Reports suggest that Tesla is still working on a “cheap” car, but it might not be anything special. Cheaper cars would be welcome in these trying times, but where would Tesla even find $10,000 or more to shave off of its cars? Beached Wail, help us out here:
There are lots of opportunities to cost-reduce the Model Y by $10,000:
- Remove the driver’s instrument cluster and put all readouts on a center screen
- Eliminate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Delete turn signal and wiper stalks
- Remove all physical HVAC controls
- Buy cabin air vents that don’t have expensive directional control levers/knobs
- Avoid costly interior door release handles
- Make seats out of artificial “leather”
- Eliminate all paint color choices except red, blue, and monochrome, and charge extra for any non-black color
Oh, wait…
Look, there are still other ways to make the cars cheaper. Those pesky exterior door handles can go! Today, Matt also wrote about how the Navy turns aircraft carriers into giant roll-on roll-off ships to transport sailors’ cars. Ash78:
“Put it over there next to the A6”
“Didn’t we retire the A6?”
“No, the Audi, not the Intruder. But watch out for the A7, it might suck you in.”
“Because of the low intake?”
“No, because of its sleek 4-door coupe roofline and fastback!”
“I hate you. I’ll be over there checking out that Hellcat.”
“Watch out for propwash!”
In other ship news, a Ford Super Deluxe woody wagon was found in the sunken USS Yorktown. I like how Ranwhenparked is thinking about the bright side:
People joke about Ford’s quality control problems, but the original radiator is still full of water after 82 years.
Finally, let’s stop at Jason’s post about just how crazy tough Tonka trucks are. Ignatius J. Reilly:
In the mid ’70s when I was in 1st grade my class took a field trip to the Tonka factory. Everybody got a small version of their ubiquitous yellow dump truck. It was glorious.
I had a friend who lived across the street, and we each had a regular-sized version of that same dump truck. Our driveways ran downhill about 40 feet to the street, and we would sit on them and ride them into the road. As we got older, we would use two trucks as makeshift roller skates to zip down the hill.
IRegertNothing, Esq.:
This is all correct. After my mom backed over my prized Tonka dump truck that I had carefully left on the driveway it suffered nothing but some lost paint and a slightly warped bed. It could still roll and the bed still raised and lowered. The truck sound effects still worked too, since I was not playing with the truck when it was run over.
Have a great evening, everyone!
My Tonkas value dropped dramatically after I got my first BBgun. I wish I could go back in time and explain it as I understand things now.j
I missed the original Tonka article. I had ’em of course, and abused them (also of course) and they just took it in stride (and maybe a little lost paint). I still have a few of the smaller (less than 1′ long) ones up on one of my bookshelves: there’s a Jeep station-wagon looking thingy, another Jeepish thing, one or two Jeep pickups (Comanche?), and three old air-cooled Beetles (not sure if these last ones are Tonkas: they’re all steel and have rubber wheels, but I dunno).
When I was little, I used to ride the bigger ones (that ubiquitious yellow car carrier and a Texaco-branded fuel tanker, but not the hook and latter fire truck because the ladder on top would hurt my little ass), but I Craiglisted those away years ago in an effort to claw back a little more space in the garage. 😉
Thanks, Mercedes! The thought of cost-reducing a “luxury” car whose interior already has all the charm of a dentist’s examination room led to my comment. Sometimes they write themselves!
Even before the owner went full nazi I don’t know what possessed people to buy most Teslas. Now there’s even less reason.
Thanks Mercedes! Jason brought back some great memories of my beloved Tonkas.
Ohh, nice ones in particular Ash78, yours has the shticky cadence of a comic strip, and IRegertNothing, Esq., expertly leaving the punchline as an exercise for the reader.
Indeed. Well played.
I have a friend who bought a Model Y two months ago and is convinced that the lack of features is somehow “premium”. It boggles my mind, though at the same time he also doesn’t think the Model Y is an ugly stinkbug, so I’m not sure what to think of his opinion anymore.
I think they look fine on the outside, but yeah, I’m far too disturbed by the lack of physical controls, let alone what buying one associates you with in recent times.
Let’s just say it.
