Over this past week, there have been, as I see it, two significant concept car reveals that seem to have captured the attention of the public even beyond the usual gearhead communities: the new electric Citroën 2CV and Tesla’s cold-gas thruster-equipped Roadster (that’s not actually a roadster). Both of these novel machines have garnered a lot of media and social media coverage, and seem to have captured the imaginations of many people, for some dramatically different reasons, which makes sense, as they represent the two polar opposite extremes of the concept car spectrum.
What’s puzzling and disheartening is a strange trend that our co-founder David noticed, where there seem to be an unusual number of people posting comparisons between the Tesla Roadster and the Citroën 2CV, where they maintain that the Roadster is somehow this incredible thing that makes the 2CV look like some embarrassing toy, and from there they extrapolate that into some sort of America vs. Europe or Capitalism vs. Socialism or some other charged and ultimately deeply inane comparison.
There does seem to be an agenda to these comparisons, and people can believe whatever kind of political sense or nonsense they want, but one thing I will not stand for is drooling simpletons who don’t know Jacqueline Feces about cars maligning a small, affordable, fun-seeming car with a genuinely engaging and iconic historic pedigree in order to aggrandize some stunt car that will only be available for extremely rich and possibly deeply insecure people to buy.
Here, take a look at some of these to see what I mean:
Meanwhile in Europe… At what point did Europeans turn into complete idiots? pic.twitter.com/8E5Nd0EJZE
— Roberto Von Klathstone (@RKlathstone) October 16, 2026
How does this car make Europeans look like idiots? An appealing and non-boring EV that is targeted to sell for €15,000 ($16,500 or so) is anything but idiotic. One might even argue that “complete idiots” is a term that could be better applied to people who have dropped $50,000 deposits for a car that was announced almost a decade ago and is now best known for being able to do barrel rolls and flips in ways that are about as likely to be approved for use on public roads as would be a car that sprays Salmonella mist at passing pedestrians.
I mean, think about it: you plunk down $50 grand back in 2017 thinking you’re going to be getting a fun, quick, EV sports car, and then the thing you’re shown is a sports car that does things that you’ll never need or even really want to do, at least not more than once. It’s like commissioning an artist to do a family portrait, and when you check in with them years later, they show you a kinetic sculpture that whizzes around like a banshee on a leash and shoots sparks. Cool, sure, but absolutely not what you asked for, nor something you can put in your living room.
Here’s another numbnuts who doesn’t know squat about cars:
Capitalism vs. Socialism pic.twitter.com/h67YXai9dI
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 16, 2026
How is this capitalism vs. socialism, exactly? Both of these are cars being presented by companies who wish to make money. Does he think that Stellantis is going to be giving these cars away? Hell no. They’re for sale, they fully intend to make a profit, because, yes, capitalism. In fact, if we’re talking capitalism, the 2CV is far more likely to kick some capitalist ass because it will sell in much higher volumes than the Roadster, which, remember, is likely to start at $250,000, and I would suspect the one with the gas thrusters will be a lot more.
How many Roadsters do they think they’re going to sell, should this thing even come to market at all? It’s been nine years since it was announced. It was supposed to go into production six years ago. I suspect it will end up in production, in some form, but there’s no way it can sell in the volumes that the new 2CV can, just based on the price point. One is a toy for rich people, the other a mass-market electric city car for commuters. A big part of capitalism is moving product, and there’s a pretty clear advantage here, and it’s not for the Roadster.
Dr.Chockfull Dampdiapers up there has no idea what he’s talking about.
Pendant que la France applaudit une citadine électrique, Tesla et SpaceX font voler une voiture au-dessus d'un semi-remorque.
0 à 96 km/h en 0,59 s. Des propulseurs à air comprimé. Un salto en direct.
Nous, on va surtout se demander comment l'encadrer.
On ne joue… pic.twitter.com/URyqPqmcVQ
— David Saez (@saezdavid) October 16, 2026
Here’s another one; translating from the French into Freedom-talk, it says:
“While France applauds an electric city car, Tesla and SpaceX make a car fly over a semi-trailer. 0 to 96 km/h in 0.59 s. Compressed air thrusters. A live salto. We, on the other hand, are mainly going to wonder how to regulate it. We’re definitely not playing in the same league anymore.”
What the hell is this guy’s point, really? Comparing these cars like that is idiotic. They’re intended for two entirely different markets: one is a mass-market car for commuters, the other is an extremely expensive technological marvel marketed to people who masturbate furiously to CG women in Cyberpunk 2077 to try and push away the bad memories of how much money they lost on NFTs.
