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Comment by constantly | Hacker News Reader

For better or worse, Elon seems to be an extremely smart person. Notably I’m not a fan and purchased a Rivian over a Tesla due to his antics, in addition to signing out of Twitter and not using it for months.

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https://mastodon.social/@rodhilton/109572674700288958

"He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit I've ever heard anyone say, so when people say he's a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets."

Cute. Except SpaceX's rockets are demonstrably the most advanced in the world.

(Hint: Musk didn't program them himself.)

Musk is the only person to get shit for not doing literally everything by hand himself. People are like 'sure but he didn't design, build, program and launch the rockets by themselves' therefore he is pointless any even a brick could have done his job. Strange world we life in.

You bought an 8500 lbs pickup truck over some tweets?

No, over principles.

Those principles apparently don't include very strong environmental beliefs because there is absolutely no weigh (see what I did there) that the Rivian, which actually weighs ~7500 lbs, about 1.5x the Tesla X, the heaviest Tesla vehicle, is not significantly worse for the environment both in a one off (producing all the extra material that makes up those nearly 2400 lbs) and in an ongoing manner (moving those extra 2400 lbs takes more energy, which requires more of everything in the energy pipeline).

Presumably, if they were considering a Tesla at all, they didn't actually need a large pickup. So, to spite Elon over some political beliefs, he produced several extra tons of CO2 and is going to be emitting more CO2 on an ongoing basis, even if his energy source is 100% renewable (unlikely) as even wind and solar still (and for the forseeable future) have non-zero CO2 emissions due to mining and production of materials.

I understand why people don't like Elon. He's pretty unlikeable, even if you don't disagree with his politics. I just dont' understand why they let it influecne their purchasing decisions.

SUV. Rivian makes more than a pickup. (:

Why this focus on the weight of the vehicle? It weighs what it weighs, just like a Tesla SUV or Cybertruck - if and when they are delivered - will weigh what it weighs. People factor in all kinds of stuff when they make their purchasing decisions including whether or not they want their funds to go towards subsidizing someone they'd rather not see gain more power. That's a principled decision and it should be applauded.

That they could have chosen no vehicle or a non-pickup/non-SUV isn't part of this discussion, the decision was 'Tesla or something else' and it went to 'something else'.

> Why this focus on the weight of the vehicle?

Because more weight requires more energy.

> they want their funds to go towards subsidizing someone they'd rather not see gain more power

Rivian subsidizes Ford and Amazon. Ford 100 year influence on politics has been far worse then anything Musk has ever done. And Amazon is arguable the most influential company in the world, far more so then Tesla. Amazon principle concern is to have low skilled workers.

But I guess Musk had some tweets somebody didn't like that much.

As I suggested in another comment recently, I'd refrain from buying a Tesla simply out of concern for what Musk might tweet. He has flooded the zone with so much BS that I have no idea what he actually stands for at this point. How do I know he's not going to come out as a white supremacist or as a genuine fascist? There goes half the resale value of my car, if he does.

He has already alienated a big chunk of the company's most loyal fan base. It seems clear that he's not getting more rational or less erratic with time.

Now you're making me want him to go genuine white fascist so I can get a Tesla for half-price ...

Principles, as the other poster mentioned. But I was in the market for a vehicle with certain properties, including being an EV. The Model Y checked a lot of boxes but couldn’t pull the trigger after Elon’s slide. It’s not as if I went and purchased an SUV because of tweets.

It’s a bad time for being in the market for a car.

ICE cars don’t make sense. Tesla is a no because of Musk. The other brands are not there yet in EV(in terms or range or charging network).

I concluded the best car to buy today is a Prius. If you can find one…

ICE cars make plenty sense if you care more about personal convenience than the environment. Even if gas stations eventually become impossible to find, that's many years off in the future. By the time that comes to pass you'll probably be looking for your next car again anyway.

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