Protests erupt at Tesla dealers as China holds FSD hostage in tariff war

It was a rough weekend for TSLA as public protests of CEO Elon Musk and his actions at DOGE overwhelm Tesla showrooms as calls from shareholders to fire America's most powerful immigrant grow louder. Plus, solid-state batteries and a brand-new, affordable EV from Kia on today's rapidly escalating episode of Quick Charge!

We've also got word that Xi Jinping could be holding approval of Elon's (supervised) Full Self Driving software hostage until the US backs off its proposed tariffs against China, and a new purchase from Cummins could make drop-in hybrid kids a commercial reality for construction and mining operations sooner than later.

Source Links

• Tesla was hit by a wave of protests over Musk, sales are crashing, insiders are waking up
• Tesla Full Self-Driving’s approval in China could be used as bargaining chip in trade war
• BYD’s most affordable EVs just got a smart driving upgrade, for free
• BYD confirms plans for EVs with all-solid-state batteries to begin rolling out in 2027
• Kia finally pulls the covers off its new EV4: Here’s our first look at the low-cost EV
• All the best EV (and PHEV) rebate deals we could find for February 2025
• Cummins acquires hybrid heavy mining equipment experts First Mode

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