The year is coming to a close, and the ASOTU team has taken some time to reflect. 2022 had a lot to talk about, but now we want to look at some of the more impressive feats of backpedaling we had the luxury of watching unfold in real time.
BMW was going to charge people for heated seats back in July. Everybody wrote an article about it- including us - and then, and then it vanished as if it never happened. Some people even said it must have been a hoax, but let's face it…when you make a mistake, and people say it was a hoax, are you going out of the way to set that record straight?
Rivian may have set a record for "just kidding" moments this year (we didn't count them and aren't going to now).
It's been a weird one.
Tesla once said they would not discount their vehicles in the US. That was 2 discounts ago. On December 1st, they set a discount, and not even a month later, they doubled the discount in the US to $7,500. The discount is not in place of a tax credit since the Department of Treasury has pushed back the stricter criteria to March. (Which also feels like a backpedal. Enjoy this two-for-one special. You deserve it!)
Volkswagen has been moving toward its own electric future quite aggressively this year... Then suddenly, they said, "new plan: electrification is kinda hard. Let's just focus on building cars." Like, y'all... we thought you were already doing that!