My experiences pre ordering pinballs cured me from pre ordering other things too. Let's see when/if they start rolling out and if there's problems. In the meantime leased an Audi E-tron so I can use the carpool lane 
(Topic ID: 184461)
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider sd_tom.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
1 year later
not surprising with the $7500 tax incentive expiring and the cheap one put at back of line.
unrelated : porsche opened their interest books yesterday for their EV
1 month later
a while i was looking at a used tesla buying guide i found somewhere talking about how difficult it is to figure out what you are getting as the available feature/packages lists change more often than once a year. (this is for private sales, buying a used one from tesla they seem to publish the stats clearly).
anyways the article mentioned using ludicrous mode more than X times voided the battery warranty as something else to look out for. wondering what the truth is to that given all the other misinformation out there.
edit: found the article again
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/used-tesla-model-s-buying-guide
i have an audi compliance ev, 2017 etron sportback. works perfect for me as my round trip commute is just about equal to the 16 miles of range. a tank of gas lasts me about 750 miles. at any rate, i really like the car and got a great lease deal on it as nobody is buying them.
plan on handing it back in though when it lease is up at the end of 2019 and excited there will be more full EV options out there as carrying around two power trains seems like all the maintenance (especially for notorious audis) , more complexity.
however, this car base model started at $41k MSRP, but audi hasnt talked about the full EV sportback (one of 2020 models) pricing but seems $60k is the starting point for the first SUV one. so will have to figure out what to do with my new found appreciation of cushy interiors (first non toyota/honda) as looks like audi may be off the table.
hopefully by this time next year when i start looking seriously, Tesla will be on more solid ground than now as that looks best $40k option on paper.
2 months later
interested to see what Rivian puts out at LA Auto show at the end of the month with their EV truck. so far a lot of marketing BS (them and Atlis are both Ev truck startups). looking at all the Tesla trials and tribulations hard to imagine anyone else breaking through.
charging at your house is what you do 98% the time though so to me the charging network isnt that much of plus. depends on range i guess but i cant imagine they are doing anything sub 200 miles
rivian unveiled today, 0-60 in 3 seconds 
https://electrek.co/2018/11/26/rivian-r1t-all-electric-pickup-specs/
H.-Rivian_R1T_Beach-e1543221920755 (resized).jpg
Screen-Shot-2018-11-26-at-12.47.01-AM (resized).jpg
... ok, i sent deposit in like a dummy 
Quoted from DCFAN:400 mile + range. Now we are getting up there. Just extend the cab back to the end of the car and make it an SUV.
that gets revealed tomorrow (seriously)
http://products.rivian.com/suv/
yeah def looks like land rover inspired. looks way better IMHO than the model X which has a mini-van vibe
yeah i am not sure how many truck people are interested in an ev truck. for evidence, go look at the comments section on traditional car media coverage for the rivian stuff (car and driver, etc) .. hate runs strong, people are deep brand loyalists in the truck realm as well as larger % rednecks than other car classes. think that's why the adventure angle as they really aren't going to pry away ford/chevy/ram diehards with an EV. what they can do is pry away Honda Ridgeline, element, subaru, Toyota.. but the cost is steep comparatively.. there may not be much of a market for these really but glad they are trying.
our household has 04 tacoma i bought new out of grad school, 2011 rav4, and 2017 audi etron. my wife won't let me get rid of thr tacoma since there's the once a month that its hugely convenient (home depot, hobbies, taking stuff to dump).
so to me, this is in my wheelhouse of when my lease is up on audi to also sell the tacoma. i also have the means to afford it even if my wife eye rolls at the cost at least have a couple years to save up.
Quoted from Darscot:at least not in my neck of the woods.
youre in canada, I didn't think you had rednecks 
I'm thinking about the deep south USA here (grew up in Georgia).
rivian company video
https://vimeo.com/303082948
btw happy to make a generic EV thread if people dont want this stuff here in the tesla one.
