why or even publicly commented on the delays, but commenters in the Cybertruck Owners Club forum have reported receiving texts or calls telling them their deliveries were being rescheduled.

One user said they’d been told by their dealer that the truck was recalled over its accelerator pedal. Another claimed Tesla sent them a text saying it’s not scheduling deliveries at the moment for the same reason. Several others reported receiving texts about issues with “the preparation of your vehicle.”

The issue itself may be that the accelerator pedal is prone to getting stuck. A Cybertruck owner posted a video to TikTok showing how their accelerator pedal cover got stuck and “held the accelerator down 100 percent, full throttle.” They said pressing the brake stopped the truck from continuing to accelerate, but if they let up, it would start going again. That’s not a great situation for any truck, let alone one that weighs almost 7,000 pounds and can hit 60mph from a dead stop in less than three seconds.

Another user wrote in the Cybertruck Owners Club forum at the beginning of April that their truck accelerated into a signal pole, apparently on its own, and that neither the brake pedal nor the airbags worked.

Tesla is facing — and has faced — plenty of legal and regulatory scrutiny over its products, its owner, its business, and its labor practices, but so far, claims that its cars can accelerate on their own haven’t really stuck (pardon the pun). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blamed user error in its 2021 review of complaints of Tesla vehicles accelerating on their own. Prior to that, Tesla settled most of a class action lawsuit in 2018 pertaining to similar claims, avoiding a trial.

[raison de arizona]

I used to have that happen to my 1969 VW Squareback AT (really) quite often for a bit there in my youth. The thing was so slow you had plenty of time to reach down there and pull it back up. 0 to 60 in 3 seconds puts a different spin on it.

[raison de arizona]

In this episode, Musk struggles with basic property rights. Yes, destroying your own property is not a crime. Yes, destroying other people's property is a crime. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

The part that he seems confused about is that burning YOUR OWN flag that you own is not a crime, regardless of what kind of flag it is. However, STEALING someone else’s flag that is their property and then destroying it by burning it is a crime.

[johnpcapitalist]

Yet another ignominious moment for a Cybertruck owner: apparently, the truck shorts out when exposed to water in a car wash.

Tesla Cybertruck No Match For Car Wash

By Bradley Brownell

After just a couple of months and a few thousand miles of ownership, Tik Tok user @captian.ad’s Tesla Cybertruck was effectively a several-thousand-pound paperweight for several hours. After taking his truck to the beach and stopping off at a car wash to clean it up, he parked the truck in his garage, where it decided to just stop working for a while. The screen, which runs all functions of the truck, went black, and wouldn’t respond at all, even after performing the factory prescribed reboot procedure. Not great.

After filing a ticket with Tesla to get the truck rebooted, the Cybertrucker went to bed and woke up the next morning to a mostly functional truck. A call with Tesla confirmed that the truck had needed a complete reboot which took over five hours of sitting to complete. From the moment he’d initiated the reboot method of holding down two steering wheel buttons, the truck was apparently working on a reboot until some time in the middle of the night.

Interestingly the user doesn’t mention whether Tesla was able to offer any insight as to why the truck decided to stop working, if it was caused by the car wash or something else entirely. The Cybertruck’s owners manual does caution against ever washing the truck in direct sunlight, and there is a section expressly mentioning that the truck has to be switched into “Car Wash Mode” before washing to avoid damage to parts of the vehicle.

The Twitter posts embedded in the article above say that taking your car through the car wash, even if you turn on "car wash mode," will void your warranty. And given the litany of other problems, that would be a very bad thing indeed.

"Tesla Cybertruck: The Yugo of Pickups"

[pipistrelle]

As I've mentioned, I don't have smart appliances (except a Sonicare toothbrush). I've decided if I bought a vehicle, I'd get one as old school as possible. Mechanical failures seem a lot easier to get through than not being able to get anywhere 'cause some buttons or screens aren't working. (I also prefer windows with winders, but that's just me.)

I still haven't figured out what the Cybertruck is for other than some sort of ugly status symbol. I'd rather have a working pickup.

[pipistrelle]

"Tesla Cybertruck: The Yugo of Pickups"

That might be an insult to Yugos.

[raison de arizona]

https://twitter.com/kthorjensen/status/ ... 0305255449

However, going through a car wash will void the warranty

[Suranis]

So... the Cybertruck is a Volkwagon Beetle? Oh wait, that really did float.

https://www.arnoldclark.com/newsroom/52 ... tles-float

[RTH10260]

"cybertruck will be waterproof enough"

Are you telling use that we still need to wait for that feature

[zekeb]

"cybertruck will be waterproof enough"

Are you telling use that we still need to wait for that feature

You can activate it over the internet by paying an additional yearly fee.

[RTH10260]

[northland10]

"Tesla Cybertruck: The Yugo of Pickups"

That might be an insult to Yugos.

A Yugo is a car that had parts that preferred to not be part of a Yugo. They would at times attempt to escape. Some stories from Yugo owners I knew:

1. During a rain storm, a windshield wiper decided they had enough of being on a Yugo and decided to fly and be free. It was successful, though it may have been run over by some other car soon after escaping its Yugolonian captivity.

2. Little did a colleague of mine realize that his passenger seat was biding its time until he went and pulled the release level. Then with the intensity of a bison attacking a Touron, it attempted to make a break for that sweet freedom all Yugo seats yearn for. Sadly, it managed to only crash against the windshield. Being of a stout heart, the windshield carried the day but was left with a lovely spiderweb crack for the rest of the Yugo's time on this earth, which was probably short.