Also, there’s that AI image of Emmanuel Macron, President of France, in front of the 2CV and Elon Musk in front of the hovering Roadster, but you have to look at how Elon is depicted there:
Okay, buddy. You have fun with that.
All of these tweets and posts demonstrate a deep and powerful ignorance when it comes to cars. There’s no comparing these two cars, they’re for entirely different things. So when you see a tweet like this:
Hope you don't mind… pic.twitter.com/QCd3Tzlh2N
— Curtis. ???????? (@Curtisl131) October 16, 2026
…you have to wonder what the actual agenda here is, because this is some deep, rich idiocy. Which way? So, one way is, what, affordable electric cars that many people can buy, and the other is really expensive cars that are only for the 1% and they can blast off 25 feet into the air so they can snag a parking spot from somebody? That’s the choice?
There are so many more of these:
— KOOL (@RennT38) October 16, 2026
Honestly, it takes as much if not more “science and talent” to develop a good, affordable car for the people as it does to develop a car that does cool stunts on a stage.
It’s also worth remembering that the version with the cold-gas thrusters requires a large pressurized tank in the car, which is not exactly small. According to an extremely pro-Tesla account’s own notes, Tesla’s goal for that tank is to be able to be refilled in under half an hour, which will get you all of five seconds of thruster time. So you can do a hop once, then wait a fucking half hour to do it again, which is probably fine, because you may want to use that time to clean up whatever spilled from your cupholder or change your pants if you peed yourself a little bit again.
So, let’s be clear about what kind of a flying car this Roadster is, even if somehow ends up getting made and getting approved for “flying” on public roads. You can fly for five seconds. Have fun getting to Catalina from LA with that.
Also, that huge tank in the car means there’s only room for one seat, which really isn’t a problem, because, including the driver, that leaves plenty of seats open for all the friends someone who buys one of these is likely to have.
Many of these Roadster vs. 2CV posts are likely pushing an anti-Macron agenda, since the French elections are coming up, and many of the accounts posting these seem to have a stake in that contest.
Look, the Tesla demo of this Roadster was definitely fun. It was a fun stunt, it was fun to watch, and I bet it would be pretty fun to have been in that car. That said, all of that stuff is really just good for stunts, and as a car you’d actually want to use, enjoy, and live with, it’s inane. No one was asking for a car that can do one backflip per half hour. Nobody actually wants that. People who say they do want that likely have as much experience driving cars as your average hoagie, except most people would rather spend time with the hoagie.
For what it’s worth, Citroën appears happily unbothered by the whole thing, only responding to the Roadster hype at all with this post involving one of their tiny Ami electric city cars:
View this post on Instagram
Of all the social media posts on this page, this is the only one that doesn’t make the poster seem like an insufferable dipshit that you’d never want to be trapped in any car with, whether it could do backflips or not.
Top graphic images: Tesla; Citroën
This is the annoying intersection of Tesla fan boys and Libertarians. I’m far more impressed by a near production ready city car than a vaporware movie stunt car.
BTW has this “Roadster” been tested with .30-06 M2 Ball yet? I’d settle for 5.56mm M855 numbers since IIRC both can comfortably punch through a Cybertruck
A relatively small number of idiots saying idiotic things on social media can seem like a large number if not seen in true context. These are likely people who might be able to afford the new Tesla and who, revoltingly, agree with Musk’s vile politics — but are truly a microscopic segment of potential EV buyers.
I was going to post “the only thing missing from Elon’s demonstration was the deployment of a hollow-point round at around 2,000 fps to bring this international nightmare to a conclusion.” But that would be wrong.
Also, as previously noted, there was no way I was ever going to watch Elon’s demo without generous compensation. (or a cool writing gig, of course!)
BTW since it needs saying: Friends don’t let friends have Xitter accounts.
(I get that journos need to keep tabs on that garbage; I suppose they can justify having a Troof Social account as well, at least until we’ve booted that bum down the stairs.)
A roadster has no roof. ALL 2cv s are cool.
I dunno who the Bros are thinking wants a Roadster.
But I know my daughter thinks the new 2CV is super cool, and her opinion matters more to me.
I’ll take the affordable whimsy mobile, please!
Musk has no real original ideas. He gets everything from outdated pop culture because his insecurities have him always reaching for the key that will make him cool. As he has so few good ideas, he keeps returning to the same well hoping for a different result. Where am I going with this? He has the James Bond Esprit submarine, which this bears a strong resemblance to style-wise and, while it is a marginal submarine of sorts, it isn’t a real convertible car because actually making it both was a bridge too far and unnecessary with the magic of movie FX, and this isn’t a real flying car.
