Tesla Model 3

[wdfifteen]

I like the concept of electric cars. i have a Volt and I like a lot about it.
I would not buy a Tesla 3. The front end styling is ridiculously unimaginative. They had a blank slate and it's like they thought, "Gee, there's usually a grille here. I guess we'll pretend there was a grille and just fill it in."
The center stack is horrible and maybe the worse implementation of a really bad idea that I've ever seen. A design that makes you take your eyes off of the road to operate fundamental controls like climate and sound is just a bad, bad design. The thing I like least about my Volt is the pressure sensitive pads you need to locate by sight and push to operate just about anything. My BMW 535 with iCrash was bad in that regard, too. Someday someone is going to do a study on accidents caused by distracted driving that focuses on distraction caused by the car design. Being distracted by your phone is a personal choice, but being distracted because you need to turn the defroster on is a design flaw.

[McLovin]

I read that the $7500 Fed tax credit only goes to the first 200,000 cars sold.

And the list is over 250,000 long now, with the first spots going to current (pun intended) Tesla owners.

I would put $1,000 down on one if I could get a spot high enough on the list to get one of the first ones out (like, within the first few months of introduction).

Otherwise, no.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by McLovin

I read that the $7500 Fed tax credit only goes to the first 200,000 cars sold. .

This is true. It's one reason so many people are buying now instead of waiting.

[dafischer]

Body double? At least face, anyway.





Nope...uploads still dead.

[fred cook]

My son just pre-ordered one for his wife. She is a nurse with an intown job so the 315 mile range will work for her. Their other car is a Ford Explorer with the typical driving range for out of town jaunts. I'm looking forward to getting a chance to ride in and drive his when it arrives..........in a year and a half!

[Ferraripete]

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

Fugly... They need to do something about that front bumper cover...

this!!!!

[Holger]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

...
The center stack is horrible and maybe the worse implementation of a really bad idea that I've ever seen. A design that makes you take your eyes off of the road to operate fundamental controls like climate and sound is just a bad, bad design. The thing I like least about my Volt is the pressure sensitive pads you need to locate by sight and push to operate just about anything. My BMW 535 with iCrash was bad in that regard, too. Someday someone is going to do a study on accidents caused by distracted driving that focuses on distraction caused by the car design. Being distracted by your phone is a personal choice, but being distracted because you need to turn the defroster on is a design flaw.

^this!
+1000!

[dafischer]

The nose looks like it was lifted from a Renault Caravelle.

[Deschodt]

To me it's pretty from the rear and sides, like smaller S but.... it's got a snout only its mother could love. Like Daffy Duck hit a wall hard...



I get that electrical cars don't need a grill for cooling the engine, but then don't make the nose look like it's supposed to have a grill - with that lip - and then not put one in... How hard would it have been to sorta "Panamera" that hood ? Not very.

Now I'm reading that there are so many orders that delivery is more likely to be 2019, by which time the #s sold are such the tax credits will be substantially diminished if not gone altogether.

I can't help but think that BMW, Audi, VW and Porsche (etc) will see that pent up demand and come up with something way earlier that if not as outlandish inside, at least will be prettier for the rest of us...

[aigel]

Looks like crap from the front. They do a good marketing job. Trying to be the Apple of cars. There seems to be a bunch of demand pent up from people that couldn't reach the model S. I can't say I am one of them. I drive very little these days, have very fuel efficient vehicles in the family and fuel is very very cheap ...

G

[djmcmath]

Originally Posted by KNS

While a bit off subject - electric cars are using the same roads that gas/diesel cars are using but aren't paying into the maintenance of those roads through the gas tax.

This is an interesting problem, one I first realized listening to a Freakonomics episode on the dark side of increased fuel economy. Cars are better at doing more damage to roads while paying lower gas taxes. Raising gas taxes isn't appetizing, so we end up with a reduction in available funding to inspect/repair/maintain infrastructure. Electric cars -- which use no gas at all, and thus pay no gas tax -- completely decouple gas from roads, which makes for a sticky wicket indeed. I know that mileage trackers are starting to be used on a test basis, but they're not popular for a variety of reasons.

It'll be interesting to see how this works out. How do we equitably determine who pays what for the roads?

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Can you put down your deposit using Paypal?

[Steve Carlton]

Tesla refuses to take PayPal. Too may problems.

😉

[Deschodt]

that's some strong irony right there ;-)

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Scott R

Didn't Preston Tucker and up in a heap of legal trouble, and ultimately losing his company for selling cars that didn't exist? Or was it dealerships? I can't remember from the book.

That was an SEC thing, sold stock and built a car that did not have all the stuff that was in the marketing material. He was also undercapitalized.

Originally Posted by KNS

I don't know what the answer is, though. I don't want to see mileage monitoring...

How about monitor for electric cars and plug in hybrids?

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

A design that makes you take your eyes off of the road to operate fundamental controls like climate and sound is just a bad, bad design.

Yet it is becoming more and more common place.

This car does not do it for me. Would get a Prius or Volt before looking at one of these. I sort of like cars that are fun to drive though, so am probably not their target demographic.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have to give Tesla credit for actually being entertaining to drive, at least the P85S that I tried was fun. I'm not sure how it would wear on me, but the carrier-launch quality acceleration would be fun for a while.

[jyl]

I think registration fees for electric cars could be raised to substitute for gasoline tax. Electric cars are usually light and driven relatively fewer miles, so their damage to roads isn't going to be huge anyway.

I also think the gasoline tax should be raised. It hasn't gone up since the 1970s, or something like that.

An electric car doesn't really interest me. I don't have such a fleet of cars that one can be dedicated to only around-town driving. And even if there are superchargers everywhere, waiting half an hour or more for a charge sounds really irritating. A plug in hybrid makes more sense for my family. A mere 25 mile electric range would handle almost all of our daily driving, and the car could still be taken on longer trips without hassle.

Heck, our 10 year old gen 2 Prius still gets 40-45 mpg in daily driving. That seems plenty good enough for now.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by jyl

I think registration fees for electric cars could be raised to substitute for gasoline tax. Electric cars are usually light and driven relatively fewer miles, so their damage to roads isn't going to be huge anyway..

A mileage tax is much more equitable. There is no logic in assuming an electric is driven less that a Dino car. One of our Volts will only go about 5k a year. The other one will triple that.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

A mileage tax is much more equitable. There is no logic in assuming an electric is driven less that a Dino car. One of our Volts will only go about 5k a year. The other one will triple that.

More equitable but more intrusive. I'm not having a GPS monitor on my car. And odometers can be disconnected or, nowadays, hacked.

[Jeff Alton]

Is there a study available that shows the actual carbon footprint of an EV, based on generating the power to charge the car? I am curious to see. It makes sense from a green point of view out here where we generate hydro electric power, but what about where coal is used to generate power?

Also would love to know from owners what impact a charge had on their electricity bill. Assuming 4-6 full charges per month?

Like the technology and possible benefits but have not seen enough data to say one way or the other?

Cheers