By Frank Williams
August 25, 2008 -
Apparently Autobloggreen doesn't want their readers contaminated by our Tesla Deathwatch series. Chris writes "you owe me a forum for comments because just mentioning your 'Tesla deathwatch' in the comment section of Autoblog Green earned me an IP block for life! I guess nobody likes the truth….But you will have found that one out yourself by now I guess. Mine is the first comment. Note that I had included a link to your Tesla death watch but they edited it out…." Here's the link to the article on ABG . And Chris, here's your forum. Thanks for helping spread The Truth About Cars!
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August 25th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
What is TTAC’s opinion on commenters linking to other sites?
August 25th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Well, there’s nothing new about green car enthusiasts being intolerant of other ideas. According to Fox, the following was said in a Prius enthusiast forum regarding the idea of a dating network for Prius drivers:
“[a forum member] says it ’stems from my inability to look at people with gas-burning cars as attractive.’”
Apparently he doesn’t realize that the Prius burns gasoline and that its only, I repeat ONLY source of energy is ultimately gasoline.
Here’s the link to the full story.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
^^^
And when these perfectly wussified people breed and have perfectly wussified children, my evil V-8 loving offspring will beat them up and steal their lunch money.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Oooh, a good-old-fashioned forum war! Awesome!
August 25th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
That explains why AutoblogGreen hasn’t done a weekly podcast (yes, I subsribe to the podcast, damn proud of it) in over a month, they’re too busy blocking commenters.
I like their blog, but this is ridiculous. TTAC’s blocked quite a few people, and Jalop sent a few to cyberpurgatory as well, but I don’t see how this can be sufficient grounds. I want the Tesla to work, but their bothcing of the transmission issue, even for a small startup, is inexcusable.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
This is like the science v. religion debate, you either have room in your brain to accept the competing ideas of fun driving and environmentalism, or you don’t. I guess Tesla was supposed to bridge that gap, but they’re too busy with a fancy showroom and celebrity clients.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Hm.
ABG is an odd duck. Some of the writers have a pretty good grip on environmental issues and you’ll see some really interesting technologies discussed. The posters are pretty sharp, too. It’s a potentially good source, but it has a problem: Autoblog runs it.
The problem is a lot of Autoblog’s inherent bias seeps through. For a “green” site, it was very, very late to the game in examining the fallacies of ethanol and hydrogen. It’s also strangely down on the Prius (same as AB itself) and was far too willing to give GM a free pass on the Volt and dual-mode hybrids (again, same as AB). It almost seems as if it’s steered by gearheads who are grudgingly offering a green venue because they’ve been told there’s a market for it. Again, it’s not all of the writers, but there’s something–funny–there.
I’m not sure what the deal is with Tesla. Best as I can tell, either they sold their soul for a test drive, or Jason Calcanis’ shadow hand is directing content.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
@Hitman:
“And when these perfectly wussified people breed and have perfectly wussified children, my evil V-8 loving offspring will beat them up and steal their lunch money.”
Holy crap that was funny…
August 25th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Leave it to an ABG commenter to label Eberhard’s classic Gulf livery-inspired paint job “ghastly.” The way I see it, every car should be available in the blue-and-orange.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
The car represents a gearhead’s dream come true, but there’s been a lot of vaporware before. I have to admit, TTAC’s perceived stance towards the Tesla is one of extreme skepticism and pessimism. Maybe that’s what ABG detests so much.
hitman1970: Very well said!
eastaboga: Don’t forget about the celebrity CEOs, too.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
As a member of some other sites, I find it very annoying when people peddle their own site by linking to them in every single one of their posts. I hate that. But linking directly to an actual article, or just linking once because it’s relevant to the conversation, should always be welcome.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
86er
What is TTAC’s opinion on commenters linking to other sites?
No problem with it as long as it’s done to illustrate a point or has other relevance to the discussion at hand. However, if it’s for shameless self-promotion or spam, we don’t allow it.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
86er,
Heck, they link to other sites in the stories here. You see, truth doesn’t exist under censorship. Think twice when you hear someone say they are a liberal. Are they really liberal?
August 26th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Autobloggreen lost all credibility when they published this article:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/08/01/blade-your-ride-cut-emissions-and-save-gas/
August 26th, 2008 at 3:08 am
“It almost seems as if it’s steered by gearheads who are grudgingly offering a green venue because they’ve been told there’s a market for it.”
Actually, from what I know about the creation of Autoblog Green, that’s more or less true. If I remember correctly, ABG was started because greenies and everyone else were constantly arguing at AB about perceived shortfalls in environmental coverage; ABG gave said greenies a place to congregate and talk about the green side of things, while AB itself stuck with their usual stuff.
August 26th, 2008 at 6:45 am
storminvormin:
The last quote from that adver, I mean, article:
“One more thing. Since Blade captures gasoline particulates (soot) from the exhaust and you can see it physically should be enough in and of itself for an environmentally minded person to want this product on their car. Particulate material is the most toxic emission your car puts out from both an environmental and human health standpoint.”
It’s a fart can with a soot filter, and it claims to increase gas mileage by “up to” 36%.
The sharks are out for blood, for sure.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:34 am
There is only one statement that needs to be said and understood. And it is this: Only those afraid of the truth resort to totalitarian, controlling tactics.
The truth will set one free. The problem is one must want to be free.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Proof once more that green is just the color of the latest coat of paint applied to fascism.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Wikipedia:
That’s awfully lofty for the wankers at ABG, don’t you think?
August 26th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Maybe. Maybe not. Even the big fascists has to start somewhere. I think the Merriam-Websters definition is a bit more applicable:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
August 26th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
rabbit,
When it comes to political definitions, wiki is definitely not a good source.
It’s hard to actually find a good source of definitions for political terms because part of the art of politics is controlling and warping the language to suit your agenda.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I think the whole point wasn’t that ABG is fascist, it’s that they’re being fascist while not being particularly green.
I can’t really count the number of times people redefine “fascist” or “communist” to suit their own particular argument.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Hi, I’m Chris and I am the guy that was kicked from ABG. Fact is that Tesla and ABG are thick as thieves. ABG is really part of Tesla’s hype machine, but I realised that a bit too late. I am quessing they were called up by the Tesla guys and summoned to remove my comment but other commentators had already responded to it. So all they could do was to edit out my link to TTAC’s “Tesla deathwatch” and ban me from making any more comments on ABG ever again. In their defense: there are precious little EV builders out there for them to write about so I quess it is understandable that they are rather not reminded of the more hype than substance character of Tesla. Truth is I want Tesla to succeed and to become the poster boy of the EV revolution, because I really feel the mass introduction of EV’s is important for the environment and oil independency. But if the truth is that Tesla has problems to deliver on the hype they should be honest about it rather than invent vague stories about car crashes in order to prevent cars from falling into the hands of people who might be critical of Tesla.
August 26th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Sounds as though ABG needs a lot more people linking to TTAC in their comments. Just a thought.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Well, I just went on ABG and posted a comment in support of Chris. It doesn’t seem to show up, although I’ve received a confirmation email from ABG.
My comment will probably never go up and I’ll probably get banned from ABG too.
Maybe a few other brave TTAC readers will post a comment in support of Chris on ABG too. We could start a movement!
August 27th, 2008 at 7:19 am
It’s hard to take AutoBlogGreen seriously when their website contains a prominent ad (at least on my computer) for the Chevy Silverado.
Sorta’ like the PETA website containing an ad for Sizzler Steakhouse.