The great thing is today you can avoid Tesla and very easily get a superior product.

“...Tesla is still one of the largest automakers in the world...”

Never charge your EV in a garage. 

Honestly when I see these stats of 300-400 mile range EVS that are charging 10-80% in 10-20 minutes, it really freaks me out. That is a lot of energy being moved very fast. It’s not surprising if they burst into flames.

EV batteries aren’t that big a deal. It’s the big utility batteries that are becoming a looming problem. This fire in San Diego burned for 17 days because it kept reigniting. The FD would put it out, and the damage would just cause another ignition.

It’s all fine and good that EVs catch on fire at a lower rate then ICE cars. As they should, because the EV fleet is extremely young vs. the ICE fleet with an average age of something like 14 years now. BUT, they are a HELL of a lot harder to put out when they do go up, and that is kind of a big deal.

“I just really wanted a Tesla because it’s something my ex wouldn’t let me [have]”

It’s not uniquely a Volvo problem. Even though ICE’s have been running their throttle and brake-by-wire through the same CANBus that manages infotainment for decades now, EV’s apparently don’t keep the strict driving functions as far removed from everything else, and it makes random bugs more likely to cause serious…

It didn’t warn the driver before they used it and Tesla knew about the issue.

Until they push out a half-baked update that borks that warning system.

Tesla, according to the user, replied that Dog Mode’s issues were a “known characteristic of current firmware,” that the latest OTA update did spark “a firmware issue with dog mode” and that owners should “please refrain from using dog mode for the time being.”

Dog owning Telsa fanboys now face a dilemma over which obsession is more important to them.  

I love seeing Tesla taking L after L lately. 

Elon hates dogs! 

EVs with eleventy-billion horsepower and instant acceleration. What could possibly go wrong in the hands of the unwashed masses, even when they are working properly - never a given with a Tesla product.

Again, so what? Sometimes people need to be protected from themselves.

So what? Don’t walk in front of fast moving multi-ton death machines, regardless of whether it is legal to do so or not.

Also note that work vans are also engine over cab (or basically anyways) with a relatively short hood line that slopes upwards...

Seriously. For 90% of the things that Americans use trucks for, both personally and for work, a VAN would be a far better vehicle. Which is why VANS are the work vehicle of choice in literally the entire rest of the world. Pickups are only really useful for a very narrow range of tasks.

My most radical car take is that pickup trucks should only be available for commercial usage if they aren’t going to scale back on the size (which they won’t)