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Tesla's claim to fame was being the longest range fastest EVs. They were pioneers in this era. Then they started investing in weird niche vehicles like the Cybe

by api 2y ago

Tesla's claim to fame was being the longest range fastest EVs. They were pioneers in this era. Then they started investing in weird niche vehicles like the Cybertruck and dubious AI stuff instead of improving their regular cars, and the rest of the auto industry caught up with EVs. Not surprisingly, companies that have been making cars forever are pretty good at making cars. Cars have always been a very competitive market, so you didn't have the kind of absolute stagnation you see in some other industries. Tesla just gave them a kick in the butt to make electric cars.

anon373839 2y ago
> Tesla's claim to fame was being the longest range fastest EVs That's true, and they are insanely fast. But I will never forget when the Model S was released and was competing against flagships like the 7 series and S class. When I tried one out, my overwhelming first impression was: this is it? And that was 2012. And it's still basically the same car!
- api 2y ago
  I've heard it described as the most advanced drive train in the world with the body of a 1990s Kia on top.
  - jjav 2y ago
    But a 1990s Kia had proper physical controls for everything.
  - genewitch 2y ago
    So kind of like the Mitsubishi Evo X? The frame and body and interior was garbage. That drive train though.
- avalys 2y ago
  The interior of the Model S was, and remains, appallingly cheap. It felt like a 1990s Chrysler minivan with all the buttons removed.
- tw04 2y ago
  It’s actually gone backwards since then. They removed things like the rain sensor for the automatic wipers, and turn signal and drive stalks. To improve the car? Nope, to cut dollars off the cost of a car that can hit six figures in price.
  - amluto 2y ago
    I think the removal of the drive stalk added cost. AIUI, it turns out that the ability to select drive vs reverse is considered safety critical, so it has to work even if the infotainment system is not operational. This involves something along the lines of a dual-port touch sensor so that an independent, higher-reliability system can detect the gesture to change direction, and the hardware for that is not free. And the “gear shift” stalk was simple and cheap. I haven’t tried it in an appropriate model Tesla, but I suspect you can trigger an infotainment reboot using whatever the current button press combination is, and then, before it finishes rebooting, select drive or reverse by swiping the left edge of the screen, and it will work. Score one for car regulations doing the right thing? Maybe, but this all misses the mark, because how many people will know to do the ridiculous swipe on an invisible target when the need to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle and their infotainment system isn’t working. (I don’t know about newer Teslas, but infotainment glitches on older models are common.)
    - pests 2y ago
      I believe there are semi-hidden PRND buttons in the headliner behind/around the rear view mirror for the stalkless Tesla.
- laserlight 2y ago
  > Model S was released and was competing against flagships like the 7 series and S class That was Tesla's sales pitch. Model S was no competitor for Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It competed against the E-Class.
dboreham 2y ago
> Then they started...<doing stuff Elon thought was a good idea>
- api 2y ago
  Elon has the wealth and success induced variant of Nobel disease: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_disease https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_disease Success is self limiting. It makes people start to engage in magical thinking about their own abilities and vision.

by api 2y ago

anon373839 2y ago

> Tesla's claim to fame was being the longest range fastest EVs That's true, and they are insanely fast. But I will never forget when the Model S was released and was competing against flagships like the 7 series and S class. When I tried one out, my overwhelming first impression was: this is it? And that was 2012. And it's still basically the same car!

api 2y ago
I've heard it described as the most advanced drive train in the world with the body of a 1990s Kia on top.
- jjav 2y ago
  But a 1990s Kia had proper physical controls for everything.
- genewitch 2y ago
  So kind of like the Mitsubishi Evo X? The frame and body and interior was garbage. That drive train though.
avalys 2y ago
The interior of the Model S was, and remains, appallingly cheap. It felt like a 1990s Chrysler minivan with all the buttons removed.
tw04 2y ago
It’s actually gone backwards since then. They removed things like the rain sensor for the automatic wipers, and turn signal and drive stalks. To improve the car? Nope, to cut dollars off the cost of a car that can hit six figures in price.
- amluto 2y ago
  I think the removal of the drive stalk added cost. AIUI, it turns out that the ability to select drive vs reverse is considered safety critical, so it has to work even if the infotainment system is not operational. This involves something along the lines of a dual-port touch sensor so that an independent, higher-reliability system can detect the gesture to change direction, and the hardware for that is not free. And the “gear shift” stalk was simple and cheap. I haven’t tried it in an appropriate model Tesla, but I suspect you can trigger an infotainment reboot using whatever the current button press combination is, and then, before it finishes rebooting, select drive or reverse by swiping the left edge of the screen, and it will work. Score one for car regulations doing the right thing? Maybe, but this all misses the mark, because how many people will know to do the ridiculous swipe on an invisible target when the need to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle and their infotainment system isn’t working. (I don’t know about newer Teslas, but infotainment glitches on older models are common.)
  - pests 2y ago
    I believe there are semi-hidden PRND buttons in the headliner behind/around the rear view mirror for the stalkless Tesla.
laserlight 2y ago
> Model S was released and was competing against flagships like the 7 series and S class That was Tesla's sales pitch. Model S was no competitor for Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It competed against the E-Class.

dboreham 2y ago

> Then they started...<doing stuff Elon thought was a good idea>

api 2y ago
Elon has the wealth and success induced variant of Nobel disease: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_disease https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_disease Success is self limiting. It makes people start to engage in magical thinking about their own abilities and vision.