The disapproval of Elon Musk is the top reason Tesla Model 3 owners are selling their electric vehicles and going for another brand, according to a new survey of 5,000 Model 3 owners.

  • xenomor@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Tesla spent years building a brand identity that is intimately woven together with Musk. It’s damaged goods now as far as I’m concerned. Every time I encounter one of its products I think about it. It wasn’t too long ago when I was eagerly following product updates in the hopes of eventually buying a car power wall or that solar roof system. I was enthusiastic about rationalizing away the poor build quality and terrible customer support. Now, I would never buy a thing from them and I’m happy to pass judgement on anyone who does. $tslaq

    • almar_quigley@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Even beyond Musk the quality of Tesla’s for the price is absolute shit. His presence just makes it even worse. The main selling point for them was the higher range but seems like that may have been a lie the whole time.

      • whofearsthenight@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        that may have been a lie the whole time.

        Musk’s taint on the brand is I think majorly based on this type of thing. His twitter purchase has revealed that he’s a serial liar, and now people are seeing all of the ways that it is happening with Tesla. People tolerate assholes all of the time. What they don’t want to tolerate is snake oil salesmen, and I’m not sure there has ever been a bigger one than Musk.

      • RaincoatsGeorge@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Fun fact: teslas are the most recalled car brand in the country.

        I don’t discredit the work done by the engineers there, I’d argue they laid the groundwork to usher in the future of electric cars in this country. But of course all the credit goes to musk. Just another situation like Steve Jobs. See Bill Burrs bit on Jobs and replace him with Musk, same exact story.

        • jamkey@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          How many of those are real serious recalls that they didn’t just fix with easy tweaks over the air? I hate Musk as much of the next guy but I follow a lot of EV YT channels and even the ones that don’t like Tesla acknowledge that the media overhyped the recalls given how many of them have been easy OTA fixes. Plus since they iterate very fast and don’t just update the car once every four years often it only affects a small subset. Like 1-4k cars in some cases rather than the typical 100k recall that Toyota would have.

        • AttackBunny@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Tesla is the most recalled vehicle brand. That’s impressive. Looking at you Kia/hyundai and Nissan.

          Musk himself admits Tesla has build quality issues

          Search “Tesla panel gap issues”. Tons of people complaining and many say that trying to fix the issue causes other, bigger gaps, or just gets worse. I’ve heard rumor that if you try to fix them, you’ll void some kind of Tesla support.

          Oh, and one of the most damning ones in my book. During a car fire, which Tesla has had PLENTY of, some genius decided that the door locks should default to LOCKED. Who the actual fuck thought this was acceptable? How did they ever make it into production.

          There’s a video floating around of a guy kicking his windows out to escape his burning Tesla.

          Dumb dumb musk decided he was smarter than everyone else, (spoiler he’s not) and overrode his own engineers. He decided there were no physical sensors required for auto driving, only cameras. Every other manufacturer knows that not possible yet, but musk knew better

          Yes, a lot of car fires are difficult to extinguish, and yes, electric/hybrids more so, but teslas are exceptional. Can’t out out the many teslas that catch fire When the local fire dept came by to inspect our business we got to chatting and they said that they had a Tesla catch fire. They used everything in their arsenal, and a LOT of water. Like more than you could imagine. Then it got towed to a holding yard. Someone parked it up against a building, and next to quite a few other vehicles waiting for legal things/inspections. Tesla reignited in the tow yard and took out everything near it too. The yard is in BIG trouble for damaging a whole lot of evidence/vehicles being held for court cases, etc.

          I could go on, but those are the biggest ones.

            • AttackBunny@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.

              There are also the people who got locked out of their cars because the battery died. Or even better the one that locked INSIDE their tesla when the 12v battery died. Getting locked inside a car, in AZ heat is deadly, VERY rapidly.

              That’s like the door failing to locked when the car is on fire, or in an accident. Who the fuck let that pass QC?

          • 8BitRoadTrip@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Burning lithium and other exotic metals are class D fires. They are extraordinarily difficult to extinguish. They burn hot enough to break down water into oxygen and hydrogen. Mainly you let them burn themselves out and try to prevent them from spreading to other more traditionally combustible materials.

            • AttackBunny@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I was trying to keep it short. I get why, I just was trying to avoid an essay.

              They kinda remind me of the old VW bug magnesium fires.

          • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m not a Musk fan at all but some of these are misleading or just downright wrong.

