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Comment by blindriver | Hacker News Reader

I worked at a well-known company that told us we couldn't bring any work electronic devices to China, because there was a risk malware could be installed on it. They advised us not to bring any personal electronic devices either, like phones because they could be confiscated at the border and returned with malware installed on it.

It makes sense that this happens.

I'm curious why they haven't attempted to tighten the screws on Tesla since Elon's position has weakened and they can really put him in a bad spot if they force him to give up something to them.

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Why would they need to? They have direct Chinese competitors to Tesla who are selling more units for far cheaper prices and innovating far faster. Tesla has a bunch of political baggage with a now drugged out and unstable CEO and nothing they are providing has a leg up on Chinese alternatives. People who can't even legally buy chinese models in their own country want Chinese cars now because they are so cheap and modernized.

The leg up is the teslas don't explode all the time and you don't see thousands of Tesla's parked in a field to make it look like the sales are great.

What explosion are you referring to?

There are many videos of BYDs exploding online, as well as a few that lock the drivers inside as they malfunction before catching fire and burning the people alive. Do not trust chinese EVs

> I'm curious why they haven't attempted to tighten the screws on Tesla since Elon's position has weakened and they can really put him in a bad spot if they force him to give up something to them.

Its possible they believe he will destroy Tesla left to his own devices and their best course of action is to sit back and let it happen naturally with no meddling exposure for themselves and then maybe they can even poach some of his employees in the aftermath.

Considering that the administration Elon is gleefully making himself the "chainsaw" figurehead for is actively working to cripple the EV market in the US, this doesn't seem like a bad plan to me.

I worked at a well-known company that told us we couldn't bring any work electronic devices to the USA.

This makes sense given that even American citizens have been detained at the border until they divulged passwords for their laptops or phones.

It's not in their interest to do so. Tesla is the EV leader and exports many vehicle from China to other countries. Additionally, Elon has a direct line to Trump, it makes no sense to burn bridges.

In what sense is Tesla the EV leader? BYD sold 4.3M EVs last year and is up 40% from 2023. Tesla only sold 1.8M and is down from 2023.

From where I’m sitting, Elon is very lucky the US government is protecting his business with tariffs, but that only affects US sales. They haven’t made a new car since 2020 either (cyber truck doesn’t count).

Most of those BYD numbers are hybrids.

58.5% of BYD vehicles were PHEV in 2024. BYD still made more pure EV than Tesla in 2024.

https://www.statista.com/chart/33709/tesla-byd-electric-vehi...

Those aren't the numbers here though.

Pretty much every time people mention BYD EV numbers, they add hybrids.

I see it as intent to mislead.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/01/02/rebirth-of-the-phev-wha...

I'm not disputing the BYD lead. Just numbers that add hybrids.

Most of those BYDs are sitting in a field rotting, it's just to make sales look good. They just go park them in a field. Total waste.

The numbers I am quoting are sales, not numbers produced. Are you saying people are buying their cars but not using them? If so, who, and why?

Yes the cars are "purchased" and left sitting in a field to bump up the sales numbers... I can't remember exactly how they do it, but its purely to boost the sales numbers likely to get more govt subsidies

They have the best technology and the highest EV margins.

By analogy: Apple doesn't sell the most smartphones but they are clearly the leader in the smartphone market.

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