The company's sales fell for a second year in a row, as Tesla looks to AI and robotics, including a new $2 billion investment in CEO Elon Musk's company xAI.
Poor Lonnie. May he cry himself to sleep on his MyPillow tonight.
To be honest, coming from a near-launch Tesla Model 3 into the current EV market… most alternatives available in the US suck for various reasons.
I had a Polestar 3, which was great, until the AC was inconsistent on the Driver side. Only had it for 45 days before it was in for Service at Volvo 150 miles away… And has been there since last April. Still paying on it every month and having to maintain insurance… I’m still trying to get it returned as a lemon via lawyers now nearly 9 months later. In the interim I went through several Volvo, Kia, Mercedes, and Hyundai EV rentals, and talking to a coworker who has an EV Mustang. All of them felt like EV afterthoughts made just so they could say they have EV options.
The American brands almost exclusively use the same base vehicles and even interiors as their non-EV options and thus there are arbitrary things that just don’t need to be there and make it feel like they’re just making a car to say they have one (which is exactly what they’re doing).
For instance, my biggest pet peeve is having a Start/Stop button as if the thing still had an engine. There’s no need to have it since the cars are on all the time anyway. Its just an unnecessary step both when getting in and leaving the car. And it artificially prevents you from interacting with the vehicle like rolling down windows or the roof cover while it’s “off”. It’s small, but just shows it wasn’t designed to be an EV, they just took the same shit from before and dropped an EV powertrain in and called it a day.
Several brands also use the same outsourced platform like GM’s Ultima platform. So every one of those vehicles feels the same regardless of the brand it’s under, or the slightly different exteriors. The interiors are nearly identical and use GM parts regardless of brand. The Honda Prologue that I got after my Model 3 while waiting to see about new offerings in a few years, doesn’t feel like a Honda at all. It drives and feels like a Chevy Blazer. Because it is.
The only EVs I’ve driven that actually felt like they took advantage of being an EV were from EV companies, no legacy automakers. Tesla, Polestar, Lucid, Rivian. Everyone else the vehicle felt like an afterthought, especially after driving a Tesla for nearly 5 years, and those were often at 1.5-2x the cost for fewer bells and whistles. My current Prologue purchased before the EV credits went away was almost the same cost as my Model 3 back in 2018, and it’s nowhere near the same quality or capability. And that’s saying something if you know Tesla quality.
The only EVs I’ve driven that actually felt like they took advantage of being an EV were from EV companies, no legacy automakers. Tesla, Polestar, Lucid, Rivian. Everyone else the vehicle felt like an afterthought
Preach it! I test drove a wide variety of EVs (except tesla) last year while I was looking to replace my car. My experience was largely disappointing:
Ford and the other American brands felt like they were designed to be disliked. Overpriced and poorly designed.
Toyota bz4x and the Suburu on the same platform (sunterra? Idr) were nowhere to be found near me.
The VW ID.4 was… fine, I guess, but the infotainment was buggy and froze for most of the test drive. It’s also plagued with recalls, so I didn’t really trust in the longevity of the vehicle.
There was a used Polestar 2 MY21 launch edition someone traded in near me. I took it for a test drive and fell in love! Even several months in, I’m still excited to get behind the wheel, even for something like a grocery run.
The only thing about it that I am not a fan of is the range, which is ~200mi for MY21. That’s still more than enough me, I maybe need to charge 1-2x a month. Well, that and the slightly underpowered processor for the infotainment makes it a bit sluggish at times.
To your point about the start/stop button; would this not be an anti-theft / security feature? Otherwise, what would stop someone who broke in from just driving away with the vehicle?
You obviously have way more experience with various EVs than I do, but just curious your thoughts in that regard.
My wife and I have BYD vehicles. My first EV was a Model 3. BYD is decades ahead of Tesla as cars go. We’ve had themfor 3 years, and have nothing bad to say about them. We’ll, that’s not entirely true, the original floor mats are shit, pretty, but shit.
