Idk, I talked with a bartender once who said he thought it would be amazing to drive one, and I said I didn't think I could stomach it because of Musk, and he said I shouldn't get political over a car. Well, they don't interest me enough to ignore the Elon part.
I rented one in California. I was never been so frustrated with a car before in my life. There are no knobs, for ANYTHING. Everything is done through the touchscreen. Try navigating the A/C system in traffic. Or as the sun goes down and the screen brightness doesn't dim, blinding you as you drive. I will never buy a Tesla, and it starts with the UI of the car. Elon is just the icing on that shit cake.
I watched a friend of mine try to parallel park hers once and just about died laughing at how shit the autopark was. She said it kept determining that the right lane was actually the curb, so it would go through all of the motions of parking and then just stop in the middle of the street. Every time I read about or interact with a Tesla, I feel like I find out about something else they added because it looks or sounds cool but doesn't actually work.
This is one of the criticisms of the car that hits home for me. People are now replacing old Teslas which they bought 'full self driving' for without ever receiving the feature.
Same exact story. The whole first 2 hours I'm constantly having my kids Google Google how to lock the car, how do we adjust the mirrors, how do we turn it on, how do we change the radio station, how do we turn on the air, etc etc etc. On the third day my daughter is just trying to open the door and she yells "why is this car so fucking annoying?!"
It's obvious it was designed by a child trying to look cool to the other kids.
The UI is not the worst I've ever had in a car, it sacrifices a lot in favor of simplicity and/or software but a lot of simple tasks can be done through voice or happen automatically.
Wipers are auto, headlights are auto, but if you need to adjust them without using a voice command, you're gonna say "why can't this just be like a normal car"
You do get used to a lot of the quirks pretty quick. But there are a lot of quirks to get used to.
Not an Elon fan, just got one for a steal of a deal through a family member.
I'm not a car guy, I just don't pay close attention. I drove a delivery van when the Tesla cars were gaining popularity, and I straight up had the thought one day how weird it was that there were a lot of '90s Ford Taurus sedans still on the road.
I won't go so far to say they're timeless, obviously, but I think the design has holding power. Their design language isn't especially bold but it's not out of place compared to newly released models from competitors. It's disappointing that they haven't made any bold changes, but I don't think that means they're dated.
To me that's kind of just the design language.
Like how all BMWs look similar, or all Mazda's look similar. Etc.
Typically a strong recognizable brand is considered good, even in the auto industry.
And really idgaf if they all look the same. Model s, smaller model s (3), bigass model s(x), medium size Model s(y). That's fine. I don't need a single brand to offer everything, I can go to other brands for variety.
Honestly, why? Their "no harsh edges, flowing contours" looked good in 2010 but is now completely played out and ugly. Coupled with the fact that no Tesla has had a facelift in nearly a decade, I think they're the ugliest cars on the road rn.
the cabin height being a giant bubble is what i dislike. they pretend to be smaller cars than they are. a small tesla next to a normal crossover vehicle is a good way to remind yourself how big they actually are.
One man's "all look similar" is another man's "strong design language".
I think BMW kidney grills are played out 30 years ago, but some people love them.
Lambo wedges are played out.
Jeep boxes are played out.
Etc.
I personally like the no-harsh-edges look. I don't think it'd look especially out of place if it was released this year.