I shamefully admit I almost pulled the trigger on a Tesla Model S Plaid back in 2021 or 2022. Flush with a shit ton of cash, but fortunately I was reading reports of production build quality issues, many recalls, and ultimately pulled back my deposit.
Looking back at it. The one decision I have no regrets on.
That’s the part I never understood. Even if you weren’t a Musk fan boy and before Musk showed his true colors, Telsa has always, ALWAYS been shit quality. I remember back in 2015, or so, there was a video of someone finally getting their Telsa and it had a massive crack running the length of the driver side A-pillar, yet they just ignored it.
I’ll have to be honest and admit back when I was in high school or so, I was enthusiastic about electric cars and his seemed like some of the best. He was also opening up the charging standards so that there could be a mixed playing field. Back then, I was likely ready to dismiss small critiques as the retaliation of the fossil fuel industry.
Take it from an old man, at a certain point you will grow beyond having to feel “embarassed” by your former self, because your ego won’t be tied to it.
Old man here as well. I follow the doctrine of non-repudiation: I did a lot of stupid things when I was young. But I own them and don’t hate my former self for doing them. Mind you, I didn’t hurt anyone (except emotionally, and not intentionally) and wasn’t a criminal. If that were different, maybe I’d have to process it differently.
I think you can understand something without embracing it or condoning it. I did a few bad things, it’s understandable that kids with that age and upbringing will, as long as you own what you did, put right what you can and atone for the rest, there’s no need to hate yourself.
All your reasons were valid though. Teslas were the best electric cars for a long time, probably not so anymore. Tesla as a brand has done good things, like you say opening up their charging standard which is superior to all the other competitors.
Personally, I wouldn’t get a Tesla because they are sort of like the apple of car companies, e.g. anti-consumer and anti-repair. Plus, Musk owning it is another big negative.
Tesla was a long way ahead of the competition for a very long time, to the point where they were the only option for a vehicle that was genuinely a replacement for a combustion vehicle.
Without them, I very much doubt EV market share would be anywhere near what it is today.
It has been, but the leaf was very much a “second car” for a very long time. They had relatively short range, an air cooled battery, and as a result couldn’t be charged particularly fast. The battery would also overheat if you tried to charge it multiple times.
Tesla, on the water, had a water cooled battery pack, and could be fast charged multiple times per day, and much faster than other vehicles, meaning a road trip was actually possible.
The Leaf was cheap. It introduced many to EVs. They are super common third or fourth hand now. It was aimed at the other end of the market than the Tesla.
Tesla is basically a case study in top down engineering. Radical ideas promised by marketing, sometimes good and sometimes bad, executed in a massive fucking rush which results in tons of build quality and general delivering on promises issues.
It was more to do with hubris. Scaling up production of anything as complex as a car is going to result in quality issues unless your production engineers are world-class. Tesla thought they were smarter than the carmakers, and learned early in the process that that was bullshit. Then Musk came in and relied on hype rather than engineering to move units.
I shamefully admit I almost pulled the trigger on a Tesla Model S Plaid back in 2021 or 2022. Flush with a shit ton of cash, but fortunately I was reading reports of production build quality issues, many recalls, and ultimately pulled back my deposit.
Looking back at it. The one decision I have no regrets on.
That’s the part I never understood. Even if you weren’t a Musk fan boy and before Musk showed his true colors, Telsa has always, ALWAYS been shit quality. I remember back in 2015, or so, there was a video of someone finally getting their Telsa and it had a massive crack running the length of the driver side A-pillar, yet they just ignored it.
The Roadsters were well-made. That was when production volumes were low and Musk hadn’t bought the company yet.
I’ll have to be honest and admit back when I was in high school or so, I was enthusiastic about electric cars and his seemed like some of the best. He was also opening up the charging standards so that there could be a mixed playing field. Back then, I was likely ready to dismiss small critiques as the retaliation of the fossil fuel industry.
God I hate old me.
You’re always supposed to hate or be embarrassed by the old you; that means you learned. It means growth. It’s a good thing.
Take it from an old man, at a certain point you will grow beyond having to feel “embarassed” by your former self, because your ego won’t be tied to it.
Old man here as well. I follow the doctrine of non-repudiation: I did a lot of stupid things when I was young. But I own them and don’t hate my former self for doing them. Mind you, I didn’t hurt anyone (except emotionally, and not intentionally) and wasn’t a criminal. If that were different, maybe I’d have to process it differently.
Probably not that much different tbh.
I think you can understand something without embracing it or condoning it. I did a few bad things, it’s understandable that kids with that age and upbringing will, as long as you own what you did, put right what you can and atone for the rest, there’s no need to hate yourself.
All your reasons were valid though. Teslas were the best electric cars for a long time, probably not so anymore. Tesla as a brand has done good things, like you say opening up their charging standard which is superior to all the other competitors.
Personally, I wouldn’t get a Tesla because they are sort of like the apple of car companies, e.g. anti-consumer and anti-repair. Plus, Musk owning it is another big negative.
Tesla was a long way ahead of the competition for a very long time, to the point where they were the only option for a vehicle that was genuinely a replacement for a combustion vehicle.
Without them, I very much doubt EV market share would be anywhere near what it is today.
Don’t know about that. Leaf has been pretty important as well.
Leaf’s tech was a joke for a long time.
Yes, because it was cheap.
It has been, but the leaf was very much a “second car” for a very long time. They had relatively short range, an air cooled battery, and as a result couldn’t be charged particularly fast. The battery would also overheat if you tried to charge it multiple times.
Tesla, on the water, had a water cooled battery pack, and could be fast charged multiple times per day, and much faster than other vehicles, meaning a road trip was actually possible.
The Leaf was cheap. It introduced many to EVs. They are super common third or fourth hand now. It was aimed at the other end of the market than the Tesla.
Tesla is basically a case study in top down engineering. Radical ideas promised by marketing, sometimes good and sometimes bad, executed in a massive fucking rush which results in tons of build quality and general delivering on promises issues.
It was more to do with hubris. Scaling up production of anything as complex as a car is going to result in quality issues unless your production engineers are world-class. Tesla thought they were smarter than the carmakers, and learned early in the process that that was bullshit. Then Musk came in and relied on hype rather than engineering to move units.