Tesla 'Recall' Is Nothing of the Sort

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

If you have any doubt that the MSM and online influencers have it out for Elon Musk, all you need to do is search Google for the fake news about a Tesla “recall.”

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The news is everwhere. Tesla must “recall” almost every vehicle they ever sold, proving that the product is defective and that Elon Musk is a total fraud or something.

It is, of course, total bunkum. That is not even remotely true.

I have no special love of Teslas beyond noting that they look pretty cool–especially the top-of-the-line Model S. I like sedans and drive an 18-year-old Lexus LS430. There is just something about sedans I have always loved.

The Model 3 or Y? Not so much.

I admire that Musk built a new car company out of almost nothing and made it successful. That’s a tough task, and the argument that he did it on the backs of American taxpayers is a bit rich, given how big the subsidies the feds have tossed at other American carmakers.

But as for the cars or the company? Other than wishing I had invested in the company years ago since I could have easily retired by now if I had done so, I have no special affinity.

With that said I have to laugh at the claim that the feds are issuing a recall on all Teslas, as if owners were being forced to bring their cars into the shop to get some work done. I’ve had a couple of cars recalled over the years, and it is a pain (and very expensive for the manufacturers).

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Tesla’s (non) recall? It is a software update that happens automatically over the air. Essentially transparent to the owners.

The claim that is being pushed all around the MSM is that Tesla cars are unsafe, but the crash ratings–both in the frequency of crashes and safety of the passengers if they are in the car during a crash–give the lie to that idea.

For instance, CBS breathlessly reports that Teslas are crashing all over the place because of its autopilot feature–a claim that is entirely the reverse of reality. Cars using autopilot are among the least likely to crash.

Teslas on non-highways with Full Self Driving (FSD) engaged had just 0.31 accidents per million miles, representing an 80% reduction in accidents compared with the average vehicle. Tesla vehicles with no active safety triggered – neither Autopilot of FSD – had an accident rate of 0.68, less than half the US vehicle fleet.

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That Tesla’s crash should be no surprise, since all cars crash, and almost all cars do so with more frequency than Tesla’s. The MSM wants you to believe that Teslas are especially prone to crashes because, well, they hate Elon Musk, and thus, they ignore the fact that Teslas are, in fact, safer than any car on the road.

See that blue line that is higher than everybody else? Those are Teslas, which the Europeans rate as the safest car on the road.

I don’t feel the need to defend Musk or his companies, except that the attacks on him have nothing to do with the products he produces but rather his politics and his threat to the Establishment.

If you think a software update to Teslas is unusual, they aren’t. They are, in fact, quite frequent, unlike almost any other car on the road. Teslas are constantly improving, unlike most cars which usually come with crappy software with which you are often stuck.

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There is no question in my mind that this talk of a “recall” of 2 million vehicles is an intentional play to harm Musk. Some commentators all over Twitter are using this “news” to bash Musk and his companies. Tesla has already pushed the software update out to its cars, turning it into a non-issue.

The media could have played this whole issue very differently should they so choose. Tesla, they could say, is taking the safest cars on the road and making them safer.

But that isn’t the story they want to tell. They want it to be chaos, death, and the government saving us from the big, mean billionaire.

If only Musk had announced he loved Biden, his fortunes would have improved. You and I know it, and everybody else knows it too. It’s just that Democrats like it that way, for obvious reasons.

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David Strom 4:40 PM | December 13, 2024
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