Op-Ed: I bought a Tesla to help the environment. Now, I'm embarrassed to drive it

[Auburn85 438]

https://news.yahoo.com/op-ed-bought-tesla-help-110254125.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 

 

Quote

 

John Blumenthal

Wed, December 28, 2022 at 5:02 AM CST

 

A few years ago, I bought a used Tesla, not because I’m a car nut but because I had been a hypocrite. For years, I had been outspoken about the dangers of carbon emissions. Yet at the same time, I was driving an old gas-powered heap that got about 25 miles per gallon, and that sounded like a rocket launch every time I turned on the ignition.

The car was impractical, but it had sentimental value. My environmental activist friends were not impressed by my assiduous urban composting, LED bulb installations and energy-saving appliances. I needed to do more to diminish my carbon footprint. The icebergs were melting, my friends said, and at least one polar bear was wandering around homeless and hungry because of me.

Many insisted that Teslas were the best for the environment. Pricey but worth it. So I said goodbye to my gas guzzler and made the leap.

 

Someone once said that Teslas are smartphones on wheels, so for an adult like me who suffers from technical issues, sitting in the driver’s seat for the first time was like trying to master calculus after failing algebra. Where was the ignition? How do you make the thing move? What’s a fob? It took a few weeks to figure out the essentials, but I started to feel some real affection for the car’s sleek design and bells and whistles. But that feeling was short lived.

Because of the recent revelation of Elon Musk’s political views — all of which I abhor — I’m starting to worry about what sort of political statement the car is making. Will people see me as a symbol of right-wing environmentalism, a living oxymoron?

When I bought the car, I had no real opinion on Musk’s somewhat clouded political beliefs. Now that Musk has apparently swung to the far right — banning journalists from Twitter while reinstating neo-Nazis — I’m horrified to be associated with his brand whenever I drive anywhere.

What is Musk up to with this acquisition and destruction of Twitter? Publicity? Political power? It’s certainly not a financial strategy. If there’s one demographic that is unlikely to buy a Tesla, it’s the climate change deniers and anti-science voices he’s been cozying up to.

Musk has turned Twitter into an unsupervised playground for neo-Nazis and other random hatemongers and wackadoodle QAnon followers, embraced everything Trumpian and responded tepidly to Kanye West’s outrageous flirtation with Hitler. As if all that weren’t enough, Musk’s heartless treatment of his Twitter employees — a pre-Christmas firing with no severance pay — was downright Dickensian.

Given Musk’s political descent into the dark side, I wonder whether I should sell my Tesla as a form of protest. How would that adversely affect Musk? Not at all, really. The sale of a used Tesla would hardly cause a blip for the company. Even if I were part of a vast movement, and many other politically aware would-be Tesla owners opted for other, newer EVs, would a blow to Tesla stock really change anything about Musk’s politics? There would be collateral damage. How many people would lose their jobs if people stopped buying Teslas?

I don’t know whether to sell, but I do know that I’m just not as comfortable driving it anymore.

It’s a beautifully designed car with no carbon emission, and initially, I was proud of owning it and being seen driving a vehicle that displayed my concern for the environment. But I’m a liberal, and if Musk’s politics don’t change radically for the better, driving a Tesla will become, at least for me, as hypocritical and untenable as driving a gas guzzler was.

John Blumenthal is a former magazine editor. He lives in Santa Monica. 

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

 

 

[homersapien 12,658]

Maybe Musk's strategy with Twitter is to sell the right on the idea of buying electric cars.

 

[arein0 1,151]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Maybe Musk's strategy with Twitter is to sell the right on the idea of buying electric cars.

 

I think it is solely for the data and memes.

[AUFAN78 4,207]

On 12/31/2022 at 1:13 PM, Auburn85 said:

https://news.yahoo.com/op-ed-bought-tesla-help-110254125.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 

 

 

Another nut job with a pen. SMH

[PUB78 1,469]

On 1/2/2023 at 5:37 PM, AUFAN78 said:

Another nut job with a pen. SMH

And a Snowflake.

