Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would a Tesla?
Regular software updates that add significant new features. Dashcam, dog mode, sentry mode, summon, etc.
Cool, so it gets better the same way your 15 year old laptop gets better?
Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
171–180 of 328 posts
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
The driver who opened their door is very lucky nothing serious came of it. Many motorcycle riders would treat that as an attempt on their life and react accordingly, probably not working out well for the car driver.
I’d say it probably wouldn’t work out well for anyone. Where I live, ~50% of motorists are armed and no permits are required to do so. Road rage never ends well for anyone involved here. The moral of the story is: be respectful of others. If you’re a motorcyclist in a state where it’s illegal to lane split, don’t do it. If you’re a driver in a state where it is legal, don’t be a dick to motorcyclists if they are lane…
>I’d also like to add that I think lane splitting is wildly dangerous and dread driving in California. Surely motorcyclists die from this every year?
So it's a bit contentious, but from what i've seen, it's safe as long as it's done safely, which is a dumb sentence, but let me explain:
There are really 2 things that people talk about with "lane splitting":
* Filtering - moving up between stopped cars at a light to the front of the pack, and then driving away when the light turns green. Generally you aren't passing other moving vehicles when filtering, or if they are moving it's a few mph at most.
* Lane Splitting - This is when you are driving between lanes passing other vehicles that are moving.
Filtering is considered to be safer than not filtering. It reduces rear-end accidents (people tend to "look through" bikers, and will pull up behind the car in front of them like they aren't there, there's also your "normal" rear-end accidents, but they are much worse for the biker...), it reduces traffic (bikes accelerate faster, so getting them out front is helpful to reduce the rubberbanding traffic), and it's obviously nicer for the biker as they get where they are going quicker.
Splitting on the other hand is contentious. On the one hand I believe there have been studies done that shows it reduces fatalities. But at the same time it does actually increase accidents, but those accidents tend to be much less dangerous. Since a splitter should only be going 5-10mph faster than the cars, any impacts should be kind of like 10mph impacts, and are much less dangerous (obviously still dangerous, but much less than being rear-ended, getting left-turned into, or rear-ending something, etc...). And it greatly reduces low-speed rear-endings while sitting in traffic (a fairly low-speed fender-bender can be a lot worse when a small bump can throw you backwards off the bike and onto the ground!)
But splitting does have other benefits other than safety. It's obviously much faster for the bikers, reduces traffic for everyone, and therefore reduces environmental impact in many cases (less cars AND bikes idling in traffic). And there are also second order benefits that it encourages more people to ride bikes, which just increases the above benefits even more.
Still, it's my opinion that both Splitting and Filtering should be fully legal everywhere. It doesn't really impact drivers or those who don't split to have it be legal beyond a possibly slight increase in small accidents (there's an argument that if it is much more dangerous then it could increase healthcare costs for everyone too), and those who are okay with the risks can do it.
And obviously at no point should anyone ever be flying between cars going 20mph+ faster than the cars around them. That's not safe splitting, and that's not what I want either.
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
The pleasure of driving for me does not come from making thousands of micro-adjustments constantly, in fact that's what makes a road trip exhausting. Autopilot reduces the stress and decision fatigue.
For my last roadtrip I got a rental car with Subaru's EyeSight adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping. After a day of driving with that I was noticeably less fatigued, and could afford to actually look out at the scenery every now and then. Definitely worth it, I imagine Tesla's system is even better.
I found fatigue mostly depends on the other traffic. In my 2003 Volvo S60 I can do 800km [500mi] of Autobahn with virtually zero fatigue (basic cruise control and better seats than in my living room) -- with little traffic and mostly cruising at 110km/h [70mph] (or faster if traffic demands it). Though there is not much difference to 140km/h [87mph] besides 20% better fuel economy.
Now, same car, same weather, but 50km (read: fifty) of heavy stop&go on a three lane Autobahn -> Kill me, please.
I'm looking forward to my next car with adaptive CC, that should eat a lot of the stop&go stress (also on my daily commute). But - to get to the point - I don't think that Autopilot will make things much better than that, since I still need to be aware of traffic and anticipate potential stupidities committed by other drivers -- and that's what's causing most of the fatigue for me.
