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Comment by ronnier | Hacker News Reader

I have a 2021 Model Y and a 2023 S Plaid. I'll never go back. The Plaid is truly an amazing car. It will beat super cars in 0-60 and the quarter mile (at a fraction of the cost), seat 5, reach speeds over 200 mph, has lots of storage in the trunk + frunk, has an SSD + GPU with an 18" screen that has Steam installed and works with wireless controllers, self driving is great, the phone placement is the most optimal I've ever seen in a car, no key needed (just walk up to the car and it knows you are you because of your phone, or use a credit card style key), and the audio system it outstanding. Oh, and the white interior looks like a space ship, makes no noise, has long range, has a screen in the back to watch Netflix and YouTube. Other than looks, I can't figure out why I'd buy an exotic car (I don't track them).

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I get what you’re saying when you talk about being a fraction of the cost of a super car but I just want to point out that the plaid is a 130k+ € car.

I can buy houses for that money here where I live in Italy. So it’s still an insanely expensive car.

Not only cost, but why is accelerating quickly or reaching 200mph important? GP also mentioned 5 seats as important, and to me, those are counter needs.

Even on the autostrada I would say it's typical t go 130km/h (80 mph) so I'm not sure of the context where 200mph is required.

For me it would be completely pointless because I enjoy chilling while driving at 80kmh on country roads and not being hyper focused on what’s happening around me because I’m doing 200 on the autobahn.

But I get the thrill of launching a car at insane speed. I just don’t personally see the point and would never spend those money for a car.

I’d much rather buy a few hectares of forest with those money.

A few hectares of forest for what though? Genuinely interested :)

To decompress, enjoy nature, leave the dog free to run around and chill on a hammock with a good book.

If you're not going 200 mph, how can you enjoy a book!!!?

I’m waiting for full self driving to arrive and enjoy a book while doing 200mph!

German Autobahn, for those handful of sections without at least temprary speed limits. And on tracks, but let's be honest, vehicles like the Plaid, and similarly heavy vehicles, suck at tracks. Going fast in an almost straight line is easy.

Yes, track times similar to Zonda F or Enzo suck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nords...

I said heavy cars suck on a track. Why? Because they have a harder time cornering, consuke more energy, increase tire wear and brake performance degrades as well. That is a question of weight, and weight alone.

Also, and every racing series shows that, one fast lap doesn't guarantee good results in a race.

The autobahn where I have driven is quite straight. Track performance depends a lot on the tires, and weight can help with right turns due to friction enhancement. Also, tracks through mountains are where EVs shine.

Because max speed is only useful on roads like the autobahn. Acceleration is something that will available from 0. It sure brightens up your day.

To get supercar performance in a normal car is pretty nice and unheard of until Tesla came along. Yes it is still expensive, but less so than other cars with worse performance. You had to get the 911 or similar with all the addons for like 300k to get worse performance and not even close to the same comfort levels.

> but why is accelerating quickly or reaching 200mph important?

We can talk about top speed but the acceleration is good for safety. Better to overtake a truck in 3 rather than 10 seconds.

I feel like it's hard to get how important fast acceleration is until you have it. Kind of like people who insist that their 60Hz screen "looks just as good", or how their 10 year old laptop is "still super fast and why would I upgrade it?".

Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not necessarily talking about Plaid levels of acceleration. But just going from a Suburu Crosstrek (One of my cars) to a Tesla in "chill" mode (which I usually keep my Tesla in for tire longevity and not making my wife car sick) feels so much safer.

When in doubt, flat out.

Acceleration makes you a much worse driver, because you don't anticipate anything anymore. I've noticed this after buying an EV, and the Tesla drivers on 280 are even worse than me :-).

acceleration makes you a much worse driver - in the perception of others.

acceleration makes you a badass race car driver. those slowpokes are just in the way, but that doesn’t have to slow you down.

vroom vroom.

Hah: “it’s the car, not the driver”. No, acceleration does not make you a good race car driver.

Around me the plaids drive way under the speed limit everywhere and it's unsafe to pass them because of their ridiculous acceleration capability.

> because of their ridiculous acceleration capability

Because of idiot owners.

This is unappreciated until you have it. In Pittsburgh - there are multiple highway onramps that end with Stop Signs. Onramps. When there's any legitimate traffic; a legacy civic or similar car can be seriously dangerous to merge with.

LOL. Yeah Plaid having 1000 HP is a "safety feature."

