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The figures quoted here are old, since EV sales have gotten a massive boost from spiking oil prices. The actual figures aren't out yet but anecdotal evidence at

The figures quoted here are old, since EV sales have gotten a massive boost from spiking oil prices. The actual figures aren't out yet but anecdotal evidence at least in Australia suggests sales in March (across all brands, not just Tesla) doubled from February. That said, for Tesla this is only a bandaid, since they have absolutely nothing in the consumer pipeline beyond the current increasingly uncompetitive offerings. Chinese brands like BYD, on the other hand, are laughing all the way to the bank.

reactordev 6mo ago
It was always about first mover advantage and never about building a sustaining car manufacturer. It was about moving an industry.
DiscourseFan 6mo ago
Obviously the oil spike, while not a relatively massive price hike historically, is clearly accelerating the pace of electrification, similarly to how COVID accelerated the use of zoom and other remote work platforms. But also similarly, it will probably be the case that gas is still used for some needs, just not nearly as many as today. People still do prefer their gas ranges, and its not as if natural gas is a great pollutant. But electricity is easier to manage than ever now, given battery capacity.
- girvo 6mo ago
  Induction is better than gas in basically any way you can care to slice it, and natural gas in your home is actually quite bad for air quality. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-17/kitchen-pollutants-study-australia-looks-at-gas-stove-health/102109372?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-17/kitchen-pollutants-st...
  - taeric 6mo ago
    I mean, if you are looking at unventilated kitchens, you are going to get bad values cooking. Pretty much period. Yes, by products of burning gas are bad. But by products of cooking are already bad. Ventilate your kitchen.
    - eigenspace 6mo ago
      Even with very good ventilation, gas ranges will pollute your air to a surprising degree.
      - taeric 6mo ago
        Right, I was not intending this as a defense of gas ranges. More surprised that they would baseline with a non-ventilated kitchen. Cooking, itself, will pollute your air to a surprising degree.
    - tom_alexander 6mo ago
      Induction is also faster to boil water, easier to clean since it's just flat glass, and safer since an induction stove without a pot/pan stays room temperature (in fact, they usually can detect if a pot/pan is present and automatically turn themselves off) Induction is also particularly nice for certain types of cooking because many induction stoves can be set to a specific temperature instead of just to a power level.
      - taeric 6mo ago
        Agreed that folks should look more favorably on induction. I did not mean my comment as a defense of gas. Just pointing out that most of the pollution from cooking is one where you want a good range hood that vents to the outside. And you need to clean it. Our last house did not have a vent to the outside and it was eye opening to realize how much grease throughout the entire house was from that.
  - chongli 6mo ago
    Induction requires your cookware to sit flat against the surface or it won’t heat up (and the range will shut off after a certain time). With natural gas the flames rise through convection and wrap around the contours of the pan. This means many traditional pieces of cookware with round bottoms simply will not work on induction but work fine on natural gas. Induction also requires the cookware to be ferromagnetic. This rules out a lot of traditional cookware materials such as clay, copper, brass, and stone. Many of these traditional materials are also accompanied by traditional shapes (round bottoms, gently sloped sides) that take advantage of the convection properties of open flame cooking. Many recipes rely on these traditional vessels for optimal cooking performance. Woks, for example, work much better with a round bottom so liquids can pool in the middle, letting you use less oil for stir frying but still allowing ingredients to spend time in the pooled oil. The temperature profile of a round-bottom wok over gas flame is also superior to a flat-bottom wok on induction: the traditional wok has a bright hot spot at the bottom (where all the oil is pooling) in addition to heat up all around the sloped sides, for rapidly reducing liquids that come out of foods and cooking sauces (soy sauce, shaoxing wine) with an arc-splash technique. The flat-bottom wok on induction has a uniformly hot surface on the bottom but the sides remain cool, causing all liquids in contact with the sides to run down to the bottom and begin boiling, just like when you try to stir-fry in a frying pan. Candy-making is another cooking process that benefits greatly from the convection of natural gas combustion, since molten sugar will crystallize around the sides of a pan if they are not hot enough. Traditional candy-making is done in thin-walled, tin-lined copper pans. These pans don't work at all on induction (no ferromagnetic materials) but even if placed on a ferrous plate they would not perform well due to lack of heating of the sides.
