Keep in mind that first offense for being in the US illegally is a misdeameanor. I say this as we have a president with 34 felonies and got nothing for it. On top of that, we have ICE tactics like unreasonable searches and seizures, no due process rights, and racial profiling which are all against the law. We know this because US citizens were deported without any due process to make sure they were here illegally.
I think you're underselling what Trump and Musk has done to the stability of Democracy in the US. Aside from all that, there are other American car manufacturers with great EVs: Mustang Mach-E, Chevy Equinox/Bolt/Blazer, etc. Not saying that BYD isn't better, but comparing to Tesla, there is plenty of US competition.
I absolutely prefer my Ioniq 5 over a Tesla, not merely 'tolerate it'.
Tesla has everyone else beat on charging infrastructure, that is true, but I don't need that except for about 0.5% of the miles I drive (and even there, Tesla's competitors exist and are fine on the routes I'd take).
A lot more manual controls, in particular. I've never liked needing to use a touchscreen to manage functions of the car I might need to use while driving. Ioniq could actually go further still, some of the physical interface still uses a capacitive button rather than a physical button, but it is at least single-function so I can trace my hand along the bottom and the button I want is always in the same spot.
I like that by default it is set to two-pedal drive, especially in case I end up having to use an ICE or hybrid car (or have other drivers use my Ioniq). I like that I have a key fob and there's a physical interaction I need to make to turn the car on. I like that it supports Android Auto.
I think the styling is much better. I haven't sat in a Tesla long enough to give a direct comparison but the Ioniq interior is in the top quarter of cars I've driven.
It's not all roses, there's been Ioniq drivers run into ICCU issues that you don't really see the equivalent of with Tesla, but if I run into that then I'll just take it as a warranty item.
Edit: I forgot about the turn signal stalks but that was a primary thing for me as well, I literally thought it was some kind of anti-Tesla meme at first that they didn't have normal turn signals, until I verified it for myself.
They are as good as any Tesla, however, and in some areas better. Source: I own a Tesla Model 3 (my second) and I have owned a Bolt in the past, and currently own a Lightning. Aside from towing range, I prefer the Lightning the majority of the time. Tesla does some things better, while Ford excels in other ways. Both definitely have glaring faults.
I will stick to the Lightning since I know it best:
1. The Lightning auto-resumes lane centering after a lane switch, Tesla requires manually restarting (along with the annoyances which accompany that, like re-enabling auto wipers every single time).
2. CarPlay. (Which presumably Tesla is finally going to bring us.) Responding to text messages while driving is easier and less fussy with CarPlay (plus, if you are used to how CarPlay works, you will forget that after you dictate a reply to a text message in the Tesla you need to hit the send button on the screen). iMessages to non-phone recipients works with CarPlay but not at all with Tesla.
3. The Ford app lets me set a one-off "charge to 100%" flag which automatically resets to the previous setting after that charge.
4. And even though it is so obvious that it is probably boring to point out at this point, the rain sensing wipers on the Lightning actually work. The Tesla dry wipes, or not at all even when it is pouring, and everything in between.
5. The Lightning has radar. Without a lead car my Tesla remains prone to phantom braking at overpasses on bright sunny days. I have not ever had phantom braking on my pickup.
6. Windows. No amount of recalibration makes my Tesla windows go up exactly into the right position to be sealed. And pushing the button again just makes them lower slightly. So you have to monkey with it a couple times to make the sound of wind next to your ear go silent. I've never had a car amongst the dozens I've owned that got this basic functionality wrong, but both of my Teslas have struggled with it.
7. Comfort. Ford does not vertically integrate production of the interior and seats, and it shows. Nor do they cut corners on insulation. Someone else in this thread said that interiors were an inexpensive way for incumbents to differentiate from Tesla but I disagree on one point -- I think good interior design is expensive, which is exactly why Tesla does basically nothing. So the road noise is excessive and the flat, thin, barely bolstered seats are uncomfortable if you don't have enough built-in padding on your butt. Ford just outsources, probably to someone like Recaro, who has infinitely more experience making seats that don't suck.
First the Bolt, and then the Lightning has convinced me that there is no special sauce. I have a pickup that drives like my Tesla, but is still a pickup with all of the upsides and still has a comfy normal interior without the quirks. Tesla won't get any more of my business, for example, until they bring back the stalks and put in an IR rain sensor. They may eventually do both of these (I think they may have already started caving on the stalks). But now that I know that there are other options at least as good, I'm more picky and less accepting of the persistent cost cutting.
I'm working on a workout tracker that you can actually use for things like TRX and gymnastic rings. Along with normal workouts too. Let me know if there's anything you'd like on there. https://gravitygainsapp.com/
Unfortunately, that counter-argument lacks the understanding that the tariffs aren't meant to be a retaliatory tool against countries. The President's power to use tariffs is (supposed to be) meant as an emergency measure against unfair trade practices.
A nation has the sovereign right to implement tariffs. In response, other countries may exercise their right to apply retaliatory tariffs. Fairness and unfairness are subjective.
Notice “nation” part, not “president”. Tariffs power in the US vested in Congress, and Congress created laws which regulate it. What Trump is doing is outside of his legal powers, regardless to some conceptual reasoning why countries can do retaliation tariffs.
Peppa Pig is in general funnier than Bluey. Visually, I also agree, Bluey is far superior. I just can't help, as a parent, the feeling of inferiority as there's no way two working parents have the energy and patience to make everything a game with their kids. That's the main crux of why I prefer Peppa.
As a non-parent who has only consumed either shows while staying with parent friends, I found Peppa Pig quite grating while Bluey was actually a fun watch. I can't imagine having Peppa Pig on frequently.
Peppa has a more "grating" and generally louder tone, agreed, but it's deceptively simpler than it seems. After you watch it for a while (something you can only really do if you have kids) it starts to grow on you, and you start noticing the subtler humor that is aimed at the parents.
Yeah. I think for me it's just the tone. Then again, I'm also deeply put off by the "everything is fast and loud" tone of a bunch of more adult-oriented content (eg: Adventure Time, Phineas and Ferb, or Rick and Morty are all unwatchable to me).
There are some real laugh-out-loud moment in Peppa Pig (like at the fair, where everyone was telling Mommy Pig that girls aren't good at said game and she in her anger absolutely demolishes it). However, I find those moments coming up less in Bluey. I almost always laugh at how Grandpa Pig says "metal detector", too.
I think if I didn't have kids, I would like Bluey better. Likewise, I would be able to watch it without any discrimination.
I found Mistral's agentic coding models to be fast and good, but not always accurate. I think the reason for that is that most IDEs aren't properly setup to use their models. But I haven't tried this new Codestral version.
Glitch brought me back to the web when it was more fun and goofy. The design gave it the opportunity to not be so serious and play around with it. I wish more of the web was like Glitch and Kinopio.
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