10 ms·
Motor Trend Car of the Year: Tesla Model S
- lunaru 14y agoThis had to be one of the easiest selections in Motor Trend history. Besides the obvious technology advancement, Tesla's Model S is probably also the most appealing American manufacturing story since its namesake Ford Model T. It's a hallmark shift in our (re)focus on technology driven advancement in manufacturing. And, unlike the other great company/story Apple, Teslas are built in the US (or at least assembled here). It's just the right product at the right time, which pretty much is the definition of a winner.
- dumitrue 14y agoSo what if the Teslas are built in the US? How does that change anything? What if they were built in Canada, like a lot of GM cars are these days? Or Japan?
- nickpinkston 14y agoMT mostly writes for a US crowd right? It's great story for whoever figures it out, but it definitely scratches many Americans' itches with the US "still being innovative and 'making real stuff'".
- unoti 14y agoMy son works at Tesla. He got the job as his first real job after doing a tour in Iraq with the U.S. military. Tesla taught him how to operate a laser cutter, and a bunch of other heavy machinery. He just left for work a few minutes ago, he's working night shift because they're cranking out cars all night long every night. Him, and some thousand+ other people got jobs there-- good, high quality, awesome jobs. Having good jobs for people here in America isn't important to a lot of people, but it's been a really good thing for him and for our family.
- orangethirty 14y agoFamilies like yours are what motivate people like me to constantly be on the lookout for job-creating opportunities. A startup/business is not about itself, but about the people behind it. It must see to improve the lives of those involved, and their families. I am very happy for your family. May you enjoy more blessings.
- sliverstorm 14y agoEconomic advantages aside, gainful, satisfying employment is also great for morale of the nation. Making things is generally fertile ground for job satisfaction.
- angstrom 14y agoThere is something to be said for having demonstrable concrete evidence of where your time was spent. Most service jobs lack this.
- JPKab 14y agoYou should have your son do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the Reddit website. The title "I'm an Iraq War veteran who now works at Tesla. AMA" would get a lot of hits, and more importantly good publicity for a great company that is hiring Americans.
- danielha 14y agoWell, it changes many things. American jobs, for one. Pride in American innovation. Money into a troubled industry that was once one of the banner industries of this country.
- beedogs 14y agoAre you trolling? "How does that change anything?" They're built in America meaning Americans are being employed to make them and being paid a decent wage to do so. I mean ... Jesus.
- hellgas00 14y agoNot everybody who uses this website live within in the United States.
- freehunter 14y agoBut everyone should be able to understand the economic importance of having products being designed and built in their country. Especially if their country has been hit hard recently by manufacturing being moved to other countries.
- benbataille 14y agoThey do. Which is with they don't care for the USA. Naively, some readers though this thread was going to be about a car. Some of them actually fail to see how where a car is produced should influence its merits. They didn't realize that as the USA were involved, the discussion was doomed to degenerate into a mediocre and moderately interesting patriotic blabber. These readers simply lake basic knowledge of the average American state of mind. As someone who used to be one of them, I give you our sincere apologies and invite you to keep going on your war veterans and industrial pride.
- freehunter 14y agoHey, let's keep it civil. How often do you hear "Good to see New Zealand in the news!" or "This is a great thing for the South African startup scene!"? People have patriotic pride, but beyond that they like to see interesting things happen around them and see the positive economic impact that a successful startup brings. This has nothing to do with Americans specifically beyond the fact that there may be more Americans on this forum than other individual countries, so there are more comments. There's no need to come on here and spew anti-American sentiments like you are so coyly doing right now. Americans aren't leaving hateful comments on stories about other countries startup scenes. This is a story about a successful American startup doing their business in America in a fashion that is not the same as typical established American companies in their industry. And somehow you're surprised that local hackers are pleased by this?
- bfe 14y agoThe cars aren't just assembled in the U.S., they're built here; Tesla does a lot more radically vertically integrated end-to-end manufacture than any other car company. Other than a few ready-made components such as the batteries, the touchscreens, and the Mercedes steering columns, they make almost all of their components from scratch from raw aluminum.
- ChuckMcM 14y agoWell deserved, it really is an amazing car.
- jpxxx 14y agoI got to see one of these in the wild yesterday - it's just beautiful. The door handles sit flush with the body... the charging port has an electromagnetic flip-open... the charger itself is beautiful... and it twirls lights around the charger handle until it's completely full, at which point it goes dark. Beautiful, cool, wonderful 21st century engineering.
