4 ms·

Can you elaborate on the Bolt's advantages over a Model 3?

rootusrootus 6y ago
Sure! - Lighter, more nimble -- super tight turning radius, tossable, easy to put anywhere you want in a tight parking lot, etc. Visibility in the Model 3 is great, but it's still a heavier, bigger car. - The Bolt has CarPlay. I can't get my Model 3 to reliably read me text messages, stream music (even getting it to recognize my playlists in Spotify was a huge chore). CarPlay is just so much easier to use. Love the big map screen on the Tesla screen, but I really wish they'd implement CarPlay. They definitely have the screen real estate to do it. - The Bolt distinguishes between forward regen and reverse. So when I back down my driveway, it works just like you expect a normal car to do it. In the Tesla I have to push the accelerator to get it to move downhill in reverse. Or else I use creep mode and then have to use the brake at every stoplight. The Bolt gives me both. And since you decide every time you put it in Drive, you can skip regen altogether, which is what my wife does. No going into a menu every time and changing it. - Cost. This is situational, of course. My Model 3 runs me close to a grand a month in depreciation alone. I paid 6 grand for a 36 month lease on the Bolt. - Wipers, of course. The Bolt has normal wiper controls. On the Model 3 I have to get used to them running at the highest speed for no reason, or turn them off and resign myself to holding down the stalk button when I need them. My model 3 is a performance model, so it's silly fast, but the Bolt isn't unpleasantly slow. The Bolt seats suck, but I feel the same about the Model 3 seats (my butt has grown accustomed to Recaros, I got spoiled). The OTA updates are more frequent on the Model 3, definitely, but at least the Bolt can get OTA updates as well. Hell, my F250 can at this point, but Tesla is much more frequently tweaking things.
- deleted 6y ago
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- PaulWaldman 6y ago
  Thanks for the info. As more carmakers offer completive battery electric vehicles, maybe Tesla's more subtle deficiencies will garner more criticism. The wipers and lack of Carplay/Android Auto seems to be a universal complaint. I can't think of any mainstream cars that start over $30K and don't offer Carplay or Android Auto.
  - rootusrootus 6y ago
    I completely understand the decisions Tesla has made, and they have done an admirable job. They needed to make the car feel premium enough to justify the price, while still cutting costs at every opportunity. So they made their own seats, branded vinyl as vegan leather, spun a huge center infotainment screen as a feature instead of the cheapest way to get a dashboard in the car, etc. But competition is heating up, so they will have to stay on their toes. I'm really pleased to see that Ford actually put forth a good faith effort with the Mach-E. And one-upped Tesla with the interior at the same time. The Mach-E isn't a compliance car, and we need to see more of this in the market. The Bolt, despite some protests to the contrary, is absolutely still a compliance car, though I think they executed pretty well all considered. I agree that at this point CarPlay/Android Auto is table stakes. It's more noteworthy not to have it, than to have it.

Sure! - Lighter, more nimble -- super tight turning radius, tossable, easy to put anywhere you want in a tight parking lot, etc. Visibility in the Model 3 is great, but it's still a heavier, bigger car. - The Bolt has CarPlay. I can't get my Model 3 to reliably read me text messages, stream music (even getting it to recognize my playlists in Spotify was a huge chore). CarPlay is just so much easier to use. Love the big map screen on the Tesla screen, but I really wish they'd implement CarPlay. They definitely have the screen real estate to do it. - The Bolt distinguishes between forward regen and reverse. So when I back down my driveway, it works just like you expect a normal car to do it. In the Tesla I have to push the accelerator to get it to move downhill in reverse. Or else I use creep mode and then have to use the brake at every stoplight. The Bolt gives me both. And since you decide every time you put it in Drive, you can skip regen altogether, which is what my wife does. No going into a menu every time and changing it. - Cost. This is situational, of course. My Model 3 runs me close to a grand a month in depreciation alone. I paid 6 grand for a 36 month lease on the Bolt. - Wipers, of course. The Bolt has normal wiper controls. On the Model 3 I have to get used to them running at the highest speed for no reason, or turn them off and resign myself to holding down the stalk button when I need them. My model 3 is a performance model, so it's silly fast, but the Bolt isn't unpleasantly slow. The Bolt seats suck, but I feel the same about the Model 3 seats (my butt has grown accustomed to Recaros, I got spoiled). The OTA updates are more frequent on the Model 3, definitely, but at least the Bolt can get OTA updates as well. Hell, my F250 can at this point, but Tesla is much more frequently tweaking things.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
PaulWaldman 6y ago
Thanks for the info. As more carmakers offer completive battery electric vehicles, maybe Tesla's more subtle deficiencies will garner more criticism. The wipers and lack of Carplay/Android Auto seems to be a universal complaint. I can't think of any mainstream cars that start over $30K and don't offer Carplay or Android Auto.
- rootusrootus 6y ago
  I completely understand the decisions Tesla has made, and they have done an admirable job. They needed to make the car feel premium enough to justify the price, while still cutting costs at every opportunity. So they made their own seats, branded vinyl as vegan leather, spun a huge center infotainment screen as a feature instead of the cheapest way to get a dashboard in the car, etc. But competition is heating up, so they will have to stay on their toes. I'm really pleased to see that Ford actually put forth a good faith effort with the Mach-E. And one-upped Tesla with the interior at the same time. The Mach-E isn't a compliance car, and we need to see more of this in the market. The Bolt, despite some protests to the contrary, is absolutely still a compliance car, though I think they executed pretty well all considered. I agree that at this point CarPlay/Android Auto is table stakes. It's more noteworthy not to have it, than to have it.