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Performance is all well and good but the cost of an aston martin is for fit and finish in all aspects. Notice the panel gaps on the Tesla versus the Aston Marti

Performance is all well and good but the cost of an aston martin is for fit and finish in all aspects. Notice the panel gaps on the Tesla versus the Aston Martin. Notice how the interior looks a little clunky on the Tesla S versus the hand crafted interior on the AM. Car companies spend decades accounting for fit and finish and Aston Martin had major issues with it in the past. Tesla owners know that their cars are essentially still in beta and allow such things. But eventually that needs to change. And I'm sure it will. It just takes time and $. Don't get me wrong, I believe Tesla is an incredible company and doing something awesome. But there's more to a car than just performance specs.

umsm 13y ago
It's so hard to judge things like this from a low-res video. You need to be in it and actually drive it to judge. That being said, the reviewer mentions that the interior and exterior is on the same level as the AM, yet the AM feels dated.
etler 13y ago
They mention that in the video. He says "It isn't meant to compete with a car like the aston to be honest, on any level. We just wanted to show how fast it is in a straight line".
- dfrey 13y ago
  It would have been interesting to see how the model S compared to the Aston Martin around a track. Everyone already knows that electric cars accelerate quickly in a straight line.
ajross 13y ago
Unquantifiable qualia are always the last refuge of arguments like this. I guess a "panel gap" can be measured, but I can't even begin to understand how "clunky" and "hand crafted" are defined (or why they should be in opposition for that matter). All that stuff is fine, I guess. There will always be luxury markets, and that's where the Rapide is aimed, and I'm sure the purchasers like them just fine. But that's not where Tesla is aimed. I think there was a Matthew Yglesias post a few days back about exactly this: look at Tesla's stock price. They're looking to be another GM or Toyota or Daimler, not just another spit-and-polish luxury vendor (or Ford subsidiary in this case, I believe). The real point here is that there's an existing market for performance sedans, performance is something that can be measured objectively, and Tesla's offering competes very well.
- ianstallings 13y ago
  Clunky = cheap looking plastics and poor fitted interiors. Hand crafted means, shocker, crafted by hand. Go look at how both are manufactured..
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    One is a manufacturing technique, the other is an assessment of quality...
    - ianstallings 13y ago
      As I said above, go check out how Aston Martin builds cars by hand and you'll see the difference. They don't allow imperfections and each engine has the builders name on it. They don't charge $150k a car just because of a luxury badge on the front. That's what I mean by hand crafted. Here's an example of their level of effort: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_JaKvqdh4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_JaKvqdh4 Is that good enough for you? Or do you still need clarification? Because I can cite 90+ years of history.
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        I am not doubting that there is a difference, nor am I even doubting that the Aston is of higher quality. I am pointing out that while manufacturing method is objective, quality is not. You are talking about two different things. Better statements would be "Astons are higher quality than Teslas" (subjective), or "Astons are made by hand and Teslas are not" (objective).
        ianstallings 13y ago
        Okay noted. I'll use the better statements next time so you can avoid throwing an exception in your rigid mind.
  - TylerE 13y ago
    Almost nothing in any car, including low production supercars, is actually handcrafted. Hand assembled, maybe, but the parts were almost certainly injection molded or CNC cut or what have you.
willvarfar 13y ago
Admittedly my source is Top Gear UK, but every time they review an Aston Martin or a TVR or another hand-built car they complain about the subtly misfitting finish.

umsm 13y ago

It's so hard to judge things like this from a low-res video. You need to be in it and actually drive it to judge. That being said, the reviewer mentions that the interior and exterior is on the same level as the AM, yet the AM feels dated.

etler 13y ago

They mention that in the video. He says "It isn't meant to compete with a car like the aston to be honest, on any level. We just wanted to show how fast it is in a straight line".

dfrey 13y ago
It would have been interesting to see how the model S compared to the Aston Martin around a track. Everyone already knows that electric cars accelerate quickly in a straight line.

ajross 13y ago

Unquantifiable qualia are always the last refuge of arguments like this. I guess a "panel gap" can be measured, but I can't even begin to understand how "clunky" and "hand crafted" are defined (or why they should be in opposition for that matter). All that stuff is fine, I guess. There will always be luxury markets, and that's where the Rapide is aimed, and I'm sure the purchasers like them just fine. But that's not where Tesla is aimed. I think there was a Matthew Yglesias post a few days back about exactly this: look at Tesla's stock price. They're looking to be another GM or Toyota or Daimler, not just another spit-and-polish luxury vendor (or Ford subsidiary in this case, I believe). The real point here is that there's an existing market for performance sedans, performance is something that can be measured objectively, and Tesla's offering competes very well.

ianstallings 13y ago
Clunky = cheap looking plastics and poor fitted interiors. Hand crafted means, shocker, crafted by hand. Go look at how both are manufactured..
- jlgreco 13y ago
  One is a manufacturing technique, the other is an assessment of quality...
  - ianstallings 13y ago
    As I said above, go check out how Aston Martin builds cars by hand and you'll see the difference. They don't allow imperfections and each engine has the builders name on it. They don't charge $150k a car just because of a luxury badge on the front. That's what I mean by hand crafted. Here's an example of their level of effort: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_JaKvqdh4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_JaKvqdh4 Is that good enough for you? Or do you still need clarification? Because I can cite 90+ years of history.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      I am not doubting that there is a difference, nor am I even doubting that the Aston is of higher quality. I am pointing out that while manufacturing method is objective, quality is not. You are talking about two different things. Better statements would be "Astons are higher quality than Teslas" (subjective), or "Astons are made by hand and Teslas are not" (objective).
      - ianstallings 13y ago
        Okay noted. I'll use the better statements next time so you can avoid throwing an exception in your rigid mind.
- TylerE 13y ago
  Almost nothing in any car, including low production supercars, is actually handcrafted. Hand assembled, maybe, but the parts were almost certainly injection molded or CNC cut or what have you.

willvarfar 13y ago

Admittedly my source is Top Gear UK, but every time they review an Aston Martin or a TVR or another hand-built car they complain about the subtly misfitting finish.