            Tesla is only the most recalled brand if you categorize “recalls” to include software updates. If Tesla can fix an issue via an OTA update, it shouldn’t be considered a recall but it is in the source being used.

            Teslas do have build issues but they’re not overwhelmingly more present than other cars. They’re only showing that way because Tesla only has 4 models of car and the build issues carry over from year to year. That’s not the case for other cars where, like with a Jetta, the body is redesigned but the name stays the same.

            The door lock thing is also misleading because the case would be the same for any other car where the driver locked the doors. Either way, the fire department is breaking a window. They don’t have magic keys to open every car door out there. The fire department could pull on the handle all day long and it wouldn’t matter. The driver locked the doors and could have opened them but didn’t (and there’s even a special manual override for them along with a Fire Department quick access switch at the front of the car).

            Edit: People are downvoting objectively true information.

            https://www.autoblog.com/2022/12/29/most-recalls-by-car-manufacturer-2022/

            https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/attachments/smartselect_20191224-132903_adobe-acrobat-jpg.492495/

            • bluetoque@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              You missed the part where the driver was conscious and couldn’t escape from the inside due to locked doors.

              • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                I didn’t miss crap. The cars have a mechanical release on the inside. If the driver was conscious, he could pull the switch which doesn’t need power and would unlock the doors. The OP’s comment and link were referencing the outside of the doors since the Model S has retractable handles that are flush with the door when they’re locked so there’s no handle to grab.

                The only exception is the Model X since it has the full-wing doors. Those have a release that is only accessible if you pull off the speaker grill so you’d need to know about that ahead of time.

            • AttackBunny@lemmy.world
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              First and foremost, when you have a vehicle with an electric door lock, you ALWAYS fail it to open. On a “normal” car (yeah there are some that are all electric now too), you have a physical switch that you flip, and it’s unlocked. The locking mechanism for the Tesla is electric, so in the case of the wires being damaged, or as witnessed, the car being on fire, you have no MECHANICAL mechanism to open the door. Supposedly, there is one INSIDE the door, lol what? but how many people will know that, and more importantly be able to access it in a panic?

              I did a little more digging. SOME models are equipped with a mechanical release on the door (I assume it’s something you have to pay extra for), but not all of them. As I mentioned above, there is a mechanical option, but you would have to know exactly to remove the door card trim panel, and access the cable. People don’t even read enough of the owners manual to know how shit they really want works, let alone a safety issues.

              Clearly you don’t understand what a recall is. Recalls are highly regulated, and things like a software update for the aircon do not fall under the recall term. In fact, manufacturers do everything in their power to avoid recalls. They will often issue a TSB, instead, when a recall isn’t being forced by the NHTSA. Good try though. As you can see from teslas own website (I don’t believe this is even close to all of them) they are ALL safety issues, which is what recalls are for, either voluntary, or forced by NHTSA.

              No, they absolutely have more build quality issues than even the lowest trim shit econoboxes. I always say that a tesla is a corolla with a big computer in it, but even the corolla is built WAY better, and I’m old enough to remember 80s cars. Those were pretty damn bad.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Hey… I loved my 80s Corolla. I drove it until it was practically dust. And it was a manual. You can barely even find manuals these days.

                • AttackBunny@lemmy.world
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                  Miata is always the answer.

                  I’m not knocking corollas exactly. But they are what they are. They are cheap point a to point b appliances.

                  I’d say 80s cars had a lot more character anyhow. They were in a lot of ways more enjoyable.

              • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                First and foremost, how does a normal, non-Tesla car fail to an unlocked door? If the car caught fire and was locked, how does the car unlock the doors in your scenario? Teslas have a mechanical switch that’s no different from the situation you’ve described since the driver was passed out. The door needed to be opened from the outside so it’s literally no different for the Tesla.

                Also, your digging was wrong. The Model 3, for example has a mechanical release right on the door that doesn’t need any digging or removal of anything. (https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/attachments/smartselect_20191224-132903_adobe-acrobat-jpg.492495/)

                Clearly you don’t understand what a recall is

                I know exactly what a recall is and you’re wrong again. In 2022 alone, Tesla came in 7th amongst auto manufacturers for recalls but 2nd in total cars affected because over-the-air fixes are still considered recalls. (https://www.autoblog.com/2022/12/29/most-recalls-by-car-manufacturer-2022/) Regardless of that, under no interpretation of it does Tesla have the most recalls of any car manufacturer, unless you include the OTA update recalls.

