I love the way the car drives. The driver experience is amazing, with the way it just goes where you want and autopilot just driving it on the freeway for me. If it was just me, I would get one.
But the interiors are awful. They let me test drive an X for a day, trying to convince to act on my reservation. Right after that test drive, instead of the X, we got a Honda Odyssey.
Sure it uses gas, but my family is way more comfortable in the van, and I saved $100,000. After driving the X, my first thought was, this car costs $140,000, but it feels like $30,000 on the inside. The seats were barely adjustable. There was nothing for the kids, no climate controls in the back for my wife. The back row was tight and uncomfortable for my mother in law.
I hope one day Tesla does an all electric van. But I suspect I'll get that from Honda or Toyota before they ever get around to it.
I'm coming from a Model S, have done a couple of week-long test drives of the X, and the Model 3 interior is IMO far superior. I think they'll need to update the S/X interior to align more with the styling with the 3 because they look dated in comparison.
Also the seats are a lot more comfortable in the Model 3 than the ones in our S. Though I never thought the S seats were particularly uncomfortable.
Thank you though for the details, it does help to hear that the pictures aren't doing it justice.
Edit: looking at some other car reviews, it seems it's a normal way to sit in the back, but in the Model S I felt like my knees were bent so much more.
This cannot be overstated. The interiors are indeed awful.
The interior of a maxed out Model S approaches the fit, finish, materials and features of the low end germans (A4, 3Series, Cclass) from below.
In fact, while I find it hard to believe, it appears that many Model S drivers are driving their very first expensive car. Forum comments/postings make it very clear that they are not comparing these cars to others in their price category (A8, etc.)
So there are probably quite a few people who moved up in income at around the time the Model S became a highly rated car and that is what you're seeing.
I've been in other $151,000+ cars before, and the X isn't anywhere close to that.
I still love the look of the S, and think it's aging pretty well, but I couldn't bring myself to get the X in part because of the exterior design. I ended up with a 2018 XC60.
As a founder of a startup, I don't own a Tesla (nor do I wax philosophical about economic inequality often), but there are plenty of articles and comment threads that I find valuable. It's also healthy to keep abreast of a broad understanding of what people find interesting. It just so happens that Teslas are at an intersection of featureset and price that interests a lot of people here and I find that valuable for HN content.
Also, a model 3 is something like $40k-50k (realistically) which is probably above the range for a ramen profitable founder but certain well within range of most of the middle class to upper-middle class such that I wouldn't consider it an expensive luxury toy.
The currently "available" versions start at $44K, and features (seriously, paying $1k for 'non-black' paint?) can easily push that to over $60K.
So the base model really is 35k. If you’re in California, you get 2500 tax credit + 7500 federal. That’s 25k + tax. Sure it’s not something everyone can afford but definitely not in the expensive luxury toy range. IMO it’s more in the “deal of a lifetime” category than the “expensive luxury toy” category.
But this is a great example of the Pareto principle 80/20 rule. With his last 2% of effort he could engineer the next Tesla car. Or he could get maybe half as far as one of these geniuses on a new vision alone. If this is anywhere close to being true you can have 7-8 companies with very minimal sacrifice.
So I take it that the Model 3 manufacturing line issues are now solved?
If Tesla did a small, two-seater city car, with an okay trunk and a decent battery I'd probably buy it.
They’re just not good. Yet.
Model C A/4 and R?
Sure, Elon Musk likes to sail close to the wind, but if this were any other car manufacturer, nobody would bat an eyelid.
All that said, they hired Anders Bell away from Volvo a while ago specifically to help with interior quality. This may be the first project that really has his mark on it.
After all, how dirty could a typical Tesla storegoer be? I can’t imagine the answer to that would be “very”.
I'd prefer that interior to the one in the S\X, so in fact the Y sounds like the perfect car for me.
However, this does hinge on having good steering wheel controls for things like climate control and audio, and large touch targets on the screen for anything not on the wheel - messing with a fiddly touchscreen while driving is no good.
I have heard that there is a lack of storage space inside the S\X, and that the overall build quality of some parts could be improved - we'll see how that goes with the 3 and future S\Xs.
There are a ton of aftermarket storage solutions if you like a big hump. I don't want that much stuff up front, so I didn't end up buying one.
What I'd like to know is: how well does it age? Many "luxury" cars have fancy materials which get damaged rather easily.
But I did sit back there when we first got it and was really surprised at how much head room there was. I think the extra head space might be due to the glass roof.
I don’t. I said “Tesla storegoer”. If a person enters a mall in which there is a Tesla store, they do not become a “Tesla storegoer” if they don’t enter...the Tesla store.
I got ours a couple of weeks ago and it’s definitely not like a Hyundai. The interior is very clean, modern, far superior to any other car I’ve been in. My first thoughts when I got in was— the BMW 3 series is dead. My second thought was, they better refresh the Model S interior to match this asap because the Model S looks dated compared to it.
Here's a pretty good review comparing the S with the 3: http://teslaweekly.com/my-initial-impressions-on-the-model-3...
Of course, interior wins over exterior every time, but I do admit to some confusion as to why anyone bought the old ones.
I suspect that's why all those old vans were bought too -- you don't get a van for its styling. :)
In any case, I think exterior certainly comes into play at a subconscious level after looking at a bunch of different models for a month... and if two vehicles are otherwise very similar, I might opt for a slightly nicer exterior over, say, 3-level vs 2-level heated seats, or rain-sensing wipers. (On that note, I've never found a rain-sensing wiper system that I liked...)
For context, though, I'm in Vancouver, and as a city we're rather snobby about car appearances.
Me neither, they're always too aggressive. I end up doing by hand, which would be super hard on Model 3 from what I hear.
> For context, though, I'm in Vancouver, and as a city we're rather snobby about car appearances.
I grew up in Southern California. I doubt you will find a place more snobby about their cars. :)