How fast did Model S ruin you for ICE?

[Pinarello]

My Camry Hybrid is the only ICE car that comes even close to my Model S. My 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2013 Ford Fusion are hard to drive after driving my Tesla for a while. I can't imagine buying another ICE or Hybrid car ever again. My wife now wants a Model X to replace the Jeep. We rarely drive a distance farther than 150 one way, so BEVs will work great for the whole family.

 

[pedriscoll]

I think my first test drive ruined all ICE cars for me. My wife has an Avalon Hybrid which is a beautiful car, but feels slow and clunky to me now. I also keep walking away leaving it on. I only drive hers when absolutely necessary, such as out trips from Indy to Louisville to see the grandkids as there is still no supercharger in Louisville and the round trip is 280 miles. I no longer have any desire to drive an ICE on a regular basis.

 

[Kandiru]

I felt this way at the beginning. and on the surface, it's true the electric driving experience trumps ICE by a good margin.

but over the past year or so I've changed my stance a bit. even went out and bought a new Range Rover Sport with the gas-mileage equivalent of the Exxon Valdez. and i love it.

i guess it's the same reason i enjoy vintage watches (chronographs) even though there are digital watches out there that keep much better (perfect) time. there's a certain nostalgia and hand-crafted appreciation i have for, say, a flax-6 boxer engine from Porsche.

add to that the fact that I don't trust my Tesla nearly as much as I do my Range Rover (due to drive unit failures, 12v battery failures, any failure really that has or will certainly happen) and for me, it's not black and white.

Funny, once I put the 3G Gear S on my wrist I stopped wearing all my other watches except the rugged mineral glass Porsche Design by Eterna for those crazy bottom pool scrapes at the yearly D-World pilgrimage.

I thought I'd miss my 3 pedal S4 but I love the relaxed driving in the Model S. I agree that even what looks insane viewed from outside feels boring in a MS. Like doing 60 in town before you even know it.

 

[mobe]

My other vehicle is is just about the polar opposite of my model S. It's a 2006 Jeep Wrangler rubicon with a six speed manual transmission. No abs. It's an acrobatic act to get in or out. It's noisy, it's smells funny, it wonders around on the highway like a bloodhound tracking a scent. It sucks gas like a sailor sucking down beer after a six month deployment. But at least it has absolutely no power. If you want to pass a car you have to phone in your order for power a week in advance. It really has no redeeming value at all.

Getting out of that old bucket of bolts and into the model S is like time travel. Complete serenity and competence. I think the Jeep makes me appreciate the tesla even more.

So why do I keep the old jeep?
It's kind of like an old dog. It's not really good for much but it still makes me smile when I drive it.

 

[Dustman]

Had to register just to add my two cents here.

Bought a Model S P90 loaded same day I got a Ferrari 458 Speciale. The ferrari has been driven maybe 3 times for 100 miles while the Tesla is at 3,000. I am a hard core sports car enthusiast but the Tesla is amazing. I don't even care about the Ferrari anymore. And that's just wrong!

 

[JenniferQ]

Had to register just to add my two cents here.

Bought a Model S P90 loaded same day I got a Ferrari 458 Speciale. The ferrari has been driven maybe 3 times for 100 miles while the Tesla is at 3,000. I am a hard core sports car enthusiast but the Tesla is amazing. I don't even care about the Ferrari anymore. And that's just wrong!

Yep. Had my Ferrari for 6 years now. Used to love it. Now I dread having to drive it. Sad. And wrong. But true. It feels so clunky. And it's a very sweet car! Damn you, Tesla! ;-)

 

[tomas]

Had to register just to add my two cents here.

Bought a Model S P90 loaded same day I got a Ferrari 458 Speciale. The ferrari has been driven maybe 3 times for 100 miles while the Tesla is at 3,000. I am a hard core sports car enthusiast but the Tesla is amazing. I don't even care about the Ferrari anymore. And that's just wrong!

How do you top that? Veyron anybody? Was it your birthday dustman? Welcome to forum.

 

[pjk]

I was content with my Porsche Turbo S as a daily driver before the Tesla came along but now I love my P85D. Autopilot is a godsend for NYC traffic it makes driving more bearable. The only thing I miss about driving the Porsche daily is the sports car handling and the occasional engine noise. I also own the Porsche 918 Spyder which is a hybrid technically but I do enjoy driving that a bit more than my Tesla

 

[sillydriver]

We will keep my wife's Range Rover which now has 80k miles. She likes the very high driving position and it is more practical for the 600 mile drive to visit the folks. Otherwise, I have three very nice ICE cars that I completely stopped driving after the MS. I idle them every couple months to keep the starter batteries charged. Last week I floored one of them (Audi R8 V8) down the very long driveway of our farm and thought 'that's a lot of noise for not much acceleration.'

