I have to admit, Pete, that I'm impressed by your conversion and commitment: it's clearly something that you've gone into in great detail. For my part, albeit there are and will continue to be accessibility to charging issues, I find the design, in particular the interiors, not to my taste.Peteski wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:08 pmI think that may have been true of early Tesla adopters, but I think Luke is more typical of recent owners i.e. not much to actually complain about, especially with Model S.
We were kindly loaned a Model X demo car for the weekend and it was completely faultless for the short time we had it. No dodgy panel fits and no rattles or squeaks with 5K miles on the clock. Couldn't fault it at all, except the interior trim (tan leather with wood trim) wasn't to my personal taste. But soon forgotten with the sublime driving experience and practicality. Kids and wife were totally in love with it too and sad to see it go back this morning. When we borrowed a Land Rover Disco Sport diesel back in the summer, it was practical enough but bland, low rent interior and completely gutless in comparison to the Tesla. It also had a very dubious tailgate fit - like half an inch off on one side. I'm so glad we didn't go down that route for a family wagon.
So I've now driven pretty much all the current crop of big SUVs and I don't think anything touches the Tesla Model X for its overall blend of space, tech, performance, luxury and fun factor. Something I'd almost given up on with big family haulers!
As Model X is just too big for me (and it is a seriously big machine - we don't have the demand that you do, which is how the Macan fits so well - I had a look (you're clearly having an effect!) at Model 3 over the weekend and I have to say that imo the interior is truly appalling. To me it looks as if it's been done by an O level student.
This brings me back to the issue of American vehicle design. Whilst it will always have some appeal I think they will currently have an uphill battle to sell really meaningful numbers in Europe with the design as it is - unless of course there is no competition - which is actually where we are right now.
I was interested to read an interview from the LA show about Porsche's position insomuch as they believe that hybrids are valid, but only up to a certain engine size after which a vehicle has to be totally electric. I can't recall the figures but it was clearly a reference to the 2022 Macan.