NSFW - Not Suitable for Wheels

Auto Express is quite right-wing so presumably are not going to criticise Nazi-saluting car-billionaire Elon Musk.

Or his dodgy AI Chatty-Friend Grok.

Anyway, Auto Express are telling us here about how new Model Ys and Model 3s will be getting Grok. 

And how it can be set up.

This includes with "the 18+ rated NSFW modes: ‘Unhinged’, ‘Motivation’, ‘Argumentative’, ‘Romantic’ and ‘Sexy.’"

Grok has always been aimed at the perverted - check out this NBC News story from last Summer where I nicked that picture from.

And, of course, the more recent stories about people using Grok to create images of undressed children which, after the initial outcry, Twitter decided they would put behind a paywall so that only the richer perverts could continue doing it.

Elon could afford it.

Then it became, "had stopped Grok from digitally altering pictures of people to remove their clothing in 'jurisdictions where such content is illegal'".

I suppose by putting into their cars, Grok can tell the pervert where it is legal and they can then drive there.

Using hands-free mode. 

Another End of The World

And yet another Tesla story and also another Tom Ford car review story.

This time he is reviewing the new Tesla Model Y - the one with a real indicator stalk.

He looks a bit menacing actually...

And yet he seems to be a really nice bloke - I'd like to go for a pint with him and talk cars.

Similarly Lars Moravy.

Who?

Vice president, vehicle engineering at Tesla - Tom interviews him about the new Y in the latest video on the Top Gear Magazine YouTube channel.

But some of the things he says are bit menacing.

Early on we get, "When you sell 1.2 million cars worldwide" casually slipped in to the conversation and "You don't want to break the recipe"  Which is more show-offy than menacing and, to be fair, he was also talking about how the replacement Y had a lot more to live up to than, for example, the Cybertruck.

Lars may end up in trouble if it doesn't emulate its predecessor's success so he must be at least a little concerned about falling Tesla sales which must be at least partly down to his boss - a common new nickname for their vehicles, at least on the socials, is Swastikar.  Also Wankpanzer but I don't understand the pun there - especially as "wank" isn't a generally used US term.

Which is why they didn't find "Wang Care" funny.

Lars described the Y as a "world car" - I suppose it is - it is the top selling car in the World and sold all over the World - I doubt if the previous "World Car" ever managed that.

He said that he felt "so separated from everyone around me when I'm driving" which is also not menacing but but just rather disappointing.

But then he is driving an SUV cross-over.

The bit that menaced me was, "Automony in the US is huge - it's coming here in a few months." - it sounded like the sort of thing that Trump makes up on the spot.  Except, unlike Trump, Morovy is a clever man.  With connections.  What does he know?

He also said, "as we get closer and closer to unsupervised in the US..."

I presume he was talking about self-driving technologies rather than general life.

Wasn't he?

Is he an Igor to Musk's Dr.Frankenstein?

Or maybe just a minion to Musks Gru?

Is clockwork better than electric?

Saw the first episode of a new sitcom last night.

Although it's really a spin-off from an older sitcom.

Motherland has spawned Amandaland.

According to the Guardian, it is aimed at "strung out middle-aged mums" so shouldn't be of any interest to me.

And it perpetuates two tropes about electric cars - one real, one bunkum.

The real one is that you don't have off-road parking, they are a bugger to charge up locally and cheaply.

The bunkum one is that they keep running out of charge.

Here is Amanda in her Tesla.

As it is, the bunkum one doesn't bother me in the slightest.

For two reasons...

• It was essential to the storyline - and it is a VERY FUNNY sitcom.
• It makes Teslas look bad.

I don't like Teslas partly because of their lack of switchgear but mostly because of their odious CEO who I seem to be obsessed with - old Elon.

And it looks like I am not alone.  Here are a couple of very interesting stories about sales plummeting in Europe and the States:

• The Independent
• Motor 1.com

And one about how the Chinese brands are taking sales from Tesla over there.

• CNBC

The Chinese angle is interesting because Musk's current pal Donald is imposing tariffs on Chinese goods coming in to America (maybe he's found someone in America now who can make his MAGA hats) so that will probably include Tesla Model Ys.  And China is putting on reciprocal tariffs which will affect sales of the US built Teslas.

The American angle is also interesting though because the Americans who are not fans of Trump will not want to buy Teslas now. And Trump is very pro-oil and anti-electric so I suspect the bromance won't last too long.

Apparently, only Toyota owners are more likely than Tesla owners to say they will buy the same brand when they come to change their vehicle.  Wonder how long Tesla will hang on to that Number 2 spot?

Now go and watch episode 1 of Amandaland and you may realise that this post should have been called "Is clockwork better than chocolate?"

Inferior Design

Remember when BMW introduced their iDrive knob?

Lots of people hated it.

Then it evolved.

I found it perfectly useable on my 2012 3-Series.

Apple obviously weren't too bothered by its name - it was well before they had even considered making cars themselves so they wouldn't have needed it.

But now it is on it's way out...

...at least as we know it today.

Several motoring sites are reporting that BMW are at CES 2025 in Las Vegas showing the new version that will appear within the Neue Klasse electric models slated for the back end of this year.

Look! No knob!

And unfortunately, no buttons either.

Have they learned nothing from Volkswagen's U-Turn?

Now driving a BMW will be how I imagine driving a Tesla to be - just about everything involving fingering a big central screen - not exactly a driver's car any more.  But at least the BMWs will still have indicator stalks - something Tesla dropped in favour of steering wheel buttons - a horrific idea that you can only get away with if you are Ferrari.

And maybe not even then.

But, also at CES, we have evidence that someone at Tesla has seen a bit of sense.

Pretty safe bet it wouldn't have been Elon.

Drive.com.au have the specs for the all-new 2025 Tesla Model Y here.

Remember the days when a heated rear window or a rear fog lamp were proudly listed as features on the more upmarket versions of a particular model of car?

Well if you look at the features offered on the 2025 Model Y you will see...

...an indicator stalk!

Open Door Policy

What is the difference between in-laws and outlaws?

Outlaws are wanted.

One of my in-laws posted this video on Facebook yesterday:

Several questions and his driver's side rear door were raised.

Did you see the price of the petrol there?  I paid 131.7 a litre yesterday at the local Asda and thought that was bad - interestingly the same price for petrol as for diesel.

The slightly bigger question, though, is "Why was it being driven along with the bloody door open?"

The driver must have known - apparently there are loads of warning gongs that go off if you try to do that sort of thing.

Had the door mechanism failed?  Was he showing off?  In either case, you'd think he might allow a bit of extra space for the overhang when driving through London traffic.

It must have been quite traumatic for the bus driver so I feel ashamed for laughing at my favourite comment added under the Post:

"Typical bus driver, never looks where he's going!"