Weekend News Roundup April 27, 2024

Things are not going well at Tesla right now. The stock is down more than $100 per share year-to-date, as many as 20,000 people are set to lose their jobs, the Cybertruck keeps breaking, operating profit is expected to be down 40 percent when it’s announced later today and the $25,000 electric vehicle that Tesla has reportedly been working on is apparently canceled. As the Wall Street Journal reports, some but not all of that stress can be attributed to Tesla alienating what was previously its most valuable demographic — Democrats. - Collin Woodard Read More

Things aren’t going well at Tesla. The stock is currently down more than 40 percent year-to-date, analysts expect the Texas-based automaker to announce a 40 percent drop in profits, more than 20,000 people are expected to lose their jobs, and Tesla’s flagship product, the Cybertruck, is already on its second recall, this time for an accelerator pedal cover that comes off and could cause unintended acceleration. Now, it appears that one owner’s windshield-mounted gear selector panel has fallen off. - Collin Woodard Read More

If you feel like you’re constantly blinded while driving at night now, you’re not alone, and it’s not just because a bunch of truck bros ordered aftermarket LED headlights off Amazon that they installed themselves. There is certainly some of that, along with assholes driving with their brights on the whole time, but headlights really have gotten more blinding in recent years. The good news is, as the video below explains, there are a few things you can do to make night driving a little less miserable. - Collin Woodard Read More

The EV revolution has hit a stumbling block. Sure, sales are technically rising, but they’re not rising anywhere near as quickly as projected. Automakers like Ford are losing big on each vehicle sold, with losses totaling in the billions — and now, The Verge reports that Ford is starting to wonder if maybe it should have hedged its bets on smaller, more affordable cars as opposed to expensive fully-loaded electric SUVs. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

A Belgian man who was charged with drunk driving has been acquitted because he has auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition that causes carbohydrates to ferment in the gastrointestinal tract, creating alcohol. The man works at a brewery, but his lawyer called that “another unfortunate coincidence,” Reuters reports. Three different doctors who examined the unnamed man confirmed to the court that he comes equipped with ABS. - Collin Woodard Read More

Tesla’s Semi truck, promised to deliver 500 miles of range, easy hauling, and low cost of operation, was unveiled in November of 2017. At the time dozens of fleets around the world placed orders for hundreds of trucks. The two largest orders, however, were for UPS and Pepsi, ordering 125 and 100 trucks respectively. Production was scheduled to begin in 2019, but after five years just 36 units have been delivered to Pepsi, according to reporting by Reuters. Meanwhile some of the largest companies in the world—from Wal-Mart and Sysco to FedEx and J.B. Hunt—are left waiting. - Bradley Brownell Read More

Tesla was forced to issue a recall for the futuristic Cybertruck last week after it emerged that the accelerator pedal could come loose and jam the car on full power. Not good for a truck that’s meant to be so rugged it can survive the apocalypse. Now, Tesla has revealed the fix for the issue is a very futuristic rivet forced through a hole in the pedal. - Owen Bellwood Read More

When it comes to actually saving money on gas, you’re going to be better off in the long run buying the most fuel-efficient vehicle that you can. If it also happens to cost a lot to fill up, who cares? The amount of money you spend in a year is much more important than how much it costs to fill up at the pump. All that really means is that you bought a car with a big gas tank. - Collin Woodard Read More

A 28-year-old motorcyclist died in Washington State on Friday afternoon because a dipshit Tesla driver rear-ended him at speed. A Snohomish man, 56, was commuting in his 2022 Tesla Model S when he activated the car’s camera-based advanced driver assist system and according to his statements to police, began looking through his phone. With nobody paying attention to the car’s actions, the Tesla software ignored Jeffrey Nissen on his motorcycle and continued on at speed. The car rear-ended the two-wheeler, Nissen was flung from the bike, and his life ended pinned underneath the electric car, where he was still lodged when police arrived to the scene. - Bradley Brownell Read More

The Mazda 6 is dead and has been for years. Don’t worry, though, it’s back, and this time around, it’s rear-wheel drive, which officially makes it the best Mazda 6 ever. Sorry, Mazdaspeed 6. Along with rising from the dead, it also has a new name — the Mazda EZ-6. Oh, and did we mention it’s electric? - Collin Woodard Read More