What my friend Invictus is talking about is the fact that Tesla buyers are overwhelmingly in Dem districts, which he documented recently 1/ https://twitter.com/TBPInvictus/status/1607852684601704448
Invictus on Twitter

“Every biz media outlet talking Musk and $TSLA nonstop and nary a mention of the political lean angle I brought to light. Perplexing.”

Twitter
Here's his original evidence, with further stuff from the inimitable Charles Gaba 2/ https://ritholtz.com/2022/12/owning-the-libs/
Thoughts On Owning the Libs - The Big Picture

  @TBPInvictus here. (Also on Post and Mastodon). Happy holidays to all, and the best for 2023. It’s been a hot minute since my last post, hope I remember how this thing works. I’ve been a huge fan of Twitter for well over a decade. It’s a fire hose of invaluable information from countless reliable…Read More

The Big Picture
How I think about it: many people make a statement with the car they drive, maybe more than with any consumer good 3/
A Tesla is an expensive luxury car, but zero-emission, and until the other day Elon Musk seemed like a cool guy who does space travel while hanging out with singers and Westworld actresses 4/
So owning a Tesla was, to be crude but I think accurate, a way to say "I'm rich but I'm woke". Lots to criticize and ridicule there, but it was the marketing strategy 5/
Apparently, however, Musk didn't get his own memo. Instead he's gone full MAGA, turning off exactly the people who might buy his cars. Stupid? Unable to control his impulses? Probably both 6/

@pkrugman Also his cars suck and keep trying to murder their owners.

Eight-car Thanksgiving pileup blamed on Tesla “Full Self-Driving” software
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/12/eight-car-thanksgiving-pileup-blamed-on-tesla-full-self-driving-software/

A Tesla driver watched in horror as another Tesla burst into flames after hitting a barrier
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-driver-watched-in-horror-tesla-crashed-burst-into-flames-2022-12

Eight-car Thanksgiving pileup blamed on Tesla “Full Self-Driving” software

California Highway Patrol say only Tesla knows if the system was active.

Ars Technica

@sashafox @pkrugman

Truth: EVs are *much much* safer than gasoline cars when it comes to fires. Beta testing FSD on real streets is dumb, tho where are state legs on that?

Musk is an evil fuck, but claiming EVs set themselves on fire at anywhere even approaching the rate that fossil fueled vehicles do is just Big Oil propaganda.

Don’t let that evil fuck destroy your judgment and perspective.

EVs: *great*
Musk: Terrible

Source: https://www.kbb.com/car-news/study-electric-vehicles-involved-in-fewest-car-fires.

@numbcat9 @sashafox @pkrugman "EVs are *much much* safer than gasoline cars when it comes to fires."

If you exclude the Teslas, yes.

@orc @sashafox @pkrugman source or you’re just unwittingly pushing Big Oil propaganda against EVs broadly. which is what I have been warning against.
@numbcat9 @sashafox @pkrugman Naa, Teslas are just not all that safe. I'd *much* rather ride in even a kitbashed EV (even John Wayland's White Zombie being test-driven after a power mod) than one of Elon's MAGA caps.
@orc @sashafox @pkrugman this is Big Oil FUD man. Don’t let Musk make you take leave of your senses.
@numbcat9 @sashafox @pkrugman EVs are, as a general rule, safe. But Tesla is an exception to that rule (and the newer ones are put together about as sloppily as you can imagine -- if your EV sideswipes a jersey barrier it should not EVER burst into flames, even if it's filled with lipo bombs.)

@orc @sashafox @pkrugman

you are stating something as fact that the available evidence does not support.

Teslas: ~5 per billion miles driven

All vehicles: ~56 per billion miles driven

https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/US-Fire-Problem/osvehiclefires.pdf

I mean I guess Tesla could’ve misstated by a factor of 10 but then they’d only be average.

You’re not speaking from a position of facts. That doesn’t help anyone.

Musk is a fucking dick, don’t let him make you take leave of your senses!

@numbcat9 @orc @pkrugman I don't think anyone is saying that electric vehicles are the problem. It's that Teslas are bad. They're poorly put together. They are actively dangerous because they will do things like turn into oncoming traffic and not brake for children.

Teslas do things like automatically lock all the doors and windows during a fire and turn off manual control for the locks so the driver is trapped inside. After the car took control and drove into a wall.

That's why people are saying they're not safe.

Everyone here thinks electric cars are better than gas powered cars.

@sashafox @orc @pkrugman

The available data do not support your assertion, and I would eagerly welcome data that did. I’m perfectly happy to be wrong. But you’ve provided no data to back your assertion. I’ve linked mine.

Bag on Musk. He’s a shithead who deserves what he gets.

It seems I am going to have to accept that Musk haters are going to negatively affect the overall EV market and hope I’m wrong about that.

@numbcat9 @orc @pkrugman You're only looking at vehicle fires. I"m saying that is leaving out the issues with Teslas actively attempting to murder their owners.

For the 4th time, nothing about this is representative of electric vehicles. It's that Musk is doing a bad job manufacturing Teslas because he keeps trying to cheap out on production and keeps promising features they can't deliver, and putting out a dangerous substitute instead.

@numbcat9 @orc @pkrugman Tesla is facing a criminal investigation because Musk keeps lying about what his cars can do, and people are getting killed because he lied to people.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/exclusive-tesla-faces-us-criminal-probe-over-self-driving-claims-sources-2022-10-26/
Exclusive: Tesla faces U.S. criminal probe over self-driving claims

Tesla Inc <a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O" target="_blank">(TSLA.O)</a> is under criminal investigation in the United States over claims that the company's electric vehicles can drive themselves, three people familiar with the matter said.

Reuters

@sashafox @orc @pkrugman

Look I can tell you’re not available to incorporating new information but I urge you to watch the movie Tucker to understand what’s going on with Tesla and EVs broadly.

Musk is an awful, execrable person. Please focus on that instead of unintentionally doing favors for Big Auto and Big Oil.

But more importantly, do whatever the heck you want. I’ve said as much substantive stuff as I’m going to.

@numbcat9 @orc @pkrugman Also the "big auto" complaint seems weird to me because like, all of those companies are moving over their production to electric vehicles in the future.

It doesn't make sense to think they would want to undermine confidence in their own products. Most big car companies are planning to be fully electric over the next 10 - 15 years.
https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/automaker-ev-plans/

@sashafox @orc @pkrugman That’s why they have folks like you focused exclusively on Teslas. They’re hoping people won’t notice the Bolt recall.

No US independent auto manufacturer has survived since Chrysler entered the market a century ago. This did not happen by accident.

@numbcat9 @orc @pkrugman Like, Musk's new ideas about building cars are "Let's be super racist and abusive to our employees and get rid of unions and safety regulations."

These are not a positive development. It being a new company doesn't make it a good company.

Tesla Denied Retrial Over Black Worker’s Racism Verdict
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-07/tesla-denied-retrial-over-black-worker-s-racism-verdict

Tesla hit with complaints of wage, safety violations at Texas plant
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/tesla-hit-with-complaints-wage-safety-violations-texas-plant-2022-11-15/

Tesla found guilty of union busting
https://labortribune.com/tesla-found-guilty-of-union-busting/

Tesla Denied Retrial Over Black Worker’s Racism Verdict

Tesla Inc. was denied new trial in a suit by a Black former contract worker who was awarded $137 million by a jury that found he faced racist abuse at the electric vehicle maker’s northern California factory.

Bloomberg