We're coming up with the one year anniversary of my 3P+ so it seems like time with a short review. I work at home so my mileage is just 9150 miles in a year. I also had a stupid accident where I went off to the driver's side into a curb one night ($8K and a month in the shop repair!) while showing off. I didn't buy the car to "save the planet" or anything like that, I just wanted fun acceleration and a small car. I told my wife a little while ago that, barring some unexpected fundamental problem with the Tesla/electric cars, I don't plan on buying another ICE in my lifetime. Here are my pros and cons after a year with my 3P+:
Pros:
1. Instant acceleration. There's nothing like it. You think it and it happens. The whole powertrain is just about perfect.
2. No gear shifting. My wife (DW) and I have grown to hate clunky automatic transmissions. They seem to be getting worse over time. Even her 2015 LS 460's transmission is clunky. Our daughter's (DD) 2016 TLX's transmission is especially bad. However, I did enjoy my old 1991 Nissan 300ZX-TT's manual transmission.
3. Ease of use in everyday life. I think this is an underappreciated pro for Teslas. You just get in it and go then you stop and walk away. With DW's and DD's ICEs, you have to put the car in park then turn off the engine. You have to click a button to lock the doors before walking away. It seems stupid that this is a big deal but it is in actual usage.
4. Remote climate control without starting an engine. I'm getting better at using this functionality, especially now that's it's HOT down here in north Georgia. Really helps in the temperature extremes. See the cons for more on this issue.
5. Seats. One of the biggest surprises is how much everyone likes the seats in the 3P+. They're comfortable.
6. Context-sensitive UI. I really like how the touchscreen options change as you drive places. When I get home, I like how the "trunk" button pops up. I've begun to dislike a dash full of buttons and dials that I rarely use.
Cons:
a. Only heated seats. They work fine in cold weather but we have a lot of HOT weather in Georgia. Ventilated seats would be nice. DW and DD's ICE cars have ventilated seats and it helps a bunch. I can get around that issue somewhat by remotely turning on the AC before heading to the car (if I remember).
b. No rear cross-traffic alerts. The large backup camera helps but it only takes a second of inattention to result in an accident in a parking lot.
c. Changing channels in TuneIn takes several seconds. Doesn't seem right to me. I listen to several local news and sports channels and changing between them takes far too much time (compared to, say, changing songs on the streaming app).
d. No foot-waving to open trunk. This is a killer issue for DW. She wants a totally hands-free trunk.
e. Needs better "home" settings. I have a garage and don't want my car to automatically lock when it's inside. It already knows to not trigger Sentry mode in my garage, it should do the same for locking.
f. Acceleration coupled with "bouncy" seats. This is a weird interaction. I find that I shift position when going over a speed "table" sometimes and the quick acceleration causes unexpected jolts. There's really no fix for this, it's an issue with the combination.
g. Lack of color options on the interior and exterior. I'd really like a tan interior. DW would like more exterior colors.
h. No "trust" in performance driving. I just don't trust this car in high performance twisty roads. The front end feels "light". I don't know if this is just me getting older, or my careening across lanes into a curb on a right hand turn, or what. Maybe it's just all-wheel drive ... but I didn't have this sensation driving my old rear-wheel drive 300ZX back in the day until I pushed it really hard.
Pros:
1. Instant acceleration. There's nothing like it. You think it and it happens. The whole powertrain is just about perfect.
2. No gear shifting. My wife (DW) and I have grown to hate clunky automatic transmissions. They seem to be getting worse over time. Even her 2015 LS 460's transmission is clunky. Our daughter's (DD) 2016 TLX's transmission is especially bad. However, I did enjoy my old 1991 Nissan 300ZX-TT's manual transmission.
3. Ease of use in everyday life. I think this is an underappreciated pro for Teslas. You just get in it and go then you stop and walk away. With DW's and DD's ICEs, you have to put the car in park then turn off the engine. You have to click a button to lock the doors before walking away. It seems stupid that this is a big deal but it is in actual usage.
4. Remote climate control without starting an engine. I'm getting better at using this functionality, especially now that's it's HOT down here in north Georgia. Really helps in the temperature extremes. See the cons for more on this issue.
5. Seats. One of the biggest surprises is how much everyone likes the seats in the 3P+. They're comfortable.
6. Context-sensitive UI. I really like how the touchscreen options change as you drive places. When I get home, I like how the "trunk" button pops up. I've begun to dislike a dash full of buttons and dials that I rarely use.
Cons:
a. Only heated seats. They work fine in cold weather but we have a lot of HOT weather in Georgia. Ventilated seats would be nice. DW and DD's ICE cars have ventilated seats and it helps a bunch. I can get around that issue somewhat by remotely turning on the AC before heading to the car (if I remember).
b. No rear cross-traffic alerts. The large backup camera helps but it only takes a second of inattention to result in an accident in a parking lot.
c. Changing channels in TuneIn takes several seconds. Doesn't seem right to me. I listen to several local news and sports channels and changing between them takes far too much time (compared to, say, changing songs on the streaming app).
d. No foot-waving to open trunk. This is a killer issue for DW. She wants a totally hands-free trunk.
e. Needs better "home" settings. I have a garage and don't want my car to automatically lock when it's inside. It already knows to not trigger Sentry mode in my garage, it should do the same for locking.
f. Acceleration coupled with "bouncy" seats. This is a weird interaction. I find that I shift position when going over a speed "table" sometimes and the quick acceleration causes unexpected jolts. There's really no fix for this, it's an issue with the combination.
g. Lack of color options on the interior and exterior. I'd really like a tan interior. DW would like more exterior colors.
h. No "trust" in performance driving. I just don't trust this car in high performance twisty roads. The front end feels "light". I don't know if this is just me getting older, or my careening across lanes into a curb on a right hand turn, or what. Maybe it's just all-wheel drive ... but I didn't have this sensation driving my old rear-wheel drive 300ZX back in the day until I pushed it really hard.
