Politics - Quarantine Thread

[KieferSkunk]

Thanks.

Seriously, though, it's kinda disturbing to see several pages of basically "shut up and go away" (to put it politely) in response to a legitimate question, as the very first thing in my feed. As the owner of a 3, I really don't want to be associated with that level of toxicity, so I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

 

[jerry33]

I have been looking forward to receiving my Model Y for 9 months now. I've ordered accessories and even installed a Tesla home charger. I'm finally due to pick it up on Wednesday, but I'm strongly thinking about cancelling and I'm super sad about that, because I think Tesla's are the best cars available right now. But one of my big reasons for buying a car was to do some good in the world. I just can't, in good conscience, support a CEO that is creating so much turmoil.

I think Tesla is overall helping the world transition to electric cars, but I feel terribly guilty about giving money to Elon Musk. I realize other car companies have CEOs that are likely just as bad, but no other CEO is the face of a company in the way that Elon is. And I worry about being complicit to his actions by buying this car.

I haven't made a decision yet. Is anybody else struggling with this? I was really looking forward to this car. Thanks.

This is a pretty silly position to take, just because Elon is a person and has his own ideas. Without Elon there wouldn't be any modern electric cars, reusable rockets, grid level battery storage, etc. Think about that. Castigating him because he's human serves no one.

 

[SO16]

Do people really agree with others 100%?

I know I don’t but I still try to treat them with respect. Otherwise I’d be enemies with my family.

I try to look at a person as a “net positive” or “net negative” to society and I consider Elon a massive net positive.

For those that feel “obligated” to need a “F Elon” sticker….really? Are you that insecure and afraid of people looking down on you that you need to justify your purchase with that sticker? Or even worse, need to practically spit in the face of someone who actually worked their butt off to help you get that car and fight climate change?

Holy smokes have people gotten worse over the years. I buy a Tesla because I like a Tesla and the ecosystem. Period. And I give ZERO FKS what others think about my purchase.

 

[Max Plaid]

Wouldn't be any EV's to buy without Elon... he does some daft things, but he's a good person at heart and is doing more for humanity than most others

Judge him at your peril

 

[johnnycnote]

Yes, but the man has (again) proven that he is not capable of owning a platform like Twitter!
Yes, F* Elon!

You're from WA? Ok, now I understand

 

[SOULPEDL]

Thanks.

Seriously, though, it's kinda disturbing to see several pages of basically "shut up and go away" (to put it politely) in response to a legitimate question, as the very first thing in my feed. As the owner of a 3, I really don't want to be associated with that level of toxicity, so I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

So my "take your ball and go home" wasn't too bad on the scale here. Not my best work, I'm fairly passive and a giving person (from Canada, this helps, but maybe I've been in the US too long).

I share your dismal assessment, probably warranted in a few cases here. But the post was over the top as either fake or evidence of a severely misinformed human in our society - either is probable, both are commonplace and very sad.

In case you are new here, (and not a bot, and not currently working for the oil, insurance, energy, transport industries and concerned about employment or bonus checks soon), there's a full on battle this OP just stepped into; it is backed by all the money in the world. There are other nicer threads out there where BS walks and it takes a lot of effort by mods to keep it that way. This was not posted in one of those more respected and respectful threads, so it's raw meat for some.

And seriously, show me a safe place where a contrarian position on the internet, no matter how politely stated, doesn't also get spit on. I does not make it right, but you should not be surprised by now when this much ____ is out on display.

If you don't want your Model 3 anymore, millions on this planet would kill for the opportunity to own a Tesla, consider yourself quite lucky. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater as they say. Our first was a 3 single motor when they first came out, I stood in line for the deposit. Since that moment, there's nothing that anyone could say to cause me to question my purchase. My neighbors try this routinely, it's comical. "How do you get to LA?" is my favorite. And, of course, where did that thought come from? The oil, auto, insurance... It's really too bad people fall for whatever they read. Nuf said.

 

[SOULPEDL]

I decided to delete my post. Everyone has a right to do what they want with their ball. Just don't ask to play afterwards.

