Tesla Ups and Downs
Discussion
Hi Everyone
My father and I have now had our Teslas for nearly 2 years now and I thought i would share the things we have enjoyed and disliked about our cars and general EV experience.
I should probably say that we have absolutely no green agenda we only bought these cars for what they offered us.
Positives
We love the way that they look and that they are quite different.
Very fast the instant torque really does make them point to point pretty hard to beat. Although they are lacking a bit of character and interaction for a large 4 door saloon the silent effortless speed quite suits the whole feel of the car. If you are looking to replace your AMG/M5/RS6 I would look elsewhere though.
Practicality really can't fault I am 26 with a wife and 1 year old son managed to take everything we needed for Xmas down to Surrey from Norfolk without having to put the seats down and bring back even more no trouble at all the double boots and space under the rear boot means it has more space than I know what to do with.
On long journeys this is the best car I have ever driven in terms of effortless comfort. The seats are great it is quite and with autopilot you really can relax. You do still have to pay attention as every now and then the autopilot will do something stupid and scare you, however this does seem to have improved with the updates.
Superchargers!!! The main reason we convinced ourselves to buy these cars was the supercharger network as both my father and I enjoy going long distances for weekend trips or holidays in Europe. As far as being able to go everywhere they are great and best of all free. The charging times are pretty fast at around 40 mins which most of the time is fine. They are not perfect but I will put that in Negatives.
The interior design is not to everyones liking but we like it because it is different.
As company cars they are a financial no brainer it costs me £15 a month personally to own my 70D.
Negatives
I hope this section isn't to aggressive but parts of ownership have annoyed both of us.
First of all we have been disappointed with the range. Mostly in that my father bought a 90D as the range was supposed to be 350 miles which would have worked very well. He paid 30K more than mine for his, there is a lot more options on his as well as he is my boss. So you can imagine he was slightly annoyed when he basically gets the same 200 mile range that I do. He felt like he got lied to a bit. He wasn't expecting to get the full 350 but was expecting at least in the 280 range or at the very least a lot more than the 70D that I have. We have asked on forums if anyone gets nearer the range and have had answers that some get a little bit over 250. But when we asked further there advice was to drive everywhere at 50mph. We refuse to do that as we didn't spend 65k on mine and over 90k on my fathers to have very fast cars to go everywhere at 50mph that would be big step backwards.
Something else that has annoyed a lot is that where we use the supercharger network a lot on our travels we have now found that we are limited to 90kw instead of the 120kw we should get when charging to protect our batteries this is something Tesla failed to mention when telling us how amazing the supercharging network was and we did tell them we intended to use these to go all over Europe. Something similar has happened with friends who use full power a lot from standstill they have now found the car limiting how much power they can use to accelerate to protect the battery. To us this is like Ferrari telling you they have dropped your rev limiter to 5000rpm because you have been using the performance to much.
The build quality is unfortunately not up to the standard we would expect for this money its not massive but you notice little things after a while like the rear wheel arch lining doesn't fit the wheel arch properly and the panel gaps on our cars are all over the place. Plus various rattles and trim coming away. How can Kia get this stuff right but Tesla can't?
Tesla customer service appears to range from sublime to appalling seemingly for no reason. I had a fault on my 70D battery that meant my car had to go in to be repaired they had my car for 8 weeks and thanks to my app I could see it sat outside for 7 of them. When they did look at the car they decided the battery had to be sent away to be fixed and they put a random battery they had around in my temporarily well it s coming up for around 14 months still have temporary battery in my car. My battery is now back in the UK was meant to be being sent to Milton Keynes so can be fitted back to my car have been waiting for a call back to arrange this for 5 weeks. This stuff though I can see being fixed as Tesla grow as a company and maybe I expect to much from a new company. What does everyone think am I being a bit to harsh?
Another one that will be fixed in time but can be frustrating is that although the superchargers are amazing we find you rarely take the route you want to a destination plus you can find yourself going 30 mins out of your way to charge for 40mins to go back 30 mins to get back on route meaning you can add 2 hours to your journey very easily. This stuff will be fixed as more chargers are put in simple as that and hats off to Tesla they are doing it slowly.
I'm not sure how this will be resolved but the strange thing with Tesla ownership is that you can't seem to do a journey any faster. By this I mean in a ICE car if you want to get there faster you go faster and you just accept your mpg goes down. With a Tesla I find that if I go faster I charge more or you go slower and charge less whatever you do though you seem to get there in the same time. Which can be infuriating if you have a meeting and you hit traffic because there is no way to gain that time back, so this has led to being late to some things that have been a little embarrassing and I have had to basically apologies for traffic/Tesla.
