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Major issues with Tesla Model 3

Blumlein 88

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I would be slightly reserved about buying a Tesla now here in the UK since Jaguar now make an electric car and they are 70 miles from me and have an established dealer network and service centres. I seriously considered it before choosing my current car.
My other concerns would be a loathing of touch screens rather than buttons. I know it is much, much cheaper and easier, and probably more reliable but I hate using the touch screen on my current car whillst driving, too much eyes off road and wrong selection on a bumpy road for me.
The other thing is weight. All claim to have amazing performance, and if your only interest is drag racing this is true, but responsiveness, cornering and braking will never be as good on a heavy car. OTOH it is easier to get good ride quality if the car is heavy.
To large extent at least for use on the highway the very low center of gravity of the model 3 makes up for its weight. The polar moments are more favorable than some cars with engines and heavy differentials hung at the ends of the vehicle. I was surprised at how nimble it felt considering how heavy it was. I wasn't doing any 10/10ths driving as it wasn't my car, but it is better than I expected. So braking, cornering and responsiveness will be effected by weight, but conventional cars have higher CG's to offset that somewhat.

They also have done a good job positioning the touchscreen, and there are a few controls on the steering wheel which are thoughtfully integrated for the purpose. I too agree I would rather have tactile controls for dedicated functions, but Tesla has managed this better than other cars I've seen.
 

Blumlein 88

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When the long-standing car makers get serious about mass production of eCars they should leave Musk in their dust with their manufacturing and R&D knowledge and their supply-chain savvy. We will see if Musk can beat them. Nobody has, so far.
That certainly remains a possibility. I forget which famous consultant said it, but it was something like, "Large car corporations aren't stupid. They are big and slow to react. When they react however few companies can match their efficiency of production." You might even think at some point if Tesla sprints ahead enough one of them might buy it up and incorporate them into the fold. In this case, I don't think Musk would go for that. He'd rather the company die fighting them than survive as part of them. Then again, he did sell Paypal. Maybe at some point he'd take a big payday to spend upon SpaceX.
 

NorthSky

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The day we stop relying on oil it'll be a good day for the humanity living on the planet.

Electric cars are less expensive to maintain. It's a peaceful fight against all that is wrong with this world and the people taking advantage of that wrongfullness.

It's good that all car manufacturers produce electric cars. ...Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Porsche, McLaren, BMW, Rolls Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Honda, Ford, GMC, Toyota, Chrysler, Lincoln Continental, ...
 

NorthSky

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Every single day there is something "spicy" to read about Tesla.
https://www.inverse.com/amp/article...spotted-with-fantastic-black-and-white-design
https://www.inverse.com/article/49652-tesla-software-shake-up-auto-industry
_____

* One of my favorite financial news sources:
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/elon-musk-intends-buy-20-124500320.html

That's encouraging for Tesla investors, that Elon is leading the way by investing/purchasing Tesla common shares with $20 million of his own money.
He has $9 billion worth of Tesla stock.
 
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Frank Dernie

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NorthSky

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amirm

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Ouch, this is not good: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...y-tumbles-consumer-reports-survey/1748024002/

Consumer Reports: Tesla's reliability tumbles to near the bottom in latest survey

How brands fared and their average reliability score:

1. Lexus 78

2. Toyota 76

3. Mazda 69

4. Subaru 65

5. Kia 61 (tie)

6. Infiniti 61 (tie)

7. Audi 60

8. BMW 58

9. Mini 57 (tie)

10. Hyundai 57 (tie)

11. Porsche 54

12. Genesis 52

13. Acura 51 (tie)

14. Nissan 51 (tie)

15. Honda 50

16. Volkswagen 47 (tie)

17. Mercedes-Benz 47 (tie)

18. Ford 45

19. Buick 44

20. Lincoln 43

21. Dodge 40 (tie)

22. Jeep 40 (tie)

23. Chevrolet 39

24. Chrysler 38

25. GMC 37

26. Ram 34

27, Tesla 32 (tie)

28, Cadillac 32 (tie)

29. Volvo 22

---

What the heck is going on at Honda to drop to the middle of the pack?

Back to Tesla, clearly they are putting volume ahead of quality. My friend's model X had such a long list of problems when he got when it first came out. I would not even call it "beta" quality let alone production.
 

NorthSky

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Wow, I am surprised! Tesla is @ the bottom, just about (@32), Honda (@50) & Acura (@51) don't fare much better/higher, and time to aim for Lexus (@78) and Toyota (@76).

Japan man!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus
LTp50k_6.jpg

Get the champagne for the champ.
 
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Cosmik

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A new gizmo on Teslas:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7522227/Teslas-Smart-Summon-featurer-sparks-chaos.html

"Smart Summon".

My gut feeling about such a feature would be "No!!! There's no way we can even contemplate building this into a car and giving it to Joe Public." If you were responsible for this, would you not have nightmares? Just imagine the infinite tragic scenarios that could unfold.

It seems to be a part of the new disclaimer culture. As the owner, if you "agree" to monitor the car at all times then you are responsible for whatever happens. Presumably you are meant to shut the car down via its smartphone app if there's trouble - but what if the smartphone chooses that moment to stop reading the touchscreen or whatever? (I presume there's a 'heartbeat'/'watchdog' system that stops the car if contact is lost, but as an engineer would you be totally confident in it?).
 

Rod

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A new gizmo on Teslas:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7522227/Teslas-Smart-Summon-featurer-sparks-chaos.html

"Smart Summon".

My gut feeling about such a feature would be "No!!! There's no way we can even contemplate building this into a car and giving it to Joe Public." If you were responsible for this, would you not have nightmares? Just imagine the infinite tragic scenarios that could unfold.

It seems to be a part of the new disclaimer culture. As the owner, if you "agree" to monitor the car at all times then you are responsible for whatever happens. Presumably you are meant to shut the car down via its smartphone app if there's trouble - but what if the smartphone chooses that moment to stop reading the touchscreen or whatever? (I presume there's a 'heartbeat'/'watchdog' system that stops the car if contact is lost, but as an engineer would you be totally confident in it?).
Well as an Operating Engineer I would not like it at all as it looks like there trying to replace us. So in defence of every truck driver or operator of heavy equipement I say let it fail.:cool:
 
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RayDunzl

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MRC01

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...
How brands fared and their average reliability score:
1. Lexus 78
2. Toyota 76
3. Mazda 69
4. Subaru 65
...
15. Honda 50
....
As a former Honda and Lexus owner who now owns 1 Mazda and 2 Subarus, these scores are consistent with my experience. Long ago, Honda used to be tied with Toyota for quality but they've gradually dropped over the years. I had a Mazda that I drove like I stole it (SCCA racing) that never gave me any trouble. Years ago my wife had a Lexus GS430 that was more solid, reliable, and quiet than a Mercedes S500. However, I'm surprised to see Subaru so high up in the list because in the mid-00s they had head gasket issues and later had oil consumption issues.

I'm not surprised to see Tesla so far down on the list. It is a "beta" version of a car, and the buyers are the beta testers.
 
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