- timdorr 14y agoThe best part for me is how you start the car. Just get in and put it in drive. You don't turn it on, it does that just be entering the car with the key fob in your pocket. When you're done, put it in park and walk away. It even locks it for you (a configurable option). So much about this car is so...cool.
- smackfu 14y agoInteresting. It's pretty standard for all that to happen in semi-luxury cards today. But they do have a push-button to start the engine... I guess in an electric car, there's not really any need to "start the engine" since it can just be triggered by pressing the gas.
- jcampbell1 14y agoIt makes sense to have a push button for a gas engine, but for some reason a hybrid camry I drove also had the same push button, and it was impossible to know what that button did. I put the car in reverse, and nothing would happen. Of course, I could put the car in park, and walk away and it would shut itself down. So the button is only needed when starting the car, and it must be pressed before shifting. I think this is a smart move by Tesla, because I found push-to-start in a toyota hybrid confusing.
- nathan_long 14y agoSounds problematic to me. What if I want to sit in the car with it off? What if the passenger has the key in their pocket and gets out at the airport? Some things should be done intentionally, not automatically.
- mmanfrin 14y agoNot a fan of below-the-fold videos autoplaying.
- thegranderson 14y agoThe Model S has also won Automobile car of the year (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/awards/1301_2013_automobile_of_the_year_tesla_model_s/viewall.html http://www.automobilemag.com/features/awards/1301_2013_autom...) and the Yahoo car of the year (http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/tesla-model-2013-yahoo-autos-car-165907072.html http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/tesla-model-2013-yaho...)
- aidenn0 14y agoBut nobody cares about those. Motortrend and Car & Driver are the big ones.
- electic 14y agoHope Jeremy Clarkson changes his mind on Tesla.
- jlgreco 14y agoWhatever Clarkson thinks of the car, I would be very surprised if his persona ever stops hating EVs.
- electic 14y agoThat is true. His Nissan Leaf segment was not that great either.
- patrickk 14y agoI don't think he actually hates the car. Tesla claims (I believe in their lawsuit against BBC) that they found a copy of the script for that episode, and it involved driving the Tesla around off screen until the battery was quite depleted, then driving the car to an area where they knew in advance they couldn't charge it up. Totally against real world conditions, and gave a very false picture of what owning a Tesla would be like. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt Clarkson is just an old dinosaur who is slinging mud at the most innovative car maker in the world. It's entertainment first, and accuracy a distant second.
- enneff 14y agoWho cares what Clarkson thinks? He is a bore.
- rdl 14y agoThis is a legitimate award, much more so than the previous HN post award. Ugh, I wish Model S vs. Model X weren't such a hard choice. An AWD Model S would be perfect (I'll give up the Frunk, it's too small to hold anything I care about).
- jaysonelliot 14y agoWhile I'm a massive fan of what Tesla is achieving with their cars, and I lust after the Model S, the giant touchscreen in the Model S gives me pause. Is it really such a good idea to have a glowing screen dominating the interior at night? To say nothing of the opportunities for distracted drivers trying to navigate a button-free interface that can't be operated without taking your eyes off the road to look at the items you're pressing, or the opportunity for modal errors that abound in systems like this. Echoes of the disastrous usability in the BMW i-Drive system are ringing in my ears. I hope Tesla has learned from the mistakes of others. I'd very much like to see an independent UX evaluation of the Tesla's driver controls.
- psychotik 14y agoThe solution is just an auto-dimming brightness trick away, right? Also, FYI - most things on the screen can be controlled using the HUD and steering wheel buttons. So both your fears seem largely unfounded.
- mikescar 14y agoWell, if it's anything like the Chrysler 300, the touchscreen dims as the ambient light decreases. There are buttons on the back of the steering wheel to move around the stereo system, without looking at the screen. The 300 also has a voice system like a lot of vehicles these days, so that you can hit a button on the front of the steering wheel and give voice commands.
