It is so bad. I have been driving BMW for 15 years and have arrived at the point where I probably would not buy one again. The latest design is horrendous generally, but the EVs are another league. Only that I cannot decide whether the XM or the iX is the worst model. At least they are cheap.
I have been a passenger at least in several brand new Chinese EVs lately on a trip to China. Mostly BYD, I think. Amazing. Generally very pleasing exterior design combined with quality interiors with nice leathers and stitching and good haptics. Easily beat the quality of any Tesla I have been sitting in.
I’ve had a chance to try Tesla’s adaptive headlights. In short they work, but are odd!
I’m very used to the VW ones which I had on a GTI back in 2014. Tesla’s work very differently with the successive shutting down of the matrix squares just before they shine on oncoming traffic. It must look very odd to cars in front and those approaching.
The lights lay a sort of black “V” in the road ahead when following another vehicle. It seems unclear when the lights go to full beam, shown as blue on the screen. It would seem logical with street lights and speed limits of 50kph the system was not required and the icon go to grey.
This was not the case and I can’t fathom what the criteria for their use is. Sometime they work on city streets, sometimes not but always on unlit streets…
As well as the pollution argument re petrol/diesel and electric, electric vehicle also cause more damage to roads - so look forward to even more and bigger potholes in future.
That’s the thing…I used to drive an SUV and if I move to an electric it will still be an SUV. Not sure if a gasoline SUV is worse than an electric one for the road, so for me this article is misleading as its comparing a gasoline Golf vs. an electric Q8 etron.
They are “legal” since Feb 2022. Technically the headlights hardware is legal, but US regulations are not the same as EU ones, so the software has to be modified a bit. So, fooling around with software, testing and certification takes some time. Almost there.
But in the US, land of the free (*), people have been tinkering their car ECUs to enable the adpative headlights since years ago. Usual suspects such as BMW, Audi, MB that have the hardware already installed, only need some changes in the car sotfware.
Tesla stock continues to be the fastest falling on the S&P 500 down 31% YTD so confirming the cars are bargain priced, good news for new purchasers.
Tesla was highly innovative but like most innovators now faces competition from imitators who can avoid a lot of the initial development costs and growing pains.
Rumours the Tesla China factory has cut production, in its letter to shareholders released in January, Tesla cautioned that sales growth this year may be “notably lower” than the 2023 growth rate.
There’s that old hi-tech adage that you don’t need to be first to market to succeed, you just need to be the best, or at least better than your competitors.
Geely with their stable of EVs including Volvo, Polestar. Zeekr and Smart (joint venture with Mercedes). Better build quality, more luxurious and a Google based infotainment which is imho better than Tesla’s
The CPCA data released on March 4 showed that Tesla sold 60,365 China-made vehicles in February, down 18.87 percent from 74,402 in the same month a year ago and down 15.51 percent from 71,447 in January.
This the lowest monthly sales since December 2022 so the trend is clear.
Meanwhile Elon, the great free speech advocate, made a case against a group that had claimed that hate speech had risen on the platform since the tech tycoon took over.
The US judge dismissed the case and said it was “evident” Mr Musk’s X Corp did not like criticism. In his decision Judge Charles Breyer said Mr Musk was “punishing the defendants for their speech”.
He said the company had “brought this case in order to punish CCDH for … publications that criticised X Corp - and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism”.
Elon is just another billionaire who tries and fails to use the legal system to punish people.
Yes the Volvo EX30 is doing really well apparently. But at the moment Tesla trounces them. They‘re pulling away even. Ahead of VW. But it’s never been Tesla’s goal to be number 1. I think they just want to get to 20 million sales. People like Volvo and Ford are trying and undoubtedly will come.
If this robotaxi really comes in 2025 it‘ll be interesting.
The Volvo EX30 and Smart #1 are cheaper than their equivalent Model 3 or Y. However the Y is more spacious and undoubtedly has better tech and the SC network.
