My Model 3 company car was having some warranty work and minor bodywork repair done and my company provided a Peugeot 208 GT (petrol) hire car for three weeks (was originally only going to be a few days, but apparently certain suspension bolts are incredibly rare in Tesla's universe). It was interesting driving a manual ICE car again for the first time in over a year, and in some ways quite fun having a small and peppy 'hot hatch' (at least for the first few days, reminded me of my old mini), but the price of putting petrol in it was frightening over 1200 miles in total, even at 45mpg average.
Therefore very pleased to get my Model 3 back, surely there would be nothing I would miss from a small French hatchback? Surprisingly I found my experience really showed how much work Tesla need to do to catch up with mainstream manufacturers in the usual areas, and I really miss some basic functionality of the 208:
1) auto-high beam switching for headlights; the 208 just worked, quickly and reliably. Tesla's is laughable in comparison, frequently confused into prematurely dipping by road signs, chevron signs, parked cars, random road furniture, etc., all while being slow to actually dip for oncoming cars and turning main beams back on in many cases.
2) self-levelling LED headlights; the 208 adjusts it's height automatically, exactly as my old Passat did, and every one of my previous cars in last 20 years allowed easy manual adjustment. It drives me crazy that Tesla doesn't do this, how did they manage to homologate a car with LED headlights without this? And no, being able to individually adjust each headlight via settings does not count as 'easy manual adjustment', nor does entering the adjustment menu and seeing the car (maybe?) attempt to adjust itself by winding lights slowly up and down before picking a level that's just as bad as previously.
3) auto-wipers; the 208's were extremely good even though you need to flick the stalk down to first activate them. After that, they seemed excellent in all conditions, including light drizzle and night-time, which the Tesla really struggles with.
4) Apple CarPlay; ahhh, the joy of being able to seamlessly continue podcasts and music from my phone when getting into the car. Something we will never see in the Tesla world, back to trying to work phone via Bluetooth and Siri or using unlinked apps in the Tesla.
5) properly comfortable and supportive front seats; 208's did become a little firm underneath on a long trip, but the back and side bolster support and comfort was great compared to Tesla, and no complaints from my wife either (she really dislikes the Tesla front seats). How come Tesla can't work out how to make seats as good as the rest of the car?
Rant over, I feel a bit better. Obviously I'm glad to have my Tesla back, it's a phenomenal car, but does make me think about what I will replace it with in a few years time if they can't get these basic things right (and if superchargers become clogged with all the non-Tesla's out there...).
Therefore very pleased to get my Model 3 back, surely there would be nothing I would miss from a small French hatchback? Surprisingly I found my experience really showed how much work Tesla need to do to catch up with mainstream manufacturers in the usual areas, and I really miss some basic functionality of the 208:
1) auto-high beam switching for headlights; the 208 just worked, quickly and reliably. Tesla's is laughable in comparison, frequently confused into prematurely dipping by road signs, chevron signs, parked cars, random road furniture, etc., all while being slow to actually dip for oncoming cars and turning main beams back on in many cases.
2) self-levelling LED headlights; the 208 adjusts it's height automatically, exactly as my old Passat did, and every one of my previous cars in last 20 years allowed easy manual adjustment. It drives me crazy that Tesla doesn't do this, how did they manage to homologate a car with LED headlights without this? And no, being able to individually adjust each headlight via settings does not count as 'easy manual adjustment', nor does entering the adjustment menu and seeing the car (maybe?) attempt to adjust itself by winding lights slowly up and down before picking a level that's just as bad as previously.
3) auto-wipers; the 208's were extremely good even though you need to flick the stalk down to first activate them. After that, they seemed excellent in all conditions, including light drizzle and night-time, which the Tesla really struggles with.
4) Apple CarPlay; ahhh, the joy of being able to seamlessly continue podcasts and music from my phone when getting into the car. Something we will never see in the Tesla world, back to trying to work phone via Bluetooth and Siri or using unlinked apps in the Tesla.
5) properly comfortable and supportive front seats; 208's did become a little firm underneath on a long trip, but the back and side bolster support and comfort was great compared to Tesla, and no complaints from my wife either (she really dislikes the Tesla front seats). How come Tesla can't work out how to make seats as good as the rest of the car?
Rant over, I feel a bit better. Obviously I'm glad to have my Tesla back, it's a phenomenal car, but does make me think about what I will replace it with in a few years time if they can't get these basic things right (and if superchargers become clogged with all the non-Tesla's out there...).
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