Greetings!
My model Y RWD (EDIT - it's AWD) was delivered at the end of April, and now has 4K miles on it, half of them in the last 10 days as the result of a road trip from NC to FL and back. My wife and I had taken a similar road trip in January, driving her 2021 BMW 330e, a plug in hybrid instead of an EV. The comparison between the two cars is interesting.
A bit of background may help understand the comparison better. The Model Y is our 6th pure EV, a Nissan Leaf, 2 BMW i3s (1 a ReX), a 2018 Model 3 RWD, a 2023 Bolt EUV, and now the Model Y. The 330e is a plug in hybrid with a +/- 20 mile pure EV range. That limitation is obvious, but we live in a city where that range is useful since much of our routine daily driving can be done with that limited range and using our home EV charger to replenish distance relatively quickly when needed.
I expected the 2023 Model Y to be a significant improvement over the Model 3, and in terms of form factor (SUV vs sedan) it is indeed a more practical vehicle, but I was disappointed in the car's build quality, something I didn't expect. My Y is an Austin built 4680 battery model utilizing the GigaPress manufacturing process. I deliberately bought this model instead of the LR since only Austin produced the GigaPress/4680 battery pack car when I ordered the Y. I was willing to sacrifice ultimate range since we don't take road trips often, and our in home charger combined with easy SC access near our home make charging simple and fast.
On the trip we used a hotel Level 2 charger once overnight, charging to 90%, and the rest of the time SC typically limiting charging to 80%, but often less and once or twice up to 90% to try to optimize charge time versus travel time. SC worked fine, no issues, and overall the charging difference between our 279 mile range and the LR 330 mile range was a non-issue. We're seniors and typically stop every 2 hours or so, making the LR battery more of a luxury than necessity. Charging costs varied from $0.34-$0.40 KwH, a reasonable range and still a bit lower than gas. We did notice that the SC locations have become a bit mixed.
Some are now associated with large gasoline providers, like Sheetz and Buc'ee. I STRONGLY suggest avoiding Buc'ee if possible. They have a large number of SC, but the locations are swamped with people and ingress/egress is terrible. It took us over 20 minutes to enter the parking area and get to a charger at each of 3 different locations, and even longer to exit. If Tesla continues to expand partnerships with Buc'ee, and the SC are opened to Ford and GM vehicles I fear that charging delays will become a very serious challenge. I deliberately used SC locations to charge to 90% so I could avoid having to charge at a Buc'ee location. One hotel where we stayed had ChargePoint 30 AMP J1772 chargers that were free to guests. It took over 10 hours to recharge to 90% overnight, but it worked with the Tesla adapter without issue. You will need a ChargePoint card or APP to use the chargers. I have them for EVGO, ChargePoint. In my experience EVGO is a nightmare. Many stations don't work, and the high powered chargers require a Tesla adapter. I got $500 in EVGO charging credits when I bought the Chevy Bolt, but I doubt I'll ever use them. SC use is almost mandatory when traveling, and regardless of the long term impact on the EV battery I'll continue to use them without hesitation.
My car has obvious panel alignment problems, and the doors especially are problematic. The front passenger door is over an 1/8" space between the frame and the closed door. If you view it from the rear the extension of the door from the correct closed position is blatant. It creates more road noise than it should, partly air gap, partly alignment. The rear hatch is equally challenged, the misalignment from left to right is very visible and hard to understand with the GigaPress assembly process. It's not only annoying, it seems to be routine and accepted. The service tech, who I've known since my 2018 Model 3 purchase, said that it's common, but "The Austin cars are generally still better than Sacramento". That's very disappointing, and frankly unacceptable.
My car has no USS and it does affect parking, especially in typical parking lots/shopping centers. The car warned me that I was very close to obstacles and I parked when the alerts happened. When I got out of the car and looked at where I was there was typically a foot or more room in front of the car that I could have moved up without damage. It seems as if the camera based sensor has issues with the angle of the camera and the length of the hood. The result is that the camera can't see as you get closer to an obstacle (like a concrete stop at the parking space) and errs on the side of avoiding it. That's particularly true since the low overhang of many cars would be damaged by getting closer to the concrete block. I expect the lower front spoiler for the Model Y/3 performance may be affected by the lack of USS parking challenges.