 

[forumman83]

We will keep my wife's Range Rover which now has 80k miles. She likes the very high driving position and it is more practical for the 600 mile drive to visit the folks. Otherwise, I have three very nice ICE cars that I completely stopped driving after the MS. I idle them every couple months to keep the starter batteries charged. Last week I floored one of them (Audi R8 V8) down the very long driveway of our farm and thought 'that's a lot of noise for not much acceleration.'

I wonder if your wife's desire to keep here Range Rover will turn into a desire to replace it with an X...and if so, I wonder how long will it take...

 

[Kandiru]

I should have gone into neurosurgery, look at these people studded in diamonds.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Sometimes I am forced to drive an ICE rental (on vacation destinations I fly to). Horrible experience! And such a relieve to get back in my MS.

I also pitty the people waiting in long lines at the gas station on days when there is a few cents discount.

 

[Iz]

Have had my MS 60 almost 3 years now and was “corrupted” almost immediately. I depended on a 2001 Toyota Sienna that had been driving since 2005 to make the Home Depot / Lowes trips and drive hard when necessary. It was a vehicle I could park anywhere, walk away from and not think twice if whether or not it would be there upon return. The Sienna got to 184,000 miles and could go no longer. RIP. Looking for an ICE to haul family and cargo once again. Issue is I have no interest in looking at another ICE. New or used! Regardless of how many features they have, it just does not do it for me. The only excitement recently was the Model X debut.

 

[bmanke]

X5 Diesel For Sale

So I picked my P90DL up a week ago. I hadn't driven anything else for the first 5 days, but then drove my wife's X5 diesel, which has been a great car for us. Annnnnnd ruined. It's such an immense difference in so many small driving dynamics ways that it's already ruined driving my very nice other vehicle for me. The instant power, the lack of gears, the overall response... honestly, just the feeling that I can command the car and it'll MOVE... it's so impressive (and perhaps more so in ludicrous mode even at higher speeds) and so effortless that it just feels like an enormous drag to drive the diesel. Which is too bad because again, she's a great car.

At first I was almost talking myself out of how cool the car was. Not quite buyer's remorse, but just "how much better is this really?" And then I went back to the X5 and it's... transformative. It's simply so much better a ride than anything I've ever driven, so much faster and more fun. It's wild. I love this thing.

How long did it take you to be completely ruined by this ride? (And if you still occasionally have to drive an ICE vehicle, what's been ruined for you?)

I had to chuckle when I read this post. We too have a very nice X5 diesel that was our favorite vehicle. I always was very impressed with it and liked it a lot. How has the Tesla changed us? The BMW is for sale. Hopefully Santa will bring us our second Tesla.

 

[jacobp]

Just got rid of my wife's Infiniti FX35 for a S60 CPO. We are now all-electric. And with solar panels on the roof, we are now both riding on sunshine.

 

[kwhftw]

im the opposite. cant wait to get back to gas.

 

[freds]

I resent the fuel gauge automatically dropping anytime I drive my Diesel pickup as I know I am going to have to pour money into the tank to refill it. That and the chance of having my credit card disrupted by a pump skimmer and having to fix all the auto payments that result when that happens...

 

[Discoducky]

im the opposite. cant wait to get back to gas.

According to your screen name I would think the opposite. Care to elaborate?

 

[JenniferQ]

im the opposite. cant wait to get back to gas.

Why? What experience do you have with Electric that makes you write this with no elaboration?

 

[GoTslaGo]

Seems like I'm an outlier here. It hasn't ruined ICE cars for me. While I'm happy to drive the Tesla, I'm also quite happy to drive my BMW too. The Tesla is great, but its a very big, very heavy car, and while it hides its weight well physics gets in the way with over an extra half ton on board. I also love being more involved in the driving with my 3 pedals and the great engine note. Having a quiet car is nice, but the sound from a good engine is wonderful.

Finally of course, there is the fact that I can still do a 500 mile roadtrip much faster in my ICE than in a Tesla, even if there are convenient superchargers.

I would be in the same boat, but I gave up my 330ci (6 speed manual, now that was a JOY to drive), and now stuck with automatics. Love my wife's 70D ("Only a 70D"). Planning to get an X once any and all the bugs are ironed out. Will probably ditch my X5 at that time. I plan to get an ICE again, but it WILL be a manual (2 series?). No more ICE auto transmissions, hate them.