The internet was in a tizzy yesterday over Tesla's latest "love you but gotta pay monthly" move, so of course we gotta talk about it. Starting February 14th (Happy Valentine's Day!), Tesla is axing the one time $8,000 Full Self Driving (FSD) purchase. New buyers (and existing owners) now face the monthly glow-up: $99/month or $999/year. Existing owners who already purchased FSD outright? You're grandfathered in and can transfer it when you sell your car like a fancy heirloom. Tesla gets predictable recurring revenue to fuel those magical OTA updates, while the rest of us ponder if our cars are about to start charging us rent. At the same time, Bloomberg says "EV Winter Is Coming," and predicts 2026 EV sales growth to drop to a sleepy 12% (after 23% last year), with ~24.3 million passenger EVs expected worldwide. China's slashing subsidies, halving tax breaks, and telling everyone to chill on the price war. And the US? It's full-on "EV winter" mode, so you better go ahead and grab your puffer jacket.

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Rideable Suitcases by Chris Fleming

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