                So it sounds like you don’t understand what a recall is.

                Everything else you’ve said is subjective garbage. Unless you have some evidence to back up your claims, you’re just spreading more of the lies that are exactly what I’m complaining about. Tesla and Musk have enough real problems that you don’t need to make up their problems.

                • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 year ago

                  This, I read the article and it lays it out, even though it’s misleading in it’s title and conclusion.

        • TheMinions@ttrpg.network
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          1 year ago

          A lot of cheap surface level stuff. For example, my dad has a model 3, and the back of the passenger chair just falls off. And by the back I mean the hard plastic shell that holds the seat pocket for the passengers in the second row to use.

          There have also been reports of things like mismatched tail lights, cars leaking when it rains, and bumpers just falling off. But I haven’t seen those in person.

          Stuff like that.

    • LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      In addition, almost all big car manufacturers now have far better EVs in terms of quality, features, and looks. Tesla no longer has the monopoly they enjoyed for almost a decade. If you’re selling me an EV with this shit stain on it, I’d just go the shop next door.

      Let his fascist followers buy his EVs….oh wait, they hate them. Remember all the rage against EVs in Texas that led to “rolling coal” in Teslas, purposely parking F250s to take up all the Tesla charging stations, vandalism at charging stations, keying Teslas parked at malls? Yeah, those are the people he is fighting for.

    • InternetUser2012@lemmy.world
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      I wanted a Tesla. I was ready to get a model 3. Then he went full blown ass clown and at first I thought it was a joke, like he was just messing around being funny. Then I realized how big of a dbag he really is and yeah, no thanks. I bought a CTS-V instead and although it’s the opposite of fuel efficient, it’s the most fun vehicle I’ve ever driven.

    • new_acct_who_dis@lemmy.world
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      When we got on the wait-list for Starlink I thought he was a cool innovator type.

      Luckily we’ve had the Starlink for a couple years now and I typically forget that his embarrassing ass has anything to do with it!

      Glad we got it back then, I’d probably write it off now and not trust it/him enough to spend the money (it was a decent investment for equipment).

    • mikeboltonshair@sh.itjust.works
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      Lol so are the CEOs of all the other manufacturers people to look up to and admire? Would you buy a Volkswagen or did you own one when Martin Winterkorn was running it?

      Elon is a man child, I don’t look to him for any insights or knowledge, would I buy a Tesla? Ya if the car itself is good, if it’s not good then I wouldn’t buy it. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Musk however

      Who do you bank with? Do you hold those CEOs to the same standards and not use their products?

      Good luck buying anything where there isn’t some ethical issues surrounding the people who are the the top of those corporations

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Most other ceos shut their mouth and let the product speak. Tesla/Elon’s mo has been to have the product in the background with him at the forefront, that worked well until it didn’t

        • Lemmylaugh@lemmy.ml
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          But what if he is too big to fail? I mean how long have we been talking about musk? And it doesn’t look like anything is changing

        • mikeboltonshair@sh.itjust.works
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          Not sure where we disagree here? You are right the jackass just can’t keep his mouth shut I don’t care what his beliefs are though, I don’t go to corporations for my ethics, I go to them because I want to buy a product

        • DessertStorms@kbin.social
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          Most other ceos shut their mouth and let the product speak

          I prefer my evil rulers behind the curtain, thank you very much!

          *this is in no way a defence of Musk it’s a pointing out how ridiculous it is to see a problem with him but not care about the other obscenely wealthy capitalists who not only exploit labour and hoard resources, but also basically own government via either corruption (aka “lobbying”) or direct representation (ie all the rich fucks in government making rules for themsleves and their friends), just like Musk, simply because they’re “polite” enough to do it behind closed doors.

          That’s not to say don’t buy the things you need, it’s to say don’t be deluded in to thinking that it matters. As long as capitalism exists, governance by and for the rich isn’t going anywhere, and your money will always be going to one of maybe a couple dozen people.

          There is no ethical consumption under capitalism

          • Gsus4@feddit.nl
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            A big lesson from Trump and others like him is that when someone’s a piece of shit and brags about it in public, it looks innocuous and at best it may be revealing and may validate your views on power and the flaws of society, but on another level he’s likely to give voice to, rally and convince other assholes to feel entitled and protected to act like assholes and then you have an actual problem. So yes, polite amorality is better.

      • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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        Tesla spent years building a brand identity that is intimately woven together with Musk.

        It worked well for a long time but it makes sense if people lose faith in Musk they lose faith in Tesla. Because he is synonymous with the brand.

        Lol so are the CEOs of all the other manufacturers people to look up to and admire?

        They haven’t built their brands around the reputation of their ceo.

        Would I buy a Tesla? Ya if the car itself is good.

        How can you evaluate if a car is good? It has recently been revealed that Tesla/Musk was exaggerating their range so severely that Tesla owners thought their cars were defective. Tesla has been trading on a reputation of ‘goodness’ that it didn’t deserve.

        Tesla is seeing repercussions from risks they took tying their brand so tightly with Musk.

        • mikeboltonshair@sh.itjust.works
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          If anyone bought a Tesla because of Musk they were idiots, so same logic applies the other way

          You could argue Apple built its brand around Jobs (who died because of his moronic beliefs about natural cures) and now Cook… pretty sure Apple kowtows to Chinese censorship and also does shitty things (I’m typing this on an iPhone right now) so I’m no fan of Jobs or Cook I just don’t give a fuck about them, I bought it because it’s the best phone for me

          The range issues are pretty funny, people thinking they were defective is comical, I will however point out that is nothing new all auto manufacturers have done this for the decades with fuel economy numbers, I can’t tell you how many people we would have come through the dealership complaining about fuel economy after buying a new car

          As far as evaluating if a car is good or not of course you can do that, do research on reliability issues, check recalls, ask friends and family who have actually owned them if they are any good, if you have a mechanic that you know ask them

        • mikeboltonshair@sh.itjust.works
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          Nothing wrong with that but… again do you do that across the board all the time because if you do congrats it’s not an easy thing to accomplish

          And I’m not dumb I know it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing, doing it when you can is great I just can’t stand people who pontificate about shitheads like Musk but buy all their shit from Amazon

        • DessertStorms@kbin.social
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          In that case you must then remove yourself from society, since not only does at least 90% of the money you spend end up in the pockets of evil people, but evil people are also keeping much if not most of your hard earned money for themselves before you ever know it existed by paying you less than your labour is worth (what you earned them).

          This is a feature, not a bug.

      • SpaceBar@lemmy.world
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        You can’t have a rational discussion about Tesla on lemmy. So many people are so sick of hearing about Musk that only those who REALLY hate him will click on an article about him. Those people can not separate the product from the vocal dirtbag that is its CEO.

        It’s not worth even trying here.

          • SpaceBar@lemmy.world
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            Musk is a horrible person, so anyone who likes a Tesla is wrong for liking the car.

            Totally rational.

            This, coming from a user base on Lemmy who is supposed to be the opposite of facist conservatives.

            I don’t care about downvotes for giving my opinion, but so many people in this thread are intrenched in their beliefs as any MAGA fool.

            • Lightor@lemmy.world
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              Yes, people don’t like supporting a horrible person. How irrational.

              The fascist conservative mindset is to support horrible people, so yes, lemmy is against that.

        • mikeboltonshair@sh.itjust.works
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          I personally think Musk is a massive pile of garbage but that wouldn’t make me not buy a Tesla, I’ll buy it if it’s a decent car, if I had the money right now it would be between a Tesla and an Ionic

          People trying to tie their purchases to the ethics of the people who run the companies are divorced from reality imo

  • CodingSquirrel@kbin.social
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    If I already had a Tesla I don’t know that I’d sell it because of him, but he was one of the major factors in me not even considering them when I was shopping for my EV. The other reasons being shoddy quality control, shitty practices, and dumb design decisions. All of which probably stem from him anyway.

    • Windex007@lemmy.world
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      I’d be looking to sell it, specifically because of him.

      The willingness for him to make executive decisions to fuck people using his platforms is what frightens me. He’ll cut starlink for people he doesn’t like. He’ll snipe twitter accounts of people he doesn’t like.

      Since Teslas can be remotely force fed new updates, I genuinely believe it’s just a matter of time before he starts fucking with peoples cars. I expect as a way to use Tesla owners as pawns to apply political pressure in areas w/ high ownership that enact tax policy he doesn’t like.

      • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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        My friends already sold their Teslas a few months ago.

        It was such a wild ride watching them go, “Surely he’s not serious” to “I’m embarrassed to drive this”.