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
For my last roadtrip I got a rental car with Subaru's EyeSight adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping. After a day of driving with that I was noticeably less fatigued, and could afford to actually look out at the scenery every now and then. Definitely worth it, I imagine Tesla's system is even better.
Actually not. Subaru's EyeSight is currently the best system available. Especially in local traffic on detecting bicycles, kids and all those things even at night time. Nobody else comes close.
Depends on your definition of Best. Consumer Reports called GM's SuperCruise "best".
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tesla’s price is $35k but your country adds hefty taxes. I was in Germany last year talking about a 5 series rental my coworker upgraded to. I was pretty shocked when they said it was over €100k. I pulled up the same car for about $60k at my local dealer in the states and that price is before bargaining. Pick it up in Munich and you can save 5%. Companies in the US don’t post prices including taxes in almost all case…
That's true, but the numbers still don't add up without VAT and other taxes. Without VAT and including the incentive (2k euro) it's around 43k euro which is 48k USD.
Yes, so it's virtually the same price as the equivalent model in the US. As others mentioned, the other problem is that the base model now available in the US is still months away for European markets.
That being said, it doesn't seem very appropriate to complain that a car advertised as $35k USD in the US isn't available for the same price in Germany.
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
But Merc E is multiple classes above the Tesla in terms of space, interior quality and luxury/comfort.
Not performance. And your Merc E won't get better with time.
I'm not a car person, however, the interior of a Tesla feels horribly cheap in comparison to a quality made german car.
Totally get where he's coming from. My Audi, which costs about a third of a Tesla model S, has a nicer interior than a Model S. That makes no sense to me.
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not performance. And your Merc E won't get better with time.
> And your Merc E won't get better with time. Have you priced a classic Mercedes E-class lately? Allow me to help. https://www.classicdriver.com/en/cars/mercedes-benz/ponton-1...
What exactly is your point here? The E-class didn't get better. Its worth increased, and there is no guarantee that would continue for today's new models seeing as their depreciation (as with most luxury brand models) is pathetic.
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
The driver who opened their door is very lucky nothing serious came of it. Many motorcycle riders would treat that as an attempt on their life and react accordingly, probably not working out well for the car driver.
I’d say it probably wouldn’t work out well for anyone. Where I live, ~50% of motorists are armed and no permits are required to do so. Road rage never ends well for anyone involved here. The moral of the story is: be respectful of others. If you’re a motorcyclist in a state where it’s illegal to lane split, don’t do it. If you’re a driver in a state where it is legal, don’t be a dick to motorcyclists if they are lane…
Surely motorcyclists do indeed die of it every year. But it's statistically safer than not lane splitting if done properly.[0]
That's right folks: caring about what's statistically the safest thing to do after deciding to ride a motorbike.
[0]https://www.ots.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2018/09/M...
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
This doesn't strike me as a "tremendous drop". Or really much of any definitive change: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&ei=LAmuXO...
To an extent what jacquesm is saying, is true. Here is the long-term USD vs Swiss Franc from 1971 to 2011: https://i.imgur.com/vANpWK2.png The Swiss have benefitted from maintaing a sound fiscal house and associated currency, over time. The US, much of Western Europe and Japan have been busy debasing themselves with enormous financial mistakes over the last several decades. You can see two disastrous dollar periods i…
>* The Swiss have benefitted from maintaing a sound fiscal house and associated currency, over time. The US, much of Western Europe and Japan have been busy debasing themselves with enormous financial mistakes over the last several decades.*
No, these other countries are all industrial producers (and Switzerland isn't), therefore profiting from low exchange rates.
Re: Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And your Merc E won't get better with time. Have you priced a classic Mercedes E-class lately? Allow me to help. https://www.classicdriver.com/en/cars/mercedes-benz/ponton-1...
What exactly is your point here? The E-class didn't get better. Its worth increased, and there is no guarantee that would continue for today's new models seeing as their depreciation (as with most luxury brand models) is pathetic.
> The E-class didn't get better. Its worth increased [...]
This statement doesn't compute for me.