The founder of Tesla has succeeded by bullshitting his way through his career, but this approach may not work well in addressing the fundamental challenges faced by the company. The company now faces issues like cooling demand, regulatory challenges, and market dynamics that cannot be easily navigated with mere bluffing. Despite past success, the founder's usual strategy might not be as effective in handling these critical issues in the future. Additionally, the broader electric vehicle industry is facing a decline in demand, especially in the United States, indicating a setback in the adoption of electric cars. This decline runs contrary to the positive trajectory the industry was once on, challenging the prospects of transitioning to renewable energy and electric vehicles.
On Wednesday, President Biden signed a bill into law that would force the sale of TikTok or ban the app outright. We explain how this came together, when just a few weeks ago it seemed unlikely to happen, and what legal challenges the law will face next. Then we check on Tesla’s very bad year and what’s next for the company after this week’s awful quarterly earnings report. Finally, to boldly support tech where tech has never been supported before: Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab try to fix a chip malfunction from 15 billion miles away.
Guests:
- Andrew Hawkins, Transportation Editor at The Verge
- Todd Barber, Propulsion Engineer at Jet Propulsion Lab
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