Funniest Tesla Question Thread

[msdickerson]

To be fair, there were some really, really early electric cars from the 70's that did have speeds below 60, such as this cheese wedge:

I wouldn't be surprise if these past attempts have kind of given people negative impressions of electric cars, especially older folks who remember the 70's oil crisis.

I grew up in those days, in that there were lots of folks trying to make EVs, but they were using Lead Acid batteries, and basically remodeled Golf Carts. Not only was it dangerous to charge the lead acid batteries (vent H2 during charge), but sulfuric acid and lead are not real nice if you get a battery compartment intrusion. Oh yea - the Pb batteries would not last very long either, plus had so little KWH capability that these super heavy batteries in golf carts might only do 50-60 mph.

 

[Electriccarnut]

Within the first week I had someone ask me: "Is it good on gas?" I said, "Yeah, it doesn't use any!"

Funniest one that happened to me was when I was putting my groceries in the frunk. A passers by asked if I needed help with my problem. I explained "no thanks, just getting my hot dogs off of the hot exhaust manifold to eat. Being interested in the idea he came over and looked, and asked "Where's the engine?" Then I explained to him what he was looking at.

 

[GoBlue88]

Well in in Germany we would ask how much beer can you load.
In my younger days it would have been Kegs of beer.
I will try to do the experiment to find out. sorry pizzas

It's been done. This guy got, from what I can tell, at least 9 full size kegs in the back of a Model S.

 

[Dubco]

? How often do you need to change the oil?
Me: We should probably go look under the hood together

 

[GasDoc84]

Not the same as the Pizza question.. But before I bought my 3 I went to the sales center and asked if I could test to see if my wife's wheelchair would fit in the trunk. It did easily.

When getting stuff out of the frunk (I use it all the time)
- Do you need a jump? - This isn't dumb.. It's helpful. I thanked him, explained about the Tesla, and if he had been heading inside I'd have bought him a coffee.
- Do you always store your computer that close to the engine? - Yes they run better that way.

You're an awesome human

 

[harlanlimpert]

I'm sure that all of you, like me, have received a laundry list of dumb questions about your car.
My typical list is:
Can you drive it in the snow? "It's a 4,000 lb AWD vehicle. What do you think?"
Did you know it can easily catch on fire?
What happens if the starter fails?
What happens if you run out of power?

Today I had a new award winner that takes the cake for me.
I buy 6 pizzas for my guys at work every Thursday. My Aunt works in the office for me. Usually she goes to pick up the pizza but since it was snowing I figured I'd go get it.
Of course she started off with "Oh you can drive it in the snow?'"
When I basically laughed at her about that question she responded with:
"Do Teslas have room in the cabin or the trunk for 6 pizzas?"

I was so stunned by her question that I couldn't come up with a sarcastic response for ten seconds. In the meantime everyone in the office laughed her out of the room. She walked out in tears but I think it was deserved.

Some of you must have some doozies. Please share!

Why on earth would you think it's funny to laugh at a person for asking a question? Do you always laugh at people who want to learn about things they don't understand? Is there an area of knowledge where you might ask a question that would be, to a more knowledgeable person, a stupid question? "She walked out in tears but I think it was deserved." How cruel can you be?

 

[ELECGMA]

Within the first week I had someone ask me: "Is it good on gas?" I said, "Yeah, it doesn't use any!"

Yes I had a guy in a Lowe's parking lot ask if it was a Tesla? I said yes. He followed with-What kind of mileage do you get? He was serious. He repeated angrily, "how many miles per gallon do you get?" I said none and walked away. He was getting angrier and angrier. And I was tired of dealing with him!!

 

[msdickerson]

I am retired now, but when I had my first electric drive car (Prius) I would take friends out for drives and ensure that I got it to run on electric only. They would always ask if it was good on hills.....I described those mile long trains and told them "Do you know what moves those massive trains? Electric motors with generators running on diesel. That usually got them to understand about the torque and power of Electric drive cars. Now its easier to tell folks we know since Tesla has done such a great job of becoming the best pioneer in EVs for the public.

 

[Pumpkin]

I really like the crazy questions, easy to answer.
it stuff like how far can you go on a charge, that
a hard one , winter, summer, 100mph, 70mph, 50mph,
wind snow rain.

 

[Sandiegodoug]

A lady was walking around my car and asked me “where do you put the gas”
I told her it runs on electricity, I plug it in at home. She replied she knew Tesla’s were electric but how do you fill it with gas.

