EV opposition in the media is ramping up

[Gomev]

... One example is when he decided to disable rapid charging on Teslas which had not been repaired by a Tesla garage (I think it was Rich's Rebuilds on YouTube).

...

Let's try not use the old clickbait exaggerations that we all moan about.
Supercharging was not disabled for cars just 'repaired' by a non-Tesla garage as this suggests maybe a dented wing fixed somewhere but this applied to cars that had been written off/salvaged and then fixed. This was done to prevent possible damage to amongst other things the Superchargers themselves by a badly fixed HV system.
This is the Tesla terms and seems reasonable to me.

Unsupported or Salvaged Vehicle Policy
An unsupported or salvaged vehicle is a vehicle that has been declared a total loss, commonly after extensive damage caused by a crash, flooding, fire, or similar hazard, and has been (or qualifies to be) registered and/or titled by its owner as a salvaged vehicle or its equivalent pursuant to local jurisdiction or industry practice. Salvage registration/titling typically can never be removed from the vehicle so that all future persons understand the condition and value of the vehicle. Tesla does not warrant the safety or operability of salvaged vehicles. Repairs performed to bring a salvaged vehicle back into service may not meet Tesla standards or specifications and that is why the vehicle is unsupported. Consequently, any failures, damages, or injuries occurring as a result of such repairs or continued operation of an unsupported vehicle are solely the responsibility of the vehicle owner.

Until Tesla can confirm that the vehicle is in compliance with Tesla’s safety standards and vehicle specifications, Tesla does not perform or support repairs involving the HV (high-voltage) battery systems in the vehicle because of the potential for the salvage vehicle to have sustained damage that:

• Makes the vehicle unsafe to drive
• Makes the vehicle unsafe for any repair technicians that might work on the vehicle
• Might damage Tesla equipment, such as Superchargers

When a vehicle is classified as a salvaged vehicle:

• Any Tesla limited warranties and extended service agreements for the vehicle are void.
  NOTE: Repairs due to recalls will be performed unless the safe repair of the vehicle is prevented either by the condition of the vehicle or by vehicle modifications not installed by Tesla. If the Tesla Service Center determines that the vehicle is not safe to repair, the recall-related repair will not be performed until the customer has returned the vehicle to a condition that the Service Center determines is safe to repair.
• Supercharging is permanently disabled.
• Parts availability is not affected. Any Unrestricted or Over-the-Counter part may be purchased for a salvage-titled vehicle.
• A “Salvage-Titled Vehicle HV Safety Inspection” may be performed (at the customer’s expense) on the vehicle to determine if the HV-related components are safe to work on or access.

 

[tsedge]

Elon Musk has constantly demonstrated his instability by swapping features in the car's sortware on a whim, whether the owners wanted him to or not. One example is when he decided to disable rapid charging on Teslas which had not been repaired by a Tesla garage (I think it was Rich's Rebuilds on YouTube).

I have nothing against free speech, I have a problem with extremists who use it to radicalize the vunerable and those who use it to incite violence. The recent riots against asylum seekers was caused by free speech on social media ( a bit of a misnomer if you ask me).

UK disorder: Thousands of counter-protesters rally after riots

Counter-protesters packed streets where anti-immigration gatherings had been anticipated.

www.bbc.co.uk

Yes, Elon makes bizarre decisions off-the-cuff and changes his mind and I don't like his cars, so I don't own one. But not because of him, because of the product.

I expect this conversation will soon be curtailed as it is definitely in the political arena now, but for what it is worth...

The riots were caused by decades of uncontrolled and rising levels of immigration and lack of successful multicultural integration (particularly outside London), leading to some people's local areas transforming into a culture unrecognisable to them and in ways that were never voted on.

Social media was merely the trigger.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I expect this conversation will soon be curtailed as it is definitely in the political arena now, but for what it is worth...

Oh dear, what happened to free speech.

(Just a humorous observation, no offence or antagonism intended)

 

[Rolfe]

This is in danger of going a bit too far off topic.

 

[T1 Terry]

Yes, let's hope for a thorough investigation.

If only the same press attention occurred every time an ICE car went up in flames, but it is so common it is just accepted.

This bit from the BBC report is interesting, from the authority:
In the last year, the service logged 277 fires in road vehicles, three of which were categorised as electric or hybrid.

What about the hysteria for the other 274 vehicle fires.

When we watched our house burn to the ground, it was the result of the 125 + ltrs of diesel from the motorhome fuel tank that caused the major damage. If it had been an electric vehicle, the fire would not have been as intense and just destroyed the motorhome, the garage was already well alight by that stage, clearly the fire spread from the garage to the motorhome, the tyres catching fire was enough to ignite the diesel ..... then it was all over within 30 mins.

The first thing the News coverage said was, "the lithium batteries in the motorhome were believed to have caused the fire" They hadn't even completely burnt .... and they were in the luggage bin beside the 125 ltrs of diesel, with only a plywood wall between them ......
The fire investigator tried to use the same nonsense, he soon backpedalled when I showed him half the cells remained and the 3mm aluminium plates that each of the 4 cell packs were strapped between were still intact, undamaged in fact, not possible if the battery was the cause and not simply a by product of the fire.