    - girvo 6mo ago
      > Induction requires your cookware to sit flat against the surface or it won’t heat up Not really. You’ve obviously not used modern induction cooktops (though if you’ve gone to a restaurant you’ve eaten from it). > The temperature profile of a round-bottom wok over gas flame is also superior to a flat-bottom wok on induction Explain why induction cooktops are incredibly widespread across modern Asian restaurants. You’ve really got to update your priors. Don’t listen to me, listen to a professional chef (who runs an awesome restaurant in Shenzhen): https://youtu.be/vgv_IiSZarY?si=fgl1w1udQ72xqY3n https://youtu.be/vgv_IiSZarY?si=fgl1w1udQ72xqY3n Candy making, I’ll concede because I have no experience. In every other way induction is still better.
conartist6 6mo ago
So thoughtful of Trump, Mr anti-clean-energy himself, to give everyone a master class in why fossil fuel dependence is scary as all shit
kgwxd 6mo ago
You're saying a few weeks of high gas prices and a ton of people have gone out to buy overpriced tablets on wheels? I don't believe that.
- Ekaros 6mo ago
  Could be. People are not very logical and schools don't teach math anymore. It is somewhat complex subject. Taking in account actual use, cost of fuel and maintenance and then comparing it to purchase price and depreciation is bit of a work. And I don't think too many people do that when they should.
- gambiting 6mo ago
  Well, it's being reported as a surge in interest, whether that is followed by increased sales or not will be seen in the next month or two once these cars are delivered. But anecdotally, second hand EVs which were flooding car lots everywhere have substantially thinned out. There are still some, but a lot less than a month ago. https://www.regit.cars/car-news/uk-fuel-price-hike-sparks-36-surge-in-ev-interest https://www.regit.cars/car-news/uk-fuel-price-hike-sparks-36... Also lol, you're funny implying that ICE cars aren't overpriced tablets on wheels either. It's all cars nowadays. And UK's cheapest car right now happens to be a pretty decent EV anyway, a Dacia Spring.
bombcar 6mo ago
Didn't BYD just lay off 100k people?
- defrost 6mo ago
  Just reported, yes, that's globally and throughout the past 12 months so that's a 10% work force reduction overall. In the same period they're posting record sales, it's possible that's mostly a reduction in bleeding edge sales promotion staff, influencers, etc now they have better recognition. Two press takes on likely the same company press release material. * https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-100000-job-cuts-prove-it https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-10... * https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-workforce-down-10-the-new-battleground-for-ev-growth/ https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-wor... That infomation lags current events, perhaps they are taking staff on now EV demand has spiked following oil shock.
  - ivewonyoung 6mo ago
    > In the same period they're posting record sales This says that sales are actually down. Where are you getting record sales from? https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-march/ https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-...
    - defrost 6mo ago
      > Where are you getting record sales from? I posted two links that both say that, of course both appear to mirror the same primary source. You'd have to drill into both cleantechnica and the BYD presser for the exact details and caveats that come with all such reporting. Revenue and deliveries reach new highs BYD reported 8039.6 billion yuan (1,123 billion USD) in revenue for 2025, alongside 4.60 million vehicle deliveries, according to the NBD. Overseas deliveries reached approximately 1.05 million units, according to Sina reporting, marking the first time the company surpassed the 1-million-unit mark in exports. ~ https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-workforce-down-10-the-new-battleground-for-ev-growth/ https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-wor... BYD slashes 100,000 jobs yet posts record sales. Inside the cost cuts, profit squeeze, and why it’s still leading the global EV race. ~ https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-100000-job-cuts-prove-it https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-10...
ivewonyoung 6mo ago
> Chinese brands like BYD, on the other hand, are laughing all the way to the bank BYD sales are down. https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-march/ https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-...
sdf3221a 6mo ago
Most of the Tesla discourse is quite jaded I think - especially from people who aren't regular car users or with a US-centric political bent. I suspect a lot of this dip is simply because the Juniper series for Model Y was just announced, with specific 2026 improvements and most savvy buyers are just withholding and you'll see a spike in 2026 numbers up.

reactordev 6mo ago

It was always about first mover advantage and never about building a sustaining car manufacturer. It was about moving an industry.