2 weeks later
teslaratti posted an article about rivian's battery group
https://www.teslarati.com/rivian-battery-lab-irvine-california-megapack-production/
"Rivian’s Executive Director of Engineering and Programs, Mark Vinnels, told Teslarati that they dropped the vehicle on a boulder from 2 ft in the air, just to be able to verify the battery pack’s integrity in extreme off-road situations."
at least they are taking battery tech seriously regardless of whether they make it or not
1 week later
i was getting confused what Tesla's definition of success was with autonomy (3,4,5), this article helped: https://www.google.com/amp/s/electrek.co/2018/03/11/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-self-driving-next-year/amp/
Quoted from jalpert:I just want to pitch my seat back, close my eyes and listen to some music
that's indeed what they are shooting for.
a cool use case i saw is how when you do one way hikes and have to stage a car at the end point. that the car could move itself to the destination location after dropping you off. this was in some rivian article but would apply to all.
exciting times, next 10 years is going to be a revolution in transportation
3 weeks later
i have a plug-in with 20 miles pure ev range. i plug it in nightly, as i use all of it plus a little gas every day (25miles basically round trip commute) i get about 700 miles per 9 gallon tank of gas, which is like 2-2.5months. so yeah, if you ignore the charging at home benefit you're ignoring a huge plus.
2 weeks later
we rented a ICE kona over the holidays. can confirm it was a super boring car, little trunk space without folding down seats.
the ICE isn't available with adaptive cruise control but looks like they are adding it to the BEV trim at highest level, so there's a plus.
1 week later
3 weeks later
that isnt weird mobile enough for the tesla truck since elon has been tweeting that its very futuristic, blade runner, 'not sure everyone will like it'.. that truck looks like a standard truck.. which, would be welcomed actually but not what hes been telegraphing.
2 weeks later
Quoted from toyotaboy:it will start reacting to any situation FAR faster than any human can
it can react to any situation it can detect.. computer vision is not a solved problem.
aside: i think we're over this hill now but 10 years ago there was hesitation about neural nets since you can't prove it works.. you cant point to the line of code that handles a feature, all you can do is test it.. and you know it passes those tests.. but you can't really extrapolate performance outside of the testing/training regime. i.e., how do you 'bug fix' a neural network (there isnt a specific line of code you can identify as root cause), and how do you assure yourself you haven't impacted other behaviors.. i.e., the new training could 'undo' some other training.
it will be interesting how all this plays out from regulatory, legal. agree with idea of the first to market may set whole industry back if they rush it
elevator is a vastly simpler system so.. not sure about that analogy. you could look at airplanes actually as counter example.. we've been using them for 100 years but there is still fear of flying/some % don't trust them or will ever use them, super regulated, if 2 crash under similar circumstances in a few months they are all grounded until it is sorted out.
i would feel autonomous vehicles are more likely to go that route than elevator.. elevator is a much simpler device.
seperate will be when mfg will actually tell you that its ok to not pay attention.. as then the liability is really on them. i mean, what would the owner even need collision coverage for? its going to be either the other driver or their manufacturers fault. cant imagine car mfg lawyers are excited by this prospect. maybe legal precidents are yet to be set though.. but who wants to go first?
1 week later
1 month later
Quoted from Darscot:Remember when they said no one would use a phone without a keyboard or at least number buttons. It’s just being two steps behind, who even knows a phone number or dials it anymore.
I do think the physical keyboard was easier to use though.. muscle memory / feeling out the keys is a useful thing, the article isn't wrong about that. i.e., I needed auto correct far less with real keys than I do now. So, it's a compromise not a slam dunk IMHO.
Did you all catch the Rivian 'pull out kitchen' from earlier this month:
https://www.teslarati.com/rivian-r1t-envisions-mobile-kitchen-overlanding/
Quoted from Darscot:If you aren't looking at the keys and are watching the letters appear on screen that is all the feedback you need.
