AustinPowers
Total Smeghead
No one is addressing the very basic autobahn performance issue for the German market. It does not have the top speed or the range at high speed to compete with ICE competitors.
Exactly.
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I really think that people who say for example that the lack of blind spot detection isn't a problem because it's not necessary "because drivers should check their mirrors" are missing the point.
NONE of these features are necessary. Almost none of the Model S's features are necessary. It's not necessary to have a sound system at all, or navigation, or electric seats, or heated seats, or leather, or high performance, or alloy wheels, or air conditioning or metallic paint. Why on earth should any of this be about necessity?
The Model S is a luxury car. It's priced to compete directly with German luxury cars. A specced up Model S is as expensive as a top end Mercedes S Class in Europe. And while the Model S has some amazing features that the German cars can't provide, there's no point denying that it's completely outclassed on cabin quality and driver aids.
My 8 year old Audi A8 has radar guided cruise control, proper iPod integration, ventilated massaging seats, an integrated rear seat entertainment system, 4 zone climate control, electrically adjustable memory headrests, electric rear and side window blinds and acres of rear legroom. The Model S is a brand new car, it's more expensive than the equivalent new A8 would be today, and it has none of these things.
Now for me that's fine - I value the things that the Tesla does have and I can't wait for my P85 to arrive in a couple of months' time and to sell the A8. But it was a real challenge to sell the idea of the Model S to my wife who isn't happy about losing the adaptive cruise and the rear seat entertainment and the electric blinds. None of these features is "necessary" but it doesn't change the fact that these are what luxury car buyers in Europe expect their cars to have and the lack of these will hurt Tesla in the short-term.
+++1 This sums up perfectly what I was trying to convey.
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So I guess the Model S is targeting people who have a conscience.
I normally value your posts, but that sentence really is insulting. No way around it. Not everyone who buys an ICE is without conscience or eco-unfriendly per se.