Model S: Car and Driver's 10 Best second year in a row!

[wart]

The Model S has made Car and Driver's 10 Best again this year.

Tesla Model S 70 / 70D: 2016 10Best Cars Car and Driver

"After a week piloting a Model S, it feels strange to drive anything else."

C/D isn't always fully on board with the EV movement, but they do recognize greatness when they see it.

 

[Discoducky]

Also a great history of FW updates at the bottom of the article...even though I'm sure Autopilot was released a bit earlier....like 10pm 12/312014

 

[rcarpen22]

I just got my actual paper copy of Car and Driver. I noticed that 2 pages before the 10 Best feature, where the 70/70D is recognized, Executive Editor Aaron Robinson has a piece where he agrees with Bob Lutz that Tesla is doomed as a company unless the Model 3 is a gas hybrid. I guess I am not representative of the "masses" because I stretched financially to buy a MS, but I would not buy a gas hybrid. Well, I'd buy a 918 if I had a million dollars laying around, but...

 

[Discoducky]

I just got my actual paper copy of Car and Driver. I noticed that 2 pages before the 10 Best feature, where the 70/70D is recognized, Executive Editor Aaron Robinson has a piece where he agrees with Bob Lutz that Tesla is doomed as a company unless the Model 3 is a gas hybrid. I guess I am not representative of the "masses" because I stretched financially to buy a MS, but I would not buy a gas hybrid. Well, I'd buy a 918 if I had a million dollars laying around, but...

Interesting and now I have to go to the library to read this...

 

[rcarpen22]

Sorry. But at least you can drive your MS!

 

[wart]

I just read the Aaron Robinson column.

I think I disagree with rcarpen's characterization. Robinson spends most of the column pointing out that the Model X is too ambitious; and this ambition caused the vehicle to be late and is likely to cause a lot of warranty claims and other headaches going forward. He wants Telsa to succeed, and he wants the Model 3 to succeed. So he wants the Model 3 to be simpler. I agree with him so far. Where Robinson goes off the rails is when he assumes that a hybrid would be easier to execute than a pure EV. Not so much a repudiation of Tesla's vision, as a failure to understand.

 

[tomas]

At any rate, I suspect he's a mere road bump in automotive history.

 

[brianman]

Interesting and now I have to go to the library to read this...

You can visit and read my copy if you like.

 

[ecarfan]

The idea that Teslas's next model should be a hybrid, after the amazing success of the S and the rapid and continuing build out of the Supercharger network, is laughable. Tesla has clearly demonstrated their long range EV expertise which they can apply to any size vehicle and the Gigafactory coming online drives down battery costs which makes cheaper EV possible. To now go backwards and build a hybrid because it would be "simpler" would be absurd. It would in fact be a more complex vehicle, and would be an inferior vehicle: less energy efficient, less interior room and less cargo capacity.

 

[JenniferQ]

Totally agree. I think anyone who loves the Model S would never buy a hybrid. I'm having that problem with what to get for my youngest dd to learn to drive in. I worry about the cost of a prang in the Tesla, but don't want to have to go back to ICE and the horror, the gas station!, in a hybrid. Ugh. Problems of the 1%, I know, but there are plenty of hybrids. Tesla is the only co who does long-range EV well, imo.

 

[tomas]

I don't think anyone has to worry, there's no evidence Tesla has ANY intent of any type of hybrid in their product line. It's best not to get wound up about what is said in auto magazines. I did once, back when I cancelled my AutoWeek subscription due to persistent tesla-bashing. Now, I don't even look at the rags and have let my last subscription (Automobile) expire. Why? I've found myself stopping in the middle of every article thinking "I don't want to own this ICE, so why am I reading this?" Sometimes I do admire new styling or other features, but not enough to covet the car or read the entire article. Not worth the price to just look at the pictures!