5mo ago

‘Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk’: Protests outside Bay Area showrooms seek to dissuade buyers

www.sfchronicle.com

I don't think this has been a local phenomenon either; my impression is that people are doing this nationally.

26 comments

It would be terrible for Elon if people started vandalizing all the Tesla showrooms across the country.
- At least one that I'm aware of was intentionally burned.
  
  Source?
  
  Fkn dope.
- Who knew that applying the ol' Foxworthy format could help the whole world brainstorm better?
  If, people started vandalizing all the Tesla showrooms across the country, it'd be terrible for Weelon.
- Or just all the Tesla's, in general.
  I have no sympathy for the owners at this point. It was time to sell years ago. I saw an accident the other day between a cyber truck and a model s... You could hear the laughter and cheering from everyone in traffic.
  
  I bought the absolute cheapest model and had to stretch my budget a little in order to do it
  I looked to sell mine about 2 years ago, but the resale on it was so bad, I just couldn't afford it.
  I have to settle for just never buying another Elon product, even preferring 3rd party chargers instead of superchargers. And maybe get one of those bumper stickers
  
  Why? After you've bought it, selling doesn't do anything. It doesn't really hurt tesla or more importantly musk. That's just virtue signaling of the highest order
While I support this, I am fairly certain that Elon doesn't care. The value of Tesla stock has very little relationship to their ability to sell cars to consumers. He killed the attempts at making a more affordable car that could get much wider adoption by the public in favor of big ugly toys for the wealthy and pivoting towards fleet sales. And that was before he was in a position to basically just tell the government to throw money at all of his various businesses.
In fact, I don't think Tesla dissolving as a company would be enough to slow Musk down at this point. Not when his shitty AI company will be getting paid to replace federal workers, and he has blank checks from NASA and the DOD to prop up Space X. And just wait until Xitter becomes the preferred payment system of the federal government.
- Tesla stock makes up a big portion of his net worth. The recent drop in the stock price has wiped $12.5 Billion off his net worth. According to Forbes' calculations his net worth has dropped $42.8 billion since the end of January.
  He's still ridiculously wealthy, but hurting his companies will definitely be something he cares about.
- Tesla is most of his personal wealth, it would matter to him. It just might not stop him.
Tesla and Rivian had special deals to promote EVs.
Lawmakers could change how Teslas, Rivians are sold in WA
A set of bills introduced by Washington lawmakers could shake up how electric vehicles like Teslas and Rivians are sold in Washington, touching on a fierce debate that has long divided EV advocates and auto dealerships.
One bill would take away a special provision that has allowed Tesla to offer test drives and sell directly to consumers at physical stores. Another bill would expand the number of EV-only manufacturers, beyond Tesla, that can sell cars directly to consumers.
How EVs are sold in Washington has been a sore topic with EV startups and climate advocates arguing against an older model of auto sales through traditional dealerships. Dealerships have argued in their defense that they represent the future of EV sales that best protects consumers.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/lawmakers-could-change-how-teslas-rivians-are-sold-in-wa/
- I've never once in my life considered car dealerships an institution that does anything at all to "protect consumers".
- Yeah. The problem with dealers is that fossil cars need more service, and that's where the dealer makes money. So dealers of legacy brands push fossil cars much harder than EVs.
  For a dedicated EV brand, having no dealers is a money grab, since you don't need to have the dealer turn a profit.
  
  Aren't there more people making EVs though? It's not just Tesla and Rivian.
  
  With how unreliable Tesla cars are I've got doubts

26 comments