chreesto

I don't know. I drove the hell out of my buddy's model 3 and the acceleration was intoxicating. Overall, though, I wouldn't trade it for my 4GS with Lux package. Fit and finish was awful, almost painful to look at. As fun as the 0-60 sprints were, the handling didn't seem up to par. When I sat back down in my car afterwards it felt like going from K-mart moon boots to handcrafted, italian leather boots. My wife felt the same. We both thought we would check back in to the world of electric drivetrains when lexus starts making them.

peteharvey

It's horses for courses and each to their own.
Everything has its advantages and disadvantages.
Nothing is perfect.

You have the traditional gasoline atmospheric.
Then the small capacity turbo with tremendous torque, but it takes time for the turbine to spool up.
Electric turbos can spool up to 70,000 rpm in just 200 milliseconds, but development has essentially been side stepped by electrification.
Turbodiesels have more energy density for greater bottom end torque - at the cost of high octane auto-combustion resistance for top end power & refinement.

Modern day gasoline-electric hybrids with small battery packs sandwiched under the rear seat base provide limited EV assistance while the hybrid's modestly-sized battery pack is full.
Plug-in hybrids with big heavyweight battery packs in the trunk delivering semi-explosive acceleration, but compromizing both trunk capacity and handling.

Hydrogen fuel cell powered electric provide essentially zero emissions with rapid refueling, but a very bulky heavyweight and energy inefficient design with lack of hydrogen refueling stations around the country.

Battery powered electric vehicles have super efficient explosive acceleration, but presently the limited energy density of lithium ion results in an overweight vehicle with compromized agility, and because presently only one manufacturer has truly mastered the electric driveline, we must put up with Tesla's interior design and quality of manufacturing and assembly.

Give 5 years for the rest of the industry to catch up and truly master EV technology, and add to that super high energy density solid state batteries with rapid charging and more cycles of recharging, and then by 2030 or 2035, so much more "real" model choices to choose from, and just about every motor vehicle sold will be EV....
.

Kense

It's odd that people were staring at that. I'm also in California (Bay Area) and see quite a bit of these I don't even bat an eye. Model 3's are literally more in number than Honda Civics. The Model Y is goofy looking IMO. I guess it's the new factor? The Model S is still the best looking Tesla. Other than looks though it's a pretty cool car.

patgilm

Ok I had to laugh at that quote and I did have K-Mart moon boots back in the day!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

don't accelerate hard and drive right at 60 peacefully in a model 3 and i guarantee you will get more range than advertised. one time i forgot to charge my car and i had to baby my way home, of the whole 25 mile trip, with my usual driving habit it takes up 30 miles, but that day it took me 16 miles of range (and that's with various traffic condition too).

and the argument is kind of weak too imho. that's like saying a lot of the cars on the roads are useless (just like the ferrari who got stuck in traffic with me). at least point it's about what the cars CAN do. doesn't mean you do it that way all the time.

we all had the gs400 instead of gs300 for similar reason

sdls

Tesla is here to devour the legacy luxury manufacturers for lunch. Meanwhile they have all been asleep at the wheel and even moving backwards.
Just like when Lexus came and ruined the party for BMW/Mercedes/Jaguar/Cadillac, Tesla has come to really ruin all of the above plus Porsche, Infiniti, and Lexus themselves.

jrmckinley

Enjoyed reading this - I'm just starting to see model Y's here in FL and like the look of them in-person. I test drove the 3 earlier this year and liked it but wanted to hold off until the Y came out as I think it offers slightly more space which would be valuable to me and the fam. Sounds like the quality will get better in the next year or so and therefore I'll continue to wait a little. Interesting reading the comments which seem to focus on the only EV benefit being acceleration. For me, it's no maintenance, no gas, and owning a car that gets better over time thanks to software updates. The thought of owning a car that improves over time is hard to imagine, but it's a real possibility. Pretty cool.

EZZ

Its the drivetrain response, not just acceleration, that is the highlight of the vehicle for many. Its faaaaaar more responsive than any ICE due to instant, on demand torque and no gears to worry about ever. Feels like a giant slot car... you press and it goes

The other huge benefit is not seeing my service center ever. You'll need to do tire rotations of course and some people like to do it themselves but you need to torque the nuts to 129 ft/lbs which is quite a bit. Autopilot in traffic is also fabulous. It just removes all of the mundane driving.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

ok, i wish anyone offered a vehicle with 500 mi. range and 0-60 in 6 seconds.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

makes sense, and i'm definitely excited about EVs, just not teslas yet, and the others have their own weaknesss, so not ready to get one yet.

true, but it's degree... i definitely consider a ferrari completely useless on public roads and even if someone gave me one i'd sell it. going 0-60 in a tesla in 3 seconds (or less!) is an amazing party trick but a) it's pretty dangerous in a lot of situations, and b) is not usable in a lot of situations.

true, but besides power there were other reasons, the V8 was smoother and quieter, and had a better sound than the really heavy and slower i6. remember engine noise? we used to like it.

plus i ain't gonna lie, acceleration is WAY less important to me now than it once was. having said that i don't want to drive some slow 4 cylinder because it just seems to be straining so bad.

it is but has limitations of course, just like a cell phone can 'improve' with manufacturer updates (not to mention new apps), eventually the hardware isn't good enough to go further. now tesla has offered main computer upgrades to older tesla vehicle owners which is really great, but eventually sensors and other aspects will change too at which point a hardware 'upgrade' would not be possible.
but still, adding updates over the air is great, but let's face it a load of what fanboys show in tesla software is stupid, like fart cushions, video games, and "i want my momma" modes but it keeps the faithful excited and happy.

SW17LS

To me, the vehicle impresses you for it’s EV powertrain and tech, or it doesn’t impress. To me, I can’t get past the goofy looks and the spartan interiors and the poor build quality. I really like well made things. All the things I own are well made and impress me from a tactile standpoint, and Teslas are way, way behind in that standpoint.

For instance I just bought a YETI tumbler. Sounds silly, but I’ve been admiring it all day. Great quality, I love the precision with how the little magnetic cover pops into place with such precision. I just like nice stuff. The Teslas cheapness inside would bug me every time I sit in it.

At this point an EV would be doable for me, at least in normal driving, but Teslas don’t do it for me yet. Model S is the only one I think is attractive, and it falls down inside. Non Tesla EVs don’t have the range or infrastructure.

Kense

My Colleague has a Model S and even that feels cheap inside even though the outside looks nice. Personally I can't spend 100K for a car that feels like that inside. I'd be mad at myself. Now I would get a Model 3 Performance because I can justify paying that price for what it offers. If I were to spend 100K on a car I'd look at a base Taycan 4S over a model s.

SW17LS

I totally agree, you just look at how other cars at that price point are finished, it’s just no comparison.

LeX2K

Well they don't but it won't be long and if I had to bet I'd say Tesla will do it first. But you'll probably be disappointed since it will likely do 0-60 is something like 4.5 seconds.

EZZ

Yeah. I'd be disappointed with 4.5 seconds too. Sooo sloooow.