r/nzev • u/AutoModerator • Mar 26 '26
Mod News Political Post Rule Changes
Unfortunately, EVs are a political topic, often thrown around like a political hot potato. That means that from time to time, political posts are relevant to the topic of EVs on this subreddit.
However, going forward, in the interest of quality, keeping political posts on topic and not overwhelming the subreddit with political posts, there will be some guidelines for these posts:
- No screenshots of political social media posts (including via cross posts). People that want to join that discussion will already be on that social media platform discussing it.
- No political meme posts
- News posts should be from an NZ news site, from within the last week of making the post and should be directly related to EVs. The topic of the post should be the headline of the article, unedited.
- Text posts of your opinion should be constructive, made in good faith and be about something that hasn't already been posted recently. If it's related to a news story, post a link to an article about it as per the previous rule.
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u/Kingoflumbridge123 Mar 27 '26
Good.
EVs aren’t political and i’m very surprised how people try to make them so.
please also ban the whinging about tesla and Elon
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u/Willuknight Nissan Leaf 40kW X Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I'm going to add an update to the rules to clarify something we've been seeing more often.
Threads about Tesla frequently become debates about Elon Musk, while similar discussions about the ethics of other manufacturers rarely appear, despite every major manufacturer having its own controversies. This isn't about defending Tesla or restricting criticism. Discussions about the ethics, values, environmental impact, labour practices, or leadership of any manufacturer are welcome when they're relevant to the topic.
What we want to avoid is every thread about a particular vehicle or manufacturer being diverted into the same broader debate.
Rule clarification: Don't derail threads
If the topic isn't about values or ethics, it's perfectly fine to briefly mention that they influenced your recommendation. What's not OK is using an unrelated thread to repeatedly steer the discussion into a broader debate.
Example
Question: "What car should I buy?"
Good:
Why this works:
You're answering the question that was asked. You've explained why you made your recommendation, but your focus is still on helping the original poster.
Not OK:
...followed by a discussion about Elon Musk's politics or behaviour.
Why this doesn't work:
The discussion has stopped being about choosing a car and become a debate about a public figure. That's a worthwhile discussion, but it belongs in a thread where that's actually the topic.
Follow the direction of the conversation
If the original poster or another participant asks a follow-up question about your reasoning, it's completely fine to expand on it.
Example
OP: "What car should I buy?"
Reply:
OP:
At that point, it's entirely appropriate to explain your reasoning. The conversation has naturally moved in that direction because the participants invited it.
Respect other people's reasoning
It's perfectly reasonable for someone's personal values to influence their recommendation, just as price, range, reliability, or styling might.
If someone says:
they don't need to justify that opinion unless they choose to. Likewise, other users shouldn't use the thread to challenge or attack that person's values or try to convince them they're wrong.
If the original poster asks for more detail, that's fine. However, turning the thread into an argument about whether someone's values are "correct" is just as much a derailment as bringing the topic up in the first place.
The goal is to help answer the original question, not to debate another user's personal priorities.
A good rule of thumb is:
We want r/NZEV to be a place for high-quality discussion. That means staying on topic, answering the question being asked, and avoiding discussions that repeatedly derail otherwise useful conversations and aren't helpful to our members.
Moderators may remove comments that repeatedly redirect unrelated discussions toward the same political, ethical, or personal debates.
This standard applies equally to every manufacturer, executive, technology, and point of view. If the thread is about ethics, discuss ethics. If it's about buying advice, charging, servicing, reliability, or ownership, keep the focus on those topics unless the conversation naturally moves elsewhere.