Tesla and Electric Vehicles (EVs) Are the Proprietary Software of the Automobile World
SO I HAVE A confession. Some weeks ago my wife discovered that across the road from us a large "T" had been erected and it looked like the Tesla logo. Indeed, upon checking online, I discovered they were setting up a showroom (which I can see from my desk by merely standing up). Days ago the large "T" was joined by the full letters set, "TESLA". It is really happening.
But what on Earth are those things anyway? Can the company be profitable? How about the multi-million-car recall (several millions of cars, not cars worth millions)? Also, how many people seriously think Tesla is "green", even after all the whistleblowing and the most basic common sense? Manufacturing cars requires a ton of "dirty" energy, starting with mining (extraction) and even daily operations require a lot of electricity and unless it is derived from wind or sunlight (the facilities for that also require a lot of mining and welding to assemble) we're left merely taking the pollution out of sight, not out of circulation (within the planet, a closed system).
I personally believe that Elon Musk is a good liar. Sorry, he is an excellent liar. A charlatan, a fraud, a scam. Maybe he got that from his dad, who knows, right? Like father, like son. Saying outrageous things and doing bad things for attention.
Musk has mostly amassed money by stealing other people's, either in his early days as a pseudo-entrepreneur, taking credit for other people's accomplishments, or in present days where he relies on foolish, gullible shareholders. It seems that actually making a profit isn't important when you can leverage social control media for "pump and dump" and you can have guaranteed income by stealing taxpayers' money, i.e. national debt (money out of nothing).
EVs in general (not just Tesla) openly make or put forth several false promises, with all that crackpot "self-driving" or "autonomous" stuff (I did research into this as a postdoc and can coherently explain why that wouldn't work any time soon). It's either a miracle or a major blunder it was allowed a "green light" here and there, probably owing to bribe-loving politicians and rogue/non-existent regulators.
My prediction is that EVs will be a bit of a passing fad. Right now there are mass protests in southeast Asia over attempts to force adoption of EVs (despite an obvious lack of budget), there's a growing pushback because of disillusioned people, and the total % of cars (actually on the roads) that use electricity - even "hybrid" - remains minuscule, even in rich countries. Given the dire state of the economy, people will have other things to prioritise and not so surprisingly some automobile giants already divest or move away from EVs. Politicians in their 60s promising an "EV" future some time in the next 20 years are talking about times when they lack accountability or completely lack life. We saw similar predictions about "self-checkout" and "smart" meters; don't bet the farm on these.
An automobile revolution would be nice, but a transition to EVs isn't quite it. Doing it for 'cargo cult'-like reasons (marketing, following the herd, social/status climbing) is misguided. Apropos, as this new article puts it: "Like many people this year (1), I tried generative AI on many different sites : Open AI, Google Bard and other clones, the list begins to be too long. But for what ? Are they really what we expect from an artificial intelligence. And what is intelligence vs culture ? For me, it's the buzz of the year but above all , a big marketing hoax !"
Chatbots aren't even new. CG isn't new (like calling VR "metaverse" and servers "cloud").
Back in the 1990s I put a laptop next to me inside the car. It was a lot better than all those "modern" touchscreen things they sell for a hefty price in 2023 (the cost of repairing or replacing one is humongous and they won't last 20 years; forget about spares, they won't make them anymore).
To me, the analogy here as a former driver (I stopped driving) seems apt if we speak about UNIX, POSIX, and GNU/Linux. Cars are too complex and insufficiently standardised/modular. If you cannot make a car that lasts 30 years like the stereo I use right now (or the car my parents in law still drive every day), then I am not interested in it. Old cars could sometimes be repaired, with or without tools, by the owner. Microchips are a regression when the main if not sole purpose of the car is to get around. If you want a computer, then go home and use one.
A friend tells me that such "modern" cars are surveillance capsules as well. See the stalker articles in recent Daily Links.
Elon Musk is not selling you a dream. He resorted to attention-seeking public spectacles (saying high controversial things, just like Donald Trump) to impose a long-term nightmare on you. Look away, walk away. █