I also was disappointed in the suspension. The upgraded changes to the Model Y suspension were supposed to improve the ride. In a back to back drive with my car and my friend's 2022 Model Y (older suspension) there is a noticeable, if subtle, improvement in the ride in my car. I was expecting a much improved ride - it isn't, and the car still has a lot of body motion and doesn't respond well to bumps/road imperfections. In day to day driving it's acceptable, but for longer road trips, at least for me, it's not a lot of fun. My wife's BMW is everything that the Tesla isn't - Smooth on the road, far quieter in all circumstances, more dynamic to drive (responsive, stable, engaging), far better interior materials/quality. The differences are not subtle - they are immediately noticeable, and even more so when driving.
What disturbs me most is that Tesla has improved in many ways since my 2018 Model 3, but in several ways it remains a frustrating ownership experience on many levels. The SC network is even better now than before. More locations and faster chargers. In 2018-2019 SC stalls in my home state were typically limited to 125KwH versus the 250 KwH units today. There are also far more charging locations. It's a big improvement, both in charging time and access. Bravo Tesla!
Sadly, the driving experience is worse, at least for me. I should state that we've owned and enjoyed BMWs for well over 30 years. Mostly model 3/5 sedans. Each of those cars were enjoyable to drive, with excellent suspensions and driving dynamics. Repair costs were above the price of many brands, but I didn't care, enjoying the ride and driving involvement. Tesla is a LONG WAY from matching the BMW experience, and now that BMW is producing a far better product than the i3 I owned years ago, I believe they will be serious competition in the coming years. If they also decide to make Tesla charging ports standard, as has Ford and GM, I fear that Tesla will be left behind as the only advantage that I see with Tesla is the SC network. The ride/materials/build quality are all far behind BMW and others. If you haven't tried the newer European EVs go and see for yourself. The MB, BMW, Audi entries are quite impressive. They clearly are behind Tesla in many ways, but those ways typically appeal to the "early adapters" and "techies", not typically car enthusiasts.
Yes, I'm well aware of the Model 3/S/Y performance cars. I've driven all of them, several at racetracks like Virginia International Raceway. Ignoring the challenges of charging at those locations, the suspension shortcomings, brake fade issues (dangerous), handling problems are impossible to ignore. I can place any of my BMW cars on a specific track line and hold it around the track, and I'm far less able to do so with my friend's Performance models. The brake fade issues are serious and limiting.
I realize that most people don't drive cars that hard, but as Tesla begins to lose the unique SC advantage, I believe many others will explore driving fun as a purchase decision. It's not just track use. Take any model 3 Performance for an acceleration run to 140+ MPH speeds. You'll find that the car drifts significantly. As speed increases so does the drift. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that it was difficult to stay between the lines on a standard lane at speed. And handling/braking were far more challenging.
Despite my observations, I still enjoy my Model Y and hope to have many enjoyable years together. Yet, I can't help but wonder if Tesla has missed an opportunity to improve driving dynamics, build quality, and especially service issues when they were still the only manufacturer with SC access. My local Tesla location has literally dozens of cars awaiting parts to complete repairs. Many of these cars, according to my service department friend, have been waiting for 2 months or more. That's unacceptable, and won't go unnoticed as competition heats up.
I imagine that the coming CyberTruck will further strain Tesla's logistics and service issues, and when the Model 2 arrives in the coming years, I fear that the window for Tesla to move from "the only game in town" to a more competition based automobile environment will require serious leadership recognition that the honeymoon phase of Tesla is likely coming to an end pretty soon. Yes, Tesla is still without competition in many ways, but the gap is closing, and my recent road trip/ownership experience leaves me with some buyer's remorse, and concern about the entire ownership experience.
I truly hope I'm wrong, but I can't ignore glaring build quality issues, driving dynamics far behind other brands, relying on camera sensors exclusively that force me to have to get out of my car and realign my car in the parking space, and more road/tire noise than is comfortable on longer drives as being acceptable in today's marketplace. Many of these issues aren't obvious in day to day routine driving, but become glaring issues on a road trip.
I expected more in the 5 years since my first Tesla purchase, and I suspect others will too. New owners may be more forgiving, as I have learned to be across many different EV brands, but as EV use become more common, so will the need for EV manufacturers to transition to higher build standards and stronger competition.