That’s not what I said.

> Not only cost, but why is accelerating quickly or reaching 200mph important?

For all of human history, we have chased speed. Finding the fastest at running, finding the quickest horse, designing the fastest trains, buying the fastest cars.

We do it because it's a lot of fun.

Bingo, additionally the Model S is as fast/faster in a straight line…but a Supercar will pass it right by in turn 1. The car is a technological marvel…but not magic.

To say that the plaid is only fast in a straight line is a bit of an exaggeration. It's top 50 (production cars) on Nurburgring, for example -https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nor...

Yeah seems to do VERY well at Nurburgring.

[edit: better vid coz the other is all talk] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1r4ZotaY6U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NP7HWwxPbU

"Tesla Model S Shatters Nurburgring Record, Beats Porsche Taycan Turbo S"

Taycan: 2022, Plaid: 2023. Took them some time (and a real round steering wheel) to get there after some squabbling between those two.

I recommend this video explaining what is it like really to lap one: https://youtu.be/1MF7hbyko2A.

That exact same person recently released a video saying he needed to apologize to Tesla. (His words not mine). https://youtu.be/ot8zw9UKdgY

The gist is that he originally thought his concerns about the plaid couldn't be addressed easily, but it turns out that they were all addressed through Tesla's (off-the-shelf) track package. Part of what surprised him is that his suspension concerns were alleviated solely through a software update.

It’s no longer a stock car. The record breaking on the Nordschleife applies to a stock car on road tires.

It's an option on the plaid direct from Tesla. It is literally the definition of stock and is exactly what the record at Nurburgring was set with.

Awesome.

TL;DW: it handles like a boat and the brakes can't keep up.

...record for EV cars. 1000HP and a literal ton of batteries will do that. The top 50 ahead of it is pretty much every supercar made in the last 20 years and they all have less HP. Additionally, it cooks brakes and turns like a 4500Lb Sedan would. The Ring is a fast track with lots of acceleration zones. None of this should shock anyone. It is fast in a straight line, it, by definition, can't stop or turn nearly as fast as a supercar ever could. It is an incredible work...but not magic.

both can be true. if you watch footage of people driving them on the ring, you'll notice they have to to take corners at much slower speeds and then make up time on the straighter sections. even accounting for the higher weight, model s plaid makes a lot more power than the other cars on that leaderboard.

I don't mean to move the goalposts, just pointing out it mostly hits that time by having an insane power to weight ratio and adequate brakes. or in other words, going really fast in a straight line.

And then there's the whole matter of lap 2, and 3...

Where the ICE is still cruising along, and the Tesla is in thermal shutdown...

The plaid isn't top of class at cornering, but the idea that it can only do straightaways is a dated view based on pre-track-package days. See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36575033

you're right lol. I was basing this comment off of misha's previous video. just watched his lap with the track package and he's passing all kinds of cars in the corners.

Because all the money was spent on motors and batteries. The handling is an afterthought and it shows.

Top 50 in a 1000HP car (The fastest accelerating production car, short the Rimac) on one of the fastest tracks in the world is not exactly hard. The ring is mostly a speed, accel, and nuts track. (That is, long wide-open sections, lots of slow turns then accelerate, and lots of hairy off-angles and sketchy blind turns.)

Also, the Model S may be top 50...but the 50 ahead of it is basically every supercar made in the last 20 years and all of them have less HP to go faster.

> Top 50 in a 1000HP car (The fastest accelerating production car, short the Rimac) on one of the fastest tracks in the world is not exactly hard

That's a bit misleading considering there are very few 4d cars on that list. 'not very hard' but ~almost no one else is doing it. For consideration; on a 7+ minute lap it's within .1s of an Enzo Ferarri.(!!!!!). That's Impressive, even if the Enzo is a few years on now.

> I can't figure out why I'd buy an exotic car

But the Tesla Plaid ain't pretending to go after exotic supercars. It's pretending to be a luxury car.

A Porsche Panamera however starts at $97 K and you already get a very nice one for the $135 K the Plaid costs. And it's actually a luxury car: it's in another league of quietness (wind noise dominates on the highway and the Panamera is simply much better sound insulated), audio (try a Burmester + double-glazzed windows in a Panamera: it's 1000 Watts and 18 speakers of bliss), way more luxurious, way more comfortable, handles better, gives a much better feedback through the steering wheel, has higher quality material all over the interior, etc.