- sebbi 14y agoIf it is anything like the C300, it would be one reason not to buy the car. One can only speculate what Crysler thought while trying to make a working interface (especially voice). Sometimes it displays way too much information and on other times almost no information at all (3 songs at a time when going through a playlist/album?). Also the diming feature is mostly manual (with a dial, in hardware), but works fine. I hope it is nothing like the Chrysler 300 or any other crappy car "OS" we've seen before ;-)
- jaysonelliot 14y ago
- atldev 14y agoThese are beautiful. I saw a Fisker Karma EVer in the wild today. These companies are doing such impressive design work on EVs. Why is there such a big gap between these works of art and the Volt? Surely there's a market for a 40-50k electric vehicle with good lines.
- JayBlanton 14y agoThat's the Model X. http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx
- w1ntermute 14y agoHuh? Jalopnik says that the Model X will start at $60k: http://jalopnik.com/5884111/tesla-model-x-price-tops-out-at-100000 http://jalopnik.com/5884111/tesla-model-x-price-tops-out-at-...
- rdl 14y agoThe "Blue Star" is the $30k version, in the future. The Model X is an incremental modification of the Model S into a crossover SUV, available in 2014. I'd love a "Blue Star Performance" for $50k -- I don't need a car as big as the Model S/X, but want 300 mile range, supercharger, and 4-5 sec 0-60. I'd be ok with a roadster except I hate convertibles and would like something a little bigger, like BMW 3er size.
- kalininalex 14y ago
- kin 14y agoAnyone here able to drive one yet? Or even own one? I'm curious to hear from someone with personal use and how it compares to other luxury cars. It's the little things I'm curious about.
- timdorr 14y agoRoughly 900 people have their cars already and they're up to about 200 per week going on the road. 400 per week by the end of the month. I've only riden in it, but it's a blast. The full torque at any speed is crazy powerful. The amenities are way above any other luxury car on the market. It's in another class, really. Check teslamotorsclub.com for some other reviews.
- secalex 14y agoWhat do you want to know?
- kin 14y agoHaving not owned an electric car before, I just wanted to know the little things that could bother people. How long does it take to charge. How often do you have to charge? How far can you go? What's the practicality of it? Just for short commutes? What fees are contracts are there that could be a game breaker? I know the answer to some of these but just wondering if there were others that I'm missing.
- bengl3rt 14y agoThe $49k base price is totally misleading. To get the "supercharger" access that makes road trips possible, you're out another $12k at least ($10k 60kWh battery plus $2k "supercharger" fee). Nav is $4k. Putting the rapid charger into your home (if you have one and don't park in an apartment complex/on the street) is another four figures. All this to match the performance and luxury of the Acura TL I could get for $40k. Is it really the best car in the world if it's impractical or out of reach for most people? EDIT: Yes, I know all car manufacturers use a deceptively low base price and then nail you on "options" like air conditioning. Frankly I've often wished there was a law, or at least a gentleman's agreement in the auto industry, mandating that something can be an "option" for a maximum ten years before it's considered part of the basic accoutrements in a modern car and gets rolled in to all units shipped. Also, Tesla prides themselves outwardly on not being like the rest of the auto industry, but inherits its worst practice and magnifies it tenfold - base price $49 but for something usable you're pushing $70.
- rdl 14y agoAnd gas/operating cost savings, and HOV lane access. And some states have a tax credit on top of the federal credit. (That said, I don't see much point in buying anything but the Performance model -- assuming you keep it for 5-10 years, drive a lot, it seems like it's worth the extra $30k)
- bengl3rt 14y agoHonestly, that puts it solidly into "more than I can ever imagine paying for a car" territory. It's also too big - I can't imagine street parking a behemoth like that in San Francisco. I quite like the Acura TSX - small, luxurious, $30k. I'd happily pay $40 for Tesla's equivalent.
- rdl 14y agoYeah, I agree about size (I wonder how much of it is that Elon has a 98th percentile family size -- 5 kids and at least one wife at most times). I'm happy to trade 0-3% financing for operating expenses, though, so if I could buy a $50k car which saved me $100-200/mo over a $30k car. The sweet spot today is probably a 2y old gasoline Lexus or Acura(, or maybe an Audi or BMW if you really care about certain performance aspects -- or a diesel mb or vw if you drive exceedingly long distances), for opex, financing cost, and experience. I think this will change before 2020, though.
- PhrosTT 14y agoI just walked by a 'Tesla Event' full of rich looking folk in NYC. I guess that's what it was for. Edit: confirmed. http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/10990-Special-Event-with-Elon-in-NYC-on-Nov-12 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/10990-Special-...
