A Volvo dealership is getting backlash online for their gift
A lot has changed since 1991, but for one man, one particular thing has remained a constant.
Jim O’Shea hasn’t changed his car since he got it over 30 years ago and since then, he has managed to travel a whopping one million miles in it.
Although, a gift he received from Volvo as congratulations for reaching this milestone has proven to be controversial with people on social media.
Jim O’Shea drove his car for over 30 years to hit one million miles (YouTube/@fox2stlouis)
The Volvo 740 GLE has proved to be a very reliable car for O’Shea, who hasn’t been in any car accidents since buying the vehicle in 1991.
He said: “The good thing about this car is that it can’t get me in any trouble because it goes about 75 mph tops.”
In an interview with Fox 2 St. Louis, O’Shea revealed that his dad had worked for a Ford dealer and had told him that he could only buy a Ford car.
He said: “So when I brought this [Volvo] home, he didn’t talk to me for a while.
“I said to him, ‘I guarantee I will get a million miles in this car’.”
Celebrating his victory over 30 years later, O’Shea arrived at a Volvo dealership where he received a new car which he can enjoy for two years.
The dealership has given Jim O’Shea a new car for two years (YouTube/@fox2stlouis)
The news of his milestone prompted many people to take to social media to share their reactions.
One user wrote: “This man literally took 30 years to prove a point and succeeded.”
Another said: “Imagine paying car insurance for 30 years and never needing it.”
And a third commented: “I hope he keeps his old car. He’s gonna need it when the new one breaks down.”
However, not everyone was impressed by Volvo’s offer to O’Shea, with many believing that they should have let him keep the new car forever.
One person wrote: “Are you kidding me? 2 years? Should have just gifted him the car. He is such a good advertisement for the company.
A second said: “The dealer shouldn’t have had to lend him a car for two years. The manufacturer should have just given him one to keep and use the story as marketing content.”
And a third person added: “Unbelievable that they’re only letting him borrow a car for two years. And under the “Care by Volvo” lease terms, he’s limited to 1,250 miles per month. This is a joke. They should give him the car outright.
What happens when cops pull over driverless car as footage shows Waymo forced to stop by police
The police stopped a self-driving car for making a wrong turn
A self-driving taxi was pulled over by police but of course, there was no one in the driver’s seat to hand out a ticket to.
So, what happens when the cops pull over a driverless car? Footage has captured the moment a Waymo was forced to stop by police.
In a video uploaded to TikTok, the vehicle can be seen being pulled over in Los Angeles.
In the caption, it read: “G-Wagon owner smacks a #Waymo for causing traffic on Rodeo Drive, then #BHPD pulls it over. Does the cop just drop the ticket in the front seat?”
During the clip, a driver of a G-Wagon can be seen getting out of his vehicle to hit the back of the Waymo, later the self-driving car makes a wrong turn in front of the authorities.
As a result, the car got pulled over by the police but it has left a lot of people on social media with questions.
Taking to the TikTok comment section, one user wrote: “What even happens in this situation. Who does the cop talk to and how? Do they just write a ticket and send it to Google?”
Another said: “License and registration………….. Who gets the ticket or fine?”
A third person commented: “I wish I would have seen this live, I’d be dying laughing too.”
And a fourth added: “No one’s in there but cops talk to the representatives. I’ve seen a few Waymo’s be pulled over now.”
Are driverless taxis the future of car services?
Waymo was first founded in 2009 but it didn’t go driverless until October 2020 and it looks like other companies could be following suit.
Last year, Elon Musk unveiled the new Tesla Cybercab which he hopes will become a fleet of self-driving cabs in the future.
The driverless car was pulled over by police (TikTok/@kiefer_d_live)
While the Cybercab might seem like a normal looking car at first, a closer look revealed that it has no rear window, pedals or steering wheel and it is a fully autonomous drive.
The car was first showcased by Musk in October 2024 at Tesla’s ‘We, Robot’ event, with the company having plans to get them on the roads as early as 2026.
It’s hoped that the car will be able to run as a taxi-service when its owner doesn’t need it and, in theory, the car could earn money working a night-shift while its owner is asleep.