 

[Ken Thomas]

I have been looking forward to receiving my Model Y for 9 months now. I've ordered accessories and even installed a Tesla home charger. I'm finally due to pick it up on Wednesday, but I'm strongly thinking about cancelling and I'm super sad about that, because I think Tesla's are the best cars available right now. But one of my big reasons for buying a car was to do some good in the world. I just can't, in good conscience, support a CEO that is creating so much turmoil.

I think Tesla is overall helping the world transition to electric cars, but I feel terribly guilty about giving money to Elon Musk. I realize other car companies have CEOs that are likely just as bad, but no other CEO is the face of a company in the way that Elon is. And I worry about being complicit to his actions by buying this car.

I haven't made a decision yet. Is anybody else struggling with this? I was really looking forward to this car. Thanks.

Yep, I was in that same boat prior to ordering a MYLR. However, I realized that the car was going to be made and sold regardless whether I buy it or not. Also, regardless of Elon's poor social skills, I want to promote electric drive and I don't think there is any other company as innovative or successful in designing and producing a more viable electric vehicle. I feel that is far more important than my approval of Elon's behavior.
As a career electronics design engineer I am astonished that Tesla is producing and selling vehicles with technologies that most scientists are still struggling with in the lab.
Also, for what it's worth, Elon is autistic. That is not an excuse but it is a weakness. I know because I am autistic. Autism is great for analytical thinking, but sucks bad at anything social. I think the absolute last thing Elon or any autistic person should be managing is a social network. But... be that as it may, My goal is more about electric drive advancement over Elon's social shenanigans.

 

[Big Earl]

Thanks.

Seriously, though, it's kinda disturbing to see several pages of basically "shut up and go away" (to put it politely) in response to a legitimate question, as the very first thing in my feed. As the owner of a 3, I really don't want to be associated with that level of toxicity, so I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

Welcome. This thread is not representative of the forum at large.

 

[KieferSkunk]

My point, and the point that I believe the OP was trying to make, and which I'm sure you've all seen many times elsewhere, is that while I completely agree with everyone that Tesla makes the best and safest and most technologically advanced cars in the world, Elon isn't doing the company or its employees any favors by spouting and relaying conspiracy theories on a social media platform he now owns. Since he is such a visible public face and a representative of Tesla, his behavior has an effect on people's perception of the company, whether you agree with his politics or not. I happen to know several people who have already told me they are second-guessing supporting Tesla because of that - because they aren't comfortable buying a car from a company headed by someone behaving this way.

I assure you, you are speaking to a real human being (you've all heard that one before, right?), and I love my Model 3. I hope you'll forgive me for not wanting to be seen as an elitist jerk who automatically agrees with Elon's views just because I drive it, especially in a conservative rural town. Nor do I want to be flamed in here for saying this.

I am critical because I agree with the OP's hesitation, Elon has made me think about getting an EV from one of his competitors, and I believe it's hypocritical to tear the OP down for their views and concerns, even if you think they went over the top in expressing them. My first impression reading this thread was "My God, is this what other people think I am when I'm in my car?"

 

[ElectricIAC]

My first impression reading this thread was "My God, is this what other people think I am when I'm in my car?"

Nope. They’re thinking: “Sweet Ride man, I wish I had one!”

 

[Unclepaul]

I have a similar problem. I am scheduled for a life saving operation. Was lucky enough to get the most experienced and talented surgeon in the world to do my surgery. This would give me the best chance of getting the best result. Just today I found out that he voted differently than I would have liked on some candidates and also spends his money on issues that I disagree with. Should I cancel my surgery until I can find a less capable surgeon, but one that aligns more perfectly with my own political and economic beliefs? Just kidding of course, but I find more people that have political feelings that are running their lives and decision making. Getting more and more judgemental on how others run their lives.

 

[KieferSkunk]

I have a similar problem. I am scheduled for a life saving operation. Was lucky enough to get the most experienced and talented surgeon in the world to do my surgery. This would give me the best chance of getting the best result. Just today I found out that he voted differently than I would have liked on some candidates and also spends his money on issues that I disagree with. Should I cancel my surgery until I can find a less capable surgeon, but one that aligns more perfectly with my own political and economic beliefs? Just kidding of course, but I find more people that have political feelings that are running their lives and decision making. Getting more and more judgemental on how others run their lives.

