KayLeadfoot

With Tesla, you can turn a $2,442 windshield installation into a $3,174 windshield installation through the power of interest.

This is being reported by the Teslasphere as an "excellent option" to restore affordability to a car market that desperately needs more affordability.

Only, neither of those numbers is even in the same ballpark as affordable.

So, the Tesla Robotaxi rollout is going great and they are following all applicable local laws to autonomously drive safely. /s

Come for the video of a Tesla Robotaxi driving double the speed limit and hitting speed bumps like they are Mario Kart ramps...

... But stay for the conversation about social media silos and corporate disinformation campaigns!

I saw the Tesla Robotaxi:

• Drive into oncoming traffic, getting honked at in the process.
• Signal a turn and then go straight at a stop sign with turn signal on.
• Park in a fire lane to drop off the passenger.

And that was in a single 22 minute ride. Not great performance at all.

We’re getting the first videos of “select guests” getting access to Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin, and the level of polish leaves something to be desired.

For instance, one gaggle of Tesla influencers was dropped off directly in an intersection, leading to these wooly screenshots.

We’re getting the first videos of “select guests” getting access to Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin, and the level of polish leaves something to be desired.

For instance, one gaggle of Tesla influencers was dropped off directly in an intersection, leading to these wooly screenshots.

Who would win: a 2024 Cybertruck or 2014 Subaru?

I mean you, already know, but watching it happen was pretty funny.

I have no confidence that Tesla will fix this before the planned Robo-Taxi rollout in Austin in 2 weeks.

After all, they haven't fixed it in the last 9 years that self-driving Teslas have been on the road.

Like the lady says, "I love New Orleans."

But seriously... The Big Easy is about as friendly a crowd as you can expect. They don't boo anybody. If you're pissing off New Orleans, you need a long hard look in the mirror and probably to take some corrective action.

It's sort of amazing to see the visceral, negative reaction that just crowds of randos have to seeing one specific model of ugly truck.

It's not hard to find videos of self-driving Teslas wilding in bus lanes. Check the videos out, then consider:

"There was an interesting side-note in Tesla’s last earnings call, where they explained the main challenge of releasing Full-Self Driving (supervised!) in China was a quirk of Chinese roads: the bus-only lanes.

Well, jeez, we have bus-only lanes here in Chicago, too. Like many other American metropolises… including Austin TX, where Tesla plans to rollout unsupervised autonomous vehicles in a matter of weeks..."

It's one of those regional differences to driving that make a generalizable self-driving platform an exceedingly tough technical nut to crack... unless you're willing to just plain ignore the local rules.

TL;DR: EV cars & SUVs will face an average 16% effective price increase, with the lowest cost model up more than 28%, if the law passes the Senate and goes into effect as written.

It's hard to imagine any way this doesn't throw a huge wrench into the adoption of sustainable car technology for the USA.

Only about 8% of new cars sold last year in the USA were electric, compared to 13% for the EU or 25% for China. Seems like exactly the wrong moment to cut tax incentives for the tech.

A 2025 Tesla Model 3 in Full-Self Driving mode drives off of a rural road, clips a tree, loses a tire, flips over, and comes to rest on its roof. Luckily, the driver is alive and well, able to post about it on social media.

I just don't see how this technology could possibly be ready to power an autonomous taxi service by the end of next week.