National Pushback Against Musk

Great car, terrible association, Tesla owners regret buying

Word on the street is that Tesla drivers are regretting their purchase following CEO Elon Musk's carte blanche to dismantle several government departments in the name of efficiency.

Some are trying to get rid of their Teslas, or embarrassed to drive it, while others who bought their cars before Musk supported Donald Trump for president will continue driving the car, though they find it awkward being associated with the South African though their vehicle.

Meanwhile in Europe it's quite evident how they feel about Musk:

Trump gives Musk carte blanche to revamp US govt

According to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, car sales are down in France by 6 percent, but when it comes to Teslas, sales are down by a whopping 63 percent. France is the second-biggest electric vehicle market in Europe, behind Germany, where sales of Teslas is down 59 percent.

It keeps going.

In Sweden it's down 44 percent, 38 percent in Norway, and 42 percent in the Netherlands. 

"Weird right? I wonder why that is?" Maddow muses to her audience.

She adds in the United States, polling has been done to gauge how Americans feel about Musk being involved in the government. YouGov took two polls, one right after the US election and another this week, two weeks after Trump took office.

In November,  47 percent of Republican voters want Musk to have "a lot" of influence in government; since the election it has plunged 21 points to only 26 percent of Republican voters wanting Musk to have "a lot" of influence in government.  

Protesters ready to stop Musk at Dept of Labor

"That has dropped like a stone in a very quick period of time," she quips.

When it comes to Democrats, only 6 percent want Musk to have "a lot" of influence, and the same percentage of independent voters. 

"He's polling at like tooth decay levels," Maddow says with a big smile. "That's like funny bone bumped into something sharp levels."

Meanwhile protests in all 50 states have erupted, protesting against Musk. One was in Maine where people occupied a Tesla charging station with signs that read: "Musk is a national security threat". 

At the Department of Labor in Washington DC, a hastily arranged protest drew lots of people to come and prevent Musk and his band of young hackers from entering the building. The protesters succeeded -- for now...

Canada Slaps 100 Percent Tariff on Chinese-Made EVs

This BYD electric car sells for US$12,000 in China

The big news today in Canada was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing a 100 percent surtax on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EV) from October 1, and that would extend to Teslas that were manufactured in Shanghai.

He said this tariff will "level the playing field for Canadian workers" and allow Canada's EV industry to compete at home, in North America, and abroad.

Would you buy this Mini EV for US$5,000?

A Chinese-made EV can range from US$12,000 to US$42,000.

Canada is following what the United States did back in May, though a senior government official said Canada was not enacting the tariffs because of American pressure. 

While the Canadian auto industry and workers are cheering this announcement, the biggest losers are consumers who are keen to wean off fossil fuels, but can't afford to buy EVs on the market now.

If Chinese-owned BYD (build your own dreams) cars were available in Canada, even more people would probably get on the EV bandwagon, for the country to be emission-free by 2035, but it seems Canadian automakers and workers have been dragging their feet in finding ways to make cheaper EVs.

"Unfortunately, Canada made a decision today that will result in fewer affordable electric vehicles for Canadians, less competition and more climate pollution," said Joanna Kyriazis, director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada.

"Not only could today's announcement have a chilling effect on future EV sales, it could drive up EV prices and slow adoption in the near-term as well," she said.

Teslas made in Shanghai will be taxed 100 percent

Ironically though, Canada isn't allowing any Chinese automakers in anyway, though BYD could possibly skirt around the tariffs by opening up a factory in Canada or the United States. 

In the meantime, the Chinese are obviously not pleased with Trudeau's announcement, saying: "This move will undermine the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and Canada. It harms the interests of Canadian consumers and enterprises, and is not conducive to Canada's green transformation and global efforts to combat climate change," a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Will this result in increasing trade tensions between China and Canada? We hope not...

Musk's Solution to Taiwan Issue

Musk says Taiwan should be under "one country, two systems"

Elon Musk seems to be playing right into Chinese hands.

He thinks he has the solution to the Taiwan issue and explained it to the Financial Times the other day.

"My recommendation... would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won't make everyone happy. And it's possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that's more lenient than Hong Kong."

He has a Tesla factory in Shanghai

Err... we all know how that went.

Musk believed conflict with Taiwan was inevitable, and warned of its potential impact on not only Tesla, as he has a factory in Shanghai, but also in iPhone maker Apple, as well as the global economy, which he estimated would take a 30 percent hit.

Former Global Times chief editor Hu Xijin took the opportunity to comment on Musk's remarks.

"Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities will hate you. Many US lawmakers and political elites also dislike [the idea] which signs a different tune to the current US policy on the Taiwan Strait," Hu said on Weibo.

"It can't be ruled out that he may have some trouble in the future for having expressed these political views."

"It has also reflected the world's basic understanding that Taiwan is a part of China and reunification is the general trend," Hu added.

Ip was quick to praise Musk's proposed solution

That's not the basic understanding most people have outside of China.

It seems Musk has drunk the Kool-aid on this one.

It's the lao wai (foreigner) being the shill for the Chinese authoritarian regime so that he can make gobs more money. Beijing must be clapping its hands with delight at having such a compliant spokesperson.

Meanwhile pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is on the Musk-praising bandwagon. 

On Twitter she wrote: "Elon Musk has spoken well on Taiwan suggesting it should become a special administrative region like Hong Kong! The world should pay attention to this voice of reason and pragmatism."

He is not quite the voice of reason and pragmatism when he suddenly announced he would buy Twitter for US$44 billion then backed down. The company held Musk's feet to the fire to make sure the deal would go through without anymore ifs, ands, or buts.