A good mate recently purchased a new Tesla Model X. When I asked him what motivated him to buy electric his answer was very similar to many others.
I went electric as I hate using petrol. It’s expensive, inefficient, bad for the environment and I don’t like going to petrol stations. Being able to charge at home is great, especially as I have solar panels on my roof to charge it.
An awesome metallic blue, Model X 75D
This sentiment of buying a Tesla to help the environment is one of, if not the main reason most give. Climate Change is real, the debate on this has long been settled. It is now a fact, just like it’s a fact that hats exist. So it’s very admirable for him to do so much to help the environment.
However I keep getting the distinct impression that people don’t buy a Tesla because they’re good for the planet. They want them because they’re an immense leap over every other car you could consider buying. Plus they’re good for the planet.
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The Differences
As a very simple example to show you what I mean take this excellent review on Fully Charged.
After watching it I noticed a number of things that seemed to stand out like a sore thumb. This is a brand new car that’s been built to be all electric from the richest car company in the world and what do we get? The same old crap we had 10+ years ago.
The interior of the VW e-Golf. Source: autocar.co.uk
The same old, standard boring interior with zero innovation. Buttons everywhere. So many, many buttons. Random, meaningless icons all over everything. A small screen. Horrible, horrible user interface design with old, woefully outdated aesthetics that will never change and look even worse in 5+ years time.
This crap extends outside the interior too with the standard “I’m an electric car so I have to have neon’s” jammed in somewhere.
Seriously? Does the traditional ICE Golf have blue neon’s all over it? No. Source: vw.com
It has a crummy range of only 200 km / 125 miles (EPA Rated). Complex model names – seriously SE and SEL Premium? What the hell does SE stand for let alone SEL?? – not to mention the similarly standard “e-” or “i” jargon everyone seems to think is necessary to add to their car names whenever they’re an EV. Yes I’m looking at you BMW.
Where’s The Frunk?
Finally, one other oddly missing perk is the Frunk that all Tesla’s have.
Zero room up front for a Frunk for some reason. Source: netcarshow.com
The e-Golf isn’t the only one that doesn’t have a Frunk. The GM Bolt and the 2018 Nissan Leaf don’t either and I’ve yet to see it on any other electric car that I know of. Sure, some cars have engines in the back and a Frunk up front but I’m talking about cars with both a trunk and a Frunk.
Absolutely jam packed with stuff means no Frunks for the Bolt or Leaf either. Source: netdna-ssl.co
The 2018 Nissan Leaf and GM Bolt also suffer from all the above crap I’ve mentioned too. I’m not singling out the e-Golf, all the other manufacturers are just as terrible! They all seem incapable of innovating and pushing the automobile forward anymore.
The interior of a 2004 VW Golf. Source: autocar.co.uk
Just look at the interior of the Golf 13 years ago. It’s near on identical the latest and greatest 2017 e-Golf!
Same Old, Same Old
Traditional car manufacturers seem to be of the belief that Tesla’s are popular because they’re electric. They think that all they have to do is make a similar style car that’s all electric with a similar range and that then people will forget all about wanting a fancy Tesla. They constantly demonstrate that what they’ve been doing for the past 20+ years is all they’re going to continue doing.
The general public also fixates on the fact that Tesla’s are electric and that they are different because of that. The truth is that they’re the smartphone to the traditional car makers dumb phones. They have huge screens at the centre of the driver experience. They’re built from the ground up to incorporate technology, OTA updates, navigation and more.
Over the years Tesla has updated their UI many times and it shows. Source: motortrend.com
You don’t get out of date navigation systems or tiny squished screens with interfaces that lag. No, you get modern software that stays modern with OTA updates. You get a far bigger screen with beautiful graphics and text. Iconography that is meaningful, clear and consistent with other software we use day to day.
What Do You Want In Your Next Car?
Now I don’t know about you but I’m sick of traditional car companies just trotting out the same old crap but with different colours. I think the wider population feels this too even if they still consciously say they like Tesla’s for their environmental credit.
Personally, I do want a Tesla because it helps the environment. But I want it more because they’re a giant leap forward. A revolutionary step rather than an evolutionary one. I want my car to push the boundaries of technology, safety and connectivity. To improve over time like our computers and smartphones do. I want innovative new features like windshields that give you unprecedented views of the heavens, new ways of heating and cooling the cabin that gets rid of ugly air vents, air filtration systems that improve my health, not having to carry stupid keys any more and more.
So do you want a Tesla? Let us know in the comments below and tell us what feature stands out the most to you.
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