While Teslas fail at "Cars and Coffee"

[AudubonB]

My own experience with Cars & Coffee is that the only real - and it's a great - way to wow them is to set up as many Model Xs as possible and sync them with the Christmas show. Too bad there aren't any (?????) C&C at nighttime.

 

[Buster1]

I used to take my modern Vette to various shows. It drew very little attention as compared to the old stuff, even when revving it loudly.

I believe there is an element of labor and hand work in a car that draws folks in, vs ANY car that was basically purchased. (Un)fortunately our Teslas are not heavily modded, nor do they take hours of tweaking and tinkering to run.

 

[steveho]

I went to our local cars and coffee and whenever i did the light show, i had about 30 people gathering around to watch. I spoke with about a hundred people about electric cars that morning.

At the end of the show, a Huracan pulled up next to me. The father (and son) got out and said "My kid is really really into Tesla's so we came over to check them out." They spent 10 minutes looking at the model X and chatting about it. So the guy with the loud Lambo came over to see the quiet tesla.

We talked about performance and how the P100D would be faster than the Huracan to 60.

 

[SDRick]

The first post touches on the evolutionary shift we are witnessing in the automotive sector. Gear heads and motor heads have a lot of vested interest in time, money, loud exhaust, squealing tires, shifting gears and overall nostalgia. While disruption from EV's and Tesla are at an early stage hearts and minds will surely follow.

For as long as we can remember, loud equals fast. That dynamic is changing. As loud becomes slower, the desire to loudly bring attention to yourself and spotlighting your inferior technology "while losing the race" will wane. It gets to be embarrassing one would think but habits die hard.

Talk is cheap at many car and coffee meets. So rather than talking Tesla I would think the best way to open a few eyes and start a discussion is a short test drive in a performance model. I have found that motor heads do not really get it until they actually get behind the wheel and press the pedal.

 

[smsprague]

I have pretty much always gotten a great reception at Cars & Coffee in Arizona. Only once a Porsche guy tried to start an agreement. He asked me if I liked my grocery runner. I did not get he was trying to insult me because the Tesla is only good for running errands. I just told it was great because of the hatch and then tried to show him the Frunk before he stomped off.

The Ferrari owner at the show spent a 1/2 hour with me - left saying he was ordering one.

 

[Tech_Guy]

@VegasBlue are you talking about the cars and coffee event at speed vegas?

 

[David29]

I have attended a couple of C&C events, as well as some other types of car shows and several EV-specific events.
I actually found people were quite interested at the car shows, and had plenty of engaging conversations.
It definitely helps if there are several EVs together, preferably with a sign of some sort. Most of the time, I attend events with a contingent from the New England Electric Auto Association, and we hang up our banner. And the biggest draw is a Model X with the FWD doors open -- that draws a crowd every time!
I have some information cards that I prepared and post either in the open Frunk or attach to the windows.

 

[VegasBlue]

I think the title of this post should be "Why Cars and Coffee fails with Tesla"

Indeed, I didn't catch the autocorrect.

Serendipitously, the lack of noise that a Tesla makes, turns out to be somewhat of an advantage, as it allows very "spirited" driving to go unnoticed. There is a certain amount of misbehavior that a tesla can get away with because the usual noisy revving or downshifting that a sports car makes as it televises its intentions to the world, is absent in the stealthy Tesla. Contenders never hear you coming so they aren't prepared to compete when you blow them away.

 

[meomyo]

ev cars are rather boring to show off though because of a lack of shiney huge engine. I mean seeing the screen is cool in a car but most people have laptops so even the screen is meh to most.

 

[rhumbliner]

"My kid is really really into Tesla's so we came over to check them out."

On 3 separate occasions I was standing by my MS when some kid (<16) exclaimed “Dad, Dad! That’s a Tesla!”. On all 3, the dad’s response was “What’s a Tesla?”. We’ve definitely won over the younger generation.

 

[arcus]

On 3 separate occasions I was standing by my MS when some kid (<16) exclaimed “Dad, Dad! That’s a Tesla!”. On all 3, the dad’s response was “What’s a Tesla?”. We’ve definitely won over the younger generation.

It's funny when 4-year old will be pointing your car out to the parents screaming "Tesla!" with excitement while at the same time a guy in his late 20s working for car rental company will ask you 3 times "So, it really doesn't need a gasoline?"

 

[SMAlset]

Really wish we would have had a warm reception when we drove up to the C&C I mentioned in my above post like some of you have had. We actually were kind of excited to go and made a point of being there that weekend to check it out. This was something that was held at a small grocery store every month and apparently the "regulars" come out all the time to "socialize". I should mention that in our case all the cars were parked with motors off so for them it was more about visually showing off their car. As I recall the Volt that pulled in got the same icy "don't care to talk to you" reception and left pretty quickly. The drive up the mountain in our Tesla was the most enjoyable part of the day! Handles so well going up around the curves and the regen coming down is great.

Hmm maybe I should suggest to the grocery owner (nice guy and he has a great little store that's fun to shop in with lots of unique and hard to find items) that maybe a C&C EV Meet would be something he would sponsor as well on different dates. He has a nice facebook page and promotes the C&C online and with signage in and out of the store.

 

[ccdisce]

This list comes from what people told me as they have walked past my car. I presented this post to explain from personal experience why non - tesla owners might not share our enthusiasm for the cars we own. I have owned fast cars in the past and am well aware of car culture. In the end, the attraction of a car gathering is to enjoy other people's enthusiasm for the cars they own, whether or not you personally like their car. It shouldn't be a "I'm going to tell you why my car is better than yours" experience.

