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The withering dream of a cheap American electric car

(www.wsj.com)
152 points voisin | 1 comments | 17 Nov 24 23:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.365s | source
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latentcall ◴[18 Nov 24 16:08 UTC] No.42173727[source]▶
I would love a 10-15K BYD. I was told recently desiring a BYD is un-American when I can spend 3 times the price on a Tesla. No thanks! I’ll hold out for something truly cheap. Cars in America are insanely priced.
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solardev ◴[18 Nov 24 16:34 UTC] No.42174041[source]▶
Half of America doesn't want to support the incoming administration either, and Musk has decided to closely and personally align himself with it. I wonder if that will affect Tesla sales.
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dec0dedab0de ◴[18 Nov 24 16:39 UTC] No.42174084[source]▶
I kinda think the whole thing is just Elon tricking republicans into buying electric cars.
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larkost[dead post] ◴[18 Nov 24 16:51 UTC] No.42174228[source]▶
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1. Pxtl ◴[18 Nov 24 17:37 UTC] No.42174765[source]▶
He also had kind of a meltdown during the initial period of COVID isolation when his factories were closed too.

I think it was that double-whammy: both his trans daughter and the threat of COVID shutdowns destroying Tesla happened pretty close to each other. Those combined drove him not just to traditional fiscal conservatism but to the modern populist identity-driven Trump politics.

That and he's visibly obsessed with validation and popularity and going hard-right has given him that in spades. He wants to be cheered-for at rallies the way Trump is... remember the time that Dave Chappelle brought him out on stage in SF and he was greeted with a wave of boos?