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Too late. Too expensive. Too bland. Too antiquated. Too much of the same. There are just too many toos when it comes to Teslas new “cheap” cars, which the company announced on Oct. 7. Its highly anticipated “affordable models” are just stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y variants that come in at a more expensive price point than the current 2025 models. Some marketing genius labeled them as Standard, but judging the cars against cheaper, better models from automakers around the world, Tesla’s newest offerings can’t even claim that benign adjective. The truth is, these cars are terrible news for the company. With its reputation in tatters thanks to Musks brand suicide-by-Trump and years of quality complaints, technology stagnation, and tired design, Tesla really needed a big bang to counteract its quickly shrinking market share. Judging by the reaction online, that big bang looks more like a Starship exploding on the launch pad. The consensus is that these new models are just manufacturing cost-cutting without the price tag cuts. Unsurprisingly, Tesla stock fell 4% yesterday after the announcement. It will rebound, Im sure, but my prediction is that it will crash way harder when new sales data comes in the next two quarters after people realize how much of a dud these models are. [Photo: Tesla] Cant compete The Hyperloop-sized fact of the matter is that there is just no way these new cars are going to beat the competition. Lets put aside their lackluster trimmings and repetitive design to focus on price for now. The new cars aren’t affordable at all: The Model Y Standard starts at $39,990 and the Model 3 Standard at $36,990. These prices cant compete in the market today. Chinese brands like BYD and NIO destroy them at every single metric. They already offer a better price for a superior technology than Teslas expensive models, which is why the companys market share is in free fall everywhere Chinese EVs are on the road. Many Chinese models have longer-lasting and more durable batteries, better trimmings, better finishes, and even free autonomous driving for life for many models at genuinely affordable prices. [Photo: BYD] Worldwide EV market king BYD sells vehicles starting below $30,000 globally, with models like the Dolphin priced at around $26,700 and the Seagull compact selling for under $10,000 in China. The company has outsold Tesla globally for the last four quarters, selling about 1.6 million all-electric vehicles through Q3 2025nearly 400,000 more than Teslas 1.22 million units in the same period. But you dont even need to go compact to see the price difference: NIO’s new Onvo L60 SUV starts at $30,439 while offering more interior space and equivalent range. How can Tesla every hope to beat them? Even American competitors offer better options. The Chevrolet Equinox EV starts at $34,995 with 319 miles of range, undercutting Tesla’s Model Y by $5,000 while offering traditional amenities Tesla removed. You know, like FM radio and powered mirrors. Tesla’s new models dont have FM radio and the new Standard Model 3 is now the only car sold in America with manual side mirrors, as the car publication The Drive points out. [Photo: Chevrolet] Japan has cheaper and better EVs, too, like the Toyota bZ4X SUV, which starts at $38,520. The Europeans, too, if you want really inexpensive. The Dacia Spring starts at about $19,500. The Citrėn ė-C3 begins at about $23,000. I can go on and on, but you get the idea. Worse yet: The new Teslas cant even compete with its existing models. Thanks to Musk’s Trump supportwhich brought the elimination of federal tax creditsthe Standard models are more expensive than Tesla’s cars cost just days earlier, as EV car blog Electrek points out. The Model Y costs $37,490 after credits, about $2,000 less than the Standard version. Tesla somehow managed to launch cheaper cars that are more expensive. Well done, Elon. Heres your $1 trillion cookie. [Photo: Tesla] Dollar General cars without the price cuts Thats the other thing with the new models. The company has systematically removed features across every category in these vehicles. The Model Y, for example, has dropped its range by 36 miles to 321 miles. Some of them as basic as FM radio and powered mirrors, no heated second-row seats, and no adaptive high beams. Cars.com counts a total of 15 missing features. Gone are the LED light bars that were Teslas signature, according to The Autopian. The Model Y now looks like a generic crossover with simple headlamps. Inside, Tesla swapped premium vegan leather for cheap textile inserts, removed the rear touchscreen that passengers actually used and kids loved, and even eliminated ambient lighting throughout the cabin. The audio system drops from 15 speakers with a subwoofer to just seven speakers. The rear seats fold manually instead of electronically. The front trunk shrinks by a cubic foot and loses its waterproof lining. The engineering cutbacks are even more worrying. Tesla downgraded the suspension from its frequency-selective dampers back to basic passive shocks. Why? No idea. But it’s particularly shocking because the suspension has been a big point of disgust for many users and car testers, like MotorTrend, who hated it. Gone is the lane-centering autosteer too, a major safety feature in a car brand known for being one of the most dangerous cars on the road. The number of cameras have been reduced, too. And, of course, no autonomous driving (which may be a blessing in disguise, given the deficient state of the technology, still far away from Musks self-driving sci-fi promises). [Photo: Tesla] As one industry expert observed: “It’s challenging to justify such a lengthy list of missing features when the price difference is merely $5,000 from the next trim up. As a Redditor pointed out in one of the many threads slamming the new models, it feels like Tesla dont actually want to sell these carsperhaps it’s a move to get consumers to upgrade to the next, more expensive model. If thats the case, its a strange way to get back into the leadership position. One that doesnt seem to justify Musks astronomical pay package. Perhaps these new models are an admission that he has given up completely on cars and he thinks that robots and autonomous cabs will save his company from oblivion. But that bet is now more dangerous than ever. Maybe that would be a possibility if Tesla had all this technology working and deployed, but his promise about Tesla Robotaxis being everywhere in 2026 still feels completely unfeasible, no matter what some analysts are smoking. Its still testing the cars in Austin and the Bay Area, while competitors Waymo and Apollo are establishing full services in cities worldwide. And his promise about Optimus also shipping by the gazillion next year, well, LOL is all I can say. The latest demo in September was toe-curling embarrassing. But I digress. We were talking about cars. We’re talking about new Teslas that are not affordable, but are cheap. But hey, at least have arrived, even if it is years too late. And even if their arrival is nothing more than a reminder that Tesla is once again ceding its reputation as an innovator.