See, IMO, this doesn't help the conversation. "Just kidding" seems to be the fashionable way to justify making incredibly crass and dismissive comments toward people with whom you disagree. "Just kidding" is also the kind of rhetoric that gets people killed these days. And if this is how Tesla drivers treat other people, I want no part of it.

 

[ElectricIAC]

Vote with your wallet but know there’s consequences for straying from Tesla for your BEV needs.

- Frequent offline or poorly maintained CCS (or CHAdeMo) stations

- Garbage apps for said stations or confusing payment methods

- Having to explain to people why you went with the off brand BEV and halfway into your explanation realizing they don’t actually care.

 

[KieferSkunk]

I'll add that the pattern I'm seeing here is that as soon as a person says anything critical of Elon, a bunch of other people jump all over them and go "Oh, you must hate Tesla! You're with Big Oil! You're just letting politics run your life!" I think it's pretty hypocritical to do that when you also say we shouldn't let Musk's behavior affect our decisions on Tesla's vehicles. I get defending Tesla, but when someone criticizes Elon Musk, I see a lot of Tesla owners suddenly rushing to defend him as a proxy for the company, and not just the company itself.

 

[D.E.]

Wow. I just joined this forum, and I guess I'll just be closing my account right now. Way too much toxicity in this thread alone.

If that’s your decision, why tell us about it? You’ve added a couple of negative posts in a forum to which you’ve strenuously objected to negative posts. There are positive posts here as well, it’s easy to skip the negative ones if you don’t care for what that negative person has said.

The title of the thread pretty much tells you that there will be people on either side of the fence. Any time someone presents and extreme position as the title of their post, you can expect a spirited debate. Quite A few of us have been Tesla owners for a long time. We’ve seen the good and we’ve experienced the bad. We’ve gone through countless beta software updates, seen erosion of owner support from Tesla, and lately seen some return of that support.

There are many threads here on this site that are enormously helpful. If an issue crops up we can likely find it discussed here. Many times I’ve found an answer here which eliminates wondering if there’s an issue with my car alone.

I don’t know how long you’ve been a “3” owner, nor how you feel about Tesla the company or Musk the man, but you’ll find no end of owners on every side of every argument here. I don’t care for personal attacks, I’d rather everyone posted opinions about just issues, but some will find need to make things personal. I think that reflects more about the person who attacks than it does about the target of the attack. Anyway there’s a lot here, no doubt a lot you’ll find helpful, if not now then later. I’d encourage you to concentrate on the parts of the forums that you enjoy and dismiss the parts that you don’t.

I personally think to dismiss the entire site based on a few posts would be premature.

I wish you the best my friend, and I hope you stick around for the good, sometimes the great content you’ll find here.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I'll add that the pattern I'm seeing here is that as soon as a person says anything critical of Elon, a bunch of other people jump all over them and go "Oh, you must hate Tesla! You're with Big Oil! You're just letting politics run your life!" I think it's pretty hypocritical to do that when you also say we shouldn't let Musk's behavior affect our decisions on Tesla's vehicles. I get defending Tesla, but when someone criticizes Elon Musk, I see a lot of Tesla owners suddenly rushing to defend him as a proxy for the company, and not just the company itself.

I’m mostly just breaking balls but just because the CEO’s of other companies producing BEV aren’t as outspoken, or eccentric as Elon doesn’t mean they don’t do dirt or that the company as whole hasn’t done dirt.

If you dig for long enough you’ll find skeletons anywhere and if that’s a deal breaker, you might as well just walk and use mass transit everywhere.

 

[KieferSkunk]

The title of the thread pretty much tells you that there will be people on either side of the fence. Any time someone presents and extreme position as the title of their post ...

I personally disagree that the OP's title and post represented an "extreme" position. It struck me as a legitimate concern. Perhaps it could have been written better and in a less provocative manner, but I would probably have said something similar had there not already been a post on it that came up literally at the top of my feed when I activated my account.

