Tesla scraps low-cost car plans amid fierce Chinese EV competition | Hacker News Reader

Tesla scraps low-cost car plans amid fierce Chinese EV competition

reuters.com

28 pointstiahura22 comments

Tesla cars can be pricey but they are not what I would call sophisticated luxury items.

Their design and workmanship leaves a lot to be desired. The overuse of the touch screen controls is just annoying and inconvenient if not downright dangerous.

Basically, it sounds like he is surrendering the mass market to the Chinese.

Not to mention the broken promises.

I forgot a lot of those as soon as I heard them. Musk comes with a continuous stream of BS that is not to be taken seriously.

Yes. If they want to compete on the high end rather than just “cheapest car with an electric engine and decent range”, they still have a lot to learn.

So Tesla is abandoning the one the thing where they've shown competence, building good-enough EVs, profitably and at scale; in order to enter a market where competitors are already established, the legal requirements are high, and the public already has a sour opinion of the company.

Sounds just like Twitter's pivot to offering phone calls and payments.

Seems like reuters is lying:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1776272471324606778

The word lying implies that Reuters was aware, either before or after publication, that their information is untrue, and they published that false information purposely and failed to correct it.

On that basis, it doesn't seem like Reuters is lying. It seems like Reuters has been accused of lying, by someone with a history of misunderstandings with the truth.

It may be the case that they have lied. That would be a pretty egregious act by Reuters. It may also be the case that Elon Musk has reason or incentive to cast doubt on the story whether it is true or not.

Musk vs Reuters. They can't be both right....Who to trust....

Musk has zero credibility left. I will believe Reuters said the truth, though of course plans can change.

So Musk claims Reuters doesn't have sources and totally made that up?

Of course the sources could lie but that would make them the liars.

Seems to me Musk is pretty quick to call others liars, but he was also quick to call someone a pedophile.

Welp, time to buy the Volvo/Geely EX30 (a reskinned Zeekr X) I guess.

It was recently released here in the US, and the pricing is comparable if not slightly lower than a Tesla Model 3, and Geely's build quality has been good enough.

> self driving taxis

Interesting. I think they did poach some of the core CV team from Uber a couple years ago, but at this point I don't have high hopes.

Is the BYD Seal available there? That feels like a closer competitor in terms of size.

Nope, and it most likely never will be. I'm just competing on pricepoint. I can't justify buying a true luxury car (I don't drive enough).

“While Tesla spent years developing its highly experimental Cybertruck, a pricey electric pickup, Chinese automakers have raced ahead on affordable EVs, grabbing market share, gaining economies of scale…”

TL; DR

This is wild - even Tesla is giving up.

FSD robotaxis are pie in the sky; it is not going to happen anytime soon, not going to justify Teslas valuation, and it is not at all guaranteed that it will be Tesla that succeeds with it first or capture the majority of the market.

I wonder if a Model 2 based taxi, robotic or not, will meet the low cost of operation needed? There seems to be a record of high repair cost and part scarcity that isn’t encouraging.

That seems like the exact opposite of what he should be doing right?

sounds like someone doesn't recognize the leadership of a visionary genius when they see it

Musk denies this in his usual "colorful" style:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1776272471324606778

  Elon Musk @elonmusk · 2h
  Reuters is lying (again)

So this is non-news.

Nothing makes me believe something is true as much as Musk saying it is false.

Bold claim.

Reuters could be wrong but lying means the do it on purpose.

There is a certain kind of people who label everything wrong as a lie.

> “Elon’s directive is to go all in on robotaxi,” that person said.

ah so they're really in desperation mode huh.

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