The first thing one learns when purchasing a Tesla, as this columnist did in December 2020, is that the neighbours immediately begin to hold one personally responsible for Elon Musk. The co-founder and now Supreme Leader of the company is, one finds, widely regarded by non-techies as a fruitcake with a bad Twitter habit, so it follows that anyone who buys one of his cars must be a devotee of the world’s richest nutter and therefore not properly earthed.
Interestingly, there was a time, not so very long ago, 2005 to be precise, that this view of Musk was held by sensible German men in suits, who laughed at the idea of this jerk building automobiles. Didn’t he know that making cars is hard and that BMW, Mercedes, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota and the rest had spent the best part of a century figuring out how to do it profitably at scale? Sure, he might be able to produce expensive toys for Silicon Valley types – but real cars?
The industry’s derisive scepticism reminds me of 2007, when Apple launched the iPhone. This was at a time when Nokia and Blackberry ruled the world and the mobile marketplace was deemed “mature”. Yet here was this Steve Jobs in his black turtleneck – a guy with no experience of the mobile industry – touting a phone with no keypad and a battery that users couldn’t replace.
Well, we know how that story played out. Nokia and co failed to notice that what Jobs had created was a powerful networked computer that fitted in your hand – and could do phone calls too. In the end, that phone upended – and transformed – a “mature” industry.
Musk wasn’t content with reimagining the car. He also sought to reimagine the industry
The interesting thing is that, with Tesla, history seems to have repeated itself. The company built nearly a million cars last year and sold every one. There seems to be a waiting list for every car they build at the moment. And just as Nokia, a hardware company that didn’t understand software, was eviscerated by the smartphone, so the Ice (internal combustion engine) boys were outflanked by Tesla.
They thought that EVs should just be cars with electric motors; Musk’s idea was that they should be software on wheels. Which is why all EVs are now like Teslas – giant skateboards with wheels at the four corners.
But Musk wasn’t content with reimagining the car. He also sought to reimagine the industry. Teslas would not be sold by dealerships but directly to customers. Instead, there would be small numbers of company “service” centres, together with flying squads of technicians who could provide assistance if required. The rationale for this was that EVs are much less complicated than Ices and require much less maintenance. No pesky dealers or their oil-soaked mechanics required. QED.
Now it is undoubtedly the case that EVs require less routine maintenance than conventional automobiles, with their volatile fluids, controlled explosions and hot gases. But cars, no matter how well made, still develop faults or malfunction. And one of the problems with Teslas from the outset is that their build quality – eg fragile paintwork or the way the body panels fit together, for example – has occasionally left something to be desired and certainly wouldn’t pass muster on a BMW production line.
In the Ice age, if the car you’ve bought has defects or problems, then you take it up with the dealer. But for Tesla owners there’s no dealer – just Musk’s corporate empire. And it turns out that, for some frustrated drivers, that empire might as well be on Mars. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has had more than a thousand complaints about poor service. A trawl of Trustpilot or Reddit reveals the frustrations of Tesla owners who love their cars but are disappointed with service failures.
If you’re being charitable you could explain this as growing pains. After all, this is a company that has been expanding like crazy – from producing 35,000 cars in 2014 to 930,422 in 2021. But the number of its service centres hasn’t increased in proportion to that growth. In the first quarter of this year, for example, Tesla’s US production increased by 68% over the same quarter last year, but the number of service centres went up by only 20%. The company has just 30 in the UK and 160 in the US, a country where an Ice company may have up to 10,000 dealerships countrywide.
A less charitable explanation is that Tesla, like all tech companies, subscribes to the pernicious delusion that employing humans to do customer service is a stupid analogue idea when most of these functions can supposedly be handled by AI or at least by a call-centre. In that sense, the difficulties that Tesla owners experience when trying to get help or repairs sound rather like those suffered by Facebook users trying to get access to a deceased relative’s account or, as I recounted last week, a Google user trying to get his account restored after an erroneous cancellation. Tesla is a tech company that happens to make cars.
Money never sleeps
The Economist Who Knows the Miracle Is Over is very nice Atlantic piece by Annie Lowrey on Brad DeLong and his longue durée history of capitalism.
Happy returns
Business strategist Rob Miller asks in a lovely essay on his Roblog platform entitled Cultivating Serendipity if it’s possible to organise your life in a way that maximises the chances of happy accidents.
Horse sense
TikTok: Trojan Stallion is a sobering blogpost by professor of marketing Scott Galloway on his No Mercy/No Malice website.