There are many threads here on this site that are enormously helpful. If an issue crops up we can likely find it discussed here. Many times I’ve found an answer here which eliminates wondering if there’s an issue with my car alone.

And that was what I originally came here for.

I don’t know how long you’ve been a “3” owner, nor how you feel about Tesla the company or Musk the man, but you’ll find no end of owners on every side of every argument here. I don’t care for personal attacks, I’d rather everyone posted opinions about just issues, but some will find need to make things personal. I think that reflects more about the person who attacks than it does about the target of the attack. Anyway there’s a lot here, no doubt a lot you’ll find helpful, if not now then later. I’d encourage you to concentrate on the parts of the forums that you enjoy and dismiss the parts that you don’t.

As I encourage others to do as well. The reason I criticize here is that, as I said, I feel the kind of vitriol that the OP has gotten for their views paints a bad image of Tesla owners in general. I already get enough judging stares from people in my town when my 3 pulls up next to their beat-up SUVs and giant pickup trucks. I hate the idea, even if it's unfounded, that people lump me into a category I don't belong in just because of the car I'm driving. When I then see that, in a place I thought was going to be a safe haven against that, there are people treating a Musk critic with such disrespect, it makes me feel even more self-conscious. As I said, I don't want to be seen that way just by being here.

I wish you the best my friend, and I hope you stick around for the good, sometimes the great content you’ll find here.

Thanks.

 

[EfficientWatts]

Vote with your wallet but know there’s consequences for straying from Tesla for your BEV needs.

- Frequent offline or poorly maintained CCS (or CHAdeMo) stations

- Garbage apps for said stations or confusing payment methods

- Having to explain to people why you went with the off brand BEV and halfway into your explanation realizing they don’t actually care.

There are certainly issues outside of Tesla, but saying that "buy Tesla or else you'll have a miserable experience" ignores the fact that there have been documented issues here with Tesla around service, some superchargers not working, etc. Also the cost to supercharge has gone up a bit as well (I'm not 100% sure but it may be closer or even higher to non-superchargers at times).

I also don't know the exact failure rate of non-Tesla stations, but it is a good reminder that bad experience bubbles up more often that good services.

And in the end this shouldn't be a zero-sum game. Just because someone doesn't buy Tesla doesn't mean that they aren't contributing toward a more sustainable future or don't care about having a cool car.

That being said, I do think at this time the charging experience is better at Tesla right now but outside of Tesla things are improving, and fast. Maybe more so in Europe.

 

[D.E.]

The reason I criticize here is that, as I said, I feel the kind of vitriol that the OP has gotten for their views paints a bad image of Tesla owners in general. I already get enough judging stares from people in my town when my 3 pulls up next to their beat-up SUVs and giant pickup trucks. I hate the idea, even if it's unfounded, that people lump me into a category I don't belong in just because of the car I'm driving. When I then see that, in a place I thought was going to be a safe haven against that, there are people treating a Musk critic with such disrespect, it makes me feel even more self-conscious. As I said, I don't want to be seen that way just by being here.

In the early days perhaps that might be a concern, but now there are so many Teslas that the cars are mainstream. I wouldn’t make assumptions about someone that drove a Ford or an Audi, and by the same token I don’t feel judged for having the Tesla. It used to be that Tesla drivers would wave to one another when passing, passengers of overtaking cars would sometimes give us an energetic thumbs up. Non owners would often stop while I was supercharging to see the car they’d read about. We were all pretty much zealots back then, forgiving of a new company, understanding of problems. If another Tesla was charging, we’d go over to visit. People don’t do that any more and, honestly, I miss it.

We make compromises, it takes longer for me to take trips because charging is necessary. I like the slower pace. I arrive better rested. I have FSD, it’s beta, and I watch it like a hawk when I drive using it. But I’ve always liked technology and I like being on the cutting edge. Would I recommend a Tesla as a family’s only car? Nope. I’m a realist as well.

Anyway your 3 says nothing to others more than a Volkswagen beetle would say. What other owners do and say has absolutely no bearing on what people think of you. It might have in the early days but not now, not at all.