# Electric cars, Musk and the Right **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [February 16, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381 "2025-02-16T15:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/41 "2025-02-25T12:47:03Z")
Yeah. So you’re left with managing the fourth necessity: heat. The only thing to do is remove heat from the whole system faster than it is being created by the runaway chemical reactions. Which turns out to be very difficult even if you could drop the battery pack as a unit into a conveniently-located near-frozen lake. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/42 "2025-02-25T15:41:26Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Let me help you; Tesla cars catch on fire often without warning Well, if you call fires at 1/60th the frequency of ICE cars “often”, then I guess we’re not likely to reach any agreement on Teslas. It’s clear you don’t want accurate and balanced info about Teslas, or you’d cite recent sources like Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, etc. Instead you use 8-year old cites about the craptastic quality control of the Model 3 early years. That, and your “often” tell me all I need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/43 "2025-02-25T15:45:44Z")
Nope. They use cutting extinguishers and the fire is out in 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/44 "2025-02-25T15:55:47Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > My wife’s opinions regarding politics and Musk closely match my own, and she has a Tesla Model Y. I recently asked her if her car were totaled, would she buy another. She said she would. Mrs Cad and I had this same conversation this morning. She said she’d go to a Rivian. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/45 "2025-02-25T16:13:35Z")
Firstly, congrats on owning a great car. I’d love to have a 2004 STi. You didn’t say what year yours was, but a stock WRX will run mid to high 13’s in the quarter mile. That’s very respectable. Second, Tesla battery discharge rate (and therefore, horsepower) does decrease as the state of charge decreases, but it’s not as much as people expect: just a few tenths added even when SOC is down to 50%. Significant power loss only occurs below 20%, due to software limits to conserve the limited remaining range. Also, discharge rate _increases_ with heat. By preheating the battery, my car can gain another 50+ horsepower. A stock Dual Motor Model 3 will run 12.2 in the quarter mile. With the Acceleration Boost option, 11.8 sec. The Model 3 Performance ran around 11.5-11.6 until 2024; now they run 10.7-11.0 sec. Add maybe a half second to those times if the SOC is at 50%, and I still don’t see how you outran a Dual Motor Model 3. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/46 "2025-02-25T16:30:34Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > That, and your “often” tell me all I need to know. Two of those cites are from last year. Your ignoring that and handwaving away any issues “tell me all I need to know”. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/47 "2025-02-25T17:05:24Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > You didn’t say what year yours was, but a stock WRX will run mid to high 13’s in the quarter mile. That’s very respectable. It’s a 2012 WRX hatchback. It is quick for its day, but it is boring to drive compared to the Mini I had before it and BRZ I daily drive now. It’s all stick+go, you’ve got to be either driving like a complete maniac or be on snow for it to be exciting. However, it will haul around my Ampeg 2x15 bass cabinet, the BRZ will not. > [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > A stock Dual Motor Model 3 will run 12.2 in the quarter mile. With the Acceleration Boost option, 11.8 sec. > The Model 3 Performance ran around 11.5-11.6 until 2024; now they run 10.7-11.0 sec. Add maybe a half second to those times if the SOC is at 50%, and I still don’t see how you outran a Dual Motor Model 3. Well, I’d strongly suspect that those times were set on a drag strip with VHT being used. Meanwhile, the stoplight to stoplight race is run on iffy pavement with no VHT. In general, the dual motor Model 3 has a _lot_ more power than it has tires for. Add in reaction times (I can normally get very close to a .400 light at the drag strip), and the WRX’s 4.5 second 0-60 is totally within range of the Dual Motor’s 4.0 second one. If the stoplight to stoplight race was really a 1/4 mile, it’s very possible the Model 3 would catch it at the end, but it’s not usually even an 1/8th mile. It’s not the only car the WRX will humble in a stoplight to stoplight race. Lots of Corvettes and coyote engined Mustangs have given up against it when they can’t gain traction and the WRX isn’t having a problem. Just because the car is faster on paper doesn’t mean it’s going to win any particular race in the real world. And in the end, it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/48 "2025-02-25T17:14:51Z")