DiscourseFan 6mo ago

Obviously the oil spike, while not a relatively massive price hike historically, is clearly accelerating the pace of electrification, similarly to how COVID accelerated the use of zoom and other remote work platforms. But also similarly, it will probably be the case that gas is still used for some needs, just not nearly as many as today. People still do prefer their gas ranges, and its not as if natural gas is a great pollutant. But electricity is easier to manage than ever now, given battery capacity.

girvo 6mo ago
Induction is better than gas in basically any way you can care to slice it, and natural gas in your home is actually quite bad for air quality. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-17/kitchen-pollutants-study-australia-looks-at-gas-stove-health/102109372?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-17/kitchen-pollutants-st...
- taeric 6mo ago
  I mean, if you are looking at unventilated kitchens, you are going to get bad values cooking. Pretty much period. Yes, by products of burning gas are bad. But by products of cooking are already bad. Ventilate your kitchen.
  - eigenspace 6mo ago
    Even with very good ventilation, gas ranges will pollute your air to a surprising degree.
    - taeric 6mo ago
      Right, I was not intending this as a defense of gas ranges. More surprised that they would baseline with a non-ventilated kitchen. Cooking, itself, will pollute your air to a surprising degree.
  - tom_alexander 6mo ago
    Induction is also faster to boil water, easier to clean since it's just flat glass, and safer since an induction stove without a pot/pan stays room temperature (in fact, they usually can detect if a pot/pan is present and automatically turn themselves off) Induction is also particularly nice for certain types of cooking because many induction stoves can be set to a specific temperature instead of just to a power level.
    - taeric 6mo ago
      Agreed that folks should look more favorably on induction. I did not mean my comment as a defense of gas. Just pointing out that most of the pollution from cooking is one where you want a good range hood that vents to the outside. And you need to clean it. Our last house did not have a vent to the outside and it was eye opening to realize how much grease throughout the entire house was from that.
- chongli 6mo ago
  Induction requires your cookware to sit flat against the surface or it won’t heat up (and the range will shut off after a certain time). With natural gas the flames rise through convection and wrap around the contours of the pan. This means many traditional pieces of cookware with round bottoms simply will not work on induction but work fine on natural gas. Induction also requires the cookware to be ferromagnetic. This rules out a lot of traditional cookware materials such as clay, copper, brass, and stone. Many of these traditional materials are also accompanied by traditional shapes (round bottoms, gently sloped sides) that take advantage of the convection properties of open flame cooking. Many recipes rely on these traditional vessels for optimal cooking performance. Woks, for example, work much better with a round bottom so liquids can pool in the middle, letting you use less oil for stir frying but still allowing ingredients to spend time in the pooled oil. The temperature profile of a round-bottom wok over gas flame is also superior to a flat-bottom wok on induction: the traditional wok has a bright hot spot at the bottom (where all the oil is pooling) in addition to heat up all around the sloped sides, for rapidly reducing liquids that come out of foods and cooking sauces (soy sauce, shaoxing wine) with an arc-splash technique. The flat-bottom wok on induction has a uniformly hot surface on the bottom but the sides remain cool, causing all liquids in contact with the sides to run down to the bottom and begin boiling, just like when you try to stir-fry in a frying pan. Candy-making is another cooking process that benefits greatly from the convection of natural gas combustion, since molten sugar will crystallize around the sides of a pan if they are not hot enough. Traditional candy-making is done in thin-walled, tin-lined copper pans. These pans don't work at all on induction (no ferromagnetic materials) but even if placed on a ferrous plate they would not perform well due to lack of heating of the sides.
  - girvo 6mo ago
    > Induction requires your cookware to sit flat against the surface or it won’t heat up Not really. You’ve obviously not used modern induction cooktops (though if you’ve gone to a restaurant you’ve eaten from it). > The temperature profile of a round-bottom wok over gas flame is also superior to a flat-bottom wok on induction Explain why induction cooktops are incredibly widespread across modern Asian restaurants. You’ve really got to update your priors. Don’t listen to me, listen to a professional chef (who runs an awesome restaurant in Shenzhen): https://youtu.be/vgv_IiSZarY?si=fgl1w1udQ72xqY3n https://youtu.be/vgv_IiSZarY?si=fgl1w1udQ72xqY3n Candy making, I’ll concede because I have no experience. In every other way induction is still better.

