Tesla Opinion Cars

There’s no denying that Tesla has changed the face of the EV industry. The company has forced other automakers to take this segment seriously. However, Tesla has the most loyal and most critical followers when compared to other brands. On one hand, you have people praising the brand and putting it on the pedestal, on the other you have people criticizing it in the worst way possible. But whether you like it or hate it, you can’t ignore it.

Given all the stuff you hear about Tesla, you might be confused about whether to opt for one or not if you’re out there to buy a car or an SUV. Well, we’re giving you five reasons each on why you should buy a Tesla and why you shouldn’t.

Tesla just dropped the new 2020 Model Y, completing its S3XY lineup with a compact-crossover complement to its existing Model S midsize sedan, Model X SUV, and Model 3 compact sedan. However, some are questioning whether or not the new Y is truly a crossover, rather than simply a Model 3 hatchback. We take a look and decide for ourselves.

The most anticipated electric mid-size crossover, the 2020 Tesla Model Y, was finally revealed at the dedicated event in Hawthorne, California, Thursday night. It immediately took the Internet by storm to reinvigorate a whole new variety of potential electric vehicle buyers. With the reveal of the new mid-sized crossover, the most ubiquitous and recognizable Tesla, the Model S, is threatened to lose that imaginary title to the new Tesla Model Y. Elon Musk, who showcased the new Tesla, predicted the Model Y’s demand to be double that of the Tesla Model 3. And that one is the best selling luxury sedan in the U.S.

However, the 2020 Tesla Model Y may not be as revolutionary, or even evolutionary, as some of us have hoped. Despite the Model Y’s clear similarities to the Model 3, the new electric crossover is quite exciting, and I’m here to give you all the astounding facts about it.

Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular these days, and manufacturers are responding by pouring in the investment and releasing oodles of new models. As such, competition between EV’s is growing, and 2018 was no exception. But the question is, which of these machines is the “best”? To find out, we lined up the usual suspects up and looked at all the critical specs, including range-per-charge, battery capacity, charge times, interior space, interior tech, and more. Read on to see which EV came out on top!

A new Model 3 is now available to order. It’s called the “Mid Range,” and it offers 260 miles per charge, a top speed of 125 mph, and a 0-to-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, all for $45,000. Factor in the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit and $4,300 in average fuel savings, and the final price comes to $33,200, which makes it quite tempting for those looking to live the Tesla lifestyle without dropping a ton of coin. However, with the base Model 3 not hitting production until next year and the Federal Tax Credit on its way out the door, will the Mid Range be the best Tesla you can buy?

The first time I ever saw the Tesla Model S was sometime in 2012 or 2013 at one of the car shows in Europe. I will guess that it was in Geneva. I left the Tesla stand a bit underwhelmed by its interior, but the performance, the size, and the sheer fact that someone is buying an electric car like that was more than enough to show me its importance. After that, I drove it only once. And not for a long time at that.

Now, finally, I got my third chance with the Tesla Model S at the Continental AG organized event called the #blackchili. In Nice. Yup, the South of France. I know, I am a lucky guy.

This time I had the Tesla Model S for 40 or so miles. Not the P100D, but the one with 373 horsepower. More than enough, believe me. Considering I drove the car for less than 50 miles, it may seem like I don’t have anything to write home about. How can I call this a short test drive then!? Well, I can because I will tell you about the Tesla Model S from the perspective of a guy who drove European cars all his life, and who never really had an EV stint like this.

Those of us living here in the U.S. like to think we enjoy a good amount of leeway when it comes to self-determination and the way in which we live our lives. That includes the freedom to enjoy potentially dangerous activities, like driving a race car, or shooting a gun, or skydiving. And thanks to Elon Musk’s various ventures, we can add the convenience of the Tesla Autopilot feature and the fun of firing off a $500 flamethrower to the list. Unfortunately, there are still some individuals out there who demand hand-holding.

Continue reading for the full story.

When the new Aston Martin Vantage came out, I criticized the brand for producing a car that looked like a serious rip off of the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Now, as I was looking over the news from the past week, I see that there’s another look-alike out there, and this time, it looks like Tesla decided to copy the Honda NSX and slap a Tesla Roadster badge on it. Now, it isn’t a blatant and condemning rip-off, and maybe not even as bad as the Vantage vs. MX-5 copying scheme, but it’s pretty bad. I would say the Roadster looks like a blurry version of the NSX – almost like cars in 128-bit video games used to look compared to their real-life counterparts. Don’t believe me? Check out the quick comparison below.

