Unfriendly S & X Owners

[PhotovoltaicME]

I am a proud new owner of a M3 AWD. The cars performance is truly amazing, but what's even better is my transportation is not fueled by fossil fuels.(I charge at home which is powered by solar.) I was under the impression that the majority of Tesla owners purchased the vehicle to help "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy." Thus I assumed Model S & X owners had something in common with me.
I live in southern California where there are a lot of Teslas. In fact, I see at least one Tesla vehicle every time I go for a drive. When I see a Tesla vehicle out in the wild I always wave to them. After two months of waving to S & X drivers, none have waved back. I now get the feeling that because my M3 isn't as expensive as their cars we have no rapport.

I have experienced M3 owners are much friendlier.

 

[xiu92]

Some people just don’t like making eye contact with strangers.

 

[SemiS3XYR]

LET'S NOT MAKE THIS A THING...

 

[SSedan]

You are reading into it too much.
They just aren't paying attention to what others are driving.

 

[SemiS3XYR]

OTOH, I love all Tesla owners. I say nice ride to all! xoxo

 

[timk225]

I don't wave to other Tesla drivers. They aren't my friends. But I do look and think "Ooo, another Tesla!".

I imagine S and X owners are a bit butthurt, being that my 3 cost a lot less and drives a lot further on a charge than their cars, except the $100,000 100D Model S, and even then not by much. And my 3 is almost as fast and still has the Tesla logo. The M3P would be faster than the P100D Ludicrous if Tesla wasn't artificially holding it back.

Model 3 -- Almost as good and a whole lot cheaper!

 

[Dorkiedoode]

i drive a M3 and i can tell you that no attention to anyone while im driving. when i park at a stop light, my eyes lock straight onto the light. there are time i like to glance around if im going on a road trip.

 

[ZoomDoggie]

Not everyone is a waver. Sadly I live in a wasteland of electric cars...I have no idea what the few other Tesla owners think. Personally I get very excited when I see them...there are two others that I know of in my town (one is a 3), plus another handful in the whole region. I will wave like mad if I see them. Unless it's parent's day or move-in day at the local college. Then the odds are it's an out of towner and I don't want to look TOO silly.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

I don't wave to other Tesla drivers. They aren't my friends. But I do look and think "Ooo, another Tesla!".

I imagine S and X owners are a bit butthurt, being that my 3 cost a lot less and drives a lot further on a charge than their cars, except the $100,000 100D Model S, and even then not by much. And my 3 is almost as fast and still has the Tesla logo. The M3P would be faster than the P100D Ludicrous if Tesla wasn't artificially holding it back.

Model 3 -- Almost as good and a whole lot cheaper!

I doubt you'll find too many S/X owners that are "butthurt" over the Model 3. I believe the Model 3 is a great value, which is why we have recently ordered one...and I've never really considered comparing them against each other.

As to the OP's initial concern, I tend to wave to all Tesla owners (or rather, give the nod or raised fingers off the steering wheel) granted there are far fewer of us in MN than CA.

 

[cbutters]

I have an X (wife drives it mostly for the kids) and I have a 3 for my daily commute. I happily wave to any other Tesla owner I see no matter what model it is. I'm starting to wave a whole lot now (as there is getting to be a LOT of Teslas now in my city.)

Perhaps that is part of it though.... there are so many 3s now on the road, its becoming harder to wave every 5 minutes.

 

[nalang]

Yes, I look down on myself when I drive my X and not my 3.

 

[Getlib]

I am still waiting on my Model 3, but I ride onewheel and electric scooter around a lot and I wave at Model 3 owners on the road and in the parks - they wave back. I never wave at Model S & X owners and have a feeling they'd be confused. There's definitely a special bond among Model 3 enthusiast/owners right now as the car is so new, and a new demographic of Tesla owners are materializing and the excitement is shared among that demographic.

 

[PhotovoltaicME]

LET'S NOT MAKE THIS A THING...

Good one

 

[boaterva]

Lol... I’ll tell you I rarely react in time to wave to anyone across the way. Perhaps if I’m not driving but you’re not going to see a passenger waving. I tell my GF she should do the AP wave: show both hands. She hasn’t taken me up on it yet.

 

[CarlK]

I have been driving S/X for five years. Never had a Tesla driver wave at me.

 

[Eno Deb]

Face it: you only paid $60k for your car. You're a peasant.

Seriously, if I wanted to wave at every Tesla I see here in the Bay Area, I'd have to drive on Autopilot all the time to keep my hands free.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Then there's this survey. It looks to me like it's the M3 owners that are the snobs. I quit waving to them after I saw this. Maybe they just think we're suckers for not waiting to buy the cheaper better deal M3.

Do you wave?

 

[Fobble]

Looks like we are pretty much done with Tesla vs ICE. No more contest, and now we are down to Tesla vs Tesla

 

[Az_Rael]

I am a proud new owner of a M3 AWD. The cars performance is truly amazing, but what's even better is my transportation is not fueled by fossil fuels.(I charge at home which is powered by solar.) I was under the impression that the majority of Tesla owners purchased the vehicle to help "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy." Thus I assumed Model S & X owners had something in common with me.
I live in southern California where there are a lot of Teslas. In fact, I see at least one Tesla vehicle every time I go for a drive. When I see a Tesla vehicle out in the wild I always wave to them. After two months of waving to S & X drivers, none have waved back. I now get the feeling that because my M3 isn't as expensive as their cars we have no rapport.

I have experienced M3 owners are much friendlier.

Eh, you just live in Tesla country. I wave at all other Teslas when in my 3 or in our S, but when I drive down in LA it gets hard to keep up and still watch the road. I usually do the “cooler” hand/finger lift from the wheel now, which I am guessing most other owners don’t see.

 

[BerTX]

I drive a Model S and most MS and MS drivers don't wave back to me, either. MS and MX owners who use Superchargers may be grumpy about M3s simply because there are a LOT of them, and they fear the Superchargers will be overloaded, causing them inconvenience.

At Superchargers, I usually have a mission. Step one, charge the car. Step two, biobreak. Step three, clean the bugs off the front. Step four, get whatever snacks or refreshment for the rest of the trip. Engaging in conversation is educational and fun, but usually I'm trying to minimize the length of the stop, as I'm travelling for 10-12 hours that day. I don't mean to snub anyone, but chatting for 30 minutes just isn't in my schedule.

This reminds me of threads about how "everyone wants to race against me because I have a Tesla", or "that diesel truck coal rolled me because I have a Tesla" -- 99% of people have never heard of Tesla, and wouldn't recognize one if they saw it on the road. Racing everyone everywhere or coal rolling is just what they do, it's nothing personal. Likewise not engaging with you because you drive a M3 is likely something you are projecting on others.