conartist6 6mo ago

So thoughtful of Trump, Mr anti-clean-energy himself, to give everyone a master class in why fossil fuel dependence is scary as all shit

kgwxd 6mo ago

You're saying a few weeks of high gas prices and a ton of people have gone out to buy overpriced tablets on wheels? I don't believe that.

Ekaros 6mo ago
Could be. People are not very logical and schools don't teach math anymore. It is somewhat complex subject. Taking in account actual use, cost of fuel and maintenance and then comparing it to purchase price and depreciation is bit of a work. And I don't think too many people do that when they should.
gambiting 6mo ago
Well, it's being reported as a surge in interest, whether that is followed by increased sales or not will be seen in the next month or two once these cars are delivered. But anecdotally, second hand EVs which were flooding car lots everywhere have substantially thinned out. There are still some, but a lot less than a month ago. https://www.regit.cars/car-news/uk-fuel-price-hike-sparks-36-surge-in-ev-interest https://www.regit.cars/car-news/uk-fuel-price-hike-sparks-36... Also lol, you're funny implying that ICE cars aren't overpriced tablets on wheels either. It's all cars nowadays. And UK's cheapest car right now happens to be a pretty decent EV anyway, a Dacia Spring.

bombcar 6mo ago

Didn't BYD just lay off 100k people?

defrost 6mo ago
Just reported, yes, that's globally and throughout the past 12 months so that's a 10% work force reduction overall. In the same period they're posting record sales, it's possible that's mostly a reduction in bleeding edge sales promotion staff, influencers, etc now they have better recognition. Two press takes on likely the same company press release material. * https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-100000-job-cuts-prove-it https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-10... * https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-workforce-down-10-the-new-battleground-for-ev-growth/ https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-wor... That infomation lags current events, perhaps they are taking staff on now EV demand has spiked following oil shock.
- ivewonyoung 6mo ago
  > In the same period they're posting record sales This says that sales are actually down. Where are you getting record sales from? https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-march/ https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-...
  - defrost 6mo ago
    > Where are you getting record sales from? I posted two links that both say that, of course both appear to mirror the same primary source. You'd have to drill into both cleantechnica and the BYD presser for the exact details and caveats that come with all such reporting. Revenue and deliveries reach new highs BYD reported 8039.6 billion yuan (1,123 billion USD) in revenue for 2025, alongside 4.60 million vehicle deliveries, according to the NBD. Overseas deliveries reached approximately 1.05 million units, according to Sina reporting, marking the first time the company surpassed the 1-million-unit mark in exports. ~ https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-workforce-down-10-the-new-battleground-for-ev-growth/ https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/31/byd-cuts-100000-jobs-wor... BYD slashes 100,000 jobs yet posts record sales. Inside the cost cuts, profit squeeze, and why it’s still leading the global EV race. ~ https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-100000-job-cuts-prove-it https://www.autoblog.com/news/the-ev-boom-is-changing-and-10...

ivewonyoung 6mo ago

> Chinese brands like BYD, on the other hand, are laughing all the way to the bank BYD sales are down. https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-march/ https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/02/byd-sales-down-20-4-in-...

sdf3221a 6mo ago

Most of the Tesla discourse is quite jaded I think - especially from people who aren't regular car users or with a US-centric political bent. I suspect a lot of this dip is simply because the Juniper series for Model Y was just announced, with specific 2026 improvements and most savvy buyers are just withholding and you'll see a spike in 2026 numbers up.