Elon Musk may have surprised the world by debuting the next Tesla Roadster side-by-side with the new Tesla Semi, but that’s not the biggest surprise to come out of the Tesla garage. The title of “biggest surprise” would be reserved for the fact that the company is burning through $8,000 per minute, $480,000 per hour, or $1 billion per quarter. And, at the current rate of expenditure, it is predicted that the company will run out of cash as soon as August of next year.

After years of rumors and speculation that Tesla might build a pickup truck or a Semi, the electric car manufacturer finally unveiled the latter in a press conference that also revealed the second-generation Roadster. And just as it happened in the past with the Model S, Model X, and Model 3, Elon Musk made some spectacular claims about the performances of both vehicles. Actually, I’d dare say he went farther than usual by calling the next Roadster the "quickest production car ever made. Period." He also described the semi truck as a vehicle that "accelerates like nothing else." Granted, both claims can become reality, but maybe Musk is talking a bit too much a bit too soon. And it seems to me that he’s considering the semi a sports car rather than truck that’s supposed to haul stuff the efficient way.

Sure, the fact that this truck won’t use expensive diesel to move about enables Tesla to think about other factors, including performance, but I still don’t get why a truck must accelerate like "nothing else." Should it be about a truck that brakes like nothing else or an electric hauler that allows you to cover at least the same distance as a diesel truck on a tank of fuel? Musk also seems to be concerned about that fact that truckers must wait for 15 minutes while the tank gets filled at the gas station. Seriously now, have you heard of a trucker who fell asleep at the pump while his tank was gulping diesel? Trucks are high maintenance; I’m pretty sure a semi driver has plenty of chores to do at the gas stations.

More importantly, Musk ignored a few important facts about trucks in his speech.

Continue reading to find out what.

So, when it comes to long-range electric cars, Elon Musk is the pretty much the godfather, the don mega, and the man that pretty much made it happen with models like the Tesla Roadster, and even more so with the Tesla Model S. Fast forward to today and there’s now the Tesla Model X and the Tesla Model 3, with a Semi truck on the way and a smaller SUV that will mirror the Model 3 in pricing. Despite Tesla’s slow but continuous move to become an automaker for the masses (and it has come a long way) it’s still not able to keep up with the big boys quite yet – profits are still virtually non-existent and it takes an excessive amount of time to cut down the initial waiting list for new cars. But, in time, Tesla could be just as busy and successful as any of the big boys, including Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, Audi, BMW, and yes, even Porsche. As electric cars become more standard around the world, the effect will increase drastically until Tesla is practically a household name (not that it isn’t in mine already)

Now that the big boys are all about to step into Elon’s self-made niche, it’s time to start thinking about automakers that should be worried a brand like Tesla that already has an insanely massive cult following and is getting more affordable as time goes on. All of the major brands are about 30 seconds away from unleashing a serious EV offensive. Meanwhile, Porsche is over here, about to knock some heads with the Porsche Mission E and about to make a huge, huge mistake. CEO, Oliver Blume – the man that replaced Matthias Muller and was once Porsche’s head of production – doesn’t think that Tesla is a competitor.

Talking to The Financial Times in a recent interview, he even went so far as to say that the production version of the Mission E, which is due for production by 2019, “is not a Tesla fighter.” He went on to say that “it’s not so important what Tesla does. Porsche is going to follow its own way.” He chalks off his lack of concern for the brand that practically dispatched range anxiety for the masses by assuming that he doesn’t have to worry about it because Porsche’s main concern is making profit. OF course, we all know that he’s at least partially right, as Tesla doesn’t really know what profit is in the grand scheme of things, but just because the brand operates as more of a tech startup than a true-to-life, mass-production automaker doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be concerned.

Keep reading for the rest of the story

There’s no such thing as the "perfect car." There — said it right off the bat. Not because I subscribe to the platitude that perfection is completely subjective, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or any of that. Objective standards do exist. For instance, objectively, Scarlett Johansson probably looks better in a bikini than Steve Buscemi. Any dissenting opinion there? No? That’s because we can apply certain dimensional criteria, certain mechanical evaluations to determine who likely wears Spandex best. The same is true for non-human machines, like cars.

Even so, finding "perfection" that way means setting criteria, as opposed to expecting perfection as some kind of absolute. Absolute perfection is always an ideal. It’s kind of like the North Star. You can use it to navigate, to figure out which direction you’re going; but no matter how long you sail toward it, you’ll probably never get perceptibly closer. You’ve got earthly limitations in the here and now that kind of preclude the possibility.

So for this article, we’re going to stick to the earthly limitations of the here and now. We’ll look at our guiding star of ideal perfection first, just to get a navigation point. But from there, we’re on our own, left to sail those uncharted waters to find the closest thing to automotive perfection, sticking as closely as possible to the shores of today’s technology.