Quote from: MrH on April 17, 2024, 02:06:37 PMExpecting?  It's already happening.  They cut prices to the bone to try to keep the growth narrative alive, and it still died.

Not just Tesla's own sales volume - Tesla is expecting (IMO) the whole of the EV market to nosedive (and it might be the whole of the auto market).

Good information.  As mentioned, the Ford V8 had some teething problems, but progressively got better.  The V8 flathead, in the '51 Mercury I had as my first car, it was 8 years old when I bought it, ran so smoothly and quietly you could hardly tell it was running, but there was a lovely sound coming out of the tailpipe.

Quote from: cawimmer430 on April 17, 2024, 02:39:55 PMThis is an awesome thread and the witty and fun writing style of Madman makes for an enjoyable read. Keep them coming! 

Was the Renault Floride sold in Florida?

Yes, it was sold in America as the Renault Caravelle.  According to legend, Renault executives were afraid the name Floride might offend people in the other 49 states!  Personally, I don't believe this story because since when have the French ever been afraid of offending anybody? 

By the way, while I was visiting you in Munich last year, I happened to be walking across a bridge near your place and noticed somebody  had thrown some bicycles into the river....




Okay, Christian, time to confess.  It was YOU, wasn't it? 

I know how much you hate cyclists and, having experienced Munich's Kamikaze cyclists for myself, I can certainly understand why.  But that doesn't mean you can throw their bikes into the river!  Why, do you ask?  Because they'll only wade in there and fish them out again, that's why!  Can't you see that water is way too shallow?  You've made it too easy for them.  If you want to do the job properly, you need to get an angle grinder and cut up the frames.  That's the only way to ensure they can never be used again!

Then you can throw the pieces into the river! 

Quote from: SJ_GTI on April 17, 2024, 03:00:31 PMWhenever I see "MBUX" my mind immediately goes to V-Bucks (Fortnite currency that my nephews always want for birthdays and Christmas). So I always want to think that it is money that you can only spend on Mercedes Benz accessories.

How many Stanley Nickels for an MBUX?

Quote from: SJ_GTI on April 17, 2024, 03:00:31 PMWhenever I see "MBUX" my mind immediately goes to V-Bucks (Fortnite currency that my nephews always want for birthdays and Christmas). So I always want to think that it is money that you can only spend on Mercedes Benz accessories.

  Glad I'm not the only one.

Quote from: CaminoRacer on April 17, 2024, 02:28:51 PMTheir lack of product development is going to be a big issue. The Cybertruck was a huge misstep, and focusing on a Robotaxi instead of a Model 2 will be another misstep. They need more trucks & crossovers and less Elon influence. The Cybertruck could have been killer but they went full-stupid on a fake "exoskeleton" and it was too late to launch and underdelivered all promises. A more conventional truck would have seen way fewer cancelled orders and fewer production issues.

The reality is: the car business is not lucrative.  It's an absolute meat grinder of efficiency, squeezing pennies out of every process imaginable.  Tesla can't compete with the Toyotas of the world when it comes to lean manufacturing.  They can't even work on more than one car at a time.  The established OEMs launch multiple new models every single year.  Elon whines non-stop about "manufacturing hell".  That's the entire business!

You don't get crazy valuations be just being a competitive automotive OEM.  Without the fraud and hype, it's just a regular car company, and not a good one at that.  If you place it with the same multiples of all the others, the stock price collapses.

Tesla will go down as the most ridiculous thing of the ZIRP era.  Everyone believed in a carnival barker who defrauded his way to a massive bubble.  He is another Sam Bankman-Fried.  Elon is the dumb person's idea of what smart people are like.

Elon once said that, in retrospect, the Model X was an exercise in hubris. I think the Cybertruck is a repeat of that. 
But I'm guessing some of the underlying tech will find its way into the mainstream.

At least, unlike the legacy makers, Tesla is not ceding the battlefield by greenwashing... putting electric motors with vibrator-sized batteries in ICE cars.

Whenever I see "MBUX" my mind immediately goes to V-Bucks (Fortnite currency that my nephews always want for birthdays and Christmas). So I always want to think that it is money that you can only spend on Mercedes Benz accessories.

Quote from: Morris Minor on April 09, 2024, 03:24:09 PMI have a theory that Germans are genetically & culturally incapable of doing UIs.

UI = User Interface?

Depends on the brand. I might sound biased but the MBUX system in Mercedes' cars is user-friendly and simple to understand. The touch screen function of MBUX screens is very responsive and quick.

The same is true for modern BMWs or at least the system I experienced in the large iX SUV which I had to photograph for BMW. The menu layout is overall logical and it's easy to understand. The touch screen was very responsive with no lag.

Porsche (Taycan) user interface was confusing and drove me insane. The client left me with that car but demanded I photograph every menu of the infotainment/digital system. Took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to find and navigate through the menus.

Last but not least, not a German car, but the modern Land Rover Defender touchscreens work very well and have a very basic layout.

This is an awesome thread and the witty and fun writing style of Madman makes for an enjoyable read. Keep them coming! 

Was the Renault Floride sold in Florida?