"IMG_0765" by Robert T Bell is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
My model Y RWD (EDIT - it's AWD) was delivered at the end of April, and now has 4K miles on it, half of them in the last 10 days as the result of a road trip from NC to FL and back. My wife and I had taken a similar road trip in January, driving her 2021 BMW 330e, a plug in hybrid instead of an EV. The comparison between the two cars is interesting.
A bit of background may help understand the comparison better. The Model Y is our 6th pure EV, a Nissan Leaf, 2 BMW i3s (1 a ReX), a 2018 Model 3 RWD, a 2023 Bolt EUV, and now the Model Y. The 330e is a plug in hybrid with a +/- 20 mile pure EV range. That limitation is obvious, but we live in a city where that range is useful since much of our routine daily driving can be done with that limited range and using our home EV charger to replenish distance relatively quickly when needed.
I expected the 2023 Model Y to be a significant improvement over the Model 3, and in terms of form factor (SUV vs sedan) it is indeed a more practical vehicle, but I was disappointed in the car's build quality, something I didn't expect. My Y is an Austin built 4680 battery model utilizing the GigaPress manufacturing process. I deliberately bought this model instead of the LR since only Austin produced the GigaPress/4680 battery pack car when I ordered the Y. I was willing to sacrifice ultimate range since we don't take road trips often, and our in home charger combined with easy SC access near our home make charging simple and fast.
On the trip we used a hotel Level 2 charger once overnight, charging to 90%, and the rest of the time SC typically limiting charging to 80%, but often less and once or twice up to 90% to try to optimize charge time versus travel time. SC worked fine, no issues, and overall the charging difference between our 279 mile range and the LR 330 mile range was a non-issue. We're seniors and typically stop every 2 hours or so, making the LR battery more of a luxury than necessity. Charging costs varied from $0.34-$0.40 KwH, a reasonable range and still a bit lower than gas. We did notice that the SC locations have become a bit mixed.
Some are now associated with large gasoline providers, like Sheetz and Buc'ee. I STRONGLY suggest avoiding Buc'ee if possible. They have a large number of SC, but the locations are swamped with people and ingress/egress is terrible. It took us over 20 minutes to enter the parking area and get to a charger at each of 3 different locations, and even longer to exit. If Tesla continues to expand partnerships with Buc'ee, and the SC are opened to Ford and GM vehicles I fear that charging delays will become a very serious challenge. I deliberately used SC locations to charge to 90% so I could avoid having to charge at a Buc'ee location. One hotel where we stayed had ChargePoint 30 AMP J1772 chargers that were free to guests. It took over 10 hours to recharge to 90% overnight, but it worked with the Tesla adapter without issue. You will need a ChargePoint card or APP to use the chargers. I have them for EVGO, ChargePoint. In my experience EVGO is a nightmare. Many stations don't work, and the high powered chargers require a Tesla adapter. I got $500 in EVGO charging credits when I bought the Chevy Bolt, but I doubt I'll ever use them. SC use is almost mandatory when traveling, and regardless of the long term impact on the EV battery I'll continue to use them without hesitation.
My car has obvious panel alignment problems, and the doors especially are problematic. The front passenger door is over an 1/8" space between the frame and the closed door. If you view it from the rear the extension of the door from the correct closed position is blatant. It creates more road noise than it should, partly air gap, partly alignment. The rear hatch is equally challenged, the misalignment from left to right is very visible and hard to understand with the GigaPress assembly process. It's not only annoying, it seems to be routine and accepted. The service tech, who I've known since my 2018 Model 3 purchase, said that it's common, but "The Austin cars are generally still better than Sacramento". That's very disappointing, and frankly unacceptable.
My car has no USS and it does affect parking, especially in typical parking lots/shopping centers. The car warned me that I was very close to obstacles and I parked when the alerts happened. When I got out of the car and looked at where I was there was typically a foot or more room in front of the car that I could have moved up without damage. It seems as if the camera based sensor has issues with the angle of the camera and the length of the hood. The result is that the camera can't see as you get closer to an obstacle (like a concrete stop at the parking space) and errs on the side of avoiding it. That's particularly true since the low overhang of many cars would be damaged by getting closer to the concrete block. I expect the lower front spoiler for the Model Y/3 performance may be affected by the lack of USS parking challenges.