If Tesla had outdated keys that actually would be cool. Especially if they went full retro with a square head key for “ignition” and a round head key for doors and trunk.
Square head and round head, otherwise known as AI Elon and Real Elon.
“the Tesla demo of this Roadster was definitely fun”
If you say so. They’d have to pay low four figures minimum for me to watch it.
Oh man, the generation 3 Volt used to be my dream car. Back before I bought my electric car I was looking all over for a suitable upgrade to my old Volt PHEV. In China and Europe now there are cars that get a 100 miles of electric range and charge at standard DC fast chargers but at the time everything here was an SUV, would kick in the gas engine if you coughed, and only had a very short electric range. Europe gets all the fun, practical cars that are easy to park.
Funny thing is, over at the Volt owner’s groups rumors of a Gen 3 keep cropping up. They want to believe!
Of course GM isn’t interested in selling cars, just blobby crossovers and pickemups. Like nearly every other “car” company these days.
(for the record, I have a 2019 Gen 2, one of fewer than 5,000 manufactured.)
Six and tape my eyes open.
Tesla is the socialist company anyhow… Elon Musk is the largest welfare queen of all time in American history. I guarantee you that American taxpayers contributed more to this Tesla PR stunt than French taxpayers did for the 2CV.
Would we not rather live in a world where everyone drove cars like the 2CV over a world of Tesla “Roadsters”?
Maybe no puppies were bashed. Maybe not everything is so deep. Maybe this is just charming brutish American bombast.
“How is this capitalism vs. socialism, exactly? Both of these are cars being presented by companies who wish to make money. Does he think that Stellantis is going to be giving these cars away? Hell no. They’re for sale, they fully intend to make a profit, because, yes, capitalism. In fact, if we’re talking capitalism, the 2CV is far more likely to kick some capitalist ass because it will sell in much higher volumes than the Roadster, which, remember, is likely to start at $250,000, and I would suspect the one with the gas thrusters will be a lot more.”
Agree. But begs the question: Why is the lean socialist camp on team 2CV? Not that deep?
The anti-socialist camp is actually the pro-billionaire and trillionaire camp, they pretend otherwise. Capitalism here is code for letting rich jerks get away with driving a “vehicle” that will cause property damage and kill people because money. It’s code for everything Elon does is wonderful because he is the richest dude, it’s the American prosperity doctrine: evangelical churches teach that rich people are better than everyone else because they are blessed by their god. Perhaps this brainwashing encouraged poor people to donate to the rich pastors and to enjoy their Cadillacs vicariously.
Everyone else is excited for a fun little car that’s affordable, and comes in cheerful colors. That part isn’t that deep.
As a product, the 2CV isn’t “socialist”, but it is egalitarian. That’s the word you need. That’s the concept Musk’s “capitalists” are decrying, and it’s not exclusive to socialism or foreign to the United States.
This is most likely all run by Elon-controlled bots and influencers getting paid by being boosted by Elon on Twitter. (Yes, they literally make money from the company formerly known as Twitter for getting lots of clicks, I’m sure they are thrilled you’ve made them more money.) Everyone into cars and not just stock pumps is still upset with Elon for canceling the affordable Model 2 which would have been a serious competitor in Europe against this very cute tiny car, and it would have failed miserably. I’m sure they would have asked too much, and it would have been just as ugly, overly-serious, and lacking in storage and space for the family as the Cybercab. This is all just compensation for realizing Tesla isn’t a car company that’s serious about selling cars anymore.
In a vast ocean of stupid things to refute, I’m going to pick…. “Meanwhile we’ll be trying to figure out how to regulate it” as a negative. Yeah, and? Is your libertarian hard-on so engorged with the righteous blood of “rulez r stupid” anti-authority (but NOT true anarchy, you still want there to be any kind of pecking order where you can imagine yourself on top) coolness that you can’t imagine anything wrong with whipping 3 tons (just guessing, because Tesla has made it hard to find specs for an imaginary car, go figure) of bullshit through the air might have ramifications for how things work? I know you think rules are for all the out groups you can proudly slur at home or on Twitter, not for strong, independent thinkers like you, but there’s a reason for literal and figurative guardrails. People get hurt, paralyzed, die without them, even strong independent thinkers like you.
