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Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

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Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#191

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

kumarvvr wrote: post #117
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've heard Telsa vehicles rare in for warranty repairs at a higher rate than most other new vehicles. "The main problem areas involved the drivetrain, power equipment, charging equipment, giant iPad-like center console, and body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks." The most common problems involve replacement of the electric motors, warped brake rotors, door handles that fail to slide out as a driver a…

Electric motors are one of the most rugged pieces of equipment in the world. Coming from a state run engineering enterprise, where every motor is purchased from the lowest bidder, even the worst quality motors run for decades before even showing signs of any trouble, including mechanical. For a car like the Tesla, it's hard to believe that the motor will give any sort of trouble. Also, most electric motors, even thos…

If I think about it, there must be 20 - 30 electric motors within a 40 meter radius of my desk at work. Probably 60 within 100 meter radius. Most of them are bolted to hydraulic pumps, cranes, or CNC machine drive mechanisms. Can't say I've ever seen an electric motor fail in the 20 years I've been working in metal fabrication.

But I didn't write any of that comment, it's quoted directly from an industry observer.

Just recently we've learned of faulty airbags in vehicles going back ~17 years, occasionally killing the driver.[1]

We can't point at a thing and say "well, it's full of parts that ought to be reliable, so it'll be reliable."

Only time will tell.

1. https://www.productsafety.gov.au/news/takata-airbag-recalls-...

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#192

Post by am1988 »

laydn wrote: post #81
jimmcslim wrote: post #12

Is there a HUD or do I have to move my eyes to the centre console to check my speed? Seems like bad ergonomics to me... and whereas the road ahead is perhaps still in my peripheral vision when I check my speedo, its less so if I am glancing at the centre console (which maybe has a bunch of other distracting things on it as well?)

Center console indicators are quite common. One advantage is that, the indicators are never blocked when you are in a turn. With your traditional instrument cluster placement, the steering wheel blocks the indicators. Cars with instruments in the center dashboard: Mini Cooper: http://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/2010-mini-cooper-hardtop-2-do... Toyota Yaris: https://cars.usnews.com/static/images/Auto/izmo/306771/2009_...…

> One advantage is that, the indicators are never blocked when you are in a turn

This screams made up problem to excuse a potential design flaw.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#193

Post by am1988 »

Theodores wrote: post #148
jimmcslim wrote: post #12

Is there a HUD or do I have to move my eyes to the centre console to check my speed? Seems like bad ergonomics to me... and whereas the road ahead is perhaps still in my peripheral vision when I check my speedo, its less so if I am glancing at the centre console (which maybe has a bunch of other distracting things on it as well?)

I see it as 'Don't make me think!' (Steve Krug) applied to a fresh redesign of what is really needed and where. This is the Google home page compared to Alta Vista. The absence of dials, switches, knobs, hidden buttons, things you have to twist in their own special way, it is all good. Clearly there are some situations where the buttons have to exist, e.g. for seat adjustment, as you wouldn't want to be doing that wh…

> The absence of dials, switches, knobs, hidden buttons, things you have to twist in their own special way, it is all good.

In it's place are things you have to touch and slide without the tacticle feedback and consistency of controls.

> This latter point is important, routinely my brother in law drives at speeds that are faster than what he tells my sister. She is sat next to him but can't see the speedometer, so if he says one speed then she has to believe him, even if it is just slightly fast rather than the true excessively fast figure. Having a centre console is a bit more fair to passengers wanting to know that information too

SO this car is gonna be mentioned in divorce proceedings /s

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#194

Post by am1988 »

randyrand wrote: post #36
mack1001 wrote: post #3

If everything goes right, Model 3 can change the business model of cars. Shift to value add + functionality upgrade based pricing versus a sales and service oriented model.

Also they own the repair market. You can't get your tesla serviced at a normal shop as the software, parts, and diagnostics are proprietary, so they could actually sell the car at a loss and make the big bucks on repairs. I don't want this. But its a viable business model.

Yay, no real concept of ownership.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#195

Post by am1988 »

hypersoar wrote: post #11
threeseed wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see this happening. Look at computers or the home CE market. We've moved away from buying something once and then upgrading it over a period of time. Instead consumers are attracted to new devices, with more features and most importantly a refreshed design. When you have plastics that age, seats that wear and parts that fail people are always going to want to buy a new car instead of adding new features to an…

Buying a new $700 phone every couple years is a very different thing from buying a new $40,000 car because you can't get it fixed.

Especially when most people are insulated from the cost of the phone.

A car is a major purchase. It's the most expensive thing most people own other than a house.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#197

Post by mikeash »

falcolas wrote: post #190
mikeash wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EV drivetrain lets Tesla have amazing traction control. As long as you don't hammer the accelerator in a turn, it's fine.

Have you tried it on ice? Or just dry/wet roads? AWD/FWD/RWD all behave very differently on ice/snow, regardless of traction control.

Yes, I've tried it on ice and snow. When going straight, the traction control is so good that you don't even know it's there aside from the lack of acceleration. I can put my 360hp RWD car on an icy road and floor it from a stop, and nothing happens besides slowly increasing speed.

Then back end will break loose if you floor it in a turn, but just don't do that.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#198

Post by screye »

randyrand wrote: post #36
mack1001 wrote: post #3

If everything goes right, Model 3 can change the business model of cars. Shift to value add + functionality upgrade based pricing versus a sales and service oriented model.

Also they own the repair market. You can't get your tesla serviced at a normal shop as the software, parts, and diagnostics are proprietary, so they could actually sell the car at a loss and make the big bucks on repairs. I don't want this. But its a viable business model.

That is exactly how a lot of automobile businesses work.

Especially budget markets like India and the 2 wheeler industry.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#199

Post by [deleted] »

sunstone wrote: post #21
jimmcslim wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for teaching me a new word! Saccade! Yes, I do think it is worse, but that's just my gut feel, presumably Telsa designer's think otherwise. Not many other cars with the speed in the center console (older new-generation Minis come to mind though).

You might be in over your head with a guy who knows a word like saccade.

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