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Wow, this article is reall interesting to me. I am actually an extreme critic of Tesla. However, I also am an ardent supporter of cost-efficient technologies (

Wow, this article is reall interesting to me. I am actually an extreme critic of Tesla. However, I also am an ardent supporter of cost-efficient technologies (anyone who knows what an Acer C720 is knows what cost-efficiency is). So, it is really awesome to me that a country that has been ravaged by corruption and health crises is able to run vital services with repurposed hardware that isn't anything to do with glitz and glam like Tesla cars. Hope they continue to build what they need with whatever they can continue to get their hands on.

eduah 7y ago
This is not repurposed Tesla hardware, they are using actual Tesla backup battery product.
- _ph_ 7y ago
  I would say they are repurposed in the sense that they were intended for home usage and not for keeping cell towers working.
  - optimiz3 7y ago
    If you buy a brand new server and use it for your PC, does that make it repurposed? To most people, it's a brand new computer.
woodandsteel 7y ago
Why are you an extreme critic of Tesla? Is it because you think anthropogenic climate change is a hoax, and we should stay on fossil fuels? Or do you believe climate change is real and we need to get off of fossil fuels as fast as possible, but Tesla is doing a terrible job of helping this happen? Or perhaps for some other reason?
- jacquesm 7y ago
  After two major strawmen why should he add another reason?
  - beambot 7y ago
    Why does GP feel need to note that they are a Tesla critic rather than simply praising Zimbabwe's elegant use case? Snarkiness abounds, apparently.
    - jacquesm 7y ago
      To illustrate that they are overcoming significant bias with the rest of their observation.
      - beambot 7y ago
        Seems purely extraneous to me. The comments could have stood on their own without a blatant declaration of (anti)fandom that so often surrounds this company. The strawman you pointed out exhibits similar declarations in the opposite direction.
- smt88 7y ago
  There are reasons to criticize Tesla that are unchanged by whatever benefits the company can be credited with in the fight against climate change. For example, the US govt just told them to stop lying about the safety of one of their cars. There are lots of companies building electric cars without resorting to misleading marketing.
  - AYBABTME 7y ago
    AFAIK they told Tesla to stop publishing their exact ranking of car safety, when they are only allowed to use a more vague "quantile" ranking of sort. Doesn't mean they lied about the ranking, just that they weren't supposed to share and use those detailed ratings for marketing purposes in the way they did.
    - smt88 7y ago
      You seem to be describing a single incident. Multiple parties, including the former head of NYSE and the NHTSA, see a pattern. Ex: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/news-story/former-nyse-chief-warns-false-and-misleading-claims-tesla https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/news-story/former-nyse-chie...
  - dd36 7y ago
    It’s not misleading. Do some research.
    - smt88 7y ago
      > The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent Elon Musk a cease-and-desist letter last October over “misleading statements” Tesla made about the Model 3’s safety. The agency also asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the statements “constitute[d] unfair or deceptive acts or practices.”[1] You seem to be the one making the bolder claim -- that the NHTSA is either lying or wrong about their assessment of Tesla's marketing. Since you're making the bolder claim, the onus is on you to provide some evidence, instead of making an unsubstantiated statement and childishly waving away your responsibility to back it up. 1. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/7/20758349/tesla-model-3-safety-misleading-ftc-national-highway-traffic-administration-elon-musk https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/7/20758349/tesla-model-3-saf...
- tr3ndyBEAR 7y ago
  It could have something to do with the subsidy fraud or perhaps the fact that Tesla's might actually produce more CO2 than a traditional gasoline car [1]. Or perhaps it's because Tesla's art the 4th least reliable cars according to a Consumer Reports survey meaning they break down more often [1]https://interestingengineering.com/a-tesla-model-3-produces-more-co2-than-a-diesel-car-says-new-study https://interestingengineering.com/a-tesla-model-3-produces-... [2] https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/10-least-reliable-cars/ https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisf...
