OT: Electric Vehicles--anyone driving them or seriously looked at them?

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Everyone I know who owns a Tesla calls it "the best car I've ever driven."

I only have one data point but neighbor got rid of theirs raving it was the worst car they've ever had in terms of fit and finish. Paraphrasing: Tesla may know batteries and technology but they suck at building a car in all other respects. Your mileage may vary of course.

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by axel23

This has probably been covered in an earlier post (and this string is already too long to read), but what happens to your EV when the grid goes down?
I ask because here in Austin a large part of the city is still without power.

gas pumps don't work when the grid is down either....just sayin'

[robt57]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

Add Oregon to the list!

Yep. I moved NJ to TN to OR. After pumping my own in NashVegas for 9 years, I don't mind getting back to tended. Not that I actually do that often these days. [one EV one PHEV]

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

If the vehicle supports it, you can run your house with the energy stored in your car.

A refrigerator uses about 1 to 2 kilowatt hours a day. Longer range EV's have around 100 kilowatt hour batteries, so you could keep your fridge running for a couple of months.

An electric Ford F150 Lightning will do it. So can a lot of others. It's such a useful feature, I can't imagine it won't become standard on every EV.

That’s a good option to have in your pocket, but those refrigerator power consumption numbers are too low.

[batman1425]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

I only have one data point but neighbor got rid of theirs raving it was the worst car they've ever had in terms of fit and finish. Paraphrasing: Tesla may know batteries and technology but they suck at building a car in all other respects. Your mileage may vary of course.

This^. Tesla is a battery and software company. Which to be fair is no easy lift, but they are not a (good) car manufacturer. Tesla has stayed relevant because nobody else was making anything even close to comparable. That's changed. Unless their battery tech can stay ahead, the big auto companies are going to make Tesla irrelevant. IMO, they have two options - figure out how to make a car to current manuf. standards (they still don't), or shift to an OEM play where they either provide the hard and software to Ford et al. or license it to them. There are other companies trying to get into that OEM roll, which will do nothing but make it even easier for the big autos to bury them.

[paredown]

Originally Posted by batman1425

This^. Tesla is a battery and software company. Which to be fair is no easy lift, but they are not a (good) car manufacturer. Tesla has stayed relevant because nobody else was making anything even close to comparable. That's changed. Unless their battery tech can stay ahead, the big auto companies are going to make Tesla irrelevant. IMO, they have two options - figure out how to make a car to current manuf. standards (they still don't), or shift to an OEM play where they either provide the hard and software to Ford et al. or license it to them.

Being a software company that builds cars has its advantages--they are (AFAIK) the only company that designs and builds their own software, so they were able (according to some long-lost article I read) to actually rewrite some parts of their code to use different chips during COVID shortages. Other car-makers outsource their software, which adds to the time and complexity for product development and/or upgrades.

OTOH, the only friend I know with a Tesla (bought for her by her late husband who was a gear head) complains that there are issues that point to lack of experience building cars.

[robt57]

A friend's 2013 S seems a nicely built vehicle. Maybe the flagship models got more attention?

And internet friend went from an Audi A6 to the Tesla X or Y [forget] and I heard no complaints on fit/finish. So that post above re:quality beyond EV bits is first I've read to the contrary actually.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

Add Oregon to the list!

Originally Posted by robt57

Yep. I moved NJ to TN to OR. After pumping my own in NashVegas for 9 years, I don't mind getting back to tended. Not that I actually do that often these days. [one EV one PHEV]

NJ takes the crown for the strictest!

New Jersey is the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t allow customers to pump their own gas — anywhere. There’s always an attendant on duty to pump gas for customers at these full-service stations.

Oregon is the only other state besides New Jersey with a full-service law. However, Oregon’s laws are far less strict and allow certain parts of the state to have self-service gas stations.

[HenryA]

DIL bought a Taycan instead of a Tesla because the Porsche was more car like. I have not driven it yet.

[MikeD]

Some bashing on Tesla quality. Justified plus they don't have a traditional dealership network to get those problems fixed so you have to consider that if you don't live near a Tesla service center. But, I don't see any of these other car companies stepping up to the plate to put in a charging network like Tesla does, which is a real selling point if you travel out of the range of your vehicle/home. Plus, they didn't have a battery debacle like GM did with the Bolt either. That's a lot more serious than fit and finish quality.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Some bashing on Tesla quality. Justified plus they don't have a traditional dealership network to get those problems fixed so you have to consider that if you don't live near a Tesla service center. But, I don't see any of these other car companies stepping up to the plate to put in a charging network like Tesla does, which is a real selling point if you travel out of the range of your vehicle/home. Plus, they didn't have a battery debacle like GM did with the Bolt either. That's a lot more serious than fit and finish quality.

I was looking. But I won’t drive a MAGA hat on wheels. I’ll consider a Tesla once Musk is gone.

[jimcav]

Teslas are everywhere here. 3 of my wife’s friends have them. As I walk by dozens a week I’m not seeing fit and finish issues and her friends have never complained about them. In contrast my wife has vented to them a few times when her grand Cherokee was in the shop and they took forever to figure out the issue ( which they really didn’t, after trying a few things they ended up just replacing an expensive upstream computer module, even though all their testing didn’t point to that).
Just curious where all the bad teslas are. I’ve seen one getting towed in our area in the last 3 years. In contrast I’ve seen several recent model BMWs and Porsches on the side of the road getting pulled onto a flat bed

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by jimcav

Teslas are everywhere here. 3 of my wife’s friends have them. As I walk by dozens a week I’m not seeing fit and finish issues and her friends have never complained about them. In contrast my wife has vented to them a few times when her grand Cherokee was in the shop and they took forever to figure out the issue ( which they really didn’t, after trying a few things they ended up just replacing an expensive upstream computer module, even though all their testing didn’t point to that).
Just curious where all the bad teslas are. I’ve seen one getting towed in our area in the last 3 years. In contrast I’ve seen several recent model BMWs and Porsches on the side of the road getting pulled onto a flat bed

I just checked Consumer Reports. The 2022 model 3 is better than previous years. Problem areas were body integrity, paint/trim, and body hardware. 80% of owners said they would buy another one. That's pretty high owner satisfaction.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by axel23

This has probably been covered in an earlier post (and this string is already too long to read), but what happens to your EV when the grid goes down?
I ask because here in Austin a large part of the city is still without power.

I think someone else said this but I'm having trouble finding it right now.....

If power is down in your area the electric pumps that fill your tank won't function at all and you'll have to get by on the fuel you have until the power is back on. In the end is the same for either type pf car.

dave

[deluz]

Originally Posted by batman1425

This^. Tesla is a battery and software company. Which to be fair is no easy lift, but they are not a (good) car manufacturer. Tesla has stayed relevant because nobody else was making anything even close to comparable. That's changed. Unless their battery tech can stay ahead, the big auto companies are going to make Tesla irrelevant. IMO, they have two options - figure out how to make a car to current manuf. standards (they still don't), or shift to an OEM play where they either provide the hard and software to Ford et al. or license it to them. There are other companies trying to get into that OEM roll, which will do nothing but make it even easier for the big autos to bury them.

The other problem with Tesla is Musk himself and interjecting his personal politics in public. I don't care how much I might like his cars, would never even think of buying one. A good friend had one and it malfunctioned and lost control causing a crash that totaled the car. Needless to say she replaced it with something else.