That's my issue with the Model S: it's a very expensive car and you've got not just a bit but way more luxurious cars in that price range.

Now there's the issue of TCO, image (some don't want to be seen in a Porsche but have no issue driving a $135 K Plaid for example), gasoline vs EV, etc.

All I'm saying is $135 K ain't cheap and for that amount you have actual luxury cars that do drive superbly available.

> I'll never go back

I'll never go back either ; )

This is a very good point. The model s when it was 80k was a lot of car for the money. At 130k, the main selling point is the insane acceleration, which is fun, but not 50k worth. The other improvements are nice, but as you say many very high end cars, with better finish can be had for 130k.

FYI I own an S, which I picked up for 50k used (2016 model in 2019) and I love it to bits, but can't see myself getting another due to how expensive they are now. Hopefully my battery lasts!

The model s is cheap again, at least in the US.

The recent price reductions were seriously warranted to make it competive again. 88k for the current base model is pretty good

Your car IS an exotic car well beyond the means of most people to afford.

EVs are still relatively expensive, but even the ones priced closer to an average car price are remarkably quiet, feel quick, and ground-up EV designs offer more space.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric_veh... (~$11k)

EVs aren't inherently expensive, the issue is that the industry tends to advertise and equip EVs as a status symbol and price them as a luxury, rather than focus on simple/cheap designs that would have more impact on emissions.

That's not only EVs, the way the industry pushes SUVs is also painful. But it's really annoying to see what could be a great improvement wasted with regards to the challenges we're facing.

A more appropriate example is the Renault Zoe (starts at 30k euros in France) or the Dacia Spring (starts at 16k euros in France) which are actual cars that seat 4-5 people, and have 200km+ range (more than enough for the vast majority of trips taken).

> EVs aren't inherently expensive, the issue is that the industry tends to advertise and equip EVs as a status symbol and price them as a luxury, rather than focus on simple/cheap designs that would have more impact on emissions.

True, but the main issue here (according to manufacturers, at least in Europe), is supply chain issues making smaller cars unprofitable, thus forcing them to focus on bigger more luxurious models with bigger margins.

Indeed, although one priced closer to an average car would have basically zero of the features in the original poster's review.

A standard-issue Tesla 3 with no optional frills checks these boxes:

seat 5, has lots of storage in the trunk + frunk, an 18" screen, self driving is great, the phone placement is the most optimal I've ever seen in a car, no key needed (just walk up to the car and it knows you are you because of your phone, or use a credit card style key), and the audio system is outstanding. Oh, and the white interior looks like a space ship, makes no noise, has long range, has a screen in the front to watch Netflix and YouTube.

This is not what the GP was talking about and a standard model 3, which is less then half the price of the car they described, it’s still luxury priced and until this year? Was about double the average American car price.

I would sincerely hope when your paying that much you get a good car.

Factoring in EV incentives, in places like Oregon a Model 3 is literally the same price as a Toyota Corolla these days.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/2023-tesla-model-3-cheap-toyota...

Oregon doesn't currently offer any EV incentives so it's not clear to me why it'd be cheaper here. Article must be outdated?

That doesn’t change the real price of the car and what you should expect from it.

You shouldn't factor in incentives. That's not a change in the price of the car, that's splitting the cost between multiple buyers - one of whom is the taxpayer.

I dunno. If the car doesn't come with a number of these, you can add them. And some are pretty useless - they aren't selling points.

Especially things like going 200 mph.

Yeah, it's funny reading his promotion of one of the most expensive sedans in the world as being somehow "underrated" lol.

Even funnier when you consider it has the panel gaps and material quality of an AliExpress gaming console, but it doesn't matter because "the interior looks like a space ship".

Not to mention Tesla's fantastic quality control...

... where >70% of brand new Teslas require at least one service center visit in the first 30 days to correct a factory defect...

And yet, best selling car! Sell what people want, not what people gripe about online.

The what now?

RAV 4, Camry, CR-V all might argue about that, given that each of them outsold Tesla models.

Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g39628015/best-selling-car...

https://electrek.co/2023/05/25/tesla-model-y-is-now-the-worl...

Your citation is six months old.

> Last year, the Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in Europe and California, the fourth best-selling in China despite China’s different tastes and model availability compared to the rest of the world, and was on the US top ten list but significantly behind several trucks and SUVs. These performances made it the third-best selling car worldwide.