Another time I took my car to cars and coffee I put a piece of paper on the windshield that highlighted a few of the oddities of the car: "2 motors, 1 gear, 700 hp" and lots more people stopped to ask questions. A much more positive experience.

I wonder whether the fame of the 2020 Roadster will precede it sufficiently that the ICErs will understand what they are looking at when the first one shows up at cars and coffee? I wonder whether they will want to know how much i paid for it? ;-)

On your note you should mention that the gear ratios for the front and rear drive units are different and let the gearheads figure it out.

 

[lotusland]

I think there are two factors here. First Teslas are so common in many areas that they are just not that interesting to most people -- car guys or otherwise. Here in San Diego -- and in the Bay Area -- they are so common it is not unusual to see two of them at the same intersection. Car gatherings are all about the unique and rare. If a soccer mom might be picking up coffee in the same car you brought to the meet, then you don't belong in the "show area". I you have a M3 or better yet, when the new Roadster comes out, then you are show-worthy. Briefly.

Also, I do think the fact that the PxxD-series have made many other cars -- entire marques really -- obsolete, is a factor. There are no BMWs, no Porsches, no Lambos and no Ferraris that can beat a P100DL. That is pretty stunning and I don't think it has been fully digested by fanbois of these other brands. It gets even worse when you start talking about Ford or Chevy, as all they had was brute speed -- no styling or handling, which arguably those other brands have. Tesla has eaten everyone else's lunch but some are choosing to mostly tune it out.

 

[whitex]

Tesla is a very practical car, extremely fun to drive, but not exactly a show car. Why not? Well, see the picture below - while the white Tesla beat both cars next to it 0-60, when parked at a C&C, people will flock to the other too more. While a model S is not exactly in a mini-van territory, but if it helps you understand, imagine if you could buy a Toyota Sienna with 0-60 in 3 seconds, it would still not attract as much attention as a 5s 0-60 lambo (even parked, no noise).

 

[SMAlset]

I kind of beg to differ a bit on Teslas not being a show car (and I realize you showed the S above). The current Roadster I bet would garner a lot of interest and surprise people unaware its a BEV and I think the S and 3 will peak people's interest as well. While the classics pop their hoods and show what's underneath, the S and X can pop their frunks and advertise no gas but an amazing amount of torque. Of the cars I saw at this C&C I mentioned only the vette was what I would consider a sport car.

EVs are coming whether ICE manufacturers/owners like it or not and as more publicity about the phasing out of combustion engines worldwide among manufacturers spreads, more people will want to get a look at EVs and see what's out there. The Teslas are the cream of the crop in power, range and sleekness. People who will be in the market for a new car in the next few years will start thinking maybe they should start to learn about them and what better way than talking to owners. The Teslas did very well in attracting lots of interest and questions at the EV event we attended this past summer, we were all very busy throughout the day. I'd love to take our Model S and 3 (when it arrives) to one of these local C&Cs and this comes from someone who never would have considered something like this until this past March when we got our S.

 

[sakimano]

1. No noise. Its a very visceral thing to have a loud revving angry engine that tells the world you’ve got. Both the new ZR1 and the latest Mustangs have super loud and quiet muffler settings, indicating that car companies spend a lot of effort in car noise. And even though I personally would rather hear the radio than a constant exhaust drone, its a very common request to want to hear what the engine sounds like.

your OP was fantastic and bang on the money. Couldn't agree more with teh whole thing.

I hear this sound thing as an objection a lot from car guys. I too was once a loud car guy. This was my car.

It sounded epic and wasn't 'constant drone'.,..it made music at high rpms and quietened down enough while driving along at civilized speeds.

Still, I am more interested in acceleration than just a sound. To me the sound you give up, as a guy who had multiple V8 cars in a row with fantastic sounding and loud exhausts...is not that big a deal to lose it. The quiet ethereal calm of the tesla is just as interesting to me. I just wish I could rev the engine to get people out of the way in parking lots. The horn is a bit much!

Those car guys, when they try a tesla out, they're pretty quick to abandon sound and embrace the whole electric car concept.

 

[rays427]

I took my Tesla to the local Cars and Coffee and got little interest. However, I took it along with my 427 Cobra to a high school event at lunch time with a number of other cars and the Tesla got a lot of attention. They especially were interested in the touch screen controls.

 

[copyhacker]

I have found that motor heads do not really get it until they actually get behind the wheel and press the pedal.

This.

 

[purplewalt]

Another local MS owner used to attend Dallas C&C.
And he had lots of information on placards about the car and the (then) upcoming Supercharger Network (prior to Coast-to Coast network) posted in front of his car on stands.
And he let anyone who was even mildly interested sit in his car while he explained a lot of details about his Model S.
I used to display my placards too.

And then "The Hammer".
C&C officials decided that he had crossed a line, he was acting too much as a sales agent, and they wanted to charge him $250 per month that he attended.
Ouch.
It is a FREE MONTHLY event for owners to display their cars.
Gulp.
Over and Out.

Somehow the officials construed he was not just an enthusiastic Model S Owner, the signs were too much.
Showing/displaying the car was okay, just no signs.
So he quit coming.

I quit displaying my signs (but I still have the signs, and the stand, they remain in my frunk).
And continue to attend.

I cannot wait to get and then take my Model 3 to the C&C event.

Let the drooling begin...