Another beautifully written post, dripping with biting and well-placed sarcasm. But, though I agree with 99% of it, I don’t think it’s _all about_ a bored billionaire wanting to watch the world burn just for kicks and giggles. I think there’s some method behind the madness; some aspiration behind the anarchy. It’s early / mid 2024. trump looks like he could very well win the '24 election. trump has made very clear that he hates EVs. What better move could a cynical, amoral billionaire who owns an EV company pull, than to ingratiate himself with trump in order to gain influence with trump and access to the workings of his administration, if reelected? Not to mention, many of the government departments that Musk and DOGE have been attacking are, _coincidentally_, [the very ones that have been investigating his companies](https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2025.02.13_fact_sheet_re_musk_investigations.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/49 "2025-02-25T17:22:17Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > And in the end, it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow. So true. I remember when I ‘stepped up’ from a GTI to a Golf R. The R was quicker but it was so composed it took some of the fun out. Teslas are that way, but worse. VHT, no VHT, crap EV tires, even wet roads, the traction control is so good they launch on anything stickier than snow. I saw a drag test of a Plaid on a wet track. It ran 9.60, just 3 tenths slower than optimum. They’re not much fun to drag race; no skill factor. I can’t cut a .400 light (congrats) but any creature able to hold the pedal down and keep the wheel straight gets the same ET as the pros. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/50 "2025-02-25T19:07:38Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Feel free to use both sides of the paper. > > Stranger 3 of the 4 links you posted are 7 years old … just saying (I’m not a Tesla fanboy, but for Sdmb you need to aim higher ) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/51 "2025-02-25T19:09:28Z")
I posted six links, two of which were published in 2024. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/52 "2025-02-26T17:21:55Z")
> **[Novara Media on Instagram: "Activists from @everyonehateselon\_ have hacked...](https://www.instagram.com/novaramedia/reel/DGdQjetoDbX/)** > > 73K likes, 901 comments - novaramedia on February 24, 2025: "Activists from @everyonehateselon\_ have hacked bus adverts in London to draw attention to Elon Musk’s endorsement of German far-right AfD party. The party achieved 20.8% of the vote in... ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/53 "2025-02-26T23:16:08Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > It’s hard to ask for a cite when the cite is yourself and everything is super top-secret. How do I trust your super top-secret insider info? Do you also tear down other EVs? A lot of people on the SDMB know who I work for and can vouch for me. I’m not sharing corporate secrets. Sorry. Maybe after I retire. We benchmark everyone. EV’s and ICE. Everyone else benchmarks everyone else, too, EV’s and ICE. That fact that we’re all tearing each others’ shit down is hardly a secret. Only an idiot would think that we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/54 "2025-04-20T21:06:02Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > and one repeatedly sweeping back and forth across a five lane interstate highway during rush hour before deciding to literally stop in the middle of the road What caused this? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/55 "2025-04-20T22:22:04Z")
Presumably it got confused over repainted lanes that were shifted to facilitate road work. I’ve also had a Tesla on Autopark literally drive itself under my truck, and there are numerous instances of Teslas on Autopilot or FSD running into parked semi-trucks and emergency vehicles. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/56 "2025-04-20T22:34:17Z")
You presume. I’ve seen cars do similar things decades ago. Could it be driver error? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/57 "2025-04-20T22:37:40Z")
As I drove past the driver was sitting in the car with an angry visage and apparently yelling, unable to go anywhere. I don’t know how you would possibly classify that as “driver error”. Do you think the driverless Tesla that attempted to bury itself under my truck was “driver error”? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/58 "2025-04-20T22:58:12Z")
Why was the driver angry? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/59 "2025-04-20T23:23:54Z")
Presumably because they were stuck in a non-operable vehicle in the middle of a five lane highway with drivers passing them in both sides honking in annoyance. Why do you think a Tesla with no driver would try to ram itself under my parked truck? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381/60 "2025-04-20T23:26:56Z")
**Moderating:** Reviewing this thread, it hadn’t been about the Political realities of EV ownership, and the effect of Musk’s governmental role in such for a long time, even prior to the recently resumed back and forth. @solost did an isolated post tying back to the OP back in February, but otherwise it’s been an ongoing discussion of Tesla performance and reliability. There is a current thread that would likely be a better fit as long as the political elements remain divorced. > [@Teslas really are not great cars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/327): > > The small SUVs today are basically the form factor that’s between a minivan and a hatchback. Naw, i bought a small SUV because it was enough smaller than a van to be significantly easier to park, but still large enough to carry a lot of gear to a square dance. I literally carried around my speaker stands when i shopped for cars, to make sure they’d fit. (And the incredibly well designed Honda Fit almost passed that test.) Probably, but having that fifth door in the back, and more headroom … As such, I’m going to close the thread. @Loach if you want it re-opened, let me know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-cars-musk-and-the-right/1014381.md?page=4)