Elon Musk

[Holman]

I wonder what other auto manufacturers think about this.

(It's probably that they need to fellate more vigorously.)

[Victoria Raverna]

Trump holds a Tesla car showcase on the White House grounds.

The grift is so completely out in the open.

If this causes MAGA to accept and buy Tesla, isn't that a good thing?

Getting anti-EV people to become owners of EV, even if it is to support Tesla is a good thing for environment.

[Kraken]

Oh, please... Presidents endorse products all the time. It's perfectly normal.

I'm still boycotting Goya to this day.

[hepcat]

I think there are multiple VR posters. One is espousing violence against Tesla in another thread, while this one is advocating for them here.

[Blackhawk]

No, just one of them fishing, but with a whole box of different lures.

[Victoria Raverna]

I think there are multiple VR posters. One is espousing violence against Tesla in another thread, while this one is advocating for them here.

While I am against Musk and Trump, sometime bad people cause good things, too.

If a lot of those MAGA crowds buy EV because of this, then it is still a good thing for environment. A good thing that can come out of this bad situation.

[Zarathud]

MAGA isn't going to be good for the environment. There is no silver lining.

Besides, there is no way the Secret Service actually lets Trump be in a Tesla. The spyware alone would be a national security nightmare, and it would be highly ironic if Trump was injured (or worse) while in autopilot in his new "Tesla One."

[Kraken]

Trump said the SS won't let him drive at all, much as he loves to. I'll wager he doesn't know how to drive because he's never had to.

[Punisher]

Trump said the SS won't let him drive at all, much as he loves to. I'll wager he doesn't know how to drive because he's never had to.

I think I read an article (without digging to see if it's true) that said once they become President they are never allowed to drive again.
It sounded plausible

[Victoria Raverna]

But VP is allowed to drive?

[hepcat]

In this case, he’s encouraged to. Especially after drinking alcohol or when he’s had little sleep.

[raydude]

In this case, he’s encouraged to. Especially after drinking alcohol or when he’s had little sleep.

Or when he's trying to get somewhere for some "couch time".

[Holman]

If this causes MAGA to accept and buy Tesla, isn't that a good thing?

Getting anti-EV people to become owners of EV, even if it is to support Tesla is a good thing for environment.

Um, normally it would unacceptable for the President of the United States to boost a crony's business at the expense of their competitors.

Free and fair markets and all that.

[hepcat]

In this case, he’s encouraged to. Especially after drinking alcohol or when he’s had little sleep.

Or when he's trying to get somewhere for some "couch time".

It never gets old.

If this causes MAGA to accept and buy Tesla, isn't that a good thing?

Getting anti-EV people to become owners of EV, even if it is to support Tesla is a good thing for environment.

Um, normally it would unacceptable for the President of the United States to boost a crony's business at the expense of their competitors.

Free and fair markets and all that.

And even if discussing how great Tesla is for the environment? Well, that's up for debate too.

[GreenGoo]

I don't think they have conflict of interest where Vic comes from. As it turns out, they don't have conflict of interest here, either.

[IceBear]

Well Trump has Tesla stock climbing...Fuck!

[raydude]

Well Trump has Tesla stock climbing...Fuck!

It's because investors are buying into Musk's claims that EV car sales will not become Tesla's main revenue stream in the coming years. Instead it will be the self-driving taxis, Optimus robots, and the AI which drives them that will become their big revenue generators. So most of the value in the stock is because of this belief in Musk's vision and the potential trillions in value those dreams will create.

Musk claimed he'd roll out self-driving taxis in California, but that's gone because California regulates autonomous driving cars. So Elon is planning to roll out the taxis in June in Austin, Texas. Texas has no regulations on self-driving cars and no qualms about companies using the state and live test subjects (i.e. citizens) as their proving ground. And unfortunately the so-called "small government" party in Texas has rendered cities unable to impose their own regulations as they see fit.

But we'll see. According to this Reuters article there are already problems with self driving cars in the Austin area. Add in Tesla cars, which don't use LIDAR technology and must rely purely on cameras and AI and you have a recipe for disaster (for Tesla).

The city has logged 78 formal complaints from law enforcement, emergency responders and residents since July 2023, which officials say may not capture all incidents involving the vehicles. One resident complaint from December described a Waymo vehicle blocking a lane of traffic for half an hour, causing “at least three very close call accidents.”
The complaint added: “I can’t believe that y’all are allowing potentially deadly technology to be tested on the citizens of this city."

Finally - despite all the Musky dreams, Tesla still has to show that it isn't losing money. Next estimated earnings report date is mid to late April, so we shall see.

[LordMortis]

[LawBeefaroni]

Well Trump has Tesla stock climbing...Fuck!

It's because investors are buying into Musk's claims that EV car sales will not become Tesla's main revenue stream in the coming years. Instead it will be the self-driving taxis, Optimus robots, and the AI which drives them that will become their big revenue generators. So most of the value in the stock is because of this belief in Musk's vision and the potential trillions in value those dreams will create.

Musk claimed he'd roll out self-driving taxis in California, but that's gone because California regulates autonomous driving cars. So Elon is planning to roll out the taxis in June in Austin, Texas. Texas has no regulations on self-driving cars and no qualms about companies using the state and live test subjects (i.e. citizens) as their proving ground. And unfortunately the so-called "small government" party in Texas has rendered cities unable to impose their own regulations as they see fit.

But we'll see. According to this Reuters article there are already problems with self driving cars in the Austin area. Add in Tesla cars, which don't use LIDAR technology and must rely purely on cameras and AI and you have a recipe for disaster (for Tesla).

The city has logged 78 formal complaints from law enforcement, emergency responders and residents since July 2023, which officials say may not capture all incidents involving the vehicles. One resident complaint from December described a Waymo vehicle blocking a lane of traffic for half an hour, causing “at least three very close call accidents.”
The complaint added: “I can’t believe that y’all are allowing potentially deadly technology to be tested on the citizens of this city."

Finally - despite all the Musky dreams, Tesla still has to show that it isn't losing money. Next estimated earnings report date is mid to late April, so we shall see.

He's promised FSD next year, every year, for the past decade. TSLA is up today the same reason it's ever up: bullshit promises from Musk. Even after the last haircut, it's P/E is well over 100. When it was a $1.5T company it was still trading as a growth company. Becaue Musk said every Tesla owner would be making passive income with their robotaxi and that they would appreciate so much that Tesla would stop selling them and just use them to generate robotaxi reveue.

But the new hope is that his ties to the federal government will allow him to ignore any and all safety regulations for all his products.

[Holman]

I assume that the market is also interpreting Trump's product endorsement yesterday as a promise that Tesla is officially too MAGA to fail: it will always receive whatever bailout or gov't contracts are necessary.

[hepcat]

Get a photo of a trans celebrity drinking a bud light in the front seat of a Tesla. Either the problem is solved, or heads explode all over the place. At the very least, Kid Rock will get confused over what he should be shooting at in his social media posts.