I understand that people should evaluate products as they're delivered, vs promises of a vague wonderful future product. And Tesla has made some wild promises that they've taken payment for, but I really doubt they can fulfill.

That being said, one thing that I like about my spouses Tesla is that it reliably gets OTA updates that adds features and improves functionality. For example, they recently added a video feed from the blind spot cameras when I'm in reverse. I'm not sure of any other car brand that would do that. My experience with other brands is that, best case scenario, it would take a trip to the dealership and hundreds of dollars to add a feature like that. More likely they'd try to upsell me on a 2021 model. Meanwhile the Tesla adds that stuff on a regular cadence while I sleep.

I'd bet the 2018 Tesla they tested would perform competitively with todays models. And in two more years the 2018 model will compete well against 2022 models. CR shouldn't speculate this way but it's probably worth consideration if you're looking for a new car.