Hello everyone, 1st post here with a blue/white/19"/EAP MYLR ordered towards the end of April & a theoretical EDD of Sept - it's with Lex so I can't track the RN number. But I know it may be heresy to mention it in this forum, I also have a EV6 GTLine-S AWD with a heat pump (top spec) on order too. That was placed in late Dec 21 with an original EDD of April/May but that, due to all the reasons we know so well, has been pushed to maybe 4Q, maybe 1Q23 - which is why I also ordered the MY. I've driven both several times, and I thought I'd summarise my purely
subjective +/- of each
Tesla + : space everywhere, practicality, straight line speed, phone entry, Supercharger network before it was opened to all, sound system, OTA updates, acceptable ride
Tesla - : ordering "experience", lack of service centres (my nearest in any direction is an hour away), delivery "experience", no Car Play or AA, no HUD, no parcel shelf, no matrix lights, not great handling
Kia + : HUD, normal & highly customisable controls & instruments, opening sunroof, neat handling, well sorted ride, ultra-fast charging capability, V2L technology, Apple Car Play & AA (although not wireless without a dongle), matrix lights, parcel shelf, quieter, dealer is 15 mins away with highly personal service
Kia - : no battery pre-conditioning prior to charge, less space overall (particularly for tall people), relatively small boot & miniscule "froot" especially vs the car's size, ho-hum sound system, no OTA updates (yet), a bit slower that the MY in a straight line, no "white" option to lighten the interior, approx 20-30 miles less range than the MY, nascent accessories infrastructure
So which is to be - the MY or the EV6? To an extent, it will depend on which turns up first. I have a suspicion that it'll be the EV6 because Kia's ordering system gives far better visibility about when your order goes into production and on to being shipped. There's none of this absurd guessing game of not knowing how many RHD MYs are on which ship, and the lottery of quarter-end allocations to waiting customers. But real my point is that there's some serious competition arriving. Apart from the EV6, I see the BMW iX1 has been announced - that would be a contender for my ££ too & others will follow from manufacturers who understand customer service.
Reflecting further, having been a reader of this (& other) Tesla forums and purely from a non-owner's perspective, there's something of "The Emperor's New Clothes" about the Tesla experience. To me, Elon does not care one jot about his customers as everything about the Tesla customer experience is really, really poor - from the shabby showrooms (and totally energy inefficient btw), to an thoroughly impersonal ordering process, awful collection process (I mean, come on everyone, being forced to go to some god-awful wind-swept industrial park hours away from home to pick up a vehicle with only a 3 day window - how can that EVER be considered acceptable "service" for a £50-60k car?), and poor after-sales service. Tesla evangelists - and I can see there are plenty here - prefer to be blind to these glaring faults. I really struggle to understand why.
Tesla's initial advantages of being a genuine innovator, and bringing something genuinely special to the market (both of which are 100% true) are being gradually eroded by the mainstream manufacturers catching up. For the vast majority of would-be BEV owners, the truth of the current Tesla experience may come as a shock - it did to me. So why do I persist with the order? That's a good question......
I suppose.