Nazis. If you buy a Tesla after March 2025, you are associated with, and directly supporting a powerful authoritarian Nazi, who actively hates you, your class of people, and any independence you think you have; who thinks nothing of lying to you and gaslighting you because you’re too stupid or weak to do anything about it; who hates the government , not because of “efficiency”, but because they used to be the only “common people” with enough authority to tell him NO, and so those people and their entire organization need to be eradicated.
Welcome to 1984.
And, anyone who still wants to deny that it was an actual Nazi salute he gave should look into Elon’s grandfather’s political affiliation in Canada before he emigrated to South Africa.
If it looks like a Nazi, and his grandfather hung out with the Nazi party, yeah, I’m callin it Nazi
While there are car companies that actually worked with the actual Nazi party, Tesla is not one of them.
Your point is a false equivalence, and a red herring.
Since you apparently don’t know this:
Ferdinand Porsche (Nazi party), Henry Ford I (racist), are both dead and are not currently profiting from their car companies.
Kiichiro Toyoda, Enzo Ferrari, Gianni Agnelli, A.S. Shakhurin (ZIS under Stalin) don’t seem to have had significant personal political/social histories, even if their companies did support their regimes, but luckily for me, it doesn’t matter, because they’re all dead too.
As far as I can tell, Tesla is the only car company, currently selling cars in the US, which is CURRENTLY run by a lying, racist, classist, authoritarian oligarch. So, if it walks like a Nazi, and quacks like a Nazi…
There are plenty Jews who will not buy brands because of their historical associations with the Nazis – e.g., BMWs or VWs.
Elon is an asshole for sure, but to compare him to a Nazi (not a duck) is the false equivalence.
So? You’re saying that Musk isn’t a Nazi, or at least that people should feel fine about buying Tesla, because… Jews won’t buy from Volkswagen? That’s a complete non sequitur, and still a red herring.
You’re saying that Musk isn’t a Nazi because Jews won’t buy from Volkswagen?
It is very equivalent to compare an “asshole” (of the specific type which is a lying, racist, classist, anti-democratic, authoritarian oligarch, who gives a Nazi salute, and has a history of racism and family Nazi affiliation) to a Nazi. Saying he’s not is a distinction without a difference.
We may differ as to what degree, but the comparison and debate on equivalence is absolutely valid.
Saying otherwise is a distinction without a difference.
Alright, I think my points stand.
Have a great day!
He’s not a Nazi in that he’s not promoting war and holocaust.
I will have a great day. You too sir.
Less quantity means more quality, surely.
I’m so devoid of give a damn about the entire brand that I can’t be bothered to learn which letter indicates which model. All I know is there’s a bigger sedan, a smaller sedan, and a hatchback that looks a bit like an overinflated 4th gen Prius.
There’s also the rolling dystopian-future-dumpster-fire….
My BIL got a Model 3 performance recently. He’s a combo of hardcore, professional techie and traditional muscle car guy, so this scratches both itches for him.
I’ve been saying since the beginning that Tesla “taught” the car industry how to decontent their cars while making them seem nicer. My inner Marketing Guy loves this coup, but as a car enthusiast and consumer, I hate the direction the industry is heading — switchgear should still run the show, with screens supporting the work.
This guy is the same. He likes tech, he likes powerful vehicles, but he also has an irrationally long commute and the wear and tear on his other vehicles (and fuel) pushed him into an EV. I tried to steer him towards something other than a Tesla, but when he ordered it in January the discounts were too heavy for something from Ford or Hyundai to compete. With that said, I do think I got him a bit spooked about the fact that losing the screen means losing every function that relies on it, including the driving, which is at least a bit of progress.
I don’t get it. Losing the screen being a significant loss of functionality is nothing new. Even my 2012 Prius v’s factory infotainment screen still controlled some vehicle settings and showed the backup camera.
I doubt just about any newer car would be fine and dandy if the screens broke, but I’m also (anecdotal, I admit) not familiar with newer screens breaking often.
Is literally everything in your Prius, except the shifter, integrated into the screen and only the screen? That’s the significant impact – no speedometer, no range readout/battery meter, no HVAC, and depending upon what cause the screen to fail, no ability to move the car.
From a practical standpoint the Y is the only one I’d ever consider, since I only buy hatchbacks. But damn is it ever ugly.