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Wheeled vehicles were used in all major military conflicts of the 20th century. Along with tanks, these machines performed many different functions. They were used during reconnaissance and anti-tank operations, as well as for the transportation of personnel.
Finally the day has come when the wheeled vehicles will arrive at World of Tanks Modern Armor . The first to enter the battlefield are:
Although these vehicles are classified as light tanks for game purposes, their mechanics are significantly different.
For some, a new mode of movement is provided.
And now we'll help you prepare for battle on brand new and fresh wheels. All information below!
On wheeled vehicles, instead of tracks, wheels with tires are installed. This means that they cannot turn in place like normal tanks. They need enough space to turn.
This also means that the wheeled vehicles will continue to turn and move according to the laws of physics, for example, when going down a hill or after a fatal shot from an enemy.
Also, on some machines it will be possible to switch between normal and high-speed modes.
This is the basic mode for wheeled vehicles, which is enabled by default after the start of the battle.
In normal mode, the vehicle moves slower, but in return, maneuverability and shooting accuracy are higher.
This mode is suitable for attacking opponents.
This is what happens when you turn on normal mode:
When this mode is enabled, the following icon will appear:
In this mode, vehicles move faster, but maneuverability and accuracy are reduced. Use this mode to move around the area faster.
Important! Not all wheelers can switch to high-speed mode. Some can only move normally, but still pretty fast!
Here's what happens when you turn on the speed mode:
When this mode is enabled, the following icon will appear:
If the gamepad is set to default, press the left button on the D-pad. The process is similar to switching between marching and siege modes.
Look in your controller settings to see which buttons are responsible for changing the mode.
As with the other vehicles introduced in World of Tanks Modern Armor , we've adjusted the base stats to fit wheeled vehicles into the game's ecosystem. We've retained their key features: wheelers are super-fast, light vehicles that can't turn on the spot, but are capable of tight turns.
At the same time, we took into account that the skills of the commander, equipment (up to 4 units), equipment, and so on can be applied to them.
In general, wheelies can make sharp turns at low speeds, just like their real prototypes. If you try to turn around at high speed, you will either take a larger radius or fly into a skid.
Will be similar but not identical.
Supertests. Just at this moment, another Supertest takes place. And the third will take place in the near future.
Balancing will take place according to the usual rules, without additional restrictions.
Wheeled vehicles move quickly and imperceptibly, while accurately hitting the enemy.
It was created for constant movement. If you like to play as an active scout, then you will immediately appreciate all the features of these machines.
Unlike light tanks, wheeled vehicles have a smaller sight radius. Thus, these vehicles are unlikely to be passive scouts. To effectively highlight enemies, you have to constantly move.
It is easy to guess that the main tactic suitable for wheelers is the alternation of advance and retreat. During the attack, it is worth keeping a close distance in order to hit the enemy. Don't try to attack from afar. This is not the strongest side of wheeled vehicles.
Wheelers have a very different play style than light tanks. They move faster, the mechanics of turns and controls are different.
If you want to come to the place, stop, rotate and highlight the enemy, then you should choose a light tank on tracks.
If you want to quickly attack, attack and retreat, then give preference to wheeled vehicles.
If you've tried wheeled vehicles and decided light tanks are better for you, keep using them. But if the new cars seem attractive to you, feel free to ride them to your heart's content!
Traction control on wheels is not available. Everything else is at your disposal!
Chuji, our lead game designer, notes:
“Personally, the standard speed and mobility characteristics of wheeled vehicles are enough for me. I prefer to upgrade vehicles in terms of intelligence (vision range, radio, stealth) and accuracy in order to make quick raids on the enemy. Also, I always take a Repair Kit with me, because high-explosive shells easily damage the wheels. The loss of the ability to move is tantamount to death.
”
Each wheel has its own strength ratings. Destroying a wheel affects the speed and mobility of the vehicle. The more wheels are broken, the more the speed decreases.
If all wheels are destroyed, the vehicle will still be able to move, but speed and mobility will be minimal. A broken wheel is repaired automatically, but it takes time. However, with the help of the Standard Repair Kit, it can be repaired instantly.
Having lost all wheels, cars will be able to squeeze out only 15% of the maximum speed and lose 90% of the power, i.e., acceleration will practically not be felt.
Possibly. The wheels are repaired in turn, and the tracks on the tracks. The more wheels, the more time to repair, but one wheel is repaired faster than one truck.