Conclusion
This post may seem like we hate our cars we really don't there are just some aspects that don't live up to expectation for us maybe we expected to much of the technology to soon. If we didn't do the mileages that we do I would completely recommend a Tesla to anybody as a daily driver for its comfort and ease to drive quickly and efficiently as well as being a great family car. But for us there are to many inconveniences and restrictions that mean in a year or so we will probably move back to petrol cars assuming EV haven't moved forward a huge amount, which is completely possible and we would definitely be willing to give EVs another go when they have moved on a bit.
If anyone has any suggestions or answers about dealing with some of the issues or has had a different experience please share
My father and I have now had our Teslas for nearly 2 years now and I thought i would share the things we have enjoyed and disliked about our cars and general EV experience.
I should probably say that we have absolutely no green agenda we only bought these cars for what they offered us.
Positives
We love the way that they look and that they are quite different.
Very fast the instant torque really does make them point to point pretty hard to beat. Although they are lacking a bit of character and interaction for a large 4 door saloon the silent effortless speed quite suits the whole feel of the car. If you are looking to replace your AMG/M5/RS6 I would look elsewhere though.
Practicality really can't fault I am 26 with a wife and 1 year old son managed to take everything we needed for Xmas down to Surrey from Norfolk without having to put the seats down and bring back even more no trouble at all the double boots and space under the rear boot means it has more space than I know what to do with.
On long journeys this is the best car I have ever driven in terms of effortless comfort. The seats are great it is quite and with autopilot you really can relax. You do still have to pay attention as every now and then the autopilot will do something stupid and scare you, however this does seem to have improved with the updates.
Superchargers!!! The main reason we convinced ourselves to buy these cars was the supercharger network as both my father and I enjoy going long distances for weekend trips or holidays in Europe. As far as being able to go everywhere they are great and best of all free. The charging times are pretty fast at around 40 mins which most of the time is fine. They are not perfect but I will put that in Negatives.
The interior design is not to everyones liking but we like it because it is different.
As company cars they are a financial no brainer it costs me £15 a month personally to own my 70D.
Negatives
I hope this section isn't to aggressive but parts of ownership have annoyed both of us.
First of all we have been disappointed with the range. Mostly in that my father bought a 90D as the range was supposed to be 350 miles which would have worked very well. He paid 30K more than mine for his, there is a lot more options on his as well as he is my boss. So you can imagine he was slightly annoyed when he basically gets the same 200 mile range that I do. He felt like he got lied to a bit. He wasn't expecting to get the full 350 but was expecting at least in the 280 range or at the very least a lot more than the 70D that I have. We have asked on forums if anyone gets nearer the range and have had answers that some get a little bit over 250. But when we asked further there advice was to drive everywhere at 50mph. We refuse to do that as we didn't spend 65k on mine and over 90k on my fathers to have very fast cars to go everywhere at 50mph that would be big step backwards.
Something else that has annoyed a lot is that where we use the supercharger network a lot on our travels we have now found that we are limited to 90kw instead of the 120kw we should get when charging to protect our batteries this is something Tesla failed to mention when telling us how amazing the supercharging network was and we did tell them we intended to use these to go all over Europe. Something similar has happened with friends who use full power a lot from standstill they have now found the car limiting how much power they can use to accelerate to protect the battery. To us this is like Ferrari telling you they have dropped your rev limiter to 5000rpm because you have been using the performance to much.
The build quality is unfortunately not up to the standard we would expect for this money its not massive but you notice little things after a while like the rear wheel arch lining doesn't fit the wheel arch properly and the panel gaps on our cars are all over the place. Plus various rattles and trim coming away. How can Kia get this stuff right but Tesla can't?
Tesla customer service appears to range from sublime to appalling seemingly for no reason. I had a fault on my 70D battery that meant my car had to go in to be repaired they had my car for 8 weeks and thanks to my app I could see it sat outside for 7 of them. When they did look at the car they decided the battery had to be sent away to be fixed and they put a random battery they had around in my temporarily well it s coming up for around 14 months still have temporary battery in my car. My battery is now back in the UK was meant to be being sent to Milton Keynes so can be fitted back to my car have been waiting for a call back to arrange this for 5 weeks. This stuff though I can see being fixed as Tesla grow as a company and maybe I expect to much from a new company. What does everyone think am I being a bit to harsh?
