the type of person who would ICE a supercharger or roll coal (i.e. someone in his early-to-mid-20s who probably has a bicep or calf tat, thinks being a “real American man” means flying a confederate flag and watching UFC, and is probably named “Cody”) sees anything from that side as a threat to his Real American Masculinity and has to piss all over it.
I didn’t know this vandalism was a thing. Of course, here in Seattle’s east side (Bellevue, Redmond, etc.) Teslas are a dime a dozen. Which makes sense, it’s a combination of lots of single family homes with easy home charging and lots and lots of tech wealth.
They only fear the reaper.
Related to that overvalued stock price, there’s a group of Tesla-shorters, people who’ve made a bet that the company won’t survive. They are probably the main force behind the smear campaign against Tesla. For example: a single Tesla catches fire in Peking and they blow it up to front page news. At the same time, one of the other car manufacturers was recalling a model of SUVs or vans (I forget which) where dozens had caught fire. That story, if covered at all, was a filler on page 12.
I see this kind of reporting a fair amount on cleantechnica.com and Electrek. Especially the former, but I swear those guys at Cleantech would be giving their Teslas daily blowjobs, except the cars don’t have tailpipes.
But as far as coal-rolling goes, those Tesla stories all sound like complaints of special snowflakes, at least to this bicyclist. I bicycle all over the place and routinely get coal-rolled on every ride, except for some short ones to run errands. Depending on where I go, it could be as many as half of the pickups that do it. OK, very few are diesel pickups, but it’s the thought that counts. It’s been that way for about three years, which should not be a surprise to anyone. It’s become the new normal.
The problem is that when you google you only get the same three incidents repeated over and over again, and besides the fact in one incident one of the dudes had a “Merica” shirt and another it’s a bunch of pick-ups trucks you can’t really guess the core intentions.
If there was a massive uprising of MAGA supporters against Tesla you’d see it on social media but if you look at the Tesla or related twitters the only negative posts seem to be left wing people attacking Tesla for a variety of reasons.
I find it hard to believe that Trump supporters attacking Tesla’s isn’t a story every single news media outlet wouldn’t be screaming from the roofs if it was an actual thing, but looking up “Why do people hate Tesla” on google has a million people offering a million different opinions.
Holy crap! That’s infuriating!
How are they even defining “foreign vehicle”? Lots of Fords are made overseas, and Toyotas are made in Tennessee. Is it actually “cars with foreign sounding names” or “cars not made by GM or Ford” which are banned?
“No vehicles made by a company whose employees are not represented by a union.” Don’t see why that would be “infuriating” to you.
I think the coal rolling stuff kind of speaks for itself, but as far as I know that happens more to Prius drivers. I have a mild antipathy towards Tesla because Tesla fanboys are annoying, and Elon Musk overpromises way too often, but I think Tesla is making a fantastic product in general.
But that isn’t foreign cars. The current Tesla plant has a UAW office across the street. It used to be the NUMMI plant - Toyota and GM - until GM pulled out. It was unionized.
No obnoxious signs in the parking lot of the UAW office. (I used to drive by on the way to work.)
So? Tesla employees are not UAW-represented.
as far as I know, the locals have the freedom to do this if they want. They’re not going to do something like that if they want to try to organize Tesla employees. and it’s not universal; I work for one of the “Detroit” car companies, and the majority of facilities I go to have no such restrictions.
That’s not at all what the sign said.
@Voyager - I think the reasons you suggest are very subjective: “overpriced”, by what standard? A friend laughs at people who own Samsung phones and tells me they’re idiots who pay too much for overpriced junk, he has a cheaper Oppo.
There is no such thing as “overpriced” - the price charged is what the market is willing to bear based on the features and benefits (real or perceived) they offer consumers and the return the company wants to achieve. This is true for Tesla, Apple, Rolex, Mercedes and every other premium / luxury brands. Do you “despise” all of them and their users as well?
Given that you seem to be pretty rational in general, but given the strength of your dislike, (which seems to be pretty subjective and irrational to me), you’re in a unique position to answer the OP’s question - what exactly triggers such anger?
@Joey P - I agree with you, but there is a big difference (as many people here seem to be missing) between saying “here’s some thought out reasons why the brand makes no sense for me” versus “despising” it.