Published 12:21 23 Dec 2024 GMT
Man who drove nine-year-old Tesla with a staggering 250,000 milage reveals it’s impacted the battery life
More and more people are heading to the used EV market
Talk about getting bang for your buck, as one man has revealed what it’s like to drive a Tesla that has a jaw-dropping 250,000 miles on the clock.
The average lifespan of an electric car is anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 miles, with a battery lasting between eight to 15 years.
That’s some improvement on the average car going for 100,000 miles for petrol and 150,000 miles for diesel, but pushing a Tesla to 250,000 must take quite some doing.
As we see the battery in our smartphones become less efficient over time, electric vehicle batteries also face the same problems.
Steve Fowler put the Model S through its paces (The Independent)
So, you might be shocked to learn the battery life of a nine-year-old Tesla Model S that was driven by Steve Fowler. Fowler sells and services used EVs, speaking to The Independent about their benefits and how you could potentially grab a bargain on second-hand electric vehicles.
In the video, Fowler explains that while sales of new electric cars are a little slow, the used car market is ‘booming’.
Discussing the cons of EVs, Fowler said: “When it comes to longevity, batteries don’t always have the best reputation.”
He then gets behind the wheel of the Model S, showing its ‘whopping’ 257,384 miles on the clock. During the car’s nearly 10-year lifespan, Fowler says all the owners have replaced are the tires and the carpet mats.
Fowler was shocked to learn that while the Model S had clocked up some serious mileage, it was still working with 84% capacity on its battery. Saying, “That’s pretty impressive,” he goes on to explain how the car can still do the best part of 250 miles on a single charge. Going to Tesla’s base in West London, he asked the professionals what they thought of the Model S’ impressive lifespan.
He adds: “Tesla tells me that my 10-year-old car is nothing unusual, you’d normally see less than 10% degradation in the first few years.”
Tesla says models of this age aren’t as uncommon as you’d think (The Independent)
“Tesla has also promised that it will continue to support older models like this one, and that includes things like software over-the-air updates.”
Saying that when it comes to buying an EV and the tech, Fowler continues: “The chances are the EV could be better used than it was new. That includes the battery tech and efficiency.”
Tesla has its own ‘Certified Pre-Owned’ scheme for reselling EVs, with each car undergoing rigorous testing and a 90-point check.
This means that every pre-owned car will get enhanced autopilot and self-parking capabilities.
In terms of ‘charge anxiety’, Fowler assures us it’s a thing of the past thanks to one new public charger being installed every 25 minutes in the United Kingdom. America has seen the Biden-Harris Administration double the number of publicly available EV chargers, while approximately 1,000 new ones are being added every week. Like with any used car, Fowler says it’s important to do your homework, but with this one running at over 250,000 miles and still being in great condition, you might want to give EVs another chance.Featured Image Credit: Steve Fowler/Independent
Couple shocked after comparing the energy bills of two Teslas they each drove 500 miles a week in
They observed a shocking price difference, especially compared to petrol cars
One of the biggest reasons many decide to go electric for their cars is the price, and one YouTuber shared their shocking energy bills after him and his wife picked up two Teslas and drove around 500 miles a week each.
It is staggering to see quite how much people can save each month when making the switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, and some have even managed to pay virtually nothing across an entire year with the right set up.
Certain car owners have shared the long-term savings they have been able to make when opting for a new Tesla car, as while the initial cost of entry might be higher, it often evens out down the road for everything outside of the car itself.
This became even clearer after one YouTuber shared their electric bill though, as the addition of two new Teslas produced results you might not expect at the end of every month.
What were the costs before buying Teslas?
As reported by LADbible, YouTuber Mac’s Tech Toy Box gave a detailed rundown of his home’s electrical bill before he and his wife made the jump over to electric vehicles with Tesla.
For the first five months they spent living in their home without electric vehicles – which was also during the summer so it had high air conditioning usage – their bill averaged out at $225.
Some months were more expensive than others, but that is what he generally had to fork up every month without the extra burden of charging two cars on his front driveway.
