Tesla Test Drive

[Dandock]

Great example of truly shocking build quality. The JLR forums are a train wreck of unhappy owners with most threads discussing how to reject their cars!

Indeed - JLR owners walk away whereas Tesla owners react more like disciples. It would suggest, perhaps, that it says a lot for the promise the product offers.

I 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!

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.

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.

[andreas]

The thing is Luke, it's hard to take a test drive in a current Tesla and not be impressed on some level, even if you are a complete petrol-head.

I believe it's called the "Tesla smile"!

[Deleted User 1874]

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.

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.

I find Tesla interiors to be very spec dependent. The Model X I had as a loaner this weekend was definitely not to my taste with a lot of dark wood grain trim and beige leather seats (which have since been discontinued). But the very same interior in premium synthetic leather and matt carbon trim looks great to me and of more than acceptable quality, but then I do like modern minimalist design. Incidentally I don't think it's anything at all typical of an American car interior, which are often very "plasticky" with over-sized and over-padded seats. These seats are more typical of sleek Volvo design and very supportive. But it's perhaps so different to a "traditional" car interior that it will certainly not appeal to everyone, especially those with more traditional conservative taste. I haven't really looked in detail at the Model 3 interior, but again I expect it will be quite sensitive to trim choice. I've seen the dubious wood trim version, which I didn't like.

The exterior Model X styling has grown on me massively over the last few months. My initial impression was one of inoffensive, bland generic design. But now when I look at more traditional SUVs, they suddenly look very boxy and dated, especially the Range Rover Sport, which looks like something out of the last century next to the X. The new Cayenne doesn't do much for me on the styling front either. It's not easy making a large family SUV look cool, but I think Tesla have done a good job actually. But I realise some people simply don't get it and that's fine. Interestingly, many if not most, traditional American customers seem to find it very ugly indeed. Again because it is so very very different to typical American SUV styling. But in Europe, aerodynamic, swoopy SUVs seem to be all the rage at the moment. So I don't think there will be any shortage of Euro customers and sales figures already appear to support that.

Model X is indeed very big and not something I would consider if we didn't need a big family car. It's really an alternative to something like a Range Rover Sport, full sized Discovery or Volvo XC90. The fact that it looks more like an over-sized coupe in isolation is very deceptive. Park it up next to a normal sized hatchback and suddenly it looks enormous. But then it doesn't feel particularly big or unwieldy from the driver's seat when on the move. Only when you try to park it does it show its true size colours! But no worse than any other large SUV. Funnily enough I parked it close to a Macan and the size differential was quite obvious. I should have taken a photo!

[Wing Commander]

Regarding the Tesla X being very big, I have just compared it to my Panamera.

The Tesla X is actually 12mm or about half an inch shorter than my car. It didn't take me long to get used to parking it. So I'm sure you'll be fine with the Tesla.

It is true that the Tesla X is about 4" wider than the Panamera (or nearly 5%) but even so, I'm sure that you'll soon be parking it like a pro!

[VanB]

I thought it could park itself?

[Dandock]

Regarding the Tesla X being very big, I have just compared it to my Panamera.

The Tesla X is actually 12mm or about half an inch shorter than my car. It didn't take me long to get used to parking it. So I'm sure you'll be fine with the Tesla.

It is true that the Tesla X is about 4" wider than the Panamera (or nearly 5%) but even so, I'm sure that you'll soon be parking it like a pro!

But this still huge for anything on many U.K. roads.

Saw one in a showroom in Vienna a couple of months ago and it appeared to fill the place.

[LLL]

I find the Tesla interior discussion particular interesting. Taste is like always something very personal and that's why we have different choices and configuration options. I agree with Peteski that the combination of interior colors and material choices makes a big difference with Teslas and also the newer seats (specifically in the Model S, that before 2017 had other more low-budget looking seats).

My personal taste is in general more in the minimalistic direction which maybe is a reason why I like the Tesla interiors and have come to appreciate them for their simplicity and the ease of use of all functionality and smartness built into the car. The minimalistic approach is personal and for me this is the same when it comes to how I dress and how we furnish our home. I for instance love danish modern design classics (e.g. Arne Jacobsen, Louis Poulsen, etc), white, natural lighter materials, white marble and a few colorful pieces that stand out without doing so too much. Either Apple or Bang & Olufsen when it comes to home tech because it blend in very well and become an interesting design piece on it's own without screaming - hey I'm a loudspeaker.

Now when I see newly launched Audis for instance I think it's a bit to much over the top with all busy design lines, LED in different colors all over the places, busy patterns in the seats with stitching in all kinds of directions, button overload, lot of things (to much) with texts and digital buttons to click on in the LCD-displays, and so on. Before my Tesla I liked the Porsche design a lot and still do, but when I move into something in the Porsche line up today I honestly don't prefer it over the Tesla. Maybe I just got used to the Tesla now, but because the cabin is so minimalistic it feels very calm to be in there by some reason. The big screen often get's some comments but one of the good things about being so big is that also the digital buttons can be rather big with lot's of free space between buttons which makes them easy to "hit" while driving (if at all that is necessary).

There are a few things that can improve even more of course. The air vent's look a bit dated and could do with a refresh. Same with the center console that could do with a make over. But it's still perfectly fine and I must say that it's not very "American" in that sense. For me american styling is more in a "tacky" manner, but Tesla is more of Apple design in the car industry. Back ones again to the fact that Tesla is based in LA/Palo Alto and not in Detroit.

Nothing is wrong or right and we all like different. Good that we have alternatives and can pick and choose based on our personal preferences!

This was just my my 2 cents on the topic

[LLL]

What not to like about this?

(I have full black interior in mine, but the white looks cool. Not sure I'd personally go for it though )

[gtipirelli]

Have a look at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPbTdSr1X-w

This guy is a petrol head and really into Porsches. See what he has to say about Teslas.

His reviews are worth watching unfortunately he has stopped producing them.

Yeah, that's a good one. Guido is a really great guy and agree that it's sad that he stopped reviewing cars. Not sure what the reason is though?

Guido got head hunted by one of the very big German automotive titles, something like the equivalent to our autocar or CAR magazine

[Col Lamb]

I have to agree with Mike.

The interior of the Tesla X is terrible, how can an Audi interior be fussy and ott when Tesla produce such a miss match of interior lines.

The Tesla S by comparison in its minimal form looks very stylish.