 

[Pumpkin]

Trying to reply to crazy questions post I’m new at this but so many people ask how can you afford it like is a Lamborghini

 

[Debani]

We love talking about the cars anytime, starting with our first LEAF and now Teslas. We like to think there are no dumb questions as well and take the chance to educate and get people excited about EVs whenever possible, even letting them drive. Having said that...
Where's the dipstick? (I'm looking at it.)
Staging before a parade--Ha you'll run out of power before the parade even starts. (No, we could even plug this firehouse into my car and run it for a while. They walked away speechless.)
Why are you trying to take away my pickup truck? (Huh?)
Trying to educate owner of beat-up ICE in supercharger stall: "You think my car is sh--!" (What can you say?)
[After Cybertruck reveal] I thought Teslas didn't dent. (That cost Mustang guy $2K by opening door into our Model 3.)

 

[DWhatley]

Another one was "How many batteries does it have?"

Since the Tesla's actually have cell batteries like many appliances, not so dumb really. Not something anyone remembers after being told but not a dumb question. My LR model has 4,416 cells (I only remember the number over 4,000 as a general answer) but the standard range only has 2,976 (so, basically, I paid $1K per extra cell). Wikipedia may have the counts for the other packs as well.

 

[JeremyE]

I thought those were really expensive? How can you afford it?
-It's a larger car payment, but smaller cost of ownership. I always get "divide by zero" looks when I tell them.

And my favorite: Wait, you traded in your Challenger for that?!
-Yep, and my 4Runner. It's gobs faster, more fun to drive, and is a boss in the snow.
Seriously?!
-Yep.

 

[JeremyE]

So far though, I'm starting to feel like I run a theme park. Everyone wants a ride in it.

 

[DWhatley]

do you need an extension cord.
have no idea how to answer that

Not really that dumb, I carry (and have used) one for travelling. If I have to stay somewhere (like my sister's house but have used at a hotel as well) that does not have a destination charger, I will use the 110 (US standard and REALLY slow) to add 50is miles of charge overnight, often enough to avoid having to use a SuperCharger during my stay. I do not carry a 240 extension cord because of cost and bulk but it works if you are staying with friends/family whose dryer connection is too far from the car.

 

[DMLou]

I grew up in those days, in that there were lots of folks trying to make EVs, but they were using Lead Acid batteries, and basically remodeled Golf Carts. Not only was it dangerous to charge the lead acid batteries (vent H2 during charge), but sulfuric acid and lead are not real nice if you get a battery compartment intrusion. Oh yea - the Pb batteries would not last very long either, plus had so little KWH capability that these super heavy batteries in golf carts might only do 50-60 mph.

Yep. I'm a smidge too young to remember those -- just missed that time. But a lot of people in the Boomer (and perhaps older X) generation still seem to think that almost all electric cars are like that. When I was mentioning to one that I was considering one of the Volkswagen ID offerings (before I decided to go with a Tesla), saying that I'm looking forward to fun Volkswagen handling, she was like, "You can't get that with an electric car." At least Tesla has managed to salvage the notion, at least among some, that you can have really good performance with an EV.

And as for more modern EV pieces of crap, there's this one:

Modern, yes, with a top speed of about 65... and based on a hacked up Chinese Smart ForTwo knockoff...

 

[jimisbell]

do you need an extension cord.
have no idea how to answer that

The answer is simple. "Does your gasoline car have an extension hose?"

 

[RayK]

Another story about the same guy but regarding posting about our road trip to Florida. He thought he was so clever saying he can drive down to Florida only stopping for a total of 45 minutes during the 18 hour drive, knowing it took us about 23 hours. My answer to that was, if it was about getting to Florida quickly, I'd have flown in a damn plane!

Next time he asks about that trip, or one like it, ask him how much it cost him in gas/diesel and compare it to your Supercharger sessions.

 

[elliott99]

32 yr old female M3 driver here: "Is that your car or daddy's?" from a guy with a 9-ish yr old girl right by his side (assuming daughter)...

So many thoughts, but initially: IT WASN'T EVEN THAT EXPENSIVE BUDDY! And then ultimately: I hope that little girl knows that she doesn't need anyone's help to buy her own Tesla someday (or BMW, or Porsche, or damn private jet...) if she works hard and doesn't EVER give credence to idiots like that!

 

[HankLloydRight]

So it's a hybrid, then? A: No, it's not a hybrid, it's a full electric vehicle. But it uses gas too, right? A: No, battery only. But it has to use some gas, right? A: No, you only plug it in and charge it. Oh, so it's a plug-in hybrid. *Facepalm*

Same story.. back in 2014 met this guy at a rest stop. He asked me "so it doesn't take gas?" and "there's no gas tank?" probably 8 times over and over again. He just couldn't believe there was no gas AT ALL powering the car. I think he still didn't believe me when I finally said "sorry, but I have to go".

• What kind of car is that? A: A Tesla. Cool, who makes it? A: Telsa. I know, but is that like, from Ford or GM or Toyota? A: No, Tesla is it's own car company from California. I get that, but, that's like a division of Dodge, right?

Gosh, I've had that identical discussion at least twice now! I mean almost word-for-word!