  - judge2020 7y ago
    The first link points to a press release that is dead (redirects to a home page), but based on the article, it doesn't look like they're giving it a fair fight. > The research is revealing that these cars may produce significant CO2 emissions both in their battery production and their charging. Important to note: "in their production and their charging" > The study, for instance, estimates that driving a Tesla Model 3 in Germany is responsible for 156 to 181 grams of CO2 per kilometer. That is more than a diesel-powered Mercedes C220d which produces just 141 grams per kilometer. The Model 3 is "responsible" for x grams, and the Diesel car (is diesel common in Europe? Very little US consumer cars recommend Diesel) "produces" x grams Finally: > Not only are there CO2 emissions generated in the production of electric vehicles, in addition almost all EU countries generate significant CO2 emissions from charging the vehicles’ batteries using their national energy production mixes. There are CO2 emissions in the production of standard vehicles as well (this may be referencing the creation of the batteries, unsure, again the link is dead), and just as charging puts load on the grid, emissions are generated by the extraction, processing, and transportation of oil. I'm not trying to invalidate the study, but the wording is suspicious (assuming it's not editorialized; the publication isn't one that only puts out critical TSLA articles).
    - adrianN 7y ago
      Diesel is very common in Germany. About half the cars on the road are Diesel.
    - 7y ago
- ChrisClark 7y ago
  There is a community of Tesla critics out there, but they are so vocal because they've done something very strange. They mostly exist on Twitter, but they all share the same block list. Anyone who argues with them or says anything positive about Tesla gets put on that blocklist by anyone else that shares it. Their reality is very skewed. All they see on Twitter is hatred against Elon, 'proof' everything he does is a scam, misleading sales numbers and hype about competitors. The only thing they can possibly see is basically a conspiracy theory. And so they are very vocal because they can't believe anyone could support Tesla/Elon, because they have never seen a good reason to. There is one guy that runs an investment company, 70% of his investment is shorting Tesla and he consistently complains about losing money doing so, but always saying the scam will finally be revealed 'soon'.
  - BoorishBears 7y ago
    I don't like Elon because his company branded existing technology in a misleading way and pushed it past it's safe limits and people died. I don't like Elon because he went on Twitter to blame them for dying when he's also the one who likes to coyly imply your hands are only on the wheel for government reasons. I don't like Elon because of the foolish 420 tweet and his subsequent interactions with the SEC. I don't like Elon because of his alarmist nonsense in relation to AGI when the real threat, institutionalization of societal bias in ML is literally at our door step, because talking about Skynet makes you more popular I don't like Elon because his company tricked people with their CPO program which silently switched to a used car program and started sensing people cars with undocumented body damage and tor nail clippings under the seats. I don't like Elon because of the hubris he showed insulting companies Toyota and their literally game changing assembly processes then not showing anything for all that talk I don't like Elon because he's building companies on the backs of engineers who are overworked and mistreated and expected to drink the kool aid while acting like building overpriced luxury cars is saving the earth. Do I need to go on or is at least one these a good enough reason to not be carted off as a crazy conspiracy theorist who unreasonably dislikes him?
    - bitexploder 7y ago
      I am curious about this one: “I don't like Elon because his company branded existing technology in a misleading way and pushed it past it's safe limits and people died.” Most of the other ones vary in magnitude and specificity, but it’s fine with me if you don’t like Elon, he is a polarizing figure right now.
- on_and_off 7y ago
  Wow, so either you are climate change denier or you love Tesla ? That must be one the biggest strawmen I have ever seen.

