Damn it @TobinL.
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Like trump? He’s already down that road. The guy has everything in the world, time, good looks, intelligence, a vast empire of wealth and he acts like a god damned trump supporter flippin’ the bird to anyone he pleases. Fuck this guy. I hope all of his business ventures go belly up and he ends up on the streets.
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And while you’re at it - but me no butts!
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Debatable. I always thought he looked a bit like Pee-wee Herman.
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A government health and safety inspector once expressed it to me this way: The safety manual is written in blood…
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Having electric cars replacing petrol based one is important. But I suppose that big car makers could do it. Better is to rethink mobility. I know that for people in USA public transportation is a bad word, but trolleybuses and trams are a mature technology. In Turin there’s a 100 year old tram in working conditions that makes rides for tourists and could be rented for weddings, and some regular service trams were made rebuilding the ones made in 1930s.
If you make a battery powered bus that can recharge using trolleybus wires, you can draw 300A at 700V using existing infrastructure, other than recharge while moving.
Because a traffic jam is almost the same with diesel cars or electric cars.
And I have to notice that a self driving train is way easier to build than a self driving car, because self driving underground are in service since the '80. Adding safety sensors to a tramway and using a radar to find obstacles on the track is easier than the problem of a car moving on an unknown road.
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As long as he doesn’t go full James Bond Villain, we should be okay.
@teknocholer I hears its da mоist disgustin’ word dere is.
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Cars are electrifying with or without Musk. Most of the EU and China have announced phase out dates for petrol and diesel cars - the replacements will be electric, they probably won’t be Teslas.
Musk deserves credit for getting the revolution started, but that revolution no longer needs Tesla now that Daimler Benz, Volkswagen and Mercedes are involved. Just like the modern aviation industry doesn’t rely on Wright aircraft to bring air travel to the masses.
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I’ve participated in designing an automated production line and I’ve inspected dozens. While I do think what you’re describing sounds “engineery,” I think it is also precisely the reason they bring in somebody else to conduct safety audits and write regulations…
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I wouldn’t even go that far. Most of the major auto manufacturers have been working on electric vehicles since Musk was in college (if not earlier), and the Chinese government has been pushing EV development since at least 2001. Musk has certainly done a great job of getting attention for EVs, but for work I talk to a lot of people about why they’re interested in EVs and I can count on one hand the number of people who cited Tesla or Elon Musk in the past year or two. Usually it’s because they want to take the next step beyond a hybrid, or because they took an electric taxi or Uber and were surprised by how “normal” the car seemed. And several of the ones who mentioned Tesla were people with multi-car garages who seemed more interested in status symbols than EVs.
Granted, my “survey” is not scientific, but I see all the credit Musk gets then look around me (in Europe and Asia mostly), and while I see a lot of electric vehicles around me, it’s rare that I see a Tesla.
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Really? I can’t say I’ve ever seen it used like that…or maybe every time I’ve seen it used like that I’ve thought ‘you mean flout’.
Although it turns out (also per Merriam Webster) that this is relatively recent usage
People confuse ‘flaunt’ and ‘flout’ so often that our dictionary includes ‘flout’ as a second definition for ‘flaunt’. However, if you use ‘flaunt’ to mean ‘flout’, most people will think you’ve made a mistake.
It may be that we’re in the liminal space where it’s meaning is shifting.
I’d still use flout, though as it feels short, sharp, the hard ‘f’ and ‘t’ dismissive, a reflection of your attitude to the thing you’re flouting.
Flaunting, on the other hand, is expressive. It starts off a little fancy but by drawing it out (flauuuuwwwnnnntttt) it can end up floridly ostentatious in your mouth!
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Fiat in 1992 made an electric Panda. Main problem was that lead acid batteries were heavy. The made a second version with NiCd batteries, that was used for a car sharing service in Turin (where else, being Fiat?)
The panda were an experiment ahead of time, so the cars were costly and having only one recharge point made them not economical.
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I do give Tesla credit for a couple of things.
First, building an EV that is stylish and performs. Did a great deal to change the image of EV’s as all being like this
Second, understanding the need for a nationwide charging infrastructure, without which EV’s are stuck in the commuter car role.
Indeed!
The fact he has not yet brought suit proves your assertion true 
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On Mars.
(This content added to fulfil the 9 character minimum requirement.)
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Yeah it’s not quite the literal now mean figurative kinda thing, but definitely a case where common use gradually shifted.
This is why i used it!
I have little doubt that if Tesla hadn’t started making cars that were both electric and ‘cool’ then the big automakers would have continued to manufacture ICE cares forever.
Automakers don’t make money from selling cars. They make money from servicing cars and replacing parts. ICE engines have thousands of moving parts and need constant attention. Electric engines have about 5 moving parts and work for a long time.
The entire business model of the major automakers would have to be revamped. And they would have gotten around to that approximately never.
Musk has personal failings, we all do, and his are definitely more public. But it is silly to retcon history and pretend that electric cars would be anywhere near as far into development as they are without Tesla.
I hope the company is able to succeed, and that Musk is able to transition away from the CEO and more into a board role or something.
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When it comes to the Trolley Problem. I think a Tesla autopilot will be calculating paint scratches vs. speed to destination.
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If you’re concerned about the continuing ability for the Earth to support human life but you think some bullshit yuppie cars will make a difference, you’re experiencing Stockholm syndrome. There is no way for this planet to sustain any sort of mass industrial society. Full stop.
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Well, then there’s that.