So, guess you didn't read the article.. that's was the main point.. you have to LOOK at the display to use it.. vs feeling your way around physical cockpit while keeping your eyes on the road. i.e, I can move my arm and find "EV/Hybrid/Battery Hold" button on my PHEV without looking down cause I know where it is and finger tips can sense the rest.
as well as I think Rivian is smart here.. this adventure niche they are carving out will be around even after Ford/Chevy/GM show up with EV trucks.. so, it has more longevity to it (smaller market, sure.. but perfect for a startup) than being creamed by the big 3 later and having their market eroded overnight. Will it always be a boutique thing, sure. do you have to be as big as Ford to be successful? No..
2 weeks later
2 months later
debating a 2016 model s, new model 3, kona, niro, or leaf plus right now. i rented a 2015 model S for last two days on turo.. it's nice and all but not the end of all other cars like that video suggests lol. plus last month they started removing free supercharging from the older models in their possession.
interested in AP1 as while limited, i just want a decent adaptive cruise control.. that doesn't do phantom braking I've been reading about the non mobileeye version. going to test drive then rent a 3 as well to see if reports are overblown.. these issues and reports of shitty service are my biggest hangups about tesla.. they are starting to show stress fractures i feel from being run more as a tech company/innovation focused.
Quoted from JoshPA:M3 adaptive cruise is really decent. Some phantom braking, usually on secondary roads. Have seen some on highways.
I've driven an S a few times, really prefer the 3.
so yesterday I took out a model 3 LR AWD for test drive... it is nice for sure. It's not a slam dunk though over the S for me. LR AWD for $48k vs 2016 Model S, AP1, pre-facelift 90D with air suspension for $53k ... given i have to move it in from outside california to get carpool lane access in california, that's extra $2k... so $55k. So yeah, more.. but not a ton more given how much these already cost.
the model 3 i drove just had autopilot training complete while we were on test drive, so i got to use it.. so, admittedly on the short 10 min test drive it seemed very comparable to AP1 for ACC purposes.
maybe, maybe not.. not clear to me that Autopilot-only AP2 will be anything significantly different than AP1 does now. for instance, talking to sales guy.. traffic lights are going to be part of FSD/not autopilot.
i personally also feel the FSD-AP2 features are much further away than elon thinks. not going to be shelling out $6k or more for vaporware.
either way, slight postponement as we refinance our house.. rates too good
Quoted from jalpert:AP1 development is done, there will be no further features.
Agree - which to use other cars terms: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centering, Lane Change Assist
Quoted from jalpert:AP2 will be significantly better, in every way,
This is where I think we disagree.. AP2/3 with FSD package, yes.. but AP2 for the functions above.. I don't see how you can do better than AP1, short of traffic light recognition and that's going to be put into FSD.. not only sales guy, but website.. under: Full Self-Driving Capability>Coming Next Year>Recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs. And at least today, it seems like the AP1 adaptive cruise is less finicky than AP2 adaptive cruise (phantom braking reports, etc)
Quoted from jalpert:AP1 will never make it to full self driving.
Agreed; not concerned about that
1 month later
well, have a used 2016 Model S 90D being shipped from Chicago to San Diego this week to purchase (getting a remote car thru tesla costs a bit but also ensures the car still qualifies for the carpool lane). Delivery person setup appt on Sat. A bit nervous about this whole process but I do like the S's more than 3's and don't mind the AP1&MCU1 limitations (at least currently). ~$2500 more than a new Model 3 LR AWD, similar range (S:294(degraded i'm sure) vs 3:310). Will see how it goes, wish me luck!
1 month later
Quoted from Luckydogg420:Tesla has been pushing to remove side mirrors for a long time, maybe they finally succeeded. They said it was required to optimize wind resistance. The plan was to use cameras and screens.
its regulatory issue though.. audi and honda are selling camera based side mirrors outside the USA already.
at any rate, have my model S and like it.. but will eventually trade it in for an e-truck of some kind.. can scratch one option off list
1 month later
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider sd_tom.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