I'm thinking this rubbish reporting won't stop .... until some one takes them to court for falsely reporting what actually happened ..... if I hadn't been so shaken up about two fires within 15 mths wiping out everything we had, I would have taken them to court myself for defaming our business and workmanship ....

T1 Terry

Edit: Sorry, this links back to the Mercedes fire report back on page 78 .......

 

[Gadget Geek]

Oh dear. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope everyone was uninjured. As for the press printing complete tosh, we're back to the free speech discussion. As we all know, it doesn't have to be factual, just sensational.

 

[T1 Terry]

Oh dear. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope everyone was uninjured. As for the press printing complete tosh, we're back to the free speech discussion. As we all know, it doesn't have to be factual, just sensational.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story Don't know how many times I've heard that tag line .... it still hurts when it is your professionalism that is being brought into question, but having a thick skin helps

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

The thing about the Telegraph using Twitter to solicit anti-EV stories is that if there was a real problem they wouldn't have to advertise for them. They'd be all over social media.

 

[securespark]

Boss of Vauxhall owner quits amid electric car slump

Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares steps down just days after the closure of its Luton factory

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[siteguru]

For those (like me) who don't want to sign up with The Telegraph:

Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares abruptly quits in boardroom clash

Carlos Tavares will leave immediately, days after announcing plans to close a Vauxhall plant in Luton

www.bbc.co.uk

That article makes very little reference to EVs - most such references being about transferring their electric van production from Luton to Ellesmere Port. This suggests that The Telegraph are being somewhat disingenuous with their headline.

 

[salty]

This suggests that The Telegraph are being somewhat disingenuous with their headline.

Never! The Telegraph talking, Bollox.
Who'd have thought.

 

[Gadget Geek]

The writing has been on the wall for legacy car makers for a few years now, the reason why Stellantis was formed in the first place.

 

[Rolfe]

The trouble is, I keep hearing that EV uptake has stalled and nobody wants to buy them and that's why these car manufacturers are struggling. Trying to explain that these car manufacturers faffed around making wildly expensive EVs nobody in their right mind would buy while at the same time trying to persuade people to stick with ICE and then woke up to discover that Tesla and BYD (among others) had eaten their lunch, is difficult.

Read on Twitter earlier today, Ford spent years telling its customers that EVs were rubbish, now it wants them to buy their EVs and wonders why they don't.

 

[T1 Terry]

Not sure about how things went over that side, but in the lead up to unleaded petrol first being introduced, there was so much opposition by the fuel companies and vehicle manufacturers, that new car sales slumped once the small nozzle size fuel filler were factory, so you could only fill up with unleaded fuel, that a whole new campaign had to be launched about these new high octane unleaded fuels would make your new unleaded car go like it was supposed to perform .... all the time demonising Ethanol as being the worst thing you could put in a fuel tank. No one understood that Ethanol was the alcohol in drinks, surely if it was safe to drink, safe to set alight on top of flash deserts, it should be ok to put in the fuel tank.
It wasn't really until the Super Cars were fast and more reliable at the great Bathurst 1000km race, using 85% Ethanol, that the B/S spun by the fuel companies started to be seen for what it was ....

T1 Terry

 

[Archev]

Not sure about how things went over that side, but in the lead up to unleaded petrol first being introduced, there was so much opposition by the fuel companies and vehicle manufacturers, that new car sales slumped once the small nozzle size fuel filler were factory, so you could only fill up with unleaded fuel, that a whole new campaign had to be launched about these new high octane unleaded fuels would make your new unleaded car go like it was supposed to perform .... all the time demonising Ethanol as being the worst thing you could put in a fuel tank. No one understood that Ethanol was the alcohol in drinks, surely if it was safe to drink, safe to set alight on top of flash deserts, it should be ok to put in the fuel tank.
It wasn't really until the Super Cars were fast and more reliable at the great Bathurst 1000km race, using 85% Ethanol, that the B/S spun by the fuel companies started to be seen for what it was ....

T1 Terry

Loving the food safe desserts analogy
So we need to convince the doubters that AC and DC are really Amazing Cranachan and Delectable Clootie to entice them away from the nozzle nuzzlers to join the plug purists ?

 

[tsedge]

EV sales continue to rise, it is simply not true to say that they have stalled:

EV deliveries rise in October as overall market shrinks

New car market falls by -6.0% in October, as businesses, fleets and private buyers register 9,241 fewer vehicles. Battery electric the only powertrain to see uptake rise as manufacturers continue to subsidise transition with billions in unsustainable discounting. One in…

www.smmt.co.uk

 

[Gadget Geek]

An obvious, and not-so-clever manipulation of statistics to try and make their point. Overall new vehicle sales are down, grouping BEV's in with that, whilst neglecting to mention that BEV sales were actually up 24%.

 

[chowbenter]

Did anyone watch the Grouch's YT video about MSM (The Telegraph) asking, have you bought an electric car & regretted it on Facebook?

 

[siteguru]

I don't watch his videos ... he's like Dave Takes It On and takes 5 minutes to say one thing, repeating it over and over. I fall asleep before their videos end.

 

[jackois]

The big problem with manufacturers is that they make the cars they want to, rather than the cars we want.
The MG5 was a big suceess as it was not too complicared and near enough to a normal estate and not 'space age'.

Look at Jaguar with their next offering, I don't see it ticking the boxes of any outside of the design team...