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> 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 big

by 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.
  - zwily 10y ago
    > 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. That's the thing... any trace of that sluggishness is gone in a Tesla (or other quality electric). From the moment your foot starts moving even the tiniest amount on the accelerator, you feel your back being pushed into the seat. There is zero delay. A comparison I thought of... It's the difference between pressure-sensitive touch screens and capacitive. > 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. Yep, hybrids are nowhere close to a Tesla. Go take a test drive, you'll see in the first few seconds what I'm talking about.
  - CarVac 10y ago
    I drive a Prius. If you don't jam on the accelerator, it responds instantly. If you try to accelerate very quickly, it pauses to let the engine spool up, causing that sense of hesitation. But a little tap on the pedal at low speeds can provide quite sudden acceleration, something a conventional car really can't do. However, my mom's (fully-electric) Leaf is worlds apart. No matter how hard you step on the accelerator, it always responds immediately, fully, with seamless, continuous thrust. A Tesla? I've never driven nor ridden in one, but I can only imagine it being like a launch-type roller coaster: immense, terrifyingly sudden acceleration. The only way a manual can hope to compare is if you rev the engine and drop the clutch, which probably isn't something you do everyday.
  - gambiting 10y ago
    >>I don't see how they could know in advance that I'm going to accelerate unless I tell them You can learn to drive an automatic, just like you can learn to drive a manual. In mine, I just blip the throttle down a bit to force the car to downshift if I'm anticipating an overtake soon - it's something you learn if you drive long enough. Besides, I drive a car with an AMG 7-speed Dual Clutch transmission, where the shift takes fractions of a second - I could not possibly change that fast in a manual. No chance.
    - bane 10y ago
virtualritz 10y ago
No, they can't. :) Seriously, driving fuel powered cars -- manual or not --, do not get close to the experience of driving an electric car. Caveat: I am from Germany, have driven manuals all my life. Every time I even drove a Citroen C-Zero shared car from Multicity for 10mins, getting back into a manual car -- even one of the nice CLA Mercedeses that car2go now offers --, feels like going back from the 21st to the 19th century.
- giardini 10y ago
  Can you have possibly overlooked the perfect car - the Citroen 2CV? "#Citroen c-zero vs #2CV which one is going to win?": https://www.flickr.com/photos/65912627@N06/6892145177/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/65912627@N06/6892145177/ My money is on the 2CV.

by Swizec 10y ago

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.
- zwily 10y ago
  > 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. That's the thing... any trace of that sluggishness is gone in a Tesla (or other quality electric). From the moment your foot starts moving even the tiniest amount on the accelerator, you feel your back being pushed into the seat. There is zero delay. A comparison I thought of... It's the difference between pressure-sensitive touch screens and capacitive. > 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. Yep, hybrids are nowhere close to a Tesla. Go take a test drive, you'll see in the first few seconds what I'm talking about.
- CarVac 10y ago
  I drive a Prius. If you don't jam on the accelerator, it responds instantly. If you try to accelerate very quickly, it pauses to let the engine spool up, causing that sense of hesitation. But a little tap on the pedal at low speeds can provide quite sudden acceleration, something a conventional car really can't do. However, my mom's (fully-electric) Leaf is worlds apart. No matter how hard you step on the accelerator, it always responds immediately, fully, with seamless, continuous thrust. A Tesla? I've never driven nor ridden in one, but I can only imagine it being like a launch-type roller coaster: immense, terrifyingly sudden acceleration. The only way a manual can hope to compare is if you rev the engine and drop the clutch, which probably isn't something you do everyday.
- gambiting 10y ago
  >>I don't see how they could know in advance that I'm going to accelerate unless I tell them You can learn to drive an automatic, just like you can learn to drive a manual. In mine, I just blip the throttle down a bit to force the car to downshift if I'm anticipating an overtake soon - it's something you learn if you drive long enough. Besides, I drive a car with an AMG 7-speed Dual Clutch transmission, where the shift takes fractions of a second - I could not possibly change that fast in a manual. No chance.
  - bane 10y ago

virtualritz 10y ago

No, they can't. :) Seriously, driving fuel powered cars -- manual or not --, do not get close to the experience of driving an electric car. Caveat: I am from Germany, have driven manuals all my life. Every time I even drove a Citroen C-Zero shared car from Multicity for 10mins, getting back into a manual car -- even one of the nice CLA Mercedeses that car2go now offers --, feels like going back from the 21st to the 19th century.

giardini 10y ago
Can you have possibly overlooked the perfect car - the Citroen 2CV? "#Citroen c-zero vs #2CV which one is going to win?": https://www.flickr.com/photos/65912627@N06/6892145177/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/65912627@N06/6892145177/ My money is on the 2CV.