eduah 7y ago

This is not repurposed Tesla hardware, they are using actual Tesla backup battery product.

_ph_ 7y ago
I would say they are repurposed in the sense that they were intended for home usage and not for keeping cell towers working.
- optimiz3 7y ago
  If you buy a brand new server and use it for your PC, does that make it repurposed? To most people, it's a brand new computer.

woodandsteel 7y ago

Why are you an extreme critic of Tesla? Is it because you think anthropogenic climate change is a hoax, and we should stay on fossil fuels? Or do you believe climate change is real and we need to get off of fossil fuels as fast as possible, but Tesla is doing a terrible job of helping this happen? Or perhaps for some other reason?

jacquesm 7y ago
After two major strawmen why should he add another reason?
- beambot 7y ago
  Why does GP feel need to note that they are a Tesla critic rather than simply praising Zimbabwe's elegant use case? Snarkiness abounds, apparently.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    To illustrate that they are overcoming significant bias with the rest of their observation.
    - beambot 7y ago
      Seems purely extraneous to me. The comments could have stood on their own without a blatant declaration of (anti)fandom that so often surrounds this company. The strawman you pointed out exhibits similar declarations in the opposite direction.
smt88 7y ago
There are reasons to criticize Tesla that are unchanged by whatever benefits the company can be credited with in the fight against climate change. For example, the US govt just told them to stop lying about the safety of one of their cars. There are lots of companies building electric cars without resorting to misleading marketing.
- AYBABTME 7y ago
  AFAIK they told Tesla to stop publishing their exact ranking of car safety, when they are only allowed to use a more vague "quantile" ranking of sort. Doesn't mean they lied about the ranking, just that they weren't supposed to share and use those detailed ratings for marketing purposes in the way they did.
  - smt88 7y ago
    You seem to be describing a single incident. Multiple parties, including the former head of NYSE and the NHTSA, see a pattern. Ex: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/news-story/former-nyse-chief-warns-false-and-misleading-claims-tesla https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/news-story/former-nyse-chie...
- dd36 7y ago
  It’s not misleading. Do some research.
  - smt88 7y ago
    > The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent Elon Musk a cease-and-desist letter last October over “misleading statements” Tesla made about the Model 3’s safety. The agency also asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the statements “constitute[d] unfair or deceptive acts or practices.”[1] You seem to be the one making the bolder claim -- that the NHTSA is either lying or wrong about their assessment of Tesla's marketing. Since you're making the bolder claim, the onus is on you to provide some evidence, instead of making an unsubstantiated statement and childishly waving away your responsibility to back it up. 1. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/7/20758349/tesla-model-3-safety-misleading-ftc-national-highway-traffic-administration-elon-musk https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/7/20758349/tesla-model-3-saf...
tr3ndyBEAR 7y ago
It could have something to do with the subsidy fraud or perhaps the fact that Tesla's might actually produce more CO2 than a traditional gasoline car [1]. Or perhaps it's because Tesla's art the 4th least reliable cars according to a Consumer Reports survey meaning they break down more often [1]https://interestingengineering.com/a-tesla-model-3-produces-more-co2-than-a-diesel-car-says-new-study https://interestingengineering.com/a-tesla-model-3-produces-... [2] https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/10-least-reliable-cars/ https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisf...
- judge2020 7y ago
  The first link points to a press release that is dead (redirects to a home page), but based on the article, it doesn't look like they're giving it a fair fight. > The research is revealing that these cars may produce significant CO2 emissions both in their battery production and their charging. Important to note: "in their production and their charging" > The study, for instance, estimates that driving a Tesla Model 3 in Germany is responsible for 156 to 181 grams of CO2 per kilometer. That is more than a diesel-powered Mercedes C220d which produces just 141 grams per kilometer. The Model 3 is "responsible" for x grams, and the Diesel car (is diesel common in Europe? Very little US consumer cars recommend Diesel) "produces" x grams Finally: > Not only are there CO2 emissions generated in the production of electric vehicles, in addition almost all EU countries generate significant CO2 emissions from charging the vehicles’ batteries using their national energy production mixes. There are CO2 emissions in the production of standard vehicles as well (this may be referencing the creation of the batteries, unsure, again the link is dead), and just as charging puts load on the grid, emissions are generated by the extraction, processing, and transportation of oil. I'm not trying to invalidate the study, but the wording is suspicious (assuming it's not editorialized; the publication isn't one that only puts out critical TSLA articles).
  - adrianN 7y ago
    Diesel is very common in Germany. About half the cars on the road are Diesel.
  - 7y ago
ChrisClark 7y ago
There is a community of Tesla critics out there, but they are so vocal because they've done something very strange. They mostly exist on Twitter, but they all share the same block list. Anyone who argues with them or says anything positive about Tesla gets put on that blocklist by anyone else that shares it. Their reality is very skewed. All they see on Twitter is hatred against Elon, 'proof' everything he does is a scam, misleading sales numbers and hype about competitors. The only thing they can possibly see is basically a conspiracy theory. And so they are very vocal because they can't believe anyone could support Tesla/Elon, because they have never seen a good reason to. There is one guy that runs an investment company, 70% of his investment is shorting Tesla and he consistently complains about losing money doing so, but always saying the scam will finally be revealed 'soon'.
- BoorishBears 7y ago
  I don't like Elon because his company branded existing technology in a misleading way and pushed it past it's safe limits and people died. I don't like Elon because he went on Twitter to blame them for dying when he's also the one who likes to coyly imply your hands are only on the wheel for government reasons. I don't like Elon because of the foolish 420 tweet and his subsequent interactions with the SEC. I don't like Elon because of his alarmist nonsense in relation to AGI when the real threat, institutionalization of societal bias in ML is literally at our door step, because talking about Skynet makes you more popular I don't like Elon because his company tricked people with their CPO program which silently switched to a used car program and started sensing people cars with undocumented body damage and tor nail clippings under the seats. I don't like Elon because of the hubris he showed insulting companies Toyota and their literally game changing assembly processes then not showing anything for all that talk I don't like Elon because he's building companies on the backs of engineers who are overworked and mistreated and expected to drink the kool aid while acting like building overpriced luxury cars is saving the earth. Do I need to go on or is at least one these a good enough reason to not be carted off as a crazy conspiracy theorist who unreasonably dislikes him?
  - bitexploder 7y ago
    I am curious about this one: “I don't like Elon because his company branded existing technology in a misleading way and pushed it past it's safe limits and people died.” Most of the other ones vary in magnitude and specificity, but it’s fine with me if you don’t like Elon, he is a polarizing figure right now.
on_and_off 7y ago
Wow, so either you are climate change denier or you love Tesla ? That must be one the biggest strawmen I have ever seen.