You compare eg; a Mercedes or Porsche interior with a comparably priced Model S and it's no contest.
A) Traditional automakers becoming good at making great EVs
or
B) Tesla matching the quality standards of traditional automakers.
The traditional automakers are quickly learning how to make great EVs. Tesla may get away with substandard quality for now, but they won't get away with it a decade from now when ever automaker is producing decent EVs. I hope Tesla improves fast.
I posted this the other day. I think most people agree the Germans make better interiors. But nobody can deny Tesla has a superior charging network, and for the vast majority of people their battery technology is superior (longer ranger, but more prone to overheating from aggressive driving).
I think Tesla is just riding the underdog wave extremely well - they're new, they're different, they're trendy, and they're eco-friendly. And honestly, if you're not a car person, their cars are fun and different (if you are an enthusiast you will likely have very mixed opinions of Tesla). Combine that with a CEO that can bend the laws of reality while he talks, promises for full self-driving which will absolutely never ever materialize, the fact that the competition is really quite slow to show up...and you get a ridiculous stock price.
I don't think Tesla is going away, but I think in 10 years they're going to be just another car company, especially if they shift their focus towards energy which is where the real money is for them.
They certainly have that image, but I think an eco-friendly electric car would have to be smaller and lighter, even if that means decreasing range.
Going for a long range makes their cars unnecessarily heavy. That makes them require more power and increases tire and road wear.
I also think the competition is timing its entry quite well, arriving close to the moment when it becomes possible to make money making electric cars.
To be honest I don't think they are unnecessarily heavy for evs. Base model 3 is a bit over 1600 kg, while a base audi a4 weighs a bit over 1500 kg. Performance model 3 weighs about 1850 kg while and an audi rs4 weighs 1790 kg. Meanwhile the polestar 2, an ev comparable to a mid spec model 3, weighs almost 2200 kg.
Their energy efficiency numbers are similarly good and almost across the board better than competition evs.
Edit: I might just add that the weight argument has a bit more strength re the model s and x. Even if they're comparable to other evs, they are a decent bit heavier than comparable ICE cars. I think that's a result of the older platform -- I suspect a lot of work must have gone into model 3 to reduce weight.
Pushing air out of the way continuously is a real drain on energy.
https://www.emissionsanalytics.com/news/pollution-tyre-wear-...: “Pollution from tyre wear can be 1,000 times worse than what comes out of a car’s exhaust”
Teslas are about as eco friendly to repair as iPhones, which is not friendly at all.
Unlike Saturn, GM isn't meddling in Tesla's management, but it seems like similar mistakes are being made.
At least Tesla's are more fun to drive.
It isn't the future. There's more investment from more companies going into CCS networks. For example:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/shell-pledg...
I wonder if there's any way to tell if the build quality is going up with their increased volume, down, or remaining even.
Hyundai/Kia are probably a better point of comparison.