Another one that will be fixed in time but can be frustrating is that although the superchargers are amazing we find you rarely take the route you want to a destination plus you can find yourself going 30 mins out of your way to charge for 40mins to go back 30 mins to get back on route meaning you can add 2 hours to your journey very easily. This stuff will be fixed as more chargers are put in simple as that and hats off to Tesla they are doing it slowly.
I'm not sure how this will be resolved but the strange thing with Tesla ownership is that you can't seem to do a journey any faster. By this I mean in a ICE car if you want to get there faster you go faster and you just accept your mpg goes down. With a Tesla I find that if I go faster I charge more or you go slower and charge less whatever you do though you seem to get there in the same time. Which can be infuriating if you have a meeting and you hit traffic because there is no way to gain that time back, so this has led to being late to some things that have been a little embarrassing and I have had to basically apologies for traffic/Tesla.
Conclusion
This post may seem like we hate our cars we really don't there are just some aspects that don't live up to expectation for us maybe we expected to much of the technology to soon. If we didn't do the mileages that we do I would completely recommend a Tesla to anybody as a daily driver for its comfort and ease to drive quickly and efficiently as well as being a great family car. But for us there are to many inconveniences and restrictions that mean in a year or so we will probably move back to petrol cars assuming EV haven't moved forward a huge amount, which is completely possible and we would definitely be willing to give EVs another go when they have moved on a bit.
If anyone has any suggestions or answers about dealing with some of the issues or has had a different experience please share
It's fairly similar to my experience, there is though a general unwillingness to say anything too critical about Tesla by owners which annoys me, I've written a buyers guide going through these types of issues, some if the build quality issues, the economy of the truth with super chargers, battery sizes, performance figures, servicing ambiguity, and so on.
Take over the air software updates, hailed as a massive innovation as new features can be added. 9 times out of 10 that just means they push unfinished software to the cars and spend the next 3 months fixing it with more updates. Drive abroad once and your speed limit display will corrupt and not show the correct speed. Cars have now been delivered pre corrupted as they're bolted together in holland.
There's a lot to like about the cars, but there are also some oretty big blind spots to the brand and the way they do things. I think the M3 will be pretty flimsy based on MS build quality. Show any German car owner the rear parcel shelf of a MS and tell them it came from a £100k car and they'd die laughing.
Take over the air software updates, hailed as a massive innovation as new features can be added. 9 times out of 10 that just means they push unfinished software to the cars and spend the next 3 months fixing it with more updates. Drive abroad once and your speed limit display will corrupt and not show the correct speed. Cars have now been delivered pre corrupted as they're bolted together in holland.
There's a lot to like about the cars, but there are also some oretty big blind spots to the brand and the way they do things. I think the M3 will be pretty flimsy based on MS build quality. Show any German car owner the rear parcel shelf of a MS and tell them it came from a £100k car and they'd die laughing.
Thank god it's not just us!!! I was starting to wonder if I was the only one in the world who didn't think the Model S is the perfect car.
I agree about the downloads being more annoying than helpful. I do worry that Tesla cars will become more like my laptop than my car which would not be a good thing as I find most of the stuff my computers are meant to do they don't properly.
I do think the biggest problem for Tesla from my point of view is that when I spend this kind of money I expect a certain type of product and at the moment they just aren't quite there especially when you look at them in the cold light of day next to there competition and forget about it being an electric car.
I don't think they are a million miles away if they could get a real 300+ miles and sort there quality control out they would be on to a winner.
I agree about the downloads being more annoying than helpful. I do worry that Tesla cars will become more like my laptop than my car which would not be a good thing as I find most of the stuff my computers are meant to do they don't properly.
I do think the biggest problem for Tesla from my point of view is that when I spend this kind of money I expect a certain type of product and at the moment they just aren't quite there especially when you look at them in the cold light of day next to there competition and forget about it being an electric car.
I don't think they are a million miles away if they could get a real 300+ miles and sort there quality control out they would be on to a winner.
Our 3 months old X is now written off thanks to a Seat driver who didn't understand how junctions work....
Am now in the process of getting a settlement sorted, third party has admitted liability (thanks to the dash cam).
The problem is despite all the issues associated with Tesla as a company I simply cannot see what other choice there is??
I've driven EVs for the last 2.5 years now, and range has never been an issue for us with our usage profile. There is no way I can go back to a petrol car, the inconvenience of petrol stations, the jerkiness of the drivetrain, having to press so many buttons to even start the thing. No way, you have to pay me to even think about it, and even than I'll just take the money and put it towards an EV.
