[LINK] Launch of a new electric car

[David]

On 22/06/2023 12:10 pm, Tom Worthington wrote:
> It will be interesting to see if Tesla's approach of selling cars 
> mostly online will catch on, or showrooms and dealers will remain. 
> Tesla has only 13 Australian showrooms, whereas BYD has 56. 

And in an oft-repeated echo of Henry Ford's Model-T ("any colour you 
want as long as it's black"), I understand Tesla buyers can have any 
colour they want as long as it's white; other colours are only available 
for additional cost.

A couple of weeks ago I joined the end of bumper-to-bumper traffic on 
the M5 moving at ~0-12 kph.  When I reached the scene of the heralded 
"incident" I found staff from various emergency services standing around 
scratching their heads and a Tesla in the outside lane with what 
appeared to be a collapsed front left-hand suspension.

On arriving at my appointment I apologised for being a little late and 
mentioned an odd, one-car accident involving a Tesla.  "Front wheel fell 
off?"  "Well, yes... how do you know?"

He mentioned two similar incidents involving friends.  Some appropriate 
googling seems to confirm the problem, and reveals that the steering 
wheel on at least one model can also fall off, which I suppose makes 
getting out of the car easier.

Elon Musk reportedly stated that Tesla had to improve their build 
quality.  It will be interesting to see how Tesla vehicles sell when the 
availability of EVs really takes off here, including the Toyota-Subaru 
EV which I understand appears in showrooms later this year.

_David Lochrin_