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> The experience of driving a Tesla is unlike anything else in its price class True, it’s more akin to driving a prius than a comparably priced german car. Esp

> The experience of driving a Tesla is unlike anything else in its price class True, it’s more akin to driving a prius than a comparably priced german car. Especially when looking at the higher end Tesla models. > When someone says "I drive a BMW" and someone else says "I drive a Tesla," which one stands out more? At least in Europe “I drive a Tesla” makes you sound like a taxi driver. It’s just not a cool brand anymore. (Maybe Cybertrucks and Roadsters will change this?)

sergiosgc 5y ago
> True, it’s more akin to driving a prius than a comparably priced german car. Especially when looking at the higher end Tesla models. I don't know the performance of the Prius you have driven, but a Model 3 is not on the same league with any Prius I've driven, and will leave any similarly priced BMW in the dust, performance-wise.
- ryanlol 5y ago
  Performance is good yeah, everything else is comparable to (and often worse than) the prius. From the exterior finish to the horrible plastics all over the interior. Teslas aren’t nice daily drivers. I love the performance, but it’s hard to enjoy it very much as a weekend car when the batteries can only take a couple of hours of aggressive driving. I had a taycan turbo s for a few months too, it was a blast (much more fun than any Tesla) for a few weeks until I got sick of the consistently disappointing battery life.
  - aerosmile 5y ago
    You're not the target audience. My wife drives her Tesla to work every day and wouldn't change it for a 10x more expensive car. She also has the performance model, although she would never go above 60mph. She couldn't care less about the interior not meeting your standards, because the interior looks like a spaceship and as far as she's concerned, it's the coolest thing ever. I personally drive an ICE car, but I recognize that I am not the target audience and can tell that the Teslas are resonating with a huge segment of our population.
    - ryanlol 5y ago
      > She couldn't care less about the interior not meeting your standards, because the interior looks like a spaceship and as far as she's concerned, it's the coolest thing ever The same could be said about any new car in this segment if you disregard the competition. The Mercedes E-class interior looks like a nice spaceship, Audi and BMW deliver slightly different takes on the same. What is it about the Tesla that resonates with her? The feel of a fully electric car? If so, can we expect to see Tesla decimated by German EVs coming out in the next couple of years? VWAG is clearly capable of pushing out a very polished product, and Mercedes is getting there too.
      - aerosmile 5y ago
        We're splitting hairs. You prefer the traditional German interior design, she doesn't and she's not alone.
        ryanlol 5y ago
        I’d argue that the new German interior designs are anything but traditional. New e-class https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Mercedes-E-Class-coupe-07.jpg https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Me... Tesla model 3 https://i.insider.com/5a86ea3ad0307219008b46c1?width=1136&format=jpeg https://i.insider.com/5a86ea3ad0307219008b46c1?width=1136&fo... I think it’s really hard to argue in favor of the Tesla no matter your tastes. Well, unless you are a vegan.
aerosmile 5y ago
It's important to state which part of Europe you're referring to, because sentiments can be quite different from one country to another. I have family in two European countries, one Western and one Eastern, and in both of those societies Teslas are even more prestigious than in the US because the charger infrastructure is not quite as developed - which means that if you have a Tesla, you likely also have an ICE car for longer trips. As you know, having two cars in Europe is quite unusual, so saying I drive a Tesla carries even more significance than in the US.
- ryanlol 5y ago
  In Western Europe (at least Spain, France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Czechia and even Hungary) Teslas are taxis. In Eastern Europe they are still significantly less cool than similarly priced ICE cars (at least among the segment of people who can actually afford to buy these cars). Teslas aren’t cheap cars, with the same money you could buy a status symbol used Mercedes G- or S-class that looks far more expensive than it actually is. The design of the Model 3 doesn’t really make for much of a status symbol, the more expensive Teslas have either been driven for hundreds of thousands of kilometers or are priced almost in line with a decent S-class.

sergiosgc 5y ago

> True, it’s more akin to driving a prius than a comparably priced german car. Especially when looking at the higher end Tesla models. I don't know the performance of the Prius you have driven, but a Model 3 is not on the same league with any Prius I've driven, and will leave any similarly priced BMW in the dust, performance-wise.

ryanlol 5y ago
Performance is good yeah, everything else is comparable to (and often worse than) the prius. From the exterior finish to the horrible plastics all over the interior. Teslas aren’t nice daily drivers. I love the performance, but it’s hard to enjoy it very much as a weekend car when the batteries can only take a couple of hours of aggressive driving. I had a taycan turbo s for a few months too, it was a blast (much more fun than any Tesla) for a few weeks until I got sick of the consistently disappointing battery life.
- aerosmile 5y ago
  You're not the target audience. My wife drives her Tesla to work every day and wouldn't change it for a 10x more expensive car. She also has the performance model, although she would never go above 60mph. She couldn't care less about the interior not meeting your standards, because the interior looks like a spaceship and as far as she's concerned, it's the coolest thing ever. I personally drive an ICE car, but I recognize that I am not the target audience and can tell that the Teslas are resonating with a huge segment of our population.
  - ryanlol 5y ago
    > She couldn't care less about the interior not meeting your standards, because the interior looks like a spaceship and as far as she's concerned, it's the coolest thing ever The same could be said about any new car in this segment if you disregard the competition. The Mercedes E-class interior looks like a nice spaceship, Audi and BMW deliver slightly different takes on the same. What is it about the Tesla that resonates with her? The feel of a fully electric car? If so, can we expect to see Tesla decimated by German EVs coming out in the next couple of years? VWAG is clearly capable of pushing out a very polished product, and Mercedes is getting there too.
    - aerosmile 5y ago
      We're splitting hairs. You prefer the traditional German interior design, she doesn't and she's not alone.
      - ryanlol 5y ago
        I’d argue that the new German interior designs are anything but traditional. New e-class https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Mercedes-E-Class-coupe-07.jpg https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Me... Tesla model 3 https://i.insider.com/5a86ea3ad0307219008b46c1?width=1136&format=jpeg https://i.insider.com/5a86ea3ad0307219008b46c1?width=1136&fo... I think it’s really hard to argue in favor of the Tesla no matter your tastes. Well, unless you are a vegan.

aerosmile 5y ago

It's important to state which part of Europe you're referring to, because sentiments can be quite different from one country to another. I have family in two European countries, one Western and one Eastern, and in both of those societies Teslas are even more prestigious than in the US because the charger infrastructure is not quite as developed - which means that if you have a Tesla, you likely also have an ICE car for longer trips. As you know, having two cars in Europe is quite unusual, so saying I drive a Tesla carries even more significance than in the US.

ryanlol 5y ago
In Western Europe (at least Spain, France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Czechia and even Hungary) Teslas are taxis. In Eastern Europe they are still significantly less cool than similarly priced ICE cars (at least among the segment of people who can actually afford to buy these cars). Teslas aren’t cheap cars, with the same money you could buy a status symbol used Mercedes G- or S-class that looks far more expensive than it actually is. The design of the Model 3 doesn’t really make for much of a status symbol, the more expensive Teslas have either been driven for hundreds of thousands of kilometers or are priced almost in line with a decent S-class.