191–200 of 226 posts
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I would love to see a minimalist electric car with no air conditioning, no LCDs, cloth seats and hand crank windows.
I understand why you would prefer cloth seats and no screens (I totally agree), but what do you gain from hand crank windows or the absence of air conditioning?
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This made me tremendously sad. I've been waiting for the Y 7 seater to reach Europe. Now I feel betrayed by none of the reviews I've ever glanced making this clear. And I'm at a loss on what car to hope for instead.
>And I'm at a loss on what car to hope for instead. If you can afford Porsche the Taycan is leagues beyond anything that Tesla offers from a quality and driving dynamics standpoint. The Taycan uses the 992 911's (latest generation) steering rack and it really shows. It provides lots of feedback and feels very precise and responsive. It feels like Porsche, it's not numb and toned down just because it's an EV. They're…
Does anyone know how it did this? The article of course gives no specifics. Is it more efficient? Faster charging?
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this is only partially true; on my model Y you can manually wipe once by pressing a physical button on the left stick of steering wheel, though you’re still right about needing to use screen when switching between wiper speed settings
You still have to look at the screen to change them, which is especially ridiculous considering you're likely only to use wipers during inclement conditions when your eyes need to be on the road the most. From my experience, most Tesla apologists do not have a good frame of reference for what other manufacturers offer in the same price point. It's usually their first car that was not an economy car/base model. Of cou…
I'd take the Model Y any day. It's the easiest and most intuitive vehicle I've ever driven. I used to think the same way about physical buttons. But in reality, as others have said, you rarely use the touchscreen while driving--and basically everything can be controlled by voice with a tap of a button on the steering wheel. Unlike other carmakers, the voice recognition actually works. I'm guessing they use Google for voice processing?
All the primary controls that you might need are located along the bottom of the screen. That includes front/read defrost, heated seats, etc. The volume controls are conveniently found on right, which is ideal for passengers (since the driver would just use the scroll wheel).
While driving, I use voice commands for turning on heated seats and/or steering wheel. For setting the temperature, it's literally a single tap on steering wheel, "temperature 67", or "I'm cold", and it'll lower it by 3 degrees. Probably the only time I really use the touch screen is to pull up The Bike Shed podcast and select an episode (which can also be done by voice). Other times include starting the karaoke, which is great fun when you're with family.
My mom's Lexus SUV, by comparison, is an unusable abomination of complexity. I think I counted nearly 100 buttons, including a useless "tactile" trackpad. Much of the criticism aimed at the touch interface are from people who have one thing in common: they don't drive one, and therefore make assumptions based on existing experience and intuition.
For what it matters, I'm a millennial. But regardless of age, every person who's driven my car remarks on how intuitive and easy to use it is. To be fair, there's stuff that isn't initially intuitive. When I first got the vehicle, I couldn't figure out how to put it in reverse :-). And the interaction of Autopilot and its fallback to TACC (cruise control) during disengagement, the use of the accelerator or right stalk to confirm going through traffic lights--all of which take some getting used to. But the same would apply if those systems existed in other vehicles.
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Yes, you have to use the screen to change the wiper speed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6lpSrIBar4
This made me tremendously sad. I've been waiting for the Y 7 seater to reach Europe. Now I feel betrayed by none of the reviews I've ever glanced making this clear. And I'm at a loss on what car to hope for instead.
Unlike other auto-wipers I've used in the past, the wipers on my Telsa Model Y are fantastic. By that mean, in nearly a year of driving, I've never once manually adjusted the wiper speed (or even thought about it). That includes extremely heavy downpours. The only time I interact with the wipers on the touch screen is to disable them before going through a car wash.
I believe they use the optical cameras for rain detection, unlike traditional sensor-based approaches (which were genuinely terrible).
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You still have to look at the screen to change them, which is especially ridiculous considering you're likely only to use wipers during inclement conditions when your eyes need to be on the road the most. From my experience, most Tesla apologists do not have a good frame of reference for what other manufacturers offer in the same price point. It's usually their first car that was not an economy car/base model. Of cou…
This simply isn't accurate. My first car after college was an Audi A4, and later an S4. And then a BMW. I've lived and driven all manner of higher-end cars while working in Germany. I'd take the Model Y any day. It's the easiest and most intuitive vehicle I've ever driven. I used to think the same way about physical buttons. But in reality, as others have said, you rarely use the touchscreen while driving--and basica…
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It's also worth noting without Tesla there would be almost no electric car market. The occasional Leaf is about as common as a Ferrari. It's also worth noting that Tesla is the first American car manufacturer to bring a vehicle to mass production in almost a century. The only other American company to come close would be DeLorean, who failed after two or three model years and less than 10,000 chassis I think. The pre…
The tesla isn't really common though; I've never even seen one, and my guess it's much more common in wealthy areas as a status symbol more than a widespread success.I don't even see electric vehicles as a whole where i live much, apart from the occasional prius or hybrid. I looked up the superchargers in my state, and they tend to be concentrated in the capital and the communities near new york state. I think people…
I just finished 2k+ california => florida road trip in an electric car and can say with confidence that this comparison is total and utter garbage. Here are the factors that influence your total charge time. 1. Charger speeds vary from 50 kWh to 250 kWh. That's 5x difference just based on what charger you'll happen to use. 2. The energy usage (due to air resistance) is non-linear with speed. Driving at 85 mph could u…
Serious question: How was the drive? I'm in Texas and I like to drive to Orlando. Did you have to change your driving style much from do it in an EV?
I did it in Model 3 LR which is rated ~335 miles but I was driving fast (75-90 mph) and my car was loaded with boxes so I got ~220 miles between stops.
I did 3 or 4 stops a day, 30 min - 1hr per stop, which I used to eat and rest. About 2-3 hrs of driving between stops.
The car told me where and when to stop. I just typed the destination address and followed what Tesla navigation system told me.
One time it even warned me to slow down so that I don't run out of battery (I was driving 85 mph and slowed down to 75 mph).
First day I used autopilot but I didn't like how often it kicked me out thinking I'm not paying attention.
Rest of the time I used adaptive cruise control which was amazing. I could just focus on the steering (and there wasn't much of it on those straight highways).
In summary, driving for 5 days straight sucks no matter what car.
Tesla's built-in navigation and adaptive cruise control made the trip so much better.
Built-in spotify was also great (listened to some music and some podcasts).
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You really can't fairly compare cost between new and used. EVs have been around long enough now that you could find a used Leaf, Tesla, or some others that would be in that price range. Currently prices are still high because most manufacturers are addressing range by adding larger batteries. They have been able to do that because the price of batteries has been dropping year over year. As the battery costs continue…
You're correct. My last care was a 6 month old second hand. Depreciation is the reason I go second hand. The EV costs are still too high though for a 6 month second hand. I'm also worried about the battery. To be fair my only knowledge of lithium batterys is smartphones. So from that how long does an EV battery last? How much is it to replace? And the nonsense that is buying the car but renting the battery?
Leaf fares worse (~4% per year), but it only has air-cooled battery. Tesla and other modern EVs have active battery management system that heats and cools the battery to keep it in the right temperature range.
Replacement is costly, unfortunately. It's the most expensive component of an electric car.