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I was hopeful for Tesla but my experience renting permanently turned me off. The technology is unusable. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure

I was hopeful for Tesla but my experience renting permanently turned me off. The technology is unusable. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out simple tasks like how to lock the doors, open the trunk, or use the windshield wipers. The cars don't support Carplay, so I had to figure out how to log into some app on a touch screen. Eventually, after much frustration, I could get bluetooth to work so it could function like a car head unit from 2007. Then the charging experience. I was in Tucson, a metro area with a population of over a million people. There were two Tesla chargers TOTAL. What they don't tell you is those chargers don't support full charging speed when they are congested, so prepare for hour-long charging sessions. Which makes sense because the laws of physics, they don't have a nuclear power plant on standby to charge dozens of cars at 200KW. The driving experience, was huge regression. I used to own a Bolt EV so that's my reference point for "cheap, utilitarian EV". I expected Tesla would be some kind of luxury vehicle. Wrong. These cars have the suspension of a base model mid-90s corolla, and the road noise too. The Model 3 was the loudest car I've ever driven, louder than modern pickup trucks. Of course they failed. Anyone who has ever rented one of these things would pick up on it pretty fast.

halfmatthalfcat 3y ago
Carplay is probably the deciding factor for me in my next car. Anything less is a non-starter.
edude03 3y ago
> The cars don't support Carplay, so I had to figure out how to log into some app on a touch screen. Eventually, after much frustration, I could get bluetooth to work so it could function like a car head unit from 2007. Coming from a place of genuine curiosity, why would you prefer CarPlay over logging in on "some app"? I currently have two cars with CarPlay and a Tesla and I _personally_ find the Tesla infotainment system works better than CarPlay (probably because of the integration). On the other hand, I can imagine on a rental car it'd be easier to just plug your phone in via USB and have all your apps & whatever on your phone ready to go. I guess CarPlay is better if you switch cars a lot and (potentially?) the Tesla system is better if you have the same car all/most of the time? For a counter anecdote - my tesla went in for some minor service the other day and they gave me a loaner, the loaner worked exactly like my personal car, logged into all my apps and whatever, seat, mirror temperature, drive mode etc all synchronized. I wonder if more people owned Teslas as their personal vehicles switching to another Tesla would feel more normal?
- 2sk21 3y ago
  I will never buy a car without CarPlay - it's that simple. I will likely buy an EV at some point but I will never buy a Tesla, Rivian or GM EV since they lack this essential feature. I like that all of my phone's relevant data is accessible and I don't have to do any sync. I listed to podcasts with the Overcast app on my iPhone - the CarPlay interface is excellent. I like having access to a choice of maps on the display.

halfmatthalfcat 3y ago

Carplay is probably the deciding factor for me in my next car. Anything less is a non-starter.

edude03 3y ago

> The cars don't support Carplay, so I had to figure out how to log into some app on a touch screen. Eventually, after much frustration, I could get bluetooth to work so it could function like a car head unit from 2007. Coming from a place of genuine curiosity, why would you prefer CarPlay over logging in on "some app"? I currently have two cars with CarPlay and a Tesla and I _personally_ find the Tesla infotainment system works better than CarPlay (probably because of the integration). On the other hand, I can imagine on a rental car it'd be easier to just plug your phone in via USB and have all your apps & whatever on your phone ready to go. I guess CarPlay is better if you switch cars a lot and (potentially?) the Tesla system is better if you have the same car all/most of the time? For a counter anecdote - my tesla went in for some minor service the other day and they gave me a loaner, the loaner worked exactly like my personal car, logged into all my apps and whatever, seat, mirror temperature, drive mode etc all synchronized. I wonder if more people owned Teslas as their personal vehicles switching to another Tesla would feel more normal?

2sk21 3y ago
I will never buy a car without CarPlay - it's that simple. I will likely buy an EV at some point but I will never buy a Tesla, Rivian or GM EV since they lack this essential feature. I like that all of my phone's relevant data is accessible and I don't have to do any sync. I listed to podcasts with the Overcast app on my iPhone - the CarPlay interface is excellent. I like having access to a choice of maps on the display.