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Comment by parkingrift | Hacker News Reader

What a hilarious and asinine way to torpedo your own brand. It seems that Mercedes and BMW want to be known as the "Spirit Airlines of electric cars."

...except at least Spirit Airlines is cheap. The Mercedes EQS sedan starts at $102k for relatively middling performance of 5.9s 0-60 and range of 350 milse. I have no doubt that the EQS is a more luxurious car, but the Tesla Model S is $105k for significantly better performance of 3.1s 0-60 and better range at 405 miles.

I doubt anyone is cross-shopping a Model 3 against a Mercedes, but the economics are almost comical in favor of the 3. Model 3 $63k for 3.1s 0-60 and 315 miles of range.

I can only wonder who would buy this. Pay a significant premium for a Mercedes and then stuck with a $100/month subscription? I'd love to hear from someone who is into this, and why.

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I wouldn’t want a Mercedes with a subscription, but I’d certainly look for a better competitor to Teslas.. I personally hate the fact that Tesla car comes with a “minimal” dash without tactical buttons and making the driver search for options on a big display for climate controls and such…

I personally want the choice of Apple CarPlay and not be stuck with whatever Tesla thinks is “okay” for me to use..

I have heard from several friends who has a Tesla that the car comes packed with minor defects in for and finish that they don’t bother bringing to service because they know it will be a horrible experience.

I’d rather give my money to a car company that builds quality cars, and not have a cult following, gets a good Euro NCAP safety rating, and allows me to use Apple CarPlay and get out of the way. I have my eyes on a Kia EV6 when I decide to replace my current car in a few years.

I agree here except my eyes are on the Hyundai Ioniq

Subscription doesn't matter to 75% of the people who buys these things. Also, people who lease these (75% of them are leased) don't care about reliability or resale value...both of which are really poor for almost all German cars.

Subscriptions don't matter for 75% of the people who buy these cars and they're unlikely to have been burned and traumatized by the likes of Android gating their phones like people here in tech.

There are better competitors entering the market, but none can really compare to a Model S. The upcoming Hyundia Ionic 6 will likely be the industry leader, but it hasn't released in the US and last I checked didn't have US pricing, either.

People who dont want to be mistaken as the Mini Cab / Uber driver everytime they pull up will avoid the Model 3

So this is endemic? I noticed a lot of Uber drivers drove Model 3s when I flew into Miami a few months back and saw the same thing in Berkeley a few weeks ago. Are the Model 3 owners having trouble paying that high car note?

Apparently Model 3 has a low total cost of ownership/operation per mile - i.e., popular for Uber for the same reason a Prius is popular for Uber.

This seemed so absurdly impossible that I had to look it up. I went to Edmunds and sure enough the 5-year TCO for a 2022 LR Model 3 is $115k. The 5-year TCO for a 2022 LE AWD Prius is $69k.

The Model 3 is ridiculously expensive. Base price RWD $47k. You can get into a Prius for $25k. At 58mpg there will never be a breakeven for the Model 3. Economics will be different with this upcoming $7,500 tax credit, but that obviously doesn't apply to any current owners.

Maybe people tip a lot more when they get a ride in a Tesla over a ride in a Prius. Or the Tesla owning Uber drivers know the biggest threat to their lively hood is Tesla automating them out of a job. When/if that happens, if they own a Tesla, their car can go to work for them.

Y'all get on here and say anything

Talk to Uber drivers that own Tesla's. I have.

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