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E-Commerce
If youre a frequent flier, chances are youve been seized by the fear that your carry-on bag is too big for the overhead compartments. Now, for American Airlines passengers, its even more important to make sure that your bag is within the size limit before boarding. This week, the airline announced that its getting rid of its bag-sizers at gates. American Airlines told the news station KTLA that it started removing the metal sizers, which typically allow customers and gate agents to decide if luggage will fit in the airplanes overhead bins, on October 6. According to the airline, the move is intended to simplify the boarding processbypassing the bottleneck that sometimes forms when multiple passengers need to check the size of their bags. How will bags be checked for size? Starting this week, gate agents will be responsible for visually assessing whether carry-ons are the appropriate size. According to American Airlines website, customers are allowed one personal item, which should be 18-by-14-by-8 inches or smaller, as well as one carry-on, which cannot exceed 22-by-14-by-9 inches. The airline noted to KTLA that bag-sizers are still available in airport lobbies for passengers who would like to use them. Team members will continue to monitor carry-on baggage in the lobby and at the gate, and oversized items will still be required to be checked in ahead of the flight, the airline said. This procedural change is only the latest update in American Airlines recent effort to get passengers boarded faster. In late 2024, the company began cracking down on gate licepassengers who swarm the gate before it’s their time to boardby implementing a new boarding pass technology that makes an audible beep if fliers try to board in the wrong group, sending them back to the end of the line. Other airlines are increasingly focused on streamlining their boarding processes, too. Over the past several years, the air travel industry has become reliant on charging customers for an ever-expanding list of ancillary fees to boost profits, forcing the U.S.s biggest companies to compete on offering the most desirable perks. For Southwest Airlines, thats meant scrapping its iconic open boarding system in order to implement an eight-group boarding process with premium seating options. American Airlines did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for additional details on its new bag-sizer policy.
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E-Commerce
As any Studio Ghibli fan will testify, an afternoon spent binging Hayao Miyazaki classics is guaranteed to leave a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Now, this feeling is backed by science. A study published by JMIR Serious Games, a peer reviewed journal focused on how gaming is connected to education, health, and social change, looked into how the brain responds to both watching films produced by the Japanese animation studio and playing the open-world game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The researchers gathered 518 postgraduate students and divided them into four groups. Some played Breath of the Wild and some watched Studio Ghibli films like My Neighbor Totoro and Kikis Delivery Service, while others did both and a control group did neither. Researchers then measured feelings of exploration, calm, skill mastery, purpose, and life happiness via a brief questionnaire. The results matched what fans have intrinsically known for years. Those who played Breath of the Wild reported higher levels of life happiness than those who didnt. Peacefully roaming the world of Hyrule, perhaps stopping by a pond or cooking a meal under the stars, creates a relaxing form of escapism for players away from lifes daily stresses, permitting a chance to recharge mentally. For an added boost of happiness, however, the researchers found both playing the game and watching the Studio Ghibli films produced the best results. This comes down to the Studio Ghibli films unique ability to induce nostalgia. Films such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kikis Delivery Service often focus on the small, everyday wonders of life, such as playing in the countryside or sharing mealtime with family, the research noted. By shining a spotlight on ordinary moments and turning them into something magical, Miyazakis works tap into a universal longing for the innocence and wonder of childhood. This kind of warmth can evoke nostalgia for times when people felt safe and cared for.” Previous research backs up the positive mental health effects of these leisure time activities. Studies have shown that casual gaming can be an effective way to unwind and relax, while open-world games in particular, have been shown to significantly enhance cognitive escapism, promote relaxation, and improve overall mental well-being. Now your weekend plans are sorted. You’re welcome.
Category:
E-Commerce
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