I mentioned to my wife the possibility of pocketing the cash settlement and running around in a Leaf again till the iPace is out..... She's not having it, it's another X she wants and that's the end of it!!!
Come 2020 I think the choice for EVs will be much greater, but what ever you think of Tesla as a company you cannot deny they have pushed EV adoption forwards in a manner no one else could have.
Hopefully we'll be back in our own X soon... Given all the other problems facing the world I personally cannot complain that much about our Tesla ownership experience so far.
Am now in the process of getting a settlement sorted, third party has admitted liability (thanks to the dash cam).
The problem is despite all the issues associated with Tesla as a company I simply cannot see what other choice there is??
I've driven EVs for the last 2.5 years now, and range has never been an issue for us with our usage profile. There is no way I can go back to a petrol car, the inconvenience of petrol stations, the jerkiness of the drivetrain, having to press so many buttons to even start the thing. No way, you have to pay me to even think about it, and even than I'll just take the money and put it towards an EV.
I mentioned to my wife the possibility of pocketing the cash settlement and running around in a Leaf again till the iPace is out..... She's not having it, it's another X she wants and that's the end of it!!!
Come 2020 I think the choice for EVs will be much greater, but what ever you think of Tesla as a company you cannot deny they have pushed EV adoption forwards in a manner no one else could have.
Hopefully we'll be back in our own X soon... Given all the other problems facing the world I personally cannot complain that much about our Tesla ownership experience so far.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 5th July 10:41
gangzoom said:
Our 3 months old X is now written off thanks to a Seat driver who didn't understand how junctions work....
Wow. Ive read a lot of your posts here and elsewhere about your decision to buy a Tesla, so sorry to hear this.Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 5th July 10:41
I also saw the pictures of the crash damage. How come it was written off?
Sorry for the thread derailment.
hab1966 said:
Wow. Ive read a lot of your posts here and elsewhere about your decision to buy a Tesla, so sorry to hear this.
I also saw the pictures of the crash damage. How come it was written off?
The impact clearly was a lot worse than it appeared, the chassis is damaged beyond repair, which likely also means new battery, so essentially cheaper for the insurance companies to just source a new car. I also saw the pictures of the crash damage. How come it was written off?
Complications to the claim is the price of the X has increased by 15-20% since we bought ours and it's so new there is no used market. Essentially we need to be put back on the road in another X regardless of cost, so the final settlement figure will need to be more than what we paid for ours. Unlike many our Tesla was bought cash, the most I had spent on a car previously was £20K so buying our X was not an easy financial decision. So the potential of now been given a cash settlement with a value more than what we paid is rather daunting, the thought of parting with £90K+ (which is the cost of an equivalent replacement X now) for a car is for me utter madness regardless of spec/model etc. But at the same time there is just nothing else on the market even close to the X.
As other have pointed out there is a lot Tesla needs to learn, but the products they have are in a league of their own and essentially sell themselves.
We as a family would be in a much better off financial position NOT driving around in a X but say a much cheaper Volvo/etc, but there is something about these cars that attract me far beyond financial figures. Which at the end of the day is what I suspect most people on this forum care about.....the love for their cars rather than the hard cost of getting from A to B.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 5th July 11:26
gangzoom said:
Our 3 months old X is now written off thanks to a Seat driver who didn't understand how junctions work....
Am now in the process of getting a settlement sorted, third party has admitted liability (thanks to the dash cam).
The problem is despite all the issues associated with Tesla as a company I simply cannot see what other choice there is??
I've driven EVs for the last 2.5 years now, and range has never been an issue for us with our usage profile. There is no way I can go back to a petrol car, the inconvenience of petrol stations, the jerkiness of the drivetrain, having to press so many buttons to even start the thing. No way, you have to pay me to even think about it, and even than I'll just take the money and put it towards an EV.
I mentioned to my wife the possibility of pocketing the cash settlement and running around in a Leaf again till the iPace is out..... She's not having it, it's another X she wants and that's the end of it!!!
Come 2020 I think the choice for EVs will be much greater, but what ever you think of Tesla as a company you cannot deny they have pushed EV adoption forwards in a manner no one else could have.
Hopefully we'll be back in our own X soon... Given all the other problems facing the world I personally cannot complain that much about our Tesla ownership experience so far.
I agree they have changed the gameAm now in the process of getting a settlement sorted, third party has admitted liability (thanks to the dash cam).
The problem is despite all the issues associated with Tesla as a company I simply cannot see what other choice there is??
