this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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Every time there's a recall, I remember the equation from Fight Club and how the company has to make a decision to recall or absorb the costs. Tesla has had A LOT of recalls mostly with the cyber truck. Musk doesn't seem like the kind of person to be cautious and recall to be on the safe side.
So... What AREN'T they recalling?
Recalls aren't just something that magically happen. Usually there's an investigation (by the NHTSA, or the company themselves). That investigation concludes that a recall is warranted or necessary and, in the case of voluntary recalls they do a cost to benefit analysis (like how Ford did when the Pinto was a bomb just waiting to be rear ended, and they realized they would save money by not recalling them).
But the NHTSA does force quite a few car manufacturers to do mandatory recalls regardless of whether they want to or not, usually to do with health and safety. You know. To prevent the Ford Pinto scenario.
So it's not so much what they aren't recalling (although I'm sure there's quite a lot). The real question should be, why do they have so many recalls? Why aren't they fixing the problems before they public gets a hold of these vehicles. And it's not just Tesla we should be asking that question of.
That sounds like magic to me. To get anything involved with the government not throwing a temper tantrum and make it about themselves.
They do fight. But usually it doesn't end well for them. Usually they drag their feet and waste time hoping that most of the cars will be out of commission before the recall is forced on them or they fight the government over a proposed recall in court and lose. https://apnews.com/article/ford-nhtsa-fine-recall-slow-244e2318b794e2be10196414eba9a029
https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/376533-tesla-recalls-too-little-too-late
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/volkswagen-appeals-rejected-high-court-allows-emissions-scandal-suits
Right now I know (brother is a tech) that Ford has problems with water pumps but no recalls have been issued. I suspect this is because of the cost to fix them and the fact that these cars are still in warranty, so it's cheaper to have the people in warranty come information service and have it discovered that their water pump is shot than it is to tell them their water pump may be bad because the cooling system is contaminated. It cuts down the number of cars they have to fix significantly. Which is why (yes even if you're not taking your car to a dealership) you should have your car inspected regularly if you aren't going to do it yourself.
Tesla may have figured out how SpaceX deals with the muskrat. They basically have a team of people that run interference with tons of busywork they shove in his face when he visits, so that he can't actually do anything.
If Trump's people have half a brain, they will talk to the people that give the British rich and powerful the run around.
How is it possible for the Muskrat to not be aware of all this, if we in the public are?
You think a billionaire that spends most of his “very busy” schedule tweeting nonsense cares to read the news?
There’s probably a dedicated intern that gives him daily briefings while Musk scrolls twitter for a new Nazi to retweet. The intern knows better than to upset the Muskrat, and keeps news about Tesla issues to a minimum.
I like this sentence.
I think I'm gonna have it printed on a shirt. ;-)
Tweets and Diablo IV
He curates his input and surrounds himself with sycophants to give him the skewed view of reality that he prefers.
For this kind of recall, the expense can be insanely low. It's just a software update that can be done over the air. Something that would warrant a recall is the type of thing they would fix for future builds. So they already put money into it to update the software for future builds. Just pushing it to older builds is simple. Ergo the part of the formula for "the cost of doing the recall" is, as previously mentioned, insanely low. This makes it very easy to have that cost be lower than the amount to settle out of court.