      • Uranium3006@kbin.social
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        I wouldn’t doubt he’d try that, but if he did he’d be in for a world of hurt since people need their cars to get to work. I imagine the government wouldn’t take kindly to people’s 5 digit dollar purchased not working on the whims of a crazy billionaire.

        • Windex007@lemmy.world
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          It doesn’t have to be as blatant as turning them off. Just garnishing features. Nerfing sentinel, range, top speed, etc.

          I can almost hear the bullshit. “X state’s lithium recycling tax policy means we have to limit discharge to 80% to avoid premature battery degredation. Drivers may notice a range reduction but it is required to operate within this new regulatory environment”

    • CharlestonChewbacca@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, if my car was beyond repair tomorrow and I needed a new one, I’d be getting either a Hyundai Ioniq 6 or a Silverado EV. A few years ago, I would’ve been leaning toward the Model 3.

    • flipht@kbin.social
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      Same. I had to get a new car recently. Prices were crazy and I wish I had gone with a new instead of a used. But Tesla was off the list from the beginning. I figured I’d wait one more car to get electric. Should be in a new place by then where I can install a home charger too, and the prices will probably be drastically lower by the time my current car dies again.

    • Uranium3006@kbin.social
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      teslas were cool when they were the only practical electric cars, especially sports cars. but that’s no longer true and it’s becoming less so every year. may as well get a mach-e or a ioniq and ditch muskyboy

  • BlackNo1@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    its funny how selling a car brand as “eco” friendly backfires when you’re a fascist cunt

    • Clown_Tempura@lemmy.world
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      It blows my mind that Elon would still be well-regarded as a visionary entrepreneur, accurately or not, if he had just kept his stupid fucking mouth shut.

        • Zardozer@lemmy.world
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          Your generalizations about US consumers has no basis in reality. You really think people would buy these mass-market products if they weren’t good? Just look at the consumer satisfaction surveys. I’m far from a Tesla fan, but for a long time, there weren’t truly good competitors to Tesla EVs. iphones have always and continue to be some of the most highly rated phones on the market.

          And what is wrong with voting with your wallet and choosing not to support the business of a terrible person? That’s about the only power you have as a consumer, so people should exercise that power if they see fit.

        • pureness@lemmy.world
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          They buy things based on how they will be perceived for owning it.

          The article says they don’t want Tesla’s because of the guy running the company, not because of their perception for owning it.

        • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.ml
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          Both the iPhone and Tesla perform well. You made some valid points, but went off the rails at the end. Yes, the image of the product influences people’s buying decisions. That’s basic marketing knowledge. But they’re also good products.

    • Margot Robbie@lemmy.world
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      Tesla never really had a brand besides being “Elon Musk’s electric car company”, and now as it turns out it’s way easier for car companies to add tech into their cars than for a tech company to learn to build good cars.

    • theragu40@lemmy.world
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      Yeah I think this is a bigger risk for Tesla than current owners selling.

      I’m not in the market for a car right now but there’s a decent chance that the next one I buy will be an EV. Up until maybe 2 years ago I’d have said a Tesla would have been top of the list for options. I don’t really feel that way anymore, and Musks instability is the primary reason.

      I think his antics will have a snowball effect on future sales.

      • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
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        Teslas just don’t drive better than any other EV. Yes, the first time i got in a tesla i was floored, but it was also the first time i ever sat in any EV. After seeing a handful of other EVs, i now realize tesla isn’t anything special at all, all the EVs have that smooth electric motor feel.

        They’re going to be a medium sized car maker, like mercedes or bmw. They have no chance at selling more cars than toyota or gm to justify the insane market cap.

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      I’m going to wait and see if Toyota’s alleged 1450km/900mi solid state battery is real. It is rare for Toyota to tell the public what they’re working on until it’s ready to roll. This could be a ploy to lower sales of competitors, but if Toyota isn’t telling the truth, it will bite them. I’d love a small EV with that kind of insane range and the ability to use autonomous driving on interstates

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      All Elon had to do was stick to the rockets and cars!

      But no, he has to go pick fights with random people online and espouse stupid talking points. It’s like a masterclass in killing your personal brand.

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        I was off the Musk bandwagon when he called that rescuer in SE Asia a pedophile for not wanting to use his stupid submarine. Cancelled my cybertruck preorder.