- T_Electronics 14y agoIf I can get a Lamborghini body on a Tesla chassis....SOLD!
- patrickk 14y agoIf there was an aftermarket Tesla customisation company like Brabus (http://www.brabus.com/ http://www.brabus.com/) it would be really cool. Hopefully done more tastefully than Brabus obviously (tacky bling-bling Range Rovers, I'm looking at you).
- Luc 14y agoThey have a custom version of the Tesla Roadster. It's under the 'specialcars' link.
- Hendrixer 14y agoMan I cannot wait to get one! The model X looks superb as well though. Good job Tesla.
- susanhi 14y agoI got to test drive a Model S last week and it was even better than expected. It felt like pure power when I put my foot down on the pedal and I was smiling most of the drive. It really does feel like they made the best car that happens to be electric, not just a good electric car. I can't wait for the 3rd gen 30k range car to come out.
- akulbe 14y agoI would love to have a Tesla... but I'd be soooooo paranoid about damage and/or theft. :/
- js4all 14y agoTesla is the most innovative brand in cars. We need EVs to get independent from oil. We are now in a time of pioneers in a new world. There will be a lot of failures but also successes. I have a good feeling with Tesla's way. Here is why: 1. The design is exceptional 2. Their power train is simple. They didn't make the decision to use an extender like Volt which requires three hydraulic clutches 3. They extend the range through super chargers 4. They are aiming at the right target group 5. The time is right 6. Mr. Musk is a visionary
- SeanLuke 14y ago> 2. Their power train is simple. They didn't make the decision to use an extender like Volt which requires three hydraulic clutches A Volt-like extender requires ZERO clutches. It requires nothing more than a gas engine driving a generator which charges a battery which powers an electric motor. The reason why the Volt has three clutches is straightforward: unlike Tesla, GM is trying to squeeze all the efficiency it can out of the car by taking advantage of the fact that the car actually has three motors in it. The Volt runs in four different modes: 0. The battery-powered traction motor drives the car (the default). 1. The gas engine drives a generator which, with battery support, powers the traction motor to drive the car. 2. The generator disengages from the (turned off) gas engine and performs double-duty as a second battery-driven motor. 3. The gas engine attaches directly to the drivetrain and helps the traction motor drive the car. Each of these is maximally efficient in different situations. For example, if the battery is nearly depleted and the traction motor is spinning fast (over 70MPH), a gas engine directly assisting the wheels is more efficient than generating electricity for the traction motor. Here's the dirty secret of the Model S which no one seems to have touched on: despite Tesla's aerodynamic puffery, it's a fairly inefficient electric vehicle. The EPA rates it at just 89MPGe with its lightest battery, compared to (for example) 98MPGe for the Volt, 99 for the Leaf, and 100 for the C-Max Energi. The Model S doesn't really need to maximize efficiency because its battery is big enough to handle range anxiety. But people who really cared about oil independence (as it sounded like you did) would pick the Volt over the Model S.
- outworlder 14y ago
- CookWithMe 14y agoI guess no one at BMW, Mercedes or Audi has read the Innovator's dilemma. That said, the German government tried to create many incentives for creating "greener" cars. However, the manufacturers IMO seemed to pour money into lobbying against it, rather then putting their engineers to work. Depending on how much Tesla eats into their market share, it could be a tough road ahead for the German car industry (and, to some extent, for the whole German economy). Especially considering how long it takes them to come up with an answer to the Prius...
- phoboslab 14y agoWell, at least Mercedes holds a stake of about 5% of Tesla. But I'm quite puzzled that even Porsche hasn't produced more than some shiny prototypes. An electric sports car, where range isn't that much of an issue, just seems like a no-brainer after the Tesla Roadster.
- nja 14y agoWell, Porsche recently developed the 918 Spyder[1], which is a plug-in hybrid. Pretty expensive, though. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_918#Spyder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_918#Spyder
- netcan 14y agoIf Tesla continues and succeeds, I wonder what it will do to the ideas of innovation/disruption coming from the bottom end & competing with non consumption, being ignored by serious operators, etc.
- Shivetya 14y agoSo how long before electric cars make a serious dent in auto sales? Certainly not within the next four years. Possibly within ten. What percentage of sales will electric cars have to be before people can buy without worrying about resale or the like?