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Saying it's just "acceleration" is an oversimplification. It's hard to describe what it's like driving a good electric car. It's not just that it accelerates fa

by zwily 10y ago

Saying it's just "acceleration" is an oversimplification. It's hard to describe what it's like driving a good electric car. It's not just that it accelerates faster, but the acceleration starts exactly when you want it to. Everybody i've let drive my S has been skeptical, and then blown away. Yeah, the interior is not as nice as a top end BMW or Mercedes. I don't care, driving the car is amazing. I drove a $150k Audi RS7 the other day. The whole time i wanted to be back in my S.

stephencanon 10y ago
> the interior is not as nice as a top end BMW or Mercedes. The interior is not as nice as our 328 wagon. It's no where close to a high-end model. They are fascinating cars, but the fit and finish and range are still lacking (from my perspective, anyway). And sedans are boring.
- zwily 10y ago
  Have you driven one?
  - antimatter 10y ago
    I've driven the model S on two different occasions. It was incredible. However, I went with my second BMW because of how incredibly awful the tesla interior was in terms of fit and finish. The car had 30k miles and there was constant rattling and noises coming from various areas of the interior made worst by the fact that the car was completely silent. I'll revisit Tesla in another 5 years when they've had time to work out their quality issues.
    - henrikschroder 10y ago
      Almost same story here, I picked a Mercedes E-class instead of the Tesla, the interior completely blows the Tesla away at half the price. Yes, the Tesla is super fun when you get to push the speeder, but the rest of the time it's just not. This was also a year before Tesla launched their "autopilot", and I picked an E-class with Mercedes' self-driving tech which had already been on the market for years at that point...
    - J-dawg 10y ago
      Given what Tesla have achieved, and the engineering hurdles they have overcome, it's kinda strange that they neglected the interior so much. I would have though that this would be one of the easiest parts of a car to get right. Hire some established car interior people from existing companies, and work with existing suppliers of luxury manufacturers. The interior is the one part of the car that doesn't need to try to be innovative, so they could have basically just copied their German rivals. Am I missing something about how hard this is? Also, is it really that bad? I've never driven or ridden in a Tesla, but I've looked inside one in a showroom and thought it looked pretty nice inside.
      - henrikschroder 10y ago
        I think a lot of it is psychological and about branding and luxury signaling, but I also think that build quality is one of those things where you have to get everything right, it really is a case of the whole being larger than the sum of the parts, so you can't just subcontract out the parts and slap them together. And at the end of the day, quality costs, and the price of the Model S is high enough already. My soon 3yo Mercedes E-class doesn't squeak, rattle, flap, wobble, dinkle, pop or waffle anywhere. Nothing. Meanwhile, the Tesla I test-drove felt much cheaper. It's nice enough, but it really feels like the cheapest entry-level German luxury cars, while it's priced like their highest-end cars. I've also seen reports that build quality is hit-and-miss, they start to squeak and rattle after a while if you're unlucky.
  - stephencanon 10y ago
    Yes, both the S and the roadster.
Swizec 10y ago
> but the acceleration starts exactly when you want it to Have you ever driven a manual? They, too, can give you acceleration exactly when you want it. My biggest gripe about driving in the US. No manuals to rent -.- What Tesla does do better is the constant torque. That must be fun.
- zwily 10y ago
  Yes, for years. Have you driven a Tesla?
- bane 10y ago
  > They, too, can give you acceleration exactly when you want it. > My biggest gripe about driving in the US. No manuals to rent -.- This comparison is not even in the same time zone. The average American drives a car with gearing technology at least two or three entire generations beyond manuals. Electric cars feel like a couple generations beyond even the best automatic setups. A car with a good CVT, for example, doesn't even switch "gears", it's one continuous acceleration from 0 to speed. My current car, a hybrid with a primary motivating electric motor, makes my wife's CVT feel like a steam-punk jalopy. A good electric car, on the other hand, makes even the best automatic feel like the engine is dragging, or you're pulling a trailer or something. Manuals, even great ones, feel like some stone-aged anachronism. After riding around in an electric, then getting in a manual, you can't believe that cars are still being made with such terrible gear shifting contraptions. It's like that car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with all the lever pulling and pedal pumping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KiZv2pOo5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KiZv2pOo5o
  - Swizec 10y ago
    I must not have driven any good automatics then. They all felt sluggish and unresponsive. Biggest problem being that they downshift after I press the throttle, not before. I don't see how they could know in advance that I'm going to accelerate unless I tell them. Hence the sluggishness can not possibly be removed. Unless you count flappy pedal gearboxes as automatics as well. Then yes, far superior to traditional manuals. Mind you, even Formula E has a flappy pedal 5-speed gearbox despite being all electric. I haven't driven a fully electric car yet, and I'm sure their power output is impressive, but I have driven hybrids and they were crap in terms of fun-to-drive.