I also was disappointed in the suspension. The upgraded changes to the Model Y suspension were supposed to improve the ride. In a back to back drive with my car and my friend's 2022 Model Y (older suspension) there is a noticeable, if subtle, improvement in the ride in my car. I was expecting a much improved ride - it isn't, and the car still has a lot of body motion and doesn't respond well to bumps/road imperfections. In day to day driving it's acceptable, but for longer road trips, at least for me, it's not a lot of fun. My wife's BMW is everything that the Tesla isn't - Smooth on the road, far quieter in all circumstances, more dynamic to drive (responsive, stable, engaging), far better interior materials/quality. The differences are not subtle - they are immediately noticeable, and even more so when driving.
What disturbs me most is that Tesla has improved in many ways since my 2018 Model 3, but in several ways it remains a frustrating ownership experience on many levels. The SC network is even better now than before. More locations and faster chargers. In 2018-2019 SC stalls in my home state were typically limited to 125KwH versus the 250 KwH units today. There are also far more charging locations. It's a big improvement, both in charging time and access. Bravo Tesla!
Sadly, the driving experience is worse, at least for me. I should state that we've owned and enjoyed BMWs for well over 30 years. Mostly model 3/5 sedans. Each of those cars were enjoyable to drive, with excellent suspensions and driving dynamics. Repair costs were above the price of many brands, but I didn't care, enjoying the ride and driving involvement. Tesla is a LONG WAY from matching the BMW experience, and now that BMW is producing a far better product than the i3 I owned years ago, I believe they will be serious competition in the coming years. If they also decide to make Tesla charging ports standard, as has Ford and GM, I fear that Tesla will be left behind as the only advantage that I see with Tesla is the SC network. The ride/materials/build quality are all far behind BMW and others. If you haven't tried the newer European EVs go and see for yourself. The MB, BMW, Audi entries are quite impressive. They clearly are behind Tesla in many ways, but those ways typically appeal to the "early adapters" and "techies", not typically car enthusiasts.
Yes, I'm well aware of the Model 3/S/Y performance cars. I've driven all of them, several at racetracks like Virginia International Raceway. Ignoring the challenges of charging at those locations, the suspension shortcomings, brake fade issues (dangerous), handling problems are impossible to ignore. I can place any of my BMW cars on a specific track line and hold it around the track, and I'm far less able to do so with my friend's Performance models. The brake fade issues are serious and limiting.
I realize that most people don't drive cars that hard, but as Tesla begins to lose the unique SC advantage, I believe many others will explore driving fun as a purchase decision. It's not just track use. Take any model 3 Performance for an acceleration run to 140+ MPH speeds. You'll find that the car drifts significantly. As speed increases so does the drift. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that it was difficult to stay between the lines on a standard lane at speed. And handling/braking were far more challenging.
Despite my observations, I still enjoy my Model Y and hope to have many enjoyable years together. Yet, I can't help but wonder if Tesla has missed an opportunity to improve driving dynamics, build quality, and especially service issues when they were still the only manufacturer with SC access. My local Tesla location has literally dozens of cars awaiting parts to complete repairs. Many of these cars, according to my service department friend, have been waiting for 2 months or more. That's unacceptable, and won't go unnoticed as competition heats up.
I imagine that the coming CyberTruck will further strain Tesla's logistics and service issues, and when the Model 2 arrives in the coming years, I fear that the window for Tesla to move from "the only game in town" to a more competition based automobile environment will require serious leadership recognition that the honeymoon phase of Tesla is likely coming to an end pretty soon. Yes, Tesla is still without competition in many ways, but the gap is closing, and my recent road trip/ownership experience leaves me with some buyer's remorse, and concern about the entire ownership experience.
I truly hope I'm wrong, but I can't ignore glaring build quality issues, driving dynamics far behind other brands, relying on camera sensors exclusively that force me to have to get out of my car and realign my car in the parking space, and more road/tire noise than is comfortable on longer drives as being acceptable in today's marketplace. Many of these issues aren't obvious in day to day routine driving, but become glaring issues on a road trip.
I expected more in the 5 years since my first Tesla purchase, and I suspect others will too. New owners may be more forgiving, as I have learned to be across many different EV brands, but as EV use become more common, so will the need for EV manufacturers to transition to higher build standards and stronger competition.
"IMG_0765" by Robert T Bell is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
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. These are very expensive cars in Canada and they're not worth the value.
