Is it Conceivable to Go Back to ICE After Driving a Tesla?

[Cyclone]

I drove my 7 year old ICE that I haven't driven in the 4 weeks that I've had my MS....It was painful. I can never go back.

Same here, except my 4Runner is 8 years old. I wondered where my acceleration power went when I tried to pass someone to then remember I need to wait or gun it so it drops a gear. And of course, I love creep off so much that now I am shifting into neutral at red lights. Made for an interesting moment when the light turned green and I forgot I was in not in gear.

 

[forumman83]

Ah. That explains why seeing it upside down caused such confusion. You see in Australia everything is upside down, being on the bottom on the world, so it would have looked normal to an Aussie...sigh. Once the joke has to be explained it obviously doesn't work. Back to lurking.

haha, A for effort!

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Can't go back. My prior car, which is now my wife's car, is a Lexus IS 350. Loved it when I drove it. Now I absolutely hate driving it. Have to take it in for service next week which means one less day driving my MS and a...ugh...potential visit to a gas station if she's low on fuel.

I so do not miss gas stations at all and hate the few times I've been to one since owning my MS for the last 13 months. It's kind of like changing your diet to get completely off junk food, being successful for a couple of years, and then trying a McDonald's hamburger on a whim. I get almost physically ill just from the smell of a gas station now.

Great analogy!

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Until I purchased the Model S I was driving a Jaguar and Mercedes and thought they were very nice cars. Now I have the Mercedes in the garage and when I have to drive it I always say it is clunky and noisy. Hope to sell it and have 2 Tesla's.

Awesome. Even a "high-end" car like a Mercedes appears to feel like a piece of junk compared to MS.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Pretty much doomed to go back to an ICE, I think. I generally like some automotive variety, and with no Model S competitors on the horizon, it'll probably be into an ICE until a competitor appears or the Model S is revved. The 3 might be a possibility, especially if you don't have to give up performance, but it's hard to say. Something with a nice throaty rumble might be neat after the relative silence of the Tesla.

Really? I've found it the easiest vehicle to park that I've ever driven, with the possible exception of the DS-21 (and that's only in the parallel parking mode). Between the backup camera and the tilting side mirrors, parking is a dream. (I don't pull-in park.)

You guys always say everything is bigger in Texas. Does that include your parking spots? :wink: Parking can be awfully tight around here, and the S is an absolutely enormous vehicle. My garage here at work only has a dozen or so spots in which the car will even fit. The rest have my tires within an inch of touching the line on both sides if I'm perfectly straight. A lot of people take up two spots, but with how conspicuous the S is, I'm not sure I can get away with that without getting keyed. There's another Model S in the building, and we generally just hug our passenger sides really close so we can open our driver-side doors. IMO, if there's one downside to the S, it's the exterior dimensions and how difficult it is to find/get into safe parking spots for it.

 

[caddieo]

If you do a lot of traveling, especially to other countries, it is not only conceivable, it is unavoidable and will remain so until electric vehicles become common in the rental and livery businesses.

 

[smac]

I'm with some of the others, I still like an ICE for fun. A Roadster would be OK, but lack of Supercharging rule it out for me.

Since owning the Model S I bought this, it's noisy impractical, expensive to fuel, but it has a soul

For driving back and forward to work the Model S wins every time.

 

[jerry33]

You guys always say everything is bigger in Texas. Does that include your parking spots? :wink: Parking can be awfully tight around here, and the S is an absolutely enormous vehicle.

They don't seem to be any larger than the parking spaces in Vancouver. The only annoying ones are the angled ones where you are forced to pulling rather than properly back in.

 

[Max*]

My Tesla is getting the windows tinted, so I took my wife's ICE to work. Eh... for the first few miles, I kept forgetting I don't have regen, so I'd slam on the brakes to avoid crashing, after that it's not that bad.

If Tesla dies off, I don't like any other EV currently on the market, I'd likely go back to ICE.

 

[sub]

Don't have a Tesla but have had an i3 for 4-6 weeks and I can't wait to get rid of all the ice vehicles. The one vehicle I can see needing for a while is my old 94 landcruiser, fits seven (which the X will do I'm assuming) but I have to tow some trailers a few times a year. It's also the vehicle I don't mind having the dog in. We have made the i3 the #1 vehicle in the house, it leaves first then pick what's left, the BMW 335D gets driven to work by my wife and that's it, 1.5 mile round trip. I was hoping the i3 would hold us over until the model 3 but I may cave in the next 12 months and get an S or X. The game now is to see how long we can go between gas station visits, 1 visit each so far in a month but both have full tanks, I think we can make it a couple months.

 

[forumman83]

Damn. She's a beauty. Let me ask you this: If you had to choose one car, only one, which would it be: The Tesla or that Ferarri?

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Nice. How do you like the i3?

 

[mmccord]

Damn. She's a beauty. Let me ask you this: If you had to choose one car, only one, which would it be: The Tesla or that Ferarri?