by zwily 10y ago

stephencanon 10y ago

> the interior is not as nice as a top end BMW or Mercedes. The interior is not as nice as our 328 wagon. It's no where close to a high-end model. They are fascinating cars, but the fit and finish and range are still lacking (from my perspective, anyway). And sedans are boring.

zwily 10y ago
Have you driven one?
- antimatter 10y ago
  I've driven the model S on two different occasions. It was incredible. However, I went with my second BMW because of how incredibly awful the tesla interior was in terms of fit and finish. The car had 30k miles and there was constant rattling and noises coming from various areas of the interior made worst by the fact that the car was completely silent. I'll revisit Tesla in another 5 years when they've had time to work out their quality issues.
  - henrikschroder 10y ago
    Almost same story here, I picked a Mercedes E-class instead of the Tesla, the interior completely blows the Tesla away at half the price. Yes, the Tesla is super fun when you get to push the speeder, but the rest of the time it's just not. This was also a year before Tesla launched their "autopilot", and I picked an E-class with Mercedes' self-driving tech which had already been on the market for years at that point...
  - J-dawg 10y ago
    Given what Tesla have achieved, and the engineering hurdles they have overcome, it's kinda strange that they neglected the interior so much. I would have though that this would be one of the easiest parts of a car to get right. Hire some established car interior people from existing companies, and work with existing suppliers of luxury manufacturers. The interior is the one part of the car that doesn't need to try to be innovative, so they could have basically just copied their German rivals. Am I missing something about how hard this is? Also, is it really that bad? I've never driven or ridden in a Tesla, but I've looked inside one in a showroom and thought it looked pretty nice inside.
    - henrikschroder 10y ago
      I think a lot of it is psychological and about branding and luxury signaling, but I also think that build quality is one of those things where you have to get everything right, it really is a case of the whole being larger than the sum of the parts, so you can't just subcontract out the parts and slap them together. And at the end of the day, quality costs, and the price of the Model S is high enough already. My soon 3yo Mercedes E-class doesn't squeak, rattle, flap, wobble, dinkle, pop or waffle anywhere. Nothing. Meanwhile, the Tesla I test-drove felt much cheaper. It's nice enough, but it really feels like the cheapest entry-level German luxury cars, while it's priced like their highest-end cars. I've also seen reports that build quality is hit-and-miss, they start to squeak and rattle after a while if you're unlucky.
- stephencanon 10y ago
  Yes, both the S and the roadster.

Swizec 10y ago

> but the acceleration starts exactly when you want it to Have you ever driven a manual? They, too, can give you acceleration exactly when you want it. My biggest gripe about driving in the US. No manuals to rent -.- What Tesla does do better is the constant torque. That must be fun.

zwily 10y ago
Yes, for years. Have you driven a Tesla?
bane 10y ago
> They, too, can give you acceleration exactly when you want it. > My biggest gripe about driving in the US. No manuals to rent -.- This comparison is not even in the same time zone. The average American drives a car with gearing technology at least two or three entire generations beyond manuals. Electric cars feel like a couple generations beyond even the best automatic setups. A car with a good CVT, for example, doesn't even switch "gears", it's one continuous acceleration from 0 to speed. My current car, a hybrid with a primary motivating electric motor, makes my wife's CVT feel like a steam-punk jalopy. A good electric car, on the other hand, makes even the best automatic feel like the engine is dragging, or you're pulling a trailer or something. Manuals, even great ones, feel like some stone-aged anachronism. After riding around in an electric, then getting in a manual, you can't believe that cars are still being made with such terrible gear shifting contraptions. It's like that car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with all the lever pulling and pedal pumping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KiZv2pOo5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KiZv2pOo5o
- Swizec 10y ago
  I must not have driven any good automatics then. They all felt sluggish and unresponsive. Biggest problem being that they downshift after I press the throttle, not before. I don't see how they could know in advance that I'm going to accelerate unless I tell them. Hence the sluggishness can not possibly be removed. Unless you count flappy pedal gearboxes as automatics as well. Then yes, far superior to traditional manuals. Mind you, even Formula E has a flappy pedal 5-speed gearbox despite being all electric. I haven't driven a fully electric car yet, and I'm sure their power output is impressive, but I have driven hybrids and they were crap in terms of fun-to-drive.