Maybe. If the choice is government bail-out or Chinese buy-out, I will choose government bail-out every time.

And? 100 years ago, the legacy automakers created the future for Tesla to play in. I’m not refuting that Tesla was instrumental in kicking some asses into gear and I’m not saying Tesla is going to disappear. All I’m saying is that they are still visible amateurs in this industry and there are ways that the established…

I definitely agree that GM is screwing itself long-term by not investing massively into a charging network. The Supercharger network is the single greatest asset of owning a Tesla over any other brand’s electric car, especially in North America, and that cannot be stressed enough.

I agree. I think FCA/PSA/Stellantis is in an existential crisis that they’ve failed to acknowledge or mitigate. Ditto Subaru and Mazda, and possibly even Toyota. Nissan is in a crisis right now for more classic reasons, but it’s going to have knock-on effects later if they don’t correct course.

I think incentives are going to have their part to play, because I agree. I think the Bolt is the best EV you can buy that isn’t a Tesla because it’s a mature platform, it has incentives, and the range is decent for what it is.

Doesn’t matter how far away they are now or have been for the last 10 years, the rules of diminishing returns favor legacy automakers catching up. Even still, they are only just now putting their weight behind EVs in earnest; I think the second generation of VAG’s PPE and MEB platforms will pretty much seal the deal…

I am not disagreeing. Rather, I am stating that when it becomes clear that Tesla aren’t the only ones who know what the future wants, the fantasy Tesla is living in will collapse.

They are piling onto Tesla because Tesla has its finger on the pulse of the immediate future of transportation. When legacy automakers catch up, and they absolutely will, that’s when the fun begins.

Right, I mean it’s the antithesis of the new EV Hummer. It achieves very similar performance, it just does it in the most inefficient, old-fashioned way possible versus the newest and most technologically advanced solution. And the price isn’t even that far off. One is all noise and middle fingers to mild manners, the…

It will probably look like a grey banana, like every other current Mercedes with four doors.

Stellantis*

This is, like, the anti-Hummer.

It’s no simpler than the Veloster, just more poorly assembled.

Have you been in both after they’ve been broken in after some years?

Did I say Gran Coupe?

Do I care?

“Hey, we got this car in and we know you wanted to be one of the first to get one. Price is X and we expect it to be on the lot for at least the next week or so at that rate, let us know what you think.”

Nobody said you had to floor it from every stop. My car has 400 HP. It has a stick. I get to shift five times on the way up to 70 while still accelerating at a pace that a GTI strains to keep up with.

Your understanding sounds like it’s a little bit out of date.

Anything with ~400HP or more is totally fine with an automatic. With that much power you really don’t have time to use a manual transmission unless the gears are waaaay too long