Sorry for cramming about 5 rants on one, it’s just this whole thing it’s so mind-boggingly stupid, to see morons use an imaginary car to fire up the Capitalist-Chad signal and tell one another hour much smarter they are than everyone else. Ugh.
COTW.
We the Europeans end up with those fucking tethered bottle caps that magically pop back at the precise moment we pour the liquid out of the bottle or drink it.
I always thought those were great because we always lose the bottle caps and end up wasting the drink.
People voluntarily do that in the US. They’re not tethered by design so much, but if you unscrew the cap so that it breaks most of the retaining links, but leaves a couple attached, you can flip the cap off without removing it. I don’t, however, and I’m sure I’d find it super annoying for it to be forced upon me.
Huh. I encounted them for tge first time last week in Denmark, and I rather liked them. Not just because it eliminates lost bottle caps.
But if some people don’t like them, it’s a disincentive to use evil, no good, very bad single-use plastic beverage bottles, which really should be banned.
“So, double-plus good!”, he said unironically.
Is it evil to use plastics if you recycle them? How many times do you have to recycle plastic before the items made from it stop being single use?
Plastic recycling sucks, though how much can vary depending on the type of plastic, etc. It’s a mitigation, not a solution.
Anyways, the way products and services are delivered on the scale of an entire population is always worth improving.
Every time I have a bottled milkshake I pour it into a glass, and because of the stupid cap I get drips of it from the cap on my kitchen worktop. I suppose I could drink from the bottle, but then the cap would drip on my face.
What is the benefit supposed to be? Enraged customers? Messier kitchens?
I was a plastic bottle top designer for two years. Is this somehow karma for something I did wrong back then? I reduced plastic use by 10% on standard products, so can I maybe get a supply of non-handcuffed caps?
Is a 10,000psi canister something I should be worried about if its positioned right behind my head?
Very, but not for long.
Think of it as douche bro Darwinism. Tesla’s poor QA will mean that if this thing ever gets produced pressure tank failures will relieve society of some billionaires
Wow, the “Which Way Western Man” post really shows who the target audience is. Not going to post a link to the Wikipedia entry because the associated book is trash.
WOW. They’re about as subtle as a Nation giving Birth.
X/Twitter is such a cesspool
By design.
There’s only one shitbox in today’s showdown, and it rhymes with fesla toadster. I’m voting for the DC deux chevaux.
…5 seconds of rocket fun and 30 minutes or more to be ready again… it’s okay I won’t judge.
This is your brain on ketamine and boner pills, apparently
This is an unilateral drunk pissing contest where only one party is wasted, and I am sure the 2cv isn’t the one wetting its trousers.
In reality, they’re both kind of dumb for different reasons. One kind of joined the party about 30 years too late to the PT cruiser/ Chevy HHR party. The other one is some insane vaporware car conjured up a fascist piece of shit.
If you gave me the choice between the two – gratis – I’d be driving an e2CV. And that’s pretending that the Tesla ever sees production. (And even if it doesn’t, I’d still take the 2CV) People seem to be unable to separate reality from fiction, right here in River City.
The world is filled with absolute morons. I like to think I’m pretty stupid but these people make me feel like Einstein.
This is why I avoid social media: I can’t stand idiots or trolls.
As for the people who are super impressed with cold gas rocket technology: it’s what a party balloon is if you let it go after you’ve blown it up. It’s about as useful as transport too.
Hanshin Tigers fans proving that the future of capitalism is safe in Japanese baseball.
A good article.Just lovers Musk, have always been nothing more than primitive cattle.
The fact so many people and media are taking Tesla seriously with this is absolutely baffling to me. Critical thinking has gone down the drain.
Sure, SpaceX tech is mighty impressive, but what we saw was a car shaped thing that jumps, we know nothing more about it. For all we know it could be a plastic 1:1 scale model with a lime scooter powertrain. Apparently anyone can just show something that does crazy useless shit and as long as it looks like a car they will be hailed as innovators. Reminds me of the Top Gear episode with the flying Astra.
All these ridiculous comparisons (also with the EU spec water bottle caps which are getting such undeserved ridicule) just own themselves, because one is an actual promise for a product that many people will get to use and enjoy, the other is a bunch of fake hype and a tech demo not applicable to the real world. I’ve yet to see someone mention how would a jumping car be actually useful (considering if it were at all possible/legal/safe)
I’ve been assuming that the vehicles we saw were probably all different, each designed to do a particular stunt only, and that probably, none of them had a human inside. A car-shaped shell full of (admittedly very cool) technology.
It’s basically a really cool RC toy, that’s full sized.