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E.W. Niedermeyer
@Tweetermeyer
Author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors. Co-host @TheAutonocast. Not sure how much more mobility innovation I can take. YMMV.
niedermeyer.io
Joined November 2011
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    In 2015 I decided on a whim to check out Tesla's battery swap station that was earning the company 9 figures in California ZEV credits, and found it wasn't real. Instead Tesla was using diesel generators to charge cars. Here's how this changed my life 🧵
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    Nov 3, 2022
    The people who are saying this constitutes another Elon Musk failure simply don't realize that Hyperloop did exactly what is what intended to do: bleed off support for high-speed rail.
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    Verge Transportation
    @vergecars
    Nov 3, 2022
    Elon Musk’s first Hyperloop tunnel in California is gone theverge.com/2022/11/3/2343…
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    Apr 22, 2023
    Salute to redditor DonaldRudolpho for turning the r/spacex subreddit into a roiling mass of cope and seethe with these basic factual observations
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    First: MUSK'S KEY SKILL IS CONTROLLING INFORMATION. It's not just crafting appealing narratives about himself and his companies, but also silencing anything that contradicts them. Tesla's entire history is lined with NDAs, backed by sheer terror of what Musk will do when cornered
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    A year later I found another big cockroach: Tesla was hiding defects by requiring customers sign NDAs in exchange for free repairs. This cut off the auto safety regulator's only independent source of information about defects. This led to a couple of important lessons...
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    What happened next taught another lesson: MUSK FANS DON'T CARE ABOUT FACTS. I was mobbed by online attacks that could not be dissuaded or mitigated by facts. My claims had evidence and his didn't, yet hardly anyone knows my reporting and his 2016 lies are still repeated today.
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    As I realized this, and as I realized that Musk and Tesla were on a trajectory toward increasingly implausible and fraudulent claims (which massively enriched Musk), I realized: TESLA IS NOT AN AUTOMOTIVE STORY, IT IS A CELEBRITY STORY. Faith in Musk personally was what mattered
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    If celebrity journalists smell Musk's blood in the water and start a feeding frenzy, they will find more cockroaches. Why? Because Musk's history makes one lesson undeniable: HE DOES NOT BELIEVE THE RULES APPLY TO HIM. That is the core belief of every abuser.
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    My book made some key claims that have proven true: Tesla can't make affordable cars, Tesla can't make its "Full Self-Driving" work, Autopilot has real safety issues, Tesla is fundamentally weak on manufacturing, and more. Here's the hardest lesson: NONE OF THAT HAS MATTERED.
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    In short: TESLA IS A CONFIDENCE GAME. Confidence in one man and the image he so ruthlessly controls is what holds it all together. Understanding why Musk's dreams are bullshit is hard (learning about manufacturing and AI is cool though!), but anyone can grasp a person's character
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    That terror comes from another lesson: MUSK DOESN'T REFUTE, HE ATTACKS. I learned this after the NDA story, when an official Tesla blog post accused me of fabricating the reporting and doing so for financial gain. Zero evidence was offered to support this attack on my credibility
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    Up to that point I had been skeptical that any startup automaker could succeed. That view wasn't about Tesla, it was about the car biz. But what I found at Harris Ranch was shocking, a cockroach, and I decided to follow a life-changing instinct: THERE IS NEVER JUST ONE COCKROACH.
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    To wrap up: HAPPY HUNTING CELEBRITY JOURNALISTS! This is the moment for you to prove that what you do is as important to society as any business or political journalism. Musk's personal life is a cockroach-rich environment, and your stories will have impact that mine never did.
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    E.W. Niedermeyer
    @Tweetermeyer
    May 20, 2022
    Replying to @Tweetermeyer
    I still think my reporting is important. Understanding cars, the car business, manufacturing, AI, autonomous driving tech and the other issues I cover in my book are critical to a better future. I hope more people choose to start learning about them now.
    Ludicrous - BenBella Books
    From benbellabooks.com