Aston v Tesla

[Vanin]

Just had a showroom introduction to the Tesla in Amsterdam.
Looked good, a bit Quattroportish, seven seats, tons of room in boots front and rear, very low centre of gravity so corners on rails, fantastic electronics and gadgets , genuinely exciting and launching a four wheel drive version for around £100,000 which does 0-60 in 3.2 seconds.

300 mile range, 8 year unlimited mileage warranty, supercharging 20 minute battery possible.

I love Astons but how do you compete with that?
I would feel a little uncomfortable alongside a Tesla at the lights having just spent twice as much money on a new Vanquish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2UE7sNBfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyDaKRMrFo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RRKWORDPxM

[Byteme]

Vanin said:

Just had a showroom introduction to the Tesla in Amsterdam.
Looked good, a bit Quattroportish, seven seats, tons of room in boots front and rear, very low centre of gravity so corners on rails, fantastic electronics and gadgets , genuinely exciting and launching a four wheel drive version for around £100,000 which does 0-60 in 3.2 seconds.

300 mile range, 8 year unlimited mileage warranty, supercharging 20 minute battery possible.

I love Astons but how do you compete with that?
I would feel a little uncomfortable alongside a Tesla at the lights having just spent twice as much money on a new Vanquish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2UE7sNBfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyDaKRMrFo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RRKWORDPxM

I've seen quite a few recently, or quite possibly the same one several times. A very distinctive looking car.

I know little about them or the warranty that you mention but when it expires I would guess that many common drive related failures would write the car off. Once again, a guess, the most likely failures would affect similar components so parts from used vehicles would be in short/zero supply.

If the warranty is 100% inclusive of all electric car parts it looks quite attractive. Is battery leasing an additional cost?

8 years/£100,000 looks quite attractive but I suspect there will be many additional costs that have to be factored into ownership. Just powering down/up and checking diagnostics in an electric car incurs a significant amount of labour for very simple tasks.

Don't go down the 0-60 route because next month/year there will always be something faster. That's fine if you run or or two cars but if you have more, and apply that standard, you risk spoiling your enjoyment of what you already have.

Unless the daft environmental lobbyists have their way, 20 years hence, a current Vanquish will have significant value while a current Teslsa will only exist in museums while 99% have been recycled.

Edited by Byteme on Thursday 16th October 00:59

[quench]

How do you compete with that?

It's called a 12 cylinder, naturally aspirated, large displacement, internal combustion engine, that's how.

For some, including me, that pretty much trumps any electric car right there.

Anyway, stop comparing apples to oranges. How many people will buy a Tesla for the same purpose as a Vanquish?

[Byteme]

quench said:

How do you compete with that?

It's called a 12 cylinder, naturally aspirated, large displacement, internal combustion engine, that's how.

For some, including me, that pretty much trumps any electric car right there.

Anyway, stop comparing apples to oranges. How many people will buy a Tesla for the same purpose as a Vanquish?

Torque, like nothing you can imagine.

[Jon1967x]

Large Diesel engine owning bmw drivers will be worried but aston owners wont. We want very different things from our car in general (I have both an aston and bmw and know which would be vulnerable to tesla)

If tesla made a futuristic looking sports coupe, maybe just wrap the current car in a different skin, they'll take the i8 market away from bmw, r8 away from Audi probably f type from jag. etc. Ferrari and astons are often bought with the heart.

[bogie]

I will get an electric car when they are the only option, until then I want to continue to enjoy driving petrol whilst it lasts

...my boss is not into cars or driving for pleasure...and he is waiting for delivery of his Tesla S ...its a novelty/fashion thing with silicon valley executives

regardless of performance, electric are a disposable alternative to generic diesel transport....for now anyway

[BigScotty]

Vanin said:

I love Astons but how do you compete with that?
I would feel a little uncomfortable alongside a Tesla at the lights having just spent twice as much money on a new Vanquish.

A little flex of the throttle, and the audible symphony that follows, should take care of that.

[RichB]

Vanin said:

Just had a showroom introduction to the Tesla in Amsterdam.
Looked good, a bit Quattroportish, seven seats, tons of room in boots front and rear,

Do these cars really have 7 seats? The one I sat in at the FoS was a 5 seat, 4 door saloon; where do the extra 2 seats come from?

[Vanin]

BigScotty said:

A little flex of the throttle, and the audible symphony that follows, should take care of that.

Your little flex of the throttle and the music that follows will seem a little limp as you watch the Tesla disappear in a cloud of rubber smoke!

But is this not the heart of Aston's problems . They have moved from gentleman's sports cars
into Ferrari young bounder territory which is more adrenalin fueled. A victim of success in that area there are too many 21st century cars around (one on every London street it seems) so they are not held in the high esteem of the older cars in the eyes of the general public.

The older cars like RichB's beautiful MkIII will always be treated with respect and courtesy, you assume that Rich is the sort of gent that opens doors for people and never raises his voice! Definitely not a bounder like me!

A lot of competing bounder cars out there many more capable than the Astons, so they are only living on their name and not leading the field as they used to in the past.

