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Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

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Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#131

Post by redthrowaway »

toephu2 wrote: post #123
chabby wrote: post #54

Just my 2 cents: I've driven both a P85D and a 2014 Porsche 911 4S cabriolet fairly extensively. Guess which one I decided to buy? The Porsche. These might not be two cars that are commonly cross-shopped, and the Tesla does beat the Porsche to 60 mph. Still, the Porsche was clearly the winner in just about every other way in my estimation. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Not sure how the Porsche was the winner in every way? Going from point A->B (work commute), is your foot hard on the pedal every day? Can you even have your foot all the way down (traffic)? Tesla wins by far in terms of energy-efficiency, luxury, capacity, and just overall being more useful than the Porsche (and still being fun to drive). The only minus is the price tag. But Porsches aren't cheap either. But yeah I u…

>Tesla wins by far in terms of...luxury

Except it doesn't. One of the biggest complaints about the Model S is that its interior belongs in a specced-up Accord, not an S-class competitor.

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#132

Post by Eiriksmal »

fps wrote: post #115
jazzyk wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, and in the abundance of "charging" stations. But it is the _only_ advantage left (see disclaimer at the end). - Reliability should be much higher with Tesla, as the engine is much simpler. - Ride quality. The 7 is a boat, does not have the agility of smaller, sportier BMW models. - Looks. Obviously subjective, but 7's styling is very conservative and has not changed much. Disclaimer: These two cars are targeted…

People are always touting the "reliability" of electric cars, but that argument mostly falls flat if you're comparing it to any car built in the last 20 years. Internal combustion engines are incredibly reliable. They require basically no maintenance other than oil changes every 5K to 7K miles, and they'll run for 500K miles with no problems. If you're having any sort of engine failure in an internal combustion car b…

Michael Karesh sort of calls out Tesla for producing such a problematic vehicle in today's TrueDelta email update. After the 2015 Lincoln MKC, it's the worst new car on the survey out of dozens of models.

Repair rates are hovering at 90 repairs per 100 cars for all Model Ss, 2013 - today. 2014's is, ironically, 102 repairs per 100 cars. Compare that to repair rates of 30/100 being average (Minis) for new cars and 1-3/100 being good (Toyotas and their ilk).

http://www.truedelta.com/Tesla-Model-S/reliability-1095

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#133

Post by mschuster91 »

What I'd really like to see, and Tesla is already beginning to do it, is modular, upgrade-able cars.

Like, a new engine, better in-car entertainment, better sound system, seat-heating, cruise control, distance control, semi/full automatic driving... if I could e.g. buy a stripped down Tesla as a student which I can then (given, of course, I don't crash it) upgrade over its lifetime as I put some money aside, instead of having to buy an entirely new car when the old one is still perfectly functioning.

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#134

Post by mikeash »

kylec wrote: post #124
mikeash wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drove gas cars for about two decades, and owned them for about one decade. I've only been doing the EV thing for about half a year. So it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about here. No, it's not a particularly big deal, but it's a constant low-level refrain. If I'm leaving in the morning for something time-sensitive, do I have to build an extra ten minutes into my schedule for a gas stop? What if I haven't…

What if you haven't been paying attention and discover your batteries are running low when you're on the highway and the next exit is in 20 miles? What are the chances you'll be able to find somewhere to charge before your car stops? Also, just like how you charge your Tesla every night, I think most gas-powered car owners keep an eye on their fuel and will fill up the night before if they don't have time to stop in…

A Tesla requires more forethought and effort for long trips. I won't dispute that.

But my point is that for a gas car, getting gas and not running out of a gas is a constant thing even when you're not on a long trip.

When I had a gas car, every so often I would get in the car ready to drive 60 miles out to the countryside or something and realize, nuts, I need to get gas on the way.

I never let this happen to myself, but I see friends suddenly realize they need to stop and get gas while on a local drive of maybe 40 miles round trip.

And even if you're on top of things and never let it happen, you're still spending a few minutes every week filling up the car.

With an EV, for any trip that's within the range of the car, it's zero effort and zero thought. EV owners definitely don't have to "constantly be planning in advance." For 99% of drives you don't have to even think about it. Just unplug and go. For the 1% of the time you're making trips, then you have to think about it.

My point is simply that the EV isn't worse in this way, it's just different. It's a tradeoff. If, like most people, you mostly do local driving with very occasional road trips, the EV will be less effort overall, not more.

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#135

Post by dragontamer »

sp332 wrote: post #97
dragontamer wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a fan of "fastest Laguna Seca Lap". But I know a bunch of "American Muscle" guys who only care about 0-60. But I prefer statistics that include a combination of good turns, tight handling, AND strong acceleration. Tesla performs horribly on Laguna Lap, but so do all the American Muscle cars. You basically need a low-weight car with high acceleration to do well. Other raceway times are also interesting. But that's…

The list, if anyone's looking for it http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/laguna_seca.html

Thanks.