The OP’s question is not “what are rational reasons people don’t buy Teslas”, but rather “what are the reasons people hate Tesla so much”? Big difference.
I don’t think most acts of Tesla vandalism are really thought through at all, but pretending for the moment that they are, and ignoring that vandalism is never really justified–
Tesla is making a number of enemies as they go along. Among them:
Car dealerships: Tesla has no dealership network and sells cars either online or via their own showrooms. Many states have laws against this–laws which were set up nearly a century ago and which restrict automakers from selling their own cars. Tesla has successfully overturned these laws in some places and is working on others.
Dealerships rightfully fear that their relevance will decline if Tesla is successful. Of course there’s no legitimate reason for the laws in this day and age, but that won’t stop dealers from fighting every step of the way.
Auto worker unions: Never mind that Tesla isn’t unionized–that ship has sailed and there are plenty of non-union auto plants in the US now. No, the problem here is that the switch to EVs is likely to reduce the overall amount of high-grade labor put into a car. EVs are simpler than ICEs and don’t need as many well-paid machinists, etc. to build. They’re more expensive to build still, but the cost is mostly from materials, not labor. The most expensive parts are the cells, which have totally automated production.
Existing automakers: This is pretty simple–Tesla’s mere existence is a threat. The rise of EVs invalidates a big chunk of their experience base. Not all of it, of course (EVs still have bodies and interiors and the like), but the drivetrain is no small part, and a big chunk of the “secret sauce” (whereas things like seats are usually made by outside suppliers).
Oil companies: Also pretty obvious. Of course it’s not Tesla alone that’s the threat, but rather that Tesla has shown the way to widespread use of EVs. I’m sure they know the switch to EVs is inevitable at this point, but they will still slow things as much as possible.
Just curious – why would it be illegal for manufacturers to sell their own cars?
I worked for AT&T when we tried to be in the computer business. Our stuff was overpriced. We knew it. We could justify it on the basis of perceived quality - quality which didn’t exist.
That you are able to sell that martini to the rhino for $1,000 doesn’t mean it isn’t overpriced.
As for Apple, I base it on functionality for the money. Given declining sales, I’m not the only one who considers the new iPhones overpriced.
As for me I buy two generations back on Amazon, pop into the Verizon store and get a new card and have them load an app to transfer my data and apps, and I’m good to go. Apple isn’t the only overpriced company out there.
And they are not foreign. Not that I’m saying Tesla is great - I’ve talked to people who have worked in the Tesla plant at parties and they all hate it. And Tesla does nothing for the community.
Back in the old, old days, when automakers were just getting started, they needed some means of distributing their cars. The country is big and communication and transportation were slow back then. They set up agreements with private distributors around the country to sell the cars.
But it was an asymmetrical arrangement, since the automakers could easily pull the rug out from some particular dealer if they didn’t like them. The dealers recognized this imbalance and lobbied for legal protections.
These legal protections evolved into an outright ban (in many places) on automakers selling their product except through a dealer. They also couldn’t own their own dealers.
The laws vary widely per state. Some states didn’t have such strong protections. Some had effective loopholes–an automaker could sell their own cars as long as they never used a third-party dealer. Some have given special permission to Tesla to open a few outlets because they are so new. Some allow ordering online. Some allow Tesla to operate a showroom where they can show you a car without giving you any way to buy it. The remaining allow importing a car from out of state (always allowed due to the Interstate Commerce Clause).
So it’s just been an immense ongoing battle. The dealer lobbies are quite powerful, particularly at the state level which is all that matters here. Tesla does seem to be slowly making ground, though. The laws aren’t defensible today and so I think it’s just a matter of time.
Thank you. fascinating.
Example of Tesla’s challenges: Ongoing legal battles with Texas on selling and now servicing.
If I was Texan, I’d be embarrassed by this sort if shit in 2019. They look like a bunch of backward idiots. But oil money speaks loud down there.
Meh. Their place, their rules. “Owners of foreign vehicles” is not a protected class, so they’re free to make a rule against such vehicles parking on their premises.
I suspect the term 'foreign vehicle" was a lot more clear 30-40 years ago, when that sign was probably first put up and when any given car was made entirely inside or entirely outside the US. But you’re right, “foreign vehicle” is a much more ambiguous term lately.