How much did he have to pay after buying two Teslas?
After that, he picked up a Tesla Model Y, whereas his wife bought a Tesla Model 3 Long Range, so both should offer potentially different results due to their contrasting size – although both people drove on average around 500 miles per week.
As Mac bought his Model Y slightly before his wife picked up her Tesla, there is a short period where we’re able to see the effects of just a single car, although the results are shocking.
“Just with looking at me charging my vehicle with my charging habits from the months of March until June […] the bill actually went down to $214.81.”
While it might seem strange and almost impossible for the bill to decrease with added load, the time of year does play a big factor, which Mac himself points out.
He didn’t need to use the air conditioning as much both inside his home and in the car, and therefore the added load of charging the Tesla didn’t cost quite as much as the AC would in the hotter summer months.
Now that his wife has her Model 3 Long Range though we’re able to see what a month using both cars actually costs, with the added pressure of the heat in July.
“Moving on to this last month [July] where we had both vehicles charging at our charge habits, my bill was $267.32, so that’s quite an increase from the $214 with just me, but only slightly more expensive than that average of $225 from before I got any electric vehicle.”
It cost Mac and his wife $267.32 every month for their electric bills, including charging both Tesla vehicles (YouTube/Mac’s Tech Toy Box)
What really hammers home the cost savings of opting for electric cars though is when you factor in the price of gas that isn’t part of the $225 pre-EV bill, and it’s something that Mac now doesn’t need to think about.
He revealed that across both him and his wife they’d spend on average around $320 a month on petrol, which when combined with the $225 energy costs amounts to $545.
This is far more expensive overall than running the two Tesla cars across the same time period, working out as just over double the price which can definitely eat into your budget.
If this same discrepancy remained throughout the year then Mac would save around $3,332.16, which would make up a large percentage of the cost of either vehicle over time.Featured Image Credit: Mac’s Tech Toy Box / YouTube
Viral clip shows Tesla Cybertruck vs Lamborghini in drag race and there’s an unexpected victor
Noise doesn’t equal speed when it comes to cars
A clip has gone viral which shows a Tesla Cybertruck vs a Lamborghini in a drag race and there’s an unexpected victor.
The video of a Tesla truck going head-to-head against a Lamborghini supercar is doing the rounds on social media, with even the Tesla boss himself, Elon Musk, reposting the footage.
In the 37 second video, viewers can see a Cybertruck, which costs around $60,000 to buy, racing a Lamborghini Aventador, which costs between $420,000 and $570,000, with the roar of the Lambo’s 6.5 litre V12 engine being heard as the vehicle builds up its revs.
In contrast, the electric Cybertruck is silent as it speeds off compared with the Lamborghini’s loud screeches.
And it might come as a surprise as to who came out on top in the race and – spoiler alert – noise does not equal speed in this case.
🚨 TESLA CYBERTRUCK vs LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR: DRAG RACE $TSLA
Instead of the Lambo supercar, it was the Tesla that raced ahead in the lead, managing to make it to the next traffic light before the Aventador.
Silent but deadly – the Cybertruck crushed the Lambo in a win that it can thank electric power for, as a POV angle from inside the petrol-powered car showed just how far ahead the Tesla was.
For reference, the truck’s top model goes from zero to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds at its peak, while its opponent takes 2.9 seconds.
Essentially, Tesla vehicles have the ability to accelerate quickly due to a number of factors.
Its electric motors deliver the maximum amount of torque from a standstill, while internal combustion engines need to build up the power.
The high-capacity batteries and motor control systems on the Tesla also help to deliver the highest amount of power to the wheels, as the Cybertruck’s all-wheel drive also gives it an impressive amount of traction.
The Cybertruck proved to be the faster car in the race (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
In the video, we can also see that the Lamborghini has a semi-automatic gearbox, operated via flappy paddles on the back of the steering wheel.
It could mean that the driver could have timed his start poorly, affecting the result and giving the Tesla the upper hand.
Either way, paying less than a sixth of the price of the Lambo for the Cybertruck and being able to win a drag race is still impressive.