> But now, it looks like Tesla’s #1 sales prediction has come true. The Model Y has dethroned the Toyota Corolla as the world’s best-selling car in Q1 and looks like it may well maintain this position for the full year.

As numerous other commenters have noted, who the hell knows with Tesla?

They announced and had an ad campaign that they were the best selling car in Australia, which surprised Toyota. And Australia's consumer watchdog, and it was discovered that they were not even close, and had been counting pre-orders and other such things, factory used sales as new, etc., and the DOL registration data proved it wrong.

That being said, yes, the MY sells very well. But even in Electrek's article, you can see the weasel words...

"significantly behind several trucks and SUVs", and then "but now, it's #1 sales prediction comes true", and then the goalposts silently shift, "best selling car" (because it is still being outsold by some of those trucks and SUVs).

Maybe the US/Fremont version has these panels gaps, the ones built in China and Europe don‘t.

Panel gaps are hard with heavier EVs maybe?

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/looks-like-porsche-taycans-have...

What's the advantage of having a GPU integrated in the car? Do you typically update those with similar timeframes?

As for "over an exotic car", I assume the other option would be something like a Lexus, not something super exotic.

The GPU can play games from steam while you stare endlessly at the 1 hour this recharge is going to take, lol. And yeah, a ton of Tesla fanboys love quoting 0-60 but get real quiet when you ask about weight or quality.

The average fast charge is a smidge above 20min

Most chargers take 3s when you plug it in at home. Which is nicer than gas.

Yes...depending on battery discharge state and, rather violently, on how lucky you are on charger use and functionality. It is a large gamble in most parts of the US depending on times and luck. You absolutely couldn't plan a calendar appt around it without adding 30 minutes of buffer.

Also the point was around gaming, if you are gaming in the car in your garage instead of on a proper TV, you are spending your money weirdly.

> You absolutely couldn't plan a calendar appt around it without adding 30 minutes of buffer.

You can say the exact same thing about driving a traditional ICE vehicle 5+hours due to traffic. EV is a bit less convenient on road trips - yes; but it's much more convenient every other day of the year if you have a home charger.

> You absolutely couldn't plan a calendar appt around it without adding 30 minutes of buffer.

These cars have ranges in the hundreds of miles, how far are your appointments? If I have an appointment that far away, my whole day's already shot.

Almost all car infotainment systems are underpowered. Having GPU is a good sign for future proof.

Isn't a hardwired GPU a bad sign for future proofing? Isn't an HDMI port and a power connection a good sign for future proofing?

HDMI is not enough, unable to touch screen and no signal/control about car status. CarPlay/Android Auto is another solution, but underpowered chip tend to be annoying also for them.

It's used for the full self driving. So since it's there, they let you game on it.

No, it's not.

Unless you count on-screen [FSD] visualization.

I think you are right, I'm not sure why it's there then.

For entertainment while you're charging your car.

For playing steam games!

Weren't you supposed to still hold the wheel and take over in case of something goes wrong?

...reach speeds over 200 mph...

Why is this even a selling point? There are no roads for this. I've never needed to personally go this fast. In actual emergencies, this would put both me and the person with the emergency at risk.

And honestly, the companies can claim that all they want. Pretty much no one is going to test it themselves.

by the time you're looking at $100k+ cars, you've moved into "want" territory, not "need". some people want a car that can give them a massage. some people want a car that can go 200 mph, even if they'll never do it personally.

> And honestly, the companies can claim that all they want. Pretty much no one is going to test it themselves.

uhh, people are definitely going to verify a claimed top speed of 200 mph lol. give the car reviewers a few months to get their hands on one.

Sure, it is obviously a want.

That they won't realistically use, even in an emergency. Most roads aren't built for this speed nor are the buyers trained in it. They aren't being sold for racing. Few are going to go to a proper place to test it.

Car reviewers, sure - on a closed road that has a proper surface or on a track. Most owners aren't going to do this.

I agree it doesn't really make sense, but I guess I don't understand what the problem is. not every purchase in life has to be made based on the output of a spreadsheet. as long as they don't actually drive 200 mph on public roads, why care? I worry a lot more about the clapped out sentras in my area.

Ferraris also go 200 miles per hour. Why do you think Ferraris include that when you don’t drive 200 miles per hour on a road

Entschuldigung, wir fahren gerne schnell!

But I kinda agree, as a german I feel like we should have a universal tempo limit of 130kmh.

