Thank you everyone for welcoming me aboard. It's my first day to contribute my thoughts, but I've been on this site for many many months reading and thinking about all your wonderful ideas and thoughtful concerns. That's awesome that most of these things have been addressed. I would like to add that we shouldn't look at how bad other cars have designed stuff, as a reason or excuse for Tesla to design things the same awkward way. So what if other car makers put the cup holders in the trunk? Doesn't mean we should think its ok. Right? Vanity mirrors without lights, cup holders in odd places. Yes, it's all been done before. But that shouldn't mean it's a good or acceptable idea. Just my thoughts.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Thank you everyone for welcoming me aboard. It's my first day to contribute my thoughts, but I've been on this site for many many months reading and thinking about all your wonderful ideas and thoughtful concerns. That's awesome that most of these things have been addressed. I would like to add that we shouldn't look at how bad other cars have designed stuff, as a reason or excuse for Tesla to design things the same awkward way. So what if other car makers put the cup holders in the trunk? Doesn't mean we should think its ok. Right? Vanity mirrors without lights, cup holders in odd places. Yes, it's all been done before. But that shouldn't mean it's a good or acceptable idea. Just my thoughts.
svillar, Tesla classifies Model S as a "premium" sedan. They define "premium" as one level below luxury.
From the ongoing discussion, I found the best definitions as follows
premium = all features are best in class. but the car doesn't have all features.
luxury = no wishes left open. just every feature you might dream of, you can have it
So it is really hard to build a luxury car because there always will be features lacking.
From the ongoing discussion, I found the best definitions as follows
premium = all features are best in class. but the car doesn't have all features.
luxury = no wishes left open. just every feature you might dream of, you can have it
So it is really hard to build a luxury car because there always will be features lacking.
contaygious
Active Member
TM has been very careful to use the word "Premium", and NOT "Luxury". The latter is very open-ended, all the way up to Bentley and Beyond. Elon sez, "the best car, in all the dimensions that matter."
Performance, fit-and-finish quality, reliability, efficiency. The engineer's list. The marketer's list will differ!
- - - Updated - - -
That would be top-rank luxury, not just average luxury.
Great discussion here. I think most early adopters will be very forgiving about the less-than-ideal creature comforts and gizmo-tronics. But I worry about broader appeal that is required to make TMC viable in the medium term.
The conventional bases of competition for 4500 pound sedan costing $60-100K are the dozens of little refinements and luxury features that make the high end cars feel special. The unique power source and drive train can compensate for A LOT, but soon, TMC will need to match/exceed Lexus/BMW/Mercedes/etc. in all the silly little things.
The conventional bases of competition for 4500 pound sedan costing $60-100K are the dozens of little refinements and luxury features that make the high end cars feel special. The unique power source and drive train can compensate for A LOT, but soon, TMC will need to match/exceed Lexus/BMW/Mercedes/etc. in all the silly little things.
So True! And the frustrating part is that I'm sure TM will do just that in the next year or so, but I want my Model S NOW
Too true. I expect that Model S 2.0 will have a luxury package that includes all the comfort and "ease of driving" items people are asking for.
TM has been very careful to use the word "Premium", and NOT "Luxury". The latter is very open-ended, all the way up to Bentley and Beyond. Elon sez, "the best car, in all the dimensions that matter."
Performance, fit-and-finish quality, reliability, efficiency. The engineer's list. The marketer's list will differ!
- - - Updated - - -
That would be top-rank luxury, not just average luxury.
I don't care what the "call" it. They can say its a pig's butt if they want to. But for 80k (what my model would cost), a sedan better come with some luxury items. I don't care if it runs on fairy dust either. I mean, charge a couple more thousand dollars. It's a drop in the bucket at this point. TM needs to appeal to a greater market other than just enthusiasts. Not just that, but it's sucks that the people who truly love this car will get jipped and the people that wait and don't really care will get a 2.0 version with most of what we are asking for.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
As a few people have pointed out before, due to battery costs, you're really buying more of a $40,000-50,000 car with the battery cost on top of that. As battery costs improve (and Tesla likely keeps the prices the same for the customer), I can see Tesla introducing more high-tech/luxury features as their margins and manufacturing improve.
I don't care what the "call" it. They can say its a pig's butt if they want to. But for 80k (what my model would cost), a sedan better come with some luxury items. I don't care if it runs on fairy dust either. I mean, charge a couple more thousand dollars. It's a drop in the bucket at this point. TM needs to appeal to a greater market other than just enthusiasts. Not just that, but it's sucks that the people who truly love this car will get jipped and the people that wait and don't really care will get a 2.0 version with most of what we are asking for.
I totally agree with you. My only consolation is hopefully I will get used to parking in the single car garage we have (the two-car garage is for the Hybrid Escalade and bikes) such that I won't have to open and close the mirrors at all. I'm a pretty decent driver so I think I can handle this. Worst case scenario is that I'd have to manually fold in just the drivers side mirror to get in and out of garage. But...man how disappointing in a $100k+ car!
(incidentally we could not park the Tesla and Model S in the two-car garage b/c I'm positive my son would door ding the other car).
I guess if non powered folding mirrors is what we get as version 1.0 adopters, we'll just have to deal. That is our reality as early adopters.
But BOY would I be so happy to find out that Tesla would offer retro fitting power folding mirrors, better subwoofer, etc! I would be such a satisfied customer!
contaygious
Active Member
At least you have a choice! I remodeled my garage to fit my SUVs but still have to fold a mirror in to fit the S! Still worth it though
NigelM
Recovering Member
Mod Note: Discussion not related to Model S but regarding the US/British/French obsession (or not) with cup holders and posts about cheese went here: Cup-holders-(and-cheese-)
P.S. 20 posts! We're quite an amazing group on TMC....
P.S. 20 posts! We're quite an amazing group on TMC....
Similar threads