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    I think it’s more about how those types of buyers view the manufacturers reliability long term. The man is unhinged and has proven with Twitter that if given the chance he will willingly fuck over users. Imagine giving a bully the ability to limit your driving range or disabling your vehicle on a whim because he decides he doesn’t like you or what your local govt says.

    Not saying he would do it but he has proven repeatedly to be unstable enough to believe he could escape punishment for doing it.

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      Imagine giving a bully the ability to limit your driving range or disabling your vehicle on a whim because he decides he doesn’t like you

      He cancelled a reporter’s Tesla Model X pre-order because he criticized Tesla on late deliveries on pre-orders.

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      I read that someone had upgraded their P60 to a P90 by getting a new battery, all official and from Tesla and months later they updated his firmware and locked out the extra 30Kwh because it wasn’t the stock battery.

      It’s shit like that that keeps me from owning anything Elon related.

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    I aspired to own a Tesla before musk started showing his colours now I would find it embarrassing

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      Same, but after seeing the quality of everything else besides the software, no thanks. The electronics and infotainment seem to be the only thing they made well. Put that in a Honda or Toyota and I’d be happy.

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        They must have fixed the infotainment then, because I remember a video from electroBOOM showing it was glitchy and unresponsive

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      Yeah, I remember I had a point in time where a Tesla would have been my dream car. But now, lol, naaaawwww.

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    I used to want a Tesla… Now I don’t. That’s 60% Elon and 40% their poor build quality.

    The second percentage should be higher. It’s not, though. Elon is a very hateable person due to his low IQ, and astronomically high level of arrogance.

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    I’m sure the anti-woke crowd he is pandering to is going to jump in and buy up all the teslas

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      I think the Ford electric truck is selling like crazy to that demographic; if you really need low end torque suddenly an electric motor is tolerable.

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        Lmao my dad never shuts the fuck up about electric cars now he wants an electric car because Elon became a right wing god.

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          I don’t actually think this…but imagine if Elon is just pulling a super long con on the right.

          Again, he isn’t…but that would be pretty cool in an alternate universe.

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        They’re not selling here. There’s a huge off-roading community here and nobody wants to risk getting stuck 300km into a logging trail.

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          Lol, yeah. Everyone I talk to about my car instantly becomes a weekend road tripper, like they are constantly going on thousand mile road trips to the middle of nowhere where there aren’t any charging stations.

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            Most people own cars a long time and it’s used for all their trips, around town and crossbcountry. You only have to get stuck somewhere remote once without a way to charge to have a bad time.

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                Definitely, but it’s much easier to get some gas and bring it back to the car. Lots of people that can help and lots of services to call on. Not impossible but much fewer options for an all-electric.

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              So you buy a car that’s extremely excessive in 99% of use cases to cover that 1%?

              What keeps you from just renting a car for that 1%? I guess that’s why startups like Kyte are adopting a “car rental to your door” service…

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          In theory, with a stack of solar panels an EV could take you even farther into the wilderness, The Martian style.

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          Well people using their trucks to that extreme are always going to choose reliability over performance

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            Reliability, height clearances, axle to axle length, tire sizes, etc. It’s not like 4x4 + ICE is automatically good at offroading.

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      Elon musk didn’t really think about how people who buy electric cars and the anti-woke is two non-connected circles on a Venn diagram.

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    My partner needed to buy a new vehicle. A Tesla Model was easily in budget. But they opted not to buy one because they want zero affiliation with Musk or any connotations that they may endorse his behavior by owning one of his products.

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        Oh no doubt that was also a big factor, but even if they were well built high quality cars, it would still be a non-starter as long as Elno has anything to do with the company.

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          I hear a range of issues with Teslas that mostly come down to shoddy manufacture.

          Either way all cars are bad, EV or no, and only collective transport solves any of our problems. Short term, buying a used gas vehicle is still less harmful to the environment.

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          Same experiences here since 2018.

          Musk is a fuckwad but he’s not hand building the cars, these comments reek of children and ignorance.

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    Decades of traditional automakers sabotaging the whole concept of EVs should make them the bad guys when it comes to EVs.

    Elon has managed to make them the good guys.

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    Leased a tesla MS in 2017 because I knew 250mile battery was not going to be the max in 2020 and guessed 350mile was possible (i was right). Right around then Elon came out as a conspiracy twat, so I was more than happy to turn my car in when he went full right wing twat.