The only reason I can see to stay unlimited would be as a policy measure for quicker EV transition, e.g. by limiting ICE cars to 120kmh and keeping unlimited for EVs.

That last bit really isn't necessary, though. To be fair, I'm in Norway and electric cars are really popular.

Tax breaks, reductions on tolls, and the ability to drive in bus lanes has helped. Infrastructure has most definitely helped, too.

There are (large) parties in Germany that will never allow for a general tempo limit. Introducing it at least for ICE would at least reduce traffic CO2 from the most inefficient modes of travel (high speed ICE).

Many people who own fast cars do, and most of the world doesn't live where you do and has different roads and road rule to you.

Most places where these are sold do not have such roads. I've lived in a number of places, spanning an ocean. Most do not have these roads - not where it is legal.

Autobahn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rzGb26wBoA

on some stretches, maybe. Not all of it is a free-for-all

> no key needed (just walk up to the car and it knows you are you because of your phone, or use a credit card style key)

This feature, while I am sure loved by most people and is evident from the sales, is not something that I like and hence would never own a Tesla. I simply don't like the idea of my car and car's app beaming my data to HQ all the time.

The phone/key lock works through Bluetooth and does not require live connectivity.

Teslas do phone home a lot for other stuff, but for better or worse, so do most other modern-day cars. And the Tesla UI is pretty zealous about asking for your permission for all the things.

I am not sure if other auto manufacturers are doing similar data collection, but based on [0], they sure seem to collect a lot. I hope, as you say, they let you pick what data you permit them to collect and also let you use features of _your_ car if you deny some permissions.

[0] https://www.tesla.com/legal/privacy#information-we-may-colle...

How's the user experience using the car if you hit No to all of them?

> Teslas do phone home a lot for other stuff, but for better or worse, so do most other modern-day cars. And the Tesla UI is pretty zealous about asking for your permission for all the things.

How many other cars send your private videos to HQ to be shared among employees on internal meme pages?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sens...

I really love having a slot to put my key in, in a normal car.

Few modern traditional cars have a slot to put their key in either. My wife's Audi as example, if the fob is dead; you place the dead fob cupholder. ~almost the exact same place I'd use the Card to start my model 3.

Teslas don't have keys/key holes for back up?

They do not. Primary means of entry/starting the car is your cell phone. You also get a set of RFID cards which you can put in your wallet to use as a backup.

You can optionally buy a key fob if you want something more traditional, but it's still electronic and wireless.

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/models/en_us/GUID-E004FAB...

https://shop.tesla.com/product/model-s-key-fob

Functionally, the "backup" key (which looks like a credit card in Tesla's) is identical to the backup mechanism to a traditional keyless entry fob. If you've ever had a keyless entry fob go dead because the battery runs out, you start the car by holding the key fob over a special location (usually either the start button or on the steering column where a key would be). Same concept, but the backup key for a Tesla doesn't have the integrated key for normal keyless functionality. That's what the cellphone all is for.

I thought all keyless fobs had secret keys inside of them.

There's one inside the one for my Lexus (and you have to pop the cover off the door handle), and on Mercedes the start/stop button is removable to reveal a slot where the fob actually clicks in.

This will soon be a standard feature and can be implemented with UWB so you can use it without beaming to HQ or requiring cell signals.

Already supported on a couple cars actually. Genesis GV60 is one of them: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/17/genesis-gv60-car-key-ul...

Excuse me if this is a bit forward but who asked? In other words, why do hn commenters go off on tangents to the extent that in some posts you'll find more irrelevant tangents than discussion of the article in the link?

If you don't get to post hn comments about it, why would you buy the car that costs double the median us salary in the first place?

The link is some boring numbers. Personal anecdotes make this place more fun! :)

> why do hn commenters go off on tangents to the extent that in some posts you'll find more irrelevant tangents than discussion of the article in the link?

Stimulation of interesting discussion and anecdotes is the lifeblood of HN? I understand this one doesn't interest you, but I bet some others do and don't interest me.

Musk is a product person which most other brands seem to lack and people seem to care more about the product much more than the image it might be associated with(Musk's political actions). Looks like he managed to strike a product-market fit with the laptop class, which most other brands missed probably because they don't have much touch with that class.

Not a Musk fan but his product and business skills are undeniable. Let's just hope he doesn't go too eccentric.

All Musk managed was replacing the gap dimensions between body panels with the funtionality of the entertainment software as one of the most useless measures of car quality. But what can I say, percieved quality (!) was a measure in cars since forever.