I've driven EVs for the last 2.5 years now, and range has never been an issue for us with our usage profile. There is no way I can go back to a petrol car, the inconvenience of petrol stations, the jerkiness of the drivetrain, having to press so many buttons to even start the thing. No way, you have to pay me to even think about it, and even than I'll just take the money and put it towards an EV.
I mentioned to my wife the possibility of pocketing the cash settlement and running around in a Leaf again till the iPace is out..... She's not having it, it's another X she wants and that's the end of it!!!
Come 2020 I think the choice for EVs will be much greater, but what ever you think of Tesla as a company you cannot deny they have pushed EV adoption forwards in a manner no one else could have.
Hopefully we'll be back in our own X soon... Given all the other problems facing the world I personally cannot complain that much about our Tesla ownership experience so far.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 5th July 10:41
I also agree there is little to no competition
What worries me (for Tesla) is that there is a fine line between pushing the envelope and taking liberties. AP was very robust over a year ago, it pretty much did what it said on the tin, it was predictable. AP2 and the fall out with mobileye has resulted in a lot of frustration that wasn't necessary. They didn't need to start quoting 0-60 times including 1 foot roll out when even without, it was quicker than anything else, it just set an expectation higher than it needed to be, and so some were let down. The PR would have been a MILLION times better if they said the P90DL had a 0-60 in 3 seconds and everyone who tested it said.. "no.. its much faster" rather than the absurd "its 2.3s" which is only available after 30 mins warming the battery, a 85% or more charge level and using a launch control. hardly accessible.
In your situation I can understand why you'd be looking at another one, but anyone that asks me Id suggest finding an inventory car, inspecting it and buying that. You'll know what you're getting quality time up to a point plus you'll save a fair chunk of cash.
gangzoom said:
Our 3 months old X is now written off thanks to a Seat driver who didn't understand how junctions work....
Am now in the process of getting a settlement sorted, third party has admitted liability (thanks to the dash cam).
The problem is despite all the issues associated with Tesla as a company I simply cannot see what other choice there is??
I've driven EVs for the last 2.5 years now, and range has never been an issue for us with our usage profile. There is no way I can go back to a petrol car, the inconvenience of petrol stations, the jerkiness of the drivetrain, having to press so many buttons to even start the thing. No way, you have to pay me to even think about it, and even than I'll just take the money and put it towards an EV.
I mentioned to my wife the possibility of pocketing the cash settlement and running around in a Leaf again till the iPace is out..... She's not having it, it's another X she wants and that's the end of it!!!
Come 2020 I think the choice for EVs will be much greater, but what ever you think of Tesla as a company you cannot deny they have pushed EV adoption forwards in a manner no one else could have.
Hopefully we'll be back in our own X soon... Given all the other problems facing the world I personally cannot complain that much about our Tesla ownership experience so far.
I totally agree Tesla have moved the game on hugely and have forced all the other manufacturers to get on with there development. I have no doubt in 5-10 years I will probably have another EV for instance both my father and I have agreed if the Porsche E-Mission comes out like the concept and has the performance, range and charging that they are claiming we will almost certainly buy 2.Am now in the process of getting a settlement sorted, third party has admitted liability (thanks to the dash cam).
The problem is despite all the issues associated with Tesla as a company I simply cannot see what other choice there is??
I've driven EVs for the last 2.5 years now, and range has never been an issue for us with our usage profile. There is no way I can go back to a petrol car, the inconvenience of petrol stations, the jerkiness of the drivetrain, having to press so many buttons to even start the thing. No way, you have to pay me to even think about it, and even than I'll just take the money and put it towards an EV.
I mentioned to my wife the possibility of pocketing the cash settlement and running around in a Leaf again till the iPace is out..... She's not having it, it's another X she wants and that's the end of it!!!
Come 2020 I think the choice for EVs will be much greater, but what ever you think of Tesla as a company you cannot deny they have pushed EV adoption forwards in a manner no one else could have.
Hopefully we'll be back in our own X soon... Given all the other problems facing the world I personally cannot complain that much about our Tesla ownership experience so far.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 5th July 10:41
You are absolutely right if EVs are your thing Tesla are in a class of there own.
I think for the time being as you say your usage profile either fits or it doesn't at the moment ours doesn't although I'm in the minority.
For instance my father has less problems than myself because he is retired and lucky for him very rarely is in the situation where he has to get somewhere by certain times. He usually tries to stop at chargers where he knows he can relax and have a good meal. I unfortunately am quite a lot busier and find the experience to add extra stress in some situations.
