Tesla is notorious for its workers struggling to survive the “modern day sweatshop”, treated like disposable migrants who sleep in their cars outside the factory until they are fired and have to park somewhere else.

He would microwave his dinner in the factory break room, shower at its facilities, and sleep in his car in the parking lot.

Now it seems the ultra-competitive, racist, sleep deprived, homeless, over-worked factory staff culture may be escalating into something even more dangerous.

According to police, Desterke is a former Tesla employee who was fired last year. He allegedly showed up to the factory in Fremont shortly after midnight on May 21 with two Molotov cocktails. The employee whose van was torched told officers he was taking a nap inside when he was startled awake by shattered glass and a fire. The man escaped the van without injury.

Police said Desterke is also a suspect in a vandalism incident a week prior in which two dozen cars in the Tesla parking area had their tires slashed. No charges have been filed in connection with that incident, records show.

For the last three months in a row we’ve had to read about Tesla killing motorcyclists. Florida just reported another left-turn case.

An initial investigation revealed that the motorcyclist was traveling eastbound on West Nasa Boulevard while the Tesla driver was traveling westbound on West Nasa Boulevard, attempting to turn onto MLK Jr. Boulevard.

The motorcyclist struck the Tesla as it attempted to complete the turn. After life-saving measures were performed, the motorcyclist was pronounced deceased at the scene. He has been identified as 34-year-old Benjamin James Fish Jr.

I found a short wheelbase with 200 mile range detail in a buried lede under the big Tern RC8 (Class 8) Battery Electric Truck announcement.

A 100% battery-electric platform with an industry-leading short wheelbase of 165 inches

A gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 68,000 lbs. targeting applications of approximately 200 miles in regional city duty cycles, addressing 95 percent of use cases. […]

This launch aligns with the Advanced Clean Fleets regulation in California and gives fleets an excellent option to decarbonize their supply chain, especially in target applications like metro-regional routes, food & beverage logistics and similar routes where the tight turning radius and popular 4×2 chassis offer practical benefits.

Urban heavy electric trucks seem like a great idea, like it is 1917 again.

What I find particularly interesting is that Tern is already known for super long-range electric adventure bikes.

Their Orox bike, running a Bosch Performance Line CX motor (85 Nm torque offering 340% assistance), carries twin 800 Wh batteries for a top range of over 300 km (186 miles).

Altogether the news of both essentially hints at the overdue repeal of dumb 1950s American car culture, with a strong return to smart values of 100 years ago or more. The American “wheelmen” revolution of the late 1800s, which notably included Black men inventing mountain biking, was characterized by very long bike rides and very short truck duty circuits.

When you really look at Tern designs, the bikes also offer amazing cargo options including integrated trailer hitches and even passenger seats.

Municipalities adopting the Tern fleets of trucks and bikes will revolutionize their service fleets, from postal delivery to produce and utilities, effectively eliminating pollution and dangerous dependency on petroleum fuel infrastructure.

In related news, Texas has asked people to stop driving combustion engines and walk or bike instead.

The conclusion of a towing test is clear, Cybertruck design is a total failure.

Combine its better aero with a half-ton drop in curb weight and the Model X’s superior efficiency isn’t surprising. However, it does prove that the Cybertruck—the vehicle Tesla claims to be a game-changing workhorse of a pickup—actually takes a step backward compared to a nearly 10-year-old SUV when it comes to towing.

In other words, the Cybertruck fails against other Tesla models so why bother to even launch it to the public? An old used EV at a small fraction of the cost, using a ten year old design by engineers long ago fired, easily beats the Tesla CEO’s current best idea.