When I started work at a new location last year the EV charging section of the parking lot was almost exclusively Teslas. Year later and its much more mixed. I regularly see Porsches, BMWs, Polestars, Mustang EVs, and a few Ioniq’s and a Rivian.
Every 3rd car is a Tesla where I am. Many of which are newer models. At this point I feel like people are unable to vote with their wallet.
To be honest, coming from a near-launch Tesla Model 3 into the current EV market… most alternatives available in the US suck for various reasons.
I had a Polestar 3, which was great, until the AC was inconsistent on the Driver side. Only had it for 45 days before it was in for Service at Volvo 150 miles away… And has been there since last April. Still paying on it every month and having to maintain insurance… I’m still trying to get it returned as a lemon via lawyers now nearly 9 months later. In the interim I went through several Volvo, Kia, Mercedes, and Hyundai EV rentals, and talking to a coworker who has an EV Mustang. All of them felt like EV afterthoughts made just so they could say they have EV options.
The American brands almost exclusively use the same base vehicles and even interiors as their non-EV options and thus there are arbitrary things that just don’t need to be there and make it feel like they’re just making a car to say they have one (which is exactly what they’re doing).
For instance, my biggest pet peeve is having a Start/Stop button as if the thing still had an engine. There’s no need to have it since the cars are on all the time anyway. Its just an unnecessary step both when getting in and leaving the car. And it artificially prevents you from interacting with the vehicle like rolling down windows or the roof cover while it’s “off”. It’s small, but just shows it wasn’t designed to be an EV, they just took the same shit from before and dropped an EV powertrain in and called it a day.
Several brands also use the same outsourced platform like GM’s Ultima platform. So every one of those vehicles feels the same regardless of the brand it’s under, or the slightly different exteriors. The interiors are nearly identical and use GM parts regardless of brand. The Honda Prologue that I got after my Model 3 while waiting to see about new offerings in a few years, doesn’t feel like a Honda at all. It drives and feels like a Chevy Blazer. Because it is.
The only EVs I’ve driven that actually felt like they took advantage of being an EV were from EV companies, no legacy automakers. Tesla, Polestar, Lucid, Rivian. Everyone else the vehicle felt like an afterthought, especially after driving a Tesla for nearly 5 years, and those were often at 1.5-2x the cost for fewer bells and whistles. My current Prologue purchased before the EV credits went away was almost the same cost as my Model 3 back in 2018, and it’s nowhere near the same quality or capability. And that’s saying something if you know Tesla quality.
Preach it! I test drove a wide variety of EVs (except tesla) last year while I was looking to replace my car. My experience was largely disappointing:
There was a used Polestar 2 MY21 launch edition someone traded in near me. I took it for a test drive and fell in love! Even several months in, I’m still excited to get behind the wheel, even for something like a grocery run.
The only thing about it that I am not a fan of is the range, which is ~200mi for MY21. That’s still more than enough me, I maybe need to charge 1-2x a month. Well, that and the slightly underpowered processor for the infotainment makes it a bit sluggish at times.
To your point about the start/stop button; would this not be an anti-theft / security feature? Otherwise, what would stop someone who broke in from just driving away with the vehicle?
You obviously have way more experience with various EVs than I do, but just curious your thoughts in that regard.
this was also my thought. I don’t care what it’s designed to do - I want a goddamn off button for my car lol
It won’t move without a proximity key/app.
My wife and I have BYD vehicles. My first EV was a Model 3. BYD is decades ahead of Tesla as cars go. We’ve had themfor 3 years, and have nothing bad to say about them. We’ll, that’s not entirely true, the original floor mats are shit, pretty, but shit.
Some people already bought them and can’t afford to flip them for another car in this economy. Some are in leases that haven’t expired yet.
When I started work at a new location last year the EV charging section of the parking lot was almost exclusively Teslas. Year later and its much more mixed. I regularly see Porsches, BMWs, Polestars, Mustang EVs, and a few Ioniq’s and a Rivian.
Depends on where you are. Maybe they did.