Hopefully Volvo's announcement will spur on other proper car builders to build practical premium level EVs at sensible prices.
Tesla maybe fine if you're happy with second rate build quality and service and don't mind what that costs but it's a no go for me, notwithstanding the range issues.
This week I've been from Norwich to Manchester and back, doing quite a bit of running around whilst in Lancashire. Petrol stations weren't an 'inconvenience', I'm back home with a third of the tank of fuel that I left with. The 530d has similar internal noise levels as the Tesla S at 70/80mph and is a far more comfortable place to sit for several hours. Meaningless 0-60 times don't impress me nor does having a dodgy iPad as a dashboard.
I agree with everyone who says EVs are the future but it does seem quite a way off if the current Tesla is the best there is. Hopefully, the car manufacturers have been focussing on the city commute and will soon be looking at other parts of the market.
Tesla maybe fine if you're happy with second rate build quality and service and don't mind what that costs but it's a no go for me, notwithstanding the range issues.
This week I've been from Norwich to Manchester and back, doing quite a bit of running around whilst in Lancashire. Petrol stations weren't an 'inconvenience', I'm back home with a third of the tank of fuel that I left with. The 530d has similar internal noise levels as the Tesla S at 70/80mph and is a far more comfortable place to sit for several hours. Meaningless 0-60 times don't impress me nor does having a dodgy iPad as a dashboard.
I agree with everyone who says EVs are the future but it does seem quite a way off if the current Tesla is the best there is. Hopefully, the car manufacturers have been focussing on the city commute and will soon be looking at other parts of the market.
REALIST123 said:
Hopefully Volvo's announcement will spur on other proper car builders to build practical premium level EVs at sensible prices.
Tesla maybe fine if you're happy with second rate build quality and service and don't mind what that costs but it's a no go for me, notwithstanding the range issues.
This week I've been from Norwich to Manchester and back, doing quite a bit of running around whilst in Lancashire. Petrol stations weren't an 'inconvenience', I'm back home with a third of the tank of fuel that I left with. The 530d has similar internal noise levels as the Tesla S at 70/80mph and is a far more comfortable place to sit for several hours. Meaningless 0-60 times don't impress me nor does having a dodgy iPad as a dashboard.
I agree with everyone who says EVs are the future but it does seem quite a way off if the current Tesla is the best there is. Hopefully, the car manufacturers have been focussing on the city commute and will soon be looking at other parts of the market.
I agree with a some of your point, but if you'd ever sat in a Model S for a long journey you wouldn't say a 5 series is more comfortable. I ran a 6 series gran coupe with comfort seats for 80k over 3 years (which will no doubt be no worse than your seats) before I got a tesla with next gen seats which I ran for 30k miles in the first year. seat comfort was not an issue in either. I used to park in next to Manchester Central and my car happily charged while I was there. Charging does take planning but its rarely a significant issue and the number of super chargers is going up rapidly at the moment. Tesla maybe fine if you're happy with second rate build quality and service and don't mind what that costs but it's a no go for me, notwithstanding the range issues.
This week I've been from Norwich to Manchester and back, doing quite a bit of running around whilst in Lancashire. Petrol stations weren't an 'inconvenience', I'm back home with a third of the tank of fuel that I left with. The 530d has similar internal noise levels as the Tesla S at 70/80mph and is a far more comfortable place to sit for several hours. Meaningless 0-60 times don't impress me nor does having a dodgy iPad as a dashboard.
I agree with everyone who says EVs are the future but it does seem quite a way off if the current Tesla is the best there is. Hopefully, the car manufacturers have been focussing on the city commute and will soon be looking at other parts of the market.
REALIST123 said:
Petrol stations weren't an 'inconvenience'
Sunday night a few weeks ago, all comfy on the sofa feeling very lazy:Wife: 'Oh just remembered petrol light has come on in the car on Friday'
Me: 'Can you not fill it up on the way work tomorrow?'
Wife: 'Everyone does that, there will be a massive que'
Me: Say nothing
Wife: 'Can you go and fill it up tonight?'
Me: -> Waste 20 minutes of my life driving to petrol station, wait in line, fill up, drive home.
Yes I know that's what non EV drivers have to put up with regularly but compared to the 10 seconds it takes to plug in the car when I get home going to petrol stations are a massive inconvenience these days. Luckily her car is reasonably economical and now only used for commuting so I only have to do this particular chore once a month
Edited by gangzoom on Thursday 6th July 09:52
When we decided to move to the mountains the only EV that would have worked would have been a Tesla. We have a Supercharger in the village and a bunch of the hotels have destination chargers. The nearest non-Tesla DC charger was 85km away with a mountain pass in between (the new place doesn't have charging in the underground garage and there is no other parking nearby). Hence the i3 had to go back to BMW.