That so, Tesla did really good. Added benefit: Software is nothing traditional automotove excels, while build quality is nothing Tesla excels in. So, the now managed to make Teslas weakness irrelevant while highliting everyones elses weakness.

Is musk really a product person. He seems like a great businessman but less so a product person. Presumably he surrounds himself with product people.

It doesn't have the brakes for it's speed to be safe. I had a Model X and the fit and finish was poor. That, their yoke gimmick, and Elon's nonsense means I won't but another Tesla.

The plaid has upgraded brakes, and they work just fine. What’s not safe about them?

Also, if you had fit issues (honestly more rare the past few years) you should have reported this at delivery, just like any other car. The finish, well, that’s personal preference.

Ultimately I think you just don’t like Elon, and that’s ok - but Tesla is not Elon

> The plaid has upgraded brakes, and they work just fine. What’s not safe about them?

Well, hopefully they actually remember to install all of them at the factory...

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/another-tesla-is-delivere...

https://driveteslacanada.ca/model-3/the-saga-of-a-tesla-mode...

> Also, if you had fit issues (honestly more rare the past few years) you should have reported this at delivery

Many do. Tesla leads the market in that over 70% of new deliveries require at least one service center visit in the first 30 days of ownership to correct a factory/delivery defect.

Nope.. The brake calipers are fake. The brakes are the standard ones.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/the-refreshed-tesla-model...

Really interesting the almost universally negative replies to this. From the class of people who gush about whatever latest shiny device Apple put out. Is it jealousy? Or politically motivated?

The only thing motivated here is your implication that the answer must be one of these two reductive answers, while so many commenters have given very reasonable and valid reasons for their opinion.

The “Musk Bad” responses are 100% political.

He’s revealed his hand, in that he’s not a Blue Tribe member like most other tech CEOs.

So now, every member of the Blue Tribe hate him. They will attack him just as they attack anyone prominent from outside their own tribe.

Tribalism sucks. I wish people could rise above it.

Teslas do have problems other cars at their price point don’t. I’ve been in my fair share of Model 3’s and my 2006 Lexus RX handles much better and has a vastly nicer interior than a new 2023 luxury car. Also software wise driver assist is awesome but honestly as long as I can get CarPlay to work anything else is fluff, and I bought a $400 box you can mod into the car to make that happen. Without the tax credit it’s arguably not a great value

What I do think people don’t give credit Musk enough for is that he’s willing to put money into some completely bonkers ideas and make them work. EV’s and affordable space travel were laughable ideas until Tesla and SpaceX. Without Elon we would not have the nuspace industry as it exists today

Having driven these cars before. I will never understand the hype. TSLA marketing and PR department is very good if they have people frothing at the mouth and shilling their products.

Does the S model still come with parking USS? My 2023 model Y doesn’t have them and it’s unforgivable. Unless they revert back to shipping with them or drastically improve the vision counterpart then I don’t think I would get another Tesla. I’m hoping that in 4 years when I change car someone else has come up the curve in terms of infotainment and charging infrastructure.

Why does a car need all this bling to begin with? When do you get to actually use it? Can't imagine wanting to sit in a car to play a game on the center console. I do, however, miss easy to reach physical buttons for the AC and music.

The long range is nice though for sure. Can't wait for that to trickle down to everyday EVs for us plebs.

> Why does a car need all this bling to begin with? When do you get to actually use it?

Conspicuous consumption [1] describes the consumer practice of buying and using goods of a higher quality, price, or in greater quantity than practical.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption

Just like with smartphones, since we get all these technical leaps in one package with all the drawbacks - complete remote control over our appliances and data - we happily ignore them.

looks at state of current home vehicle interior Uh... white interior? What the what?

Does the S finally have a pocket in the driver's door for things to put in?

Good examples why I hate that musk is leading it. I <3 my car but the state of Twitter scares the crap out of me for my employment future.

I think I'd rather have a bus pass, steam deck, and a house.

It's an EV. It's dead simple to "go fast" with one.

Sustaining that speed is something they have issues with.

Whatever floats your boat, but I find the interior of tesla's incredible bland and boring. Stale "futuristic" BS that's devoid of any personality.

"SSD and GPU" is a freaking bizarre thing to tout. You mean it has an entertainment system with a full computer with enough grunt to light gaming on. Yippy.

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