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Hate to break this to you, but the internals of most "premium" vehicles when it comes to things like engines are largely unchanged year to year. I test drove a

Hate to break this to you, but the internals of most "premium" vehicles when it comes to things like engines are largely unchanged year to year. I test drove a lot of premium vehicles last year and found most of them were using engines/drivetrains that were still based on 15-20 year old designs with only cosmetic (and cabin electronics) changes over the years. So in that sense, the Model S is a baby in terms of maturity of the vehicle platform.

deleted 13y ago
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at-fates-hands 13y ago
>>> I test drove a lot of premium vehicles last year and found most of them were using engines/drivetrains that were still based on 15-20 year old designs with only cosmetic (and cabin electronics) changes. I'd love to know which cars you're referring to. I've been a huge BMW guy for years and they generally go on 5 year cycle with their engines and drivetrains. For instance, on the M5 the E60 M5 used the same drivetrain and engine (with minor tweaks) from 2005-2010. Whereas the new F10 M5 engine and drivetrain was redesigned in 2011 and has yet to see any major changes in its current iteration.
- hkarthik 13y ago
  I saw it across manufacturers the German manufacturers: BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. On the Japanese side, Nissan/Infiniti abused the hell out of their 3.5L V6 in every car they made for more than a decade. Regarding the BMW M5, the F10 is actually very similar to the F01 which came on the previous 7 series in 2008. Even the E60 was considered an upsized 3 series engine.[1] Regardless, the point I'm trying to make is that Tesla is really trying to break new ground and needs about a decade for their vehicle platforms to mature before comparisons can be made with any of the current luxury brand. The other brands have a pedigree which goes back multiple decades so even their newer vehicles have a few decades of maturity baked into them. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_F10#cite_note-12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_F10#cite_note-12
  - btr15 13y ago
    Your BMW example is not even close to 15 years. Care to explain?
tedunangst 13y ago
The point is that the internals of old cars are actually old, not just old designs.

deleted 13y ago

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at-fates-hands 13y ago

>>> I test drove a lot of premium vehicles last year and found most of them were using engines/drivetrains that were still based on 15-20 year old designs with only cosmetic (and cabin electronics) changes. I'd love to know which cars you're referring to. I've been a huge BMW guy for years and they generally go on 5 year cycle with their engines and drivetrains. For instance, on the M5 the E60 M5 used the same drivetrain and engine (with minor tweaks) from 2005-2010. Whereas the new F10 M5 engine and drivetrain was redesigned in 2011 and has yet to see any major changes in its current iteration.

hkarthik 13y ago
I saw it across manufacturers the German manufacturers: BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. On the Japanese side, Nissan/Infiniti abused the hell out of their 3.5L V6 in every car they made for more than a decade. Regarding the BMW M5, the F10 is actually very similar to the F01 which came on the previous 7 series in 2008. Even the E60 was considered an upsized 3 series engine.[1] Regardless, the point I'm trying to make is that Tesla is really trying to break new ground and needs about a decade for their vehicle platforms to mature before comparisons can be made with any of the current luxury brand. The other brands have a pedigree which goes back multiple decades so even their newer vehicles have a few decades of maturity baked into them. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_F10#cite_note-12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_F10#cite_note-12
- btr15 13y ago
  Your BMW example is not even close to 15 years. Care to explain?

tedunangst 13y ago

The point is that the internals of old cars are actually old, not just old designs.