We know a bunch of people here in Switzerland with Teslas and most of the feedback was similar to that of the OP. The nearest service centre is in Winterthur, 3 hours away (on a day without a snow-storm). It would have been an only car. In these circumstances I decided to get a petrol BMW - there is a dealer about a hundred metres from the house.
I miss driving an EV (can't get over lifting off and not having regen-braking. The wheels get covered in brake-dust again!). I'm deeply thankful that Tesla showed the industry that range and performance was interested. Cars like the iPace (which I have my name down for) probably wouldn't have happened had it not been for the model S. I have no doubt that I'll be back in an EV in a few years.
My personal take on the current Teslas is that they would be more attractive as an ownership proposition if they were simpler with less to go wrong.
We know a bunch of people here in Switzerland with Teslas and most of the feedback was similar to that of the OP. The nearest service centre is in Winterthur, 3 hours away (on a day without a snow-storm). It would have been an only car. In these circumstances I decided to get a petrol BMW - there is a dealer about a hundred metres from the house.
I miss driving an EV (can't get over lifting off and not having regen-braking. The wheels get covered in brake-dust again!). I'm deeply thankful that Tesla showed the industry that range and performance was interested. Cars like the iPace (which I have my name down for) probably wouldn't have happened had it not been for the model S. I have no doubt that I'll be back in an EV in a few years.
My personal take on the current Teslas is that they would be more attractive as an ownership proposition if they were simpler with less to go wrong.
2.25 years and 30,000 miles into my S85.
To date, totally reliable with only a couple of trivial faults.
I like the interior, but possibly a bit minimalist if you prefer the traditional look with lots of wood & buttons (I'm happy without all that stuff).
Build quality is fine, but more 3 series than 5 or 7 series. Ditto the refinement (other than the drivetrain which is peerless).
I don't use the superchargers much as I don't normally drive more than 200 miles per day. When I have, supercharging has been seamless and fast. Supercharger network is a bit limited, especially North, but getting better.
I prefer driving the Tesla to other cars we own/ed. My wife feels the same. Best car purchase I have made.
Will be interesting to see what Jaguar, Audi, Porsche, etc. come up with in the next 2 years, but the charging network will be critical for me to consider switching from Tesla. Notable too that battery production capacity is limited, so some of these cars will be low volume, unlike Tesla.
To date, totally reliable with only a couple of trivial faults.
I like the interior, but possibly a bit minimalist if you prefer the traditional look with lots of wood & buttons (I'm happy without all that stuff).
Build quality is fine, but more 3 series than 5 or 7 series. Ditto the refinement (other than the drivetrain which is peerless).
I don't use the superchargers much as I don't normally drive more than 200 miles per day. When I have, supercharging has been seamless and fast. Supercharger network is a bit limited, especially North, but getting better.
I prefer driving the Tesla to other cars we own/ed. My wife feels the same. Best car purchase I have made.
Will be interesting to see what Jaguar, Audi, Porsche, etc. come up with in the next 2 years, but the charging network will be critical for me to consider switching from Tesla. Notable too that battery production capacity is limited, so some of these cars will be low volume, unlike Tesla.
4 months in on a 60D. For me, positives far outweigh negatives, but I need only 100 miles range a day and can fit in 3 kids and their stuff on a school run with dog in rear, so practicality box ticked.
It took 5 months from order for Tesla to get the correct pricing structure for my car (queue may calls to sales rep, customer and financial services). If I hadn't believed the car was going to be great, I probably would have given up.
Took the car to Le Mans and attention from petrol heads was unbelievable. Superchargers at Caen and Le Mans added to the mix with timely breakfast and lunch stops rather than it being an inconvenience.
Latest discovery in hot weather was being able to leave the dog in the car at school pickup with aircon running. Tried shade and windows down but it was 29 degrees inside.
Note to all if using summon feature which needs key to be near to the car. Don't put the key on the roof while summoning, forget about it, and drive off. Once you realise what you've done, then, don't stop as car will not start again (sees no key) and wife needs to be called to rescue you with the spare!
It took 5 months from order for Tesla to get the correct pricing structure for my car (queue may calls to sales rep, customer and financial services). If I hadn't believed the car was going to be great, I probably would have given up.
