What will it take to make you seriously consider an EV?

Is that The Homer?

 

A cyber truck for 40k or less would be tempting af

 

This line from the article is what I find most interesting:

"iSeeCars speculates that the biggest contributor to the fatality rates at a brand level is driver behavior, rather than vehicle design or size."


I work with a ton of Tesla drivers, and one of them has been in at least 1 wreck. But to be honest, I always thought BMW drivers were much worse. I'd be interested in seeing non-fatal accidents by car brand, so lets check it out.

https://www.lendingtree.com/insurance/brand-incidents-study/

Most accidents per 1000 Drivers:
1. Tesla
2. Ram
3. Suburu

Worst Drivers - accidents, DUIs, speeding and citations per 1000 Drivers:
1. Ram
2. Tesla
3. Suburu

ok BMW ended up at #6, But.. BMW drivers do have the Highest DUI rate with twice the rate as the 2nd place (Ram) - so maybe they're just getting arrested before they have an accident?

 

Or the BMW drivers are buying/bribing their way out of scrapes, LOL. And I am, against all odds, a BMW driver at the moment.

Really surprised to see Subaru on that list! But maybe "Suburu" is a different brand.

 

What's the demographic?

I stay away from Tesla drivers.

 

The TV ads tell me Subaru is the safest, so I am sure all those folks in accidents were safe

 

You must be a lesbian and/or a white person in a liberal, cold state, so the answer is correct.

 

I purposely didn't mention the demographics because of the bubble I work in may skew the demographics. 6 of them are late 20's to late 40s white Right wing evangelicals (including 1 who's currently in prison for fraud and a good friend of Mike Huckabee) 1 is a 20-something black right wing evangelical. 1 is a liberal non-practicing Jewish guy and was the earliest adopter. Actually not sure if he still drives a Tesla because he's been working remote for the last 4 years.

 

I was expecting more Asians..

 

Does not check out in Houston. They are missing a whole category; douchebags

In my scientific opinion, Audi drivers have the highest ratio of douchebags.

If I see some douchebaggery ahead of me, it's a 50/50 shot it's an Audi. They pull off all the greatest hits like; zooming in a turn lane to and cut in, excessive lane changes only to catch up to them at the next red light, driving too fast in a parking lot and refusing to let people back out of their spots (or worse, then honk at them).

I am amused when I see a douchebag move ahead of me how often I correctly guess it's an Audi. But per this list, clearly Audi drivers are in fact superior drivers, and as such entitled to be douchebags, as they apparently don't get in many accidents. lol

RAM trucks, yea. I think you have to pass a douchebag test to even buy one, amirite? I can't even be bothered cause I expect it.

But Tesla drivers? I see an occasional move but by and large, they we well behaved on the road, in my scientific opinion.

 

Maybe a Chinese car company hired him.

**********

Tesla's China factory head Song Gang leaves company, letter to staff shows

(Reuters) - Tesla's (TSLA) Shanghai plant manager Song Gang has left the company, according to a letter he sent to staff on Wednesday.

Song, who became Gigafactory Shanghai's manager in 2018, informed Tesla employees that Wednesday would be his last day, according to the note seen by Reuters. The Shanghai plant is Tesla's largest factory by output and also exports to Europe and Southeast Asia.

"Today is my last day at Tesla and I feel extremely fortunate to have worked and fought with everyone on this plot of land," Song said.

Reuters was not immediately able to ascertain the reasons for Song's departure but it comes as a plan to expand the Shanghai plant remains on hold.

Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Fei Wenjin, who was recently promoted to senior director from director of quality, will take over Song's responsibilities for now.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Song was among a group of Tesla Shanghai executives who travelled to the carmaker's factories in California and Texas in 2022 to help troubleshoot production issues there, Reuters reported that year citing sources.

 

Reuters is reporting that former $TSLA China plant manager Song Gang is joining Chinese renewable energy group Envision in a senior supply chain management role
https://www.reuters.com/world/china...in-renewable-energy-firm-envision-2024-12-19/

 

We're getting there : Tesla is buffing Foundation Series badges off Cybertrucks to sell them as regular trucks

 

I refuse to believe this is really happening lol.

 

Battery life needs to dramatically improve but may very well in 18 months.

 

I still keep telling myself "this has to be a bs story", but it was on Elektrek's site, so there's that. Who knows. Between this and a possible Honda/Nissan merger, this world is just a bizarre place to be nowadays.

I love Rivians, but I hear the reliability is among the worst on most of those "least reliable" lists.

 

How it started:

How it's going:
Hertz Is So Desperate To Unload Tesla Inventory It's Asking Customers If They Just Want To Keep Their Rentals

https://jalopnik.com/hertz-is-so-desperate-to-unload-tesla-inventory-its-cus-1851727725

 

FSD 13.x is legit. Now if Tesla can work on mapping.

FSD 11 - garbage.
FSD 12 - worth ~$20.00 a month
FSD 13 - Worth ~$60.00 a month @ 25k miles a year.

Tesla will need to offer more optimal plans if they want to squeeze the highest margin out of FSD.

 

Rivian (RIVN) said it delivered 14,183 vehicles in the quarter, ahead of the FactSet consensus for 13,000. For the full year, it delivered 51,579 units, also ahead of the 51,000 FactSet consensus. Shares of Rivian rose more than 20% on Friday to trade at their best in some six months.

Production of the R2 model, Rivian's next-gen EV, in Normal is on track for the first half of 2026, but faster- than-expected upgrades could lead to an earlier launch, said Kallo, who has a neutral rating on the stock.

The numbers for Ford and Rivian come a day after market leader Tesla Inc. (TSLA) reported fourth-quarter deliveries that lagged estimates and its first-ever annual sales decline.

-Ciara Linnane -Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

• 371,346 BMW Vehicles Sold in the U.S. in 2024, Marking Another Record Year for the Brand.
• BEV Sales Increase 12.3% in 2024, Surpassing 50,000 for the first time.

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – January 3, 2025… BMW of North America today reported Q4 2024 and full year 2024 sales results for the BMW and MINI brands in the U.S.

BMW Brand.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, BMW sales in the U.S. totaled 117,506 vehicles, an 8.9% increase from the 107,881 vehicles sold in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year 2024, BMW sales increased by 2.5% to total sales of 371,346 vehicles compared to the 362,244 vehicles sold in 2023. This represents the second consecutive year that BMW has set a new sales record in the U.S.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/...for-annual-sales-and-bev-sales?language=en_US

Good thing Tesla is not a car company since everyone else seems to be selling more cars.