So if I had a couple of hundred grand to spend and given that 95% of the time in the uk you are baulked by the traffic and doing less than the speed limit, I think I would spend the money on a good classic like the MkIII and enjoy possible capital growth without capital gains tax as opposed to inevitable horrendous depreciation.

But what to advise Aston to do for a new range I have no idea. Have any of you?

[montecristo]

I've test driven a Tesla S, and would seriously consider it as my next car. Certainly I'd be more likely to buy a Tesla than a Ferrari or a Jaguar or most other non-Aston marques; and it's no contest against standard cars like BMWs or Mercedeses. Not just because the car is good, but because if they've achieved what they have in so few years, it makes make think the established manufacturers have been resting on laurels.

Would I buy a Tesla instead of a next Aston? Maybe. The Tesla has better performance, but Astons haven't been fastest for ages - rather they are a good balance of performance and interior and sound and looks. And while part of me likes AM because it's British (without getting into that debate), I equally like Tesla for sticking it to the man.

I suspect, though, that if AM owners do buy Teslas, it would be as a second car. And Tesla aren't targeting Aston Martin, they are targeting BMW and Mercedes owners and doing very well at that.

[jonby]

I have a friend with audi A8 & DBS - he is deciding what to change his A8 to and is seriously considering the tesla

When it comes to charging, am I right in saying there are only a handful (less than 10) of publically available super fast charge stations, mostly around London ?

So if you are on a journey to say the lake district for the weekend and need to charge your car to get back, you go to a service station and it's therefore a slow/normal charge, that takes a couple of hours ? Or am I mis understanding ?

I just don't quite get the whole charging scenario, other than at your own home where you can install superfast charging. Can anyone shed any light as to the real world options/timing when it comes to charging ?

[hashluck]

Indeed Tesla are not targetting Aston (in fact is anyone nowadays?)

This is a good car, a technical masterpiece, based on the technology available today. I have a friend who has one and he commutes from Prague to Vienna regularly on a single charge, has free park/charge when he gets there for 2-3 hour meeting and then drives back.

This is fine whilst he is in a minority, when there are more electric cars then those charging spaces will be at a premium and of course chargeable.

My biggest issue with the cars is the 'based on the technology available today' bit, for sure this area is going to change rapidly and I think fixing older cars will always be a problem. I think Tesla are getting around this with some interesting lease deals which would certainly make it worth a look. If I ran more than one car I expect I might have one. With just the one I want a car that also touches my soul.

[Neil1300r]

jonby said:

I have a friend with audi A8 & DBS - he is deciding what to change his A8 to and is seriously considering the tesla

When it comes to charging, am I right in saying there are only a handful (less than 10) of publically available super fast charge stations, mostly around London ?

So if you are on a journey to say the lake district for the weekend and need to charge your car to get back, you go to a service station and it's therefore a slow/normal charge, that takes a couple of hours ? Or am I mis understanding ?

I just don't quite get the whole charging scenario, other than at your own home where you can install superfast charging. Can anyone shed any light as to the real world options/timing when it comes to charging ?

Tesla want to install fast charging stations in all the motorway service stations. There is an argument at the moment as another company already has the contract to do this, but its different to the Tesla system.

[SlartiF430]

It looks like a Jag XF, as such I would buy one but only as a daily driver. I'd still keep a Fez, Aston, Lambo, Mac or some other in the garage for my more ostentatious outings.

[SFO]

Tesla's design is annonymous, soulless and derivative.

Remember that you have to look at it!

[krisdelta]

I like the new Tesla, a handsome enough car - something between a Maser and a new Jag in looks. However, it's not a competitor for Aston (currently) in my view. Yes it's very quick, but so is an RS5 / R35 / 911 Turbo - in my view a different market for a different buyer.

I like the fact we're starting to see viable alterntives to pure combustion engined vehicles, the choice we have as buyers is growing - what's not to like? I feel sorry for the next generation of drivers who most probably wont have a choice of V8 / 10 / 12 cars for relatively sensible money available to them.

Enjoy while you can

[williamp]

Autocar certainly felt the Tesla and. Rrapide were comparable:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/video-tesla-mod...

[SELON]

I did take a look at them in a couple of their dealerships and had a chat with a sales guy. Seems to be a pretty straightforward bit of technology wrapped in a not so high quality shell.
Great straight line performance figures though. Considering the simplicity, it's a wonder that it costs £100k or so. Things the sales guy mentioned to me:

'Million mile' motor as used in locomotives - reassuring from a reliability perspective, but not to be confused with leading edge tech
Powered by a ton of laptop batteries - I dread to think of the environmental damage caused by those in the disposal stage if this car is mass produced

But overall, at least Tesla is trying to move the game and technology onwards.

[RichB]

SELON said:

Powered by a ton of laptop batteries...

And if they're like every laptop I've had they start to go off after a coupe of years until they no longer hold their charge for more than 30 mins. FOr a PC you can buy a new one, what do you do for your Tesla?

[SELON]

You take the car in for a service and they will replace the duff batteries for new ones under warranty, as I understand it