Took the car to Le Mans and attention from petrol heads was unbelievable. Superchargers at Caen and Le Mans added to the mix with timely breakfast and lunch stops rather than it being an inconvenience.
Latest discovery in hot weather was being able to leave the dog in the car at school pickup with aircon running. Tried shade and windows down but it was 29 degrees inside.
Note to all if using summon feature which needs key to be near to the car. Don't put the key on the roof while summoning, forget about it, and drive off. Once you realise what you've done, then, don't stop as car will not start again (sees no key) and wife needs to be called to rescue you with the spare!
I keep grappling with the idea of a Model X for the wife. It would be perfect for her style of motoring. She has a PHEV at the moment and has done 2500 miles on £35 of petrol in it.
However, having looked at Tesla models, the build quality is not commensurate with the price. I think the problem is that Tesla is a technology company building a car, not a car company building a piece of technology. They don't have the experience (yet). Maybe they are the TVR of this world. Great ideas, fantastic cars, off-the wall solutions, great fan base, some shoddy build, reliability lets it down.
Once the mainstream manufacturers catch up (which will take a long time), Tesla might have got the car building bits right.
However, having looked at Tesla models, the build quality is not commensurate with the price. I think the problem is that Tesla is a technology company building a car, not a car company building a piece of technology. They don't have the experience (yet). Maybe they are the TVR of this world. Great ideas, fantastic cars, off-the wall solutions, great fan base, some shoddy build, reliability lets it down.
Once the mainstream manufacturers catch up (which will take a long time), Tesla might have got the car building bits right.
rossfitz said:
Latest discovery in hot weather was being able to leave the dog in the car at school pickup with aircon running. Tried shade and windows down but it was 29 degrees inside.
can you explain that again?Why would you want the windows down with the aircon running and the dog inside ( before it legs it) ?
saaby93 said:
can you explain that again?
Why would you want the windows down with the aircon running and the dog inside ( before it legs it) ?
Sure. Tried the usual of car in shade with windows down to help dog. It was still 29 degrees inside and black lab not happy. So, put aircon on and windows up to keep him at 21 degrees. Might need a sign in window for concerned dog owners walking by as I dont know of any other car that can have aircon on with no engine running.Why would you want the windows down with the aircon running and the dog inside ( before it legs it) ?
gangzoom said:
The impact clearly was a lot worse than it appeared, the chassis is damaged beyond repair, which likely also means new battery, so essentially cheaper for the insurance companies to just source a new car.
Complications to the claim is the price of the X has increased by 15-20% since we bought ours and it's so new there is no used market. Essentially we need to be put back on the road in another X regardless of cost, so the final settlement figure will need to be more than what we paid for ours. Unlike many our Tesla was bought cash, the most I had spent on a car previously was £20K so buying our X was not an easy financial decision. So the potential of now been given a cash settlement with a value more than what we paid is rather daunting, the thought of parting with £90K+ (which is the cost of an equivalent replacement X now) for a car is for me utter madness regardless of spec/model etc. But at the same time there is just nothing else on the market even close to the X.
As other have pointed out there is a lot Tesla needs to learn, but the products they have are in a league of their own and essentially sell themselves.
We as a family would be in a much better off financial position NOT driving around in a X but say a much cheaper Volvo/etc, but there is something about these cars that attract me far beyond financial figures. Which at the end of the day is what I suspect most people on this forum care about.....the love for their cars rather than the hard cost of getting from A to B.
You may love Tesla but they have sold 180,000 cars worldwide in nine years.Complications to the claim is the price of the X has increased by 15-20% since we bought ours and it's so new there is no used market. Essentially we need to be put back on the road in another X regardless of cost, so the final settlement figure will need to be more than what we paid for ours. Unlike many our Tesla was bought cash, the most I had spent on a car previously was £20K so buying our X was not an easy financial decision. So the potential of now been given a cash settlement with a value more than what we paid is rather daunting, the thought of parting with £90K+ (which is the cost of an equivalent replacement X now) for a car is for me utter madness regardless of spec/model etc. But at the same time there is just nothing else on the market even close to the X.
As other have pointed out there is a lot Tesla needs to learn, but the products they have are in a league of their own and essentially sell themselves.
We as a family would be in a much better off financial position NOT driving around in a X but say a much cheaper Volvo/etc, but there is something about these cars that attract me far beyond financial figures. Which at the end of the day is what I suspect most people on this forum care about.....the love for their cars rather than the hard cost of getting from A to B.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 5th July 11:26
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff