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In This Issue

• And Bingo Was His Name-O

• Chinese EVs Back In the Spotlight

And Bingo Was His Name-O

Yesterday, I was talking to a PR friend about the state of the world and it was suggested that I should create a bingo card for all of the insanity that is likely to happen over the next few years in the automotive industry.

While I think it’s a great idea, it’d be hard to make one. In the year of our lord 2025, satire is dead. While I’ve long viewed Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a grifter more than an innovator, he’s empire is built on the climate change movement. Yes, you could nitpick and say things like SpaceX doesn’t further the cause of helping prevent the planet from baking to a crisp, but at least at some level Musk had to acknowledge climate change is real to sell electric cars.

So on a crazy-pants bingo card, it’d be easy to put “Elon Musk Denies Climate Change.” But just nine days into this year, he’s done that.

Los Angeles is on fire right now. My thoughts are with the millions of people who call the second-largest city in the country their home. I’m relieved that I’ve heard from many of my friends who live there and they’re alive. But it’s getting worse and I hope everyone can stay as safe as they can.

It doesn’t really rain anymore in southern California. It used to. But now when it does it’s such a rare event that people flock to the windows of their homes and offices to watch it.

I was once at the offices of Internet Brands Automotive next to LAX, visiting some folks, and it started to rain. I kid you not the entire floor stopped what they were doing and went and looked out the window.

So yeah, it doesn’t rain much.

Because of the lack of water falling from the sky, the region suffers from both drought and dried up, dead vegetation. Those are prone to fires, from everything including campfires to lightning strikes. Add in some wind and you have a recipe for catastrophic disaster.

I’m going to leave the forest management aspect of the fires to people who actually understand the process (by the way, that’s not Libs of TikTok), but it’s scientifically accepted that climate change is the cause of the lack of wet stuff falling from the atmosphere.

But Elon Musk no longer believes that. DEI is what is causing the forest fires and the catastrophic loss of both property and life. In response to a Libs of TikTok tweet, Musk straight up said that these fires aren’t climate change after all.

Of course, Musk is just saying this because his friends on the right want him to say this, and he can’t make any friends on the left because most people see him for what he truly is. I’m sorry if that offends some of you, but facts are facts and they don’t care about your feelings.

Musk also joined Trump in calling for the resignation of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Wait, I’m sorry, it’s “Gavin Newscum” according to Truth Social. So is that New Scum or News Cum? Gross.

It’s also no wonder why the California government is working on ways to Musk and Trump-proof California and why the California governor wants to exclude Tesla from any state-level incentives.

Climate change is real and humanity is helping make it worse. There’s no water in fire hydrants because the available water is already being used to put out fires. Reservoirs don’t have water because of a lack of rain and water rights issues that track all the way back to Colorado. The makers of POM use more water in making their snake oil juice than every household in Los Angeles combined. AI data centers use an insane amount of electricity and water to operate to make stuff people don’t want.

In 2025, though, all you have to do is blame DEI or some other wild bullshit theory, and people just… they just go along with it. Jamelle Bouie summed it up in a way I could never:

How does all of this relate to automotive? Well, apart from the CEO of the largest EV maker in the world going full-fascist, with each passing day it’s no surprise why fewer and fewer people are spending their money on an EV with a T on the bonnet.

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Chinese EVs Back In the Spotlight

With CES wrapping up, the internet is aflutter again about Chinese electric vehicles. Because some Chinese EVs were present, it was an opportunity for a lot of new people to check them out who might not otherwise get the opportunity. These are all good things, and it’s good to see the coverage.