- cross-posted to:
- globalnews
- cross-posted to:
- globalnews
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/950826
Archived version: https://archive.ph/o9mOI
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230802061230/https://www.techdirt.com/2023/08/01/free-speech-absolutist-elon-musk-files-obvious-slapp-suit-against-non-profit-critic/
The initial case was about the roadster likely having a 55 mile range on a track. Which was judged to be true.
Musk was pissed about Top Gear pointing it out, but it wasn’t a lie.
The judge concluded that no reasonable viewer would equate range on a track, with range in normal daily driving.
We didn’t. That’s a lie told by Tesla, who misrepresented what the case was actually about, and was parrotted by the tesla cult.
I watched it at the time. It was clearly a dramatisation to illustrate a point, and no viewer would have reasonably thought otherwise.
They correctly pointed out the range would be low on a track. They illustrated this by showing the car run out of battery. That’s how entertainment shows work.
That’s not just my opinion, but the opinion of the judge after Musk sued twice, and lost twice.
And you have to remember that UK libel laws notoriously favour the plaintiff:
So much so, that the US introduced a law to make English judgements unenforceable and the law was eventually changed exactly because it was unbalanced.
Of course, if you go to tesla’s website, you’ll still find an article about the 55 mile range on a track being incorrect.
Unsurprisingly, that’s a lie. As it turns out, they lied about the range of their cars then, and they’re still doing it now:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/07/tesla-exaggerated-ev-range-so-much-that-drivers-thought-cars-were-broken/
I just don’t get why people defend Tesla. No one would defend Hyundai if they lied about the Ioniq’s range.
Cult. You are looking for the word cult. And no surprise that the tesla/musk cult behaves like maga cult. The Venn diagram is a solid dot between the two.
Large parts of the MAGA cult hate electric cars. I’m sure they like Musk’s personality (when he’s not clashing with Trump) though.