Edited January 4, 2023 by PUB78

[CoffeeTiger 6,299]

I'd never buy a Tesla because I've heard that outside of the Electrical components and internal tech they are badly designed and cheaply built. 

 

[AUFAN78 4,207]

1 hour ago, PUB78 said:

And a Snowflake.

Most definitely.

[AUFAN78 4,207]

16 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

I'd never buy a Tesla because I've heard that outside of the Electrical components and internal tech they are badly designed and cheaply built. 

 

Car and Driver rates them 8.5. For comparison that is a comparable rating to the best selling Chevy Silverado.

https://www.caranddriver.com/tesla/model-3-2020

https://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/silverado-1500-2020

I assisted organizing an Earth Day several years back and APCO brought a Tesla for test drives. Extremely impressive performance while seemingly a simple build. 

[CoffeeTiger 6,299]

1 hour ago, AUFAN78 said:

Car and Driver rates them 8.5. For comparison that is a comparable rating to the best selling Chevy Silverado.

https://www.caranddriver.com/tesla/model-3-2020

https://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/silverado-1500-2020

I assisted organizing an Earth Day several years back and APCO brought a Tesla for test drives. Extremely impressive performance while seemingly a simple build. 

The $144,000 Model X is more what I'm talking about 

https://www.caranddriver.com/tesla/model-x

6.5/10 

• LOWS
• Too spartan inside for the price, below-average build quality, steering yoke controller is a pain.

 

Similar to some luxury cars,  if you buy a Tesla you're paying a premium for the brand decal stamped on the front, and don't necessarily get the quality and features that you would get for a similar price in other brands. 

 

And that's Tesla's problem, and why some Tesla executives and investors are wanting Elon to tone down his public antics. Tesla sells a lot of cars based on brand name and perception. If you simply want a good quality electric vehicle at a reasonable price and don't care about brand then skip Tesla and go buy the Hyundai EV model. 

 

[wdefromtx 4,211]

Sounds like the OP is more concerned with looking like he cares about the environment than the environment itself. If he was that dedicated it should not matter what people think. 

[CoffeeTiger 6,299]

4 hours ago, wdefromtx said:

Sounds like the OP is more concerned with looking like he cares about the environment than the environment itself. If he was that dedicated it should not matter what people think. 

Yeah, I don't see the point of the article. 

The author can just go trade his Tesla in for another Electric Vehicle brand if he wants. EV production is growing and Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore. 

[jj3jordan 2,221]

15 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Yeah, I don't see the point of the article. 

The author can just go trade his Tesla in for another Electric Vehicle brand if he wants. EV production is growing and Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore. 

The ironic part is that the OP thinks he is actually helping the environment buying a Tesla. When you add up the massive amounts of earth processed and mined to create the batteries, rare earth minerals, chemicals, good old petrol products like plastic and rubber, and the additional electricity production to power it, is it really helping?

[wdefromtx 4,211]

17 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Yeah, I don't see the point of the article. 

The author can just go trade his Tesla in for another Electric Vehicle brand if he wants. EV production is growing and Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore. 

 

[homersapien 12,658]

17 hours ago, jj3jordan said:

The ironic part is that the OP thinks he is actually helping the environment buying a Tesla. When you add up the massive amounts of earth processed and mined to create the batteries, rare earth minerals, chemicals, good old petrol products like plastic and rubber, and the additional electricity production to power it, is it really helping?

In spite of the negatives that need to be worked out or attenuated, the future of automotive transportation is electric, whether you like it or not. 

 

[homersapien 12,658]

18 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Yeah, I don't see the point of the article. 

The author can just go trade his Tesla in for another Electric Vehicle brand if he wants. EV production is growing and Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore. 

The point of the article is as presented:  to present a "conflict" in the mind of liberal who resents driving a "promotional" product for Elon Musk who is perceived to be embracing the far right.

What everyone seems to be missing, IMO, is that the article was clearly "tongue in cheek" and meant to be taken humorously, not as seriously as this forum is taking it.

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by homersapien