That website also has links by car (to see how a particular car does across different racetracks). The Tesla P85D page is here:

http://fastestlaps.com/cars/tesla_model_s_p85d.html

Not very many runs yet, but we can get a glimpse of how it is doing from the four tracks listed.

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#136

Post by varelse »

kylec wrote: post #45
vvanders wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why I'll take the Tesla every single time.

The P85D is, no question, stupendously fast 0-60. But is that really all you care about when driving a car? I recently was shopping for a performance car and the Tesla was never even a consideration because of all the other limitations (range, charging availability, etc). As something to show off with, the Tesla wows and amazes people. As a car to drive on a daily basis, I think it is too compromised.

If all you care about is 0-60, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat does it in a nearly as stupendous 3.4s and beats the Tesla by 0.4 seconds on the quarter mile for half the price...

http://www.caranddriver.com/dodge/charger-srt-srt-hellcat

I personally don't like either of them, but just saying...

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#138

Post by trhway »

beachstartup wrote: post #71
adam12 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it doesn't make them responsible. I just don't think someone should be driving like that unless they are on a test track.

i punch it at full throttle to 65mph every time i use an on-ramp. i bought a performance car to use it as advertised. perfectly legal, and appropriate, when traffic permits. in fact, if you don't, you're probably a shitty driver and need to learn how to merge. when you're merging into a river of steel doing 80mph and you're doing 45 because you're watching the consumption meter on your hybrid, you're an asshole.

yes, one thing you've got right - a lot of assholes on the road thinking that it is the other people around them who are shitty drivers. These assholes look the same today when i drive a hybrid as they looked before when i drove a sporty V8.

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#139

Post by mikeash »

kylec wrote: post #127
mikeash wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can charge at your parents' place (a dryer outlet would do fine) then you should be good to go in that respect. Maybe wait until the Seabrook, NH supercharger is done so you can top up on the way, since 270 miles one way is pushing it. Or buy the CHAdeMO adapter and patronize one of the stations in Portland. CHAdeMO isn't as fast as a Supercharger, but it's fast enough to be a practical bridge for road trips.…

I don't know if I'd amend that statement that far. Even if there's a supercharger on the route, we haven't yet talked about the time required to let the car charge back up for the remainder of the journey. If you're on a 400 mile road trip, you can drive the first 250 or so on a fully charged Tesla, but then you'll need to stop for a half hour at a Supercharger and let your car charge up to get the remaining 150 mile…

OK, then add "and take reasonable breaks" to the amendment.

Stopping for 20-30 minutes every 150 miles or so isn't a burden for most people. Some people really like to push. But you really should be stopping that long, that often, regardless of what you're driving. People don't always do it, but they should.

As I mentioned in a comment elsewhere, the impact of charging time really depends on what you do in that time. If you can time your charging to coincide with a meal, for example, then the actual penalty from charging is zero. If you're doing a 400 mile road trip and you can make your supercharging stop your lunch stop, then you'll lose less time to charging than you'd lose to filling the tank of a gas car. Obviously that's a big if and it's not at all guaranteed, but the point is that this isn't an absolute, and "30 minutes to charge" shouldn't be thought of as being the equivalent of "30 minutes to fill the gas tank."

Personally I love long trips in the Model S. Part of that is just because the car is extremely comfortable and easy to drive, which makes long trips much less tiring. I'm sure that would come with other cars in that price range too, so not something that's exclusive to Tesla. The extra charging time has not so far been at all an issue. I've made three trips beyond the range of the car in the six months I've had it, and my total time spent waiting for the car to charge is zero. I'm sure that will start to become non-zero when I want to do, say, 500 miles in a day, but I still look forward to longer trips in it more than I did in my previous cars.

Re: Tesla’s Model S P85D Scores 103 Out of 100 on Consumer Reports’ Ratings System

#140

Post by ScottBurson »

Someone1234 wrote: post #88
kylec wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to in-car controls, you want to be able to use them without taking your eyes off the road. To this end, knobs that you can grasp for and feel the current setting are great. Knobs without a tactile indication of the current setting are OK, as you can find them without looking and only glance down to see that you are selecting the appropriate setting. Buttons are worse because you have to glance down to f…

I have to say I agree. We have a car made in 2000, it has knobs and dials for everything, you can configure the AC/heat completely without looking at it after some familiarity with the controls. The radio you can configure the station and volume without looking. We also own a Prius made in 2014. They've either turned everything into a flat button, or worse it requires the touch screen to configure. And while the Priu…

Huh? Our 2006 Prius has buttons on the steering wheel for adjusting the target temperature. Does yours not have these?
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