    3 years on, I’m the proud owner of an ebike with a few thousand miles on it, created by a company not owned by a twat. My insurance is $50 a month and my uber rides fall far below anything I spent monthly on my insurance and lease payment ($1300 or so). Helps to work from home and live 5 miles from most places I need to go to or from the public transit.

    Honestly, had he kept his insane ideas to himself I might still own that car or it’s newer version. I do miss it, but I just can’t support people like that. Also, 3 years on I don’t miss the car payments…

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        Really happy with the Rad Power Plus series. reasonably priced, 1000 miles and counting on the motor and battery. They seem to be getting a little hate of late for their customer service, but I have a local shop so I don’t see these issues.

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      This is the way! If you really care about the environment!

      Also shout-out to NotJustBikes on YouTube.

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      Awesome that you’ve switched to cycling, it’s crazy how expensive your insurance is though!

      I just got a quote for my ebike, it’s only £60/year!

      In the UK plenty of cars cost less than £300/year to insure…

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        Yeah, Europe and UK seem to be cheaper for those things. While I was in Rome I paid €40 for the year, but stayed 2 months. At one time we could get insurance for our petrol car at $59 a month with minimal coverage, now it’s twice that.

        That $50 is not all for the bike, I added supplemental coverage to pay for US healthcare in the event of an accident. I have full theft and damage, plus a balloon policy that pays out for medical, accidental death (for2 people). I think it was $120 for just the year on just e-bike, but an accident could cause my heath insurance to not cover due to it being a vehicle in motion accident.

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    That’s the risk when your brand is a “status symbol” and the company is closely linked with your personality.

    Steve Jobs knew how to do this well. Elon is no Steve Jobs…

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    Funny but when I see a Tesla, I now judge the owner. Never used to care one way or another but.

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      Really? I always did. Tesla drivers are worse than truck drivers on the road. They always do something stupid.

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        They’re better than Prius drivers, going 35 mph on the freeway and accelerating from a stoplight slower than the bicycle next to them.

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            I know a couple of Prius drivers. They drive like that intentionally, trying to eek out every possible MPG stat. It’s like a game to them. But they don’t seem to be aware of how much they impede the flow of traffic.

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        My father in law is someone who has a long history of driving luxury cars. He recently (a couple years ago) switched to a Chevy Volt as his primary vehicle and loves it.

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        I know someone with a Chevy spark. They seem to really love it. I was looking at the F150 lightning but it’s way out of my price range.

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        Most of the large manufacturers make at least one. The less expensive ones tend to just be gas cars with electric motors swapped in. Cars that were designed to be electric generally have less compromise and more refinement. If I got an electric car today it would be an egolf, the range isn’t the best but that’s the only downside I’ve really seen.

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        Mustang Mach-E. Ford is seeing what Tesla is doing and copying the good bits, doing constant over the air updates, keeping quality good (not perfect, mind you) and the car itself is absolutely gorgeous. Blue cruise is not bad, expensive though now. You will probably have a shitty dealer experience but dealers are shitty. Ford really wants to do away with them and is trying to figure out how, last I heard.

        If you want cheaper the Bolt EV or EUV. The pricing on the Bolt is good, and you wouldn’t be going wrong by getting the current version. Chevy was going to ax the Bolt but instead they are redesigning the battery for a new edition. Everyone thinks its going to be just the EUV going forward since the EUV is like 4 inches bigger and most of it is the same. Chevy is going to put in a better battery that has faster charging times as well, if the rumors are true.

        So you can’t go wrong with either of those two. The main thing is that car companies are turning into (and have been for a while even prior to EVs) software companies. You have to go with who you think will do the best overall with good and bad and then pair it with the EV that suits you.

        That being said despite how much I love the looks of the IONIQ 5 and the EV6, Kia and Hyundai have some work to do. VW is safe. They are Electrify America after all, for what good that is.

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        I think most of the traditional manufacturers have pretty decent offerings now. Prices are still a bit high compared to the equivalent petrol car, but that’s only a matter of time given all the bans coming

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        If you’re in the US:

        On the lower end, try Volkswagen, Chevy and Ford. For higher end, check bmw, audi, and volvo.

        Honda and Toyota are doing amazing at hybrids and plug in hybrids, but are behind on EVs. Hyundai, Kia, and Nissan in the US have bad build quality imo and their vehicles depreciate quickly.

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      Oh don’t worry, you can still be caught dead next to one, if one happens to pull up beside you and happens to explode… 👍