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Nice. How do you like the i3?

Looks like a Lotus to me.

My brother has an '07 Exige S. A lot of fun, but I certainly couldn't drive it daily like I do my 85D.

Of course, it cost him half as much too.

 

[sub]

Damn. She's a beauty. Let me ask you this: If you had to choose one car, only one, which would it be: The Tesla or that Ferarri?

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Nice. How do you like the i3?

It's not a bad little car, it's no Tesla but I would rather be driving the i3 than an ICE. I would have never bought the car, I did a 2 year lease instead. I do see a place for these short range ev's though as a 2nd or 3rd car. I've only seen the battery below 50% once since we have owned it and I only charge it with the 110 trickle charger, we just plug it in every time we pull it into the garage and that keeps it topped up enough that it's always full the next morning.

 

[Cyclone]

The biggest gripe I have whenever I drive an ICE now is the lack of regen. I expect the lack of smoothness, the vibration, no instant torque; but letting go of the gas and then slamming the brakes because I didn't slow down is really the shocker in my driving habits.

 

[tomas]

Answer to OPs question in my case: NO. Tesla is main car in Chicago, and just bought eGolf for house in CA. I occasionally have to rent ICE and/or drive my wife's X1 or mini. That always re-affirms to me the superiority of BEV in almost every aspect. Having said all that, I'm not a BEV purist, and if money were more of a factor, I'd probably have a volt. Series hybrid OK because I could drive vast majority on battery. I am just lucky enough to have the $ to go pure BEV and avoid all of those extra moving parts.

 

[forumman83]

Interesting. How much was the i3 anyways?

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Yeah. See I think that if money were an issue for me (I'm young and am in the middle of building my riches) I think I would just avoid BEVs altogether until I could afford a Tesla. None of the other BEVs appeal to me. The Volt, i3, Leaf, etc, I just have no interest in them at all.

 

[Tedkidd]

^ this inexpert noninformative "opinion" post adds value to the "go back" topic... How?

 

[smac]

Looks like a Lotus to me.

My brother has an '07 Exige S. A lot of fun, but I certainly couldn't drive it daily like I do my 85D.

Of course, it cost him half as much too.

Good spot

It's the '15 Exige S , which is EU only.

I used to have an '07 Exige S too, and they are a lot of fun. The new ones are better, but you are right certainly not a great daily driver (Though I live 10 miles from my office, so I did run one as such for a few years)

The later ones post a similar 0-100mph time as the P85D, though I do get range anxiety with it due to the tiny fuel tank

Let me ask you this: If you had to choose one car, only one, which would it be: The Tesla or that Ferarri?

Tough question. It depends on what else I had access to. I have an S60 for commuting, and the Lotus for weekend fun. If forced I'd keep the Lotus and buy a smaller EV. The Roadster would be a definite contender if it was still available (and had Supercharging)

I'd personally prefer a smaller lighter car than a Model S purely from an "efficiency" POV. It's a big car to lug around one person, unfortunately all the other EVs aren't to my tastes aesthetically. I also find the S a bit wide for good positioning on our narrow B roads, which is the only place you can still have any fun here without getting caught by average speed cameras

Looking forward to seeing what the Model 3 brings.

 

[andrewket]

I'm currently renting an ICE while traveling. Kill me. Slow acceleration, vibrations, the noise, etc. I've started to get out of the car twice already leaving the car running. I've been complaining the entire time, and my wife says I'm a car snob. I admit it. I am. The model S has only been shipping for a few years now, but driving an ICE, even a modern one, feels like driving an antique.

 

[Sosius]

I took three weeks for my car expectations to change. Got my car on the 6th, and last weekend while traveling I was given a rental "upgrade" to a Camaro SS. The car was a huge disappointment. Was on an 80 MPH Texas toll road and was disappointed with the throttle response every time I pressed on the gas pedal.

 

[sklancha]

I do know one person who returned his S60, after only maybe 6 month (lease?), and opted to replace with an ICE. I dont remember exactly what his reason was, but I guess it means it does happen.
I considered buying an ICE when I was shopping for a second car (for my 16 year old, but I just couldnt make myself do it. We ended up with a Leaf instead. Even as I find myself getting irritated with the range limitation (which is fine for her driving needs), I know that I would still choose the Leaf over any ICE, to give my daughter. I love the fact that she can be the first generation to never experience an ICE from the driver's seat . She already gives that sly grin when her older sister (poor college student) complains about not having enough gas money to make it to the next payday...
Angel

 

[Notacarguy]

For me, as a daily driver, I could not go back to ICE because I do not miss

1. gas stations
2. oil changes
3. fumes
4. noise
5. vibration
6 unpredictable (compared to the MS) throttle response
7. tailpipe emissions
8. keys (at least in my wife's ICE)
9. buttons galore on the dash
10. burning fuel uselessly in stopped traffic
11. Bonus - high cost of fueling even at current gas prices.