"We are lucky they're so stupid"
Tesla is committing automotive suicide
281–290 of 458 posts
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
2 days ago: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/47744955/paok-fans-ki... I'll let you find the video, it's brutal. Allegedly caused by lane assist activating out of the blue when overtaking other cars.
> I'll let you find the video, it's brutal This Daily Mail article¹ has it. It.. doesn't look brutal to me? Just looks like the minibus driver, who was driving on the median , veered across it into the oncoming lane to crash with the semi. He wasn't in a lane to begin with. > Allegedly caused by lane assist activating out of the blue Yeah dawg, imma need a second opinion on this. This is alleged by the survivors of t…
thanks anon for rectifying the record.
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that EVs are basically a solved problem. There isn't any technological advantage to be gained, since the technology in an EV is very basic (+) compared to ICE vehicles. So then it comes down to manufacturing, and there China is king. (+) Except for the battery, but that's a very long term battle with very tiny steps.
My brother bought a Tesla recently. They dicked him around with delivery, and he had to pay a ton to get charging infrastructure installed at his house, but it's fast so he's happy. On a recent visit, he finally showed me the car, and it was hilarious how janky the final product is. Everything seems cobbled together-- a good example is that there's apparently two separate voice assistants (plus his phone) and none of…
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Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
It wasn't the first modern EV?
Doesn't matter if it was or wasn't, it was a failure that GM never followed up with. Why it was a failure is also irrelevant, because whether you feel it was a technical failure or killed by GM, GM never did anything with the project or knowledge. Effectively it was a curiosity.
If GM killed it to keep it from succeeding, then there is massive precedent to never reuse the tech. In fact, their NiMH battery patents were sold to Texaco/Chevron who held them close and never let anyone use them. From that point, they couldn't follow-up without dumping even more cash into it, effectively burying it. Until new lithium battery tech matured, there was no way to do it again.
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a newer Corolla that's pretty much the absolute floor of the base model (LE with I believe minimal packages) and it has all the technology one would expect now, all while having physical buttons where it matters. Lane assist and adaptive cruise control are table stakes now.
Indeed, I have a 2023 Corolla. The dealer didn't like it when I said "LE" stands for "Low End" as a joke (it means Limited Edition). The technology for such a low end car is impressive. In addition to adaptive cruise control and lane keeping, the display shows the speed limit not by consulting a map but by reading the signs as you drive down the street. They call it RSA, Road Sign Assist. It also uses the camera and…
2022 Corolla owner here. Mine is UK spec with “Design” trim, which is middle of the range in terms of luxuries. I love mine. It’s got enough technology without it being annoying and has everything I want. The adaptive cruise is a killer feature. Best car I’ve ever owned.
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#286Elon's superpower is commanding insane valuation premiums. The trouble with this is that "the bill eventually comes due", so to speak, which forces Elon's companies to take wilder and wilder bets, or to make wilder and wilder promises. With telsa it was robotaxis, and when that failed to materialize, humanoid robots ( fucking LOL ). SpaceX is an even more insane example. They are eyeing an IPO at a 1.5 trillion valua…
> Estimates have SpaceX doing about $3B in annual earnings Ummm that information seems terribly out of date or is just uninformed- Starlink alone is estimated around $8 billion for 2024 and projected around $12 billion for 2025, with continued growth.
That's revenue. Earnings (profit) is what's relevant, because as you can imagine putting stuff in space is pretty expensive!
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#287BYD is slapping the EV industry around like a gorilla, Tesla simply cannot compete in any meaningful way. Waymo has achieved profit per unit and people are happy to see driver-less taxis in their city and pay for the service. Tesla also cannot justify valuations based on automotive sales/subscriptions alone - they were always going to have to pivot. They're in a tight spot and they need to do something drastic.
Tesla can compete with BYD all right. They have a better brand, they are still a status symbol. They could totally build the best cars if they wanted to. But competing with BYD would mean becoming "just a car company". And that's what Tesla can't do. Too many promises have been made, the stock's been pumped too high, and there is no way a just-a-car company can justify that market cap. Their only way is to go for the…
What market does Tesla have?
They won't prosper in China which has the biggest car market and better cars, that also happen to be cheaper. In the US, the second largest car market, they reduced their market in half. In Europe their sales are shrinking even as total EV sales increase. In India and Brazil, also in the top 6 largest car markets, their cars are too expensive so they sell a few *dozen* cars per year.
Even if they tried to be a car company with correct valuation they'd have nothing to offer to most of the market.
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#288It's business as usual for Elon. This is his main strategy. He always goes all in on risky technology that people say won't work. People said it about EVs. They said it about reusing first stages. They said it about Starlink's phased array antennas. Now he's going all in on self driving. It's obvious that self driving turns personal transportation into a service business. So that's where he's going. Yeah, if you don'…
He’s been all in on self driving for at least a decade now. He has not been able to produce anything close to his claims.
He was doing self driving but he wasn't all in on it until a few years ago, when they (apparently) stopped working on new models of cars for personal ownership. That's what makes it all in.
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that EVs are basically a solved problem. There isn't any technological advantage to be gained, since the technology in an EV is very basic (+) compared to ICE vehicles. So then it comes down to manufacturing, and there China is king. (+) Except for the battery, but that's a very long term battle with very tiny steps.
You can say the same about the traditional car industry. Just because it’s a “solved problem” doesn’t mean you can ignore the TAM. I think people are frustrated because Musk has been pretty up front that Tesla only exists to further his goals for Mars and robots. He doesn’t actually care about selling cars.
Traditional car industry is toast.
Re: Tesla is committing automotive suicide
#290Or he never intended for it to stick around and used it a the biggest pump and dump ever to become the richest man in the world using subsidies all along the way to get there. Will be interesting to see how much stock Elon sells...