I drive a performance model X and my wife drives 2019 G550. Tesla’s deliver an amazing driving experience. No one on this thread had mentioned OTA software updates, functionality always gets better. Supercharger network with FREE FUEL for life of the car (at least for me) is nothing to sneeze at. Yes, fit and finish not up to par with other luxury brands, customer service has gone downhill (by a lot) lately, agree with panel gaps, etc. BUT my car has 3 row seats, 2nd and 3rd fold down and I can put a queen sized mattress in it for camping, it has 2 trunks, carpool sticker in CA and is 2.7 sec 0-60 off the line (love the lambos at the stop light). Plus its weighs over 6000 lbs, so I am using section 179 business depreciation on it. What other car can do that? Oh, this thread was suppose to be about luxury cars vs Tesla. Why is everyone keeps mentioning Model 3 and Y??? These are NOT luxury and never meant to be. Personally, I would never buy either if this was the only option.
Teslas are not luxury cars, that is a common misconception among the public. The wind/road noise, cabin materials and fit and finish are all not up to luxury standards. however there’s a combination of other reasons to own a tesla that other manufactures are truly years/decades behind.
- charging network across the US and slowly across the world
- Range
- cost of use vs. ice vehicles: much simpler systems, less maintenance and cheap fuel if charging at home
- best driver assistance by far, we have an xc90 with pro pilot assist and it simply doesn’t hold a candle to Tesla’s enhanced autopilot
- strong and instantaneous torque making highway merging, overtaking and squeezing into tight spots on the highway a breeze. Other cars with their turbo lag feel like you are maneuvering a boat in a comparison. The XC90 feels like you’re driving a yatch (for good and bad)
- strong regen allowing for one pedal driving, makes driving anywhere more relaxing while also preserving brakes 4-5x longer than a normal car.
- tech updates: for example you can watch Netflix on the main screen with theater mode on the sound system while your car charges at a supercharger.
Rethinking the automobile has served Tesla well, other manufactures have tried to merely tweak their current lineups, and so thus have been struggling and playing catch up for a decade
Does anyone here own both a Tesla (esp S/X) and an e-tron? Would love to hear thoughts.
Model 3 is luxury… compared to other BEV like Bolt, Leaf, etc.
They’ve done a great job convincing sheeple that cheap is luxury by calling it minimalist.
THIS. TESLA is a luxury car. There are plenty of BEVs that just feel like a car, even some that feel like high trim economy cars.
Look at Hyundai: They have $34k MSRP cars leasing for $150/mo in NJ and $270/mo in other states with nearly 70% the range of the cheapest TESLA for 40% of the price. These cars have Civic Si/Golf GTi amounts of Go, and all the comfort and modern amenities you’d expect of a basic econobox car. You even get useful things Tesla doesn’t have, such as paddle shifters.
Step up to a Kona EV Limited/Ultimate and you’re looking at a $42k-$45k MSRP self-driving, non-luxury EV with even more equipment, and range than a Tesla at that price point. Sit down in a $45k Kona EV and a $45k model 3 and see for yourself just how much you don’t have to give up to ride the same “EV/future” wave as Tesla owners, and how much cheaper your lease payment is for such a futuristic car.
Bottom line you can get an EV with more range, more equipment, better fit/finish, and better standard equipment. There is really no advantage to a Tesla over a Kona EV other than the badge and their proprietary Supercharging network (which EVgo is working on fixing).
And the whole brand cachet thing, is what really seals for TESLA as a luxury brand. People driving Teslas want people to know they’re driving Teslas. People driving Kona EVs want all the advantages of Tesla without anybody to know they’re driving something different from the “boring” subcompact CUV that already litters the road.
I am curious if anyone currently looking at purchasing a Model S will cross shop it with the upcoming Lucid Air (by Lucid Motors).
Btw, the Lucid Air has a record 517 mile range: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/11/lucid-makes-a-run-for-tesla-with-luxury-ev-sedan-with-a-record-517-miles-of-range-per-charge.html. The Air looks like a luxury EV, IMO. Not bashing Tesla. As a car guy, I still turn to look whenever an X drives by.
I don’t consider a Tesla 3/Y a luxury car, but I’ll go against the grain and say Tesla does some aspects of luxury better than traditional luxury ICE vehicles. Because these are in the same price range as entry-level luxury cars the comparisons are inevitable to happen.
I do not not consider a 4cyl 2.0 turbo with an automatic a drivetrain suiting a luxury vehicle. The automatic in my V60 sucks (to me), the highly praised ZF in the 330i is only a bit better. I don’t like deciding to go and have my car be confused for a second and then overcompensate by lunging forward after it downshifts. I have driven most of my miles on manual transmissions so this bothers my on every ICE automatic car I drive. I don’t have that problem on a Tesla. The throttle response is instantaneous, and nice and linear… no lag and then surge. To me this is part of luxury, and I care much more about it than a wood dash or nappa leather.
Next up technology, between the responsive screen and the free over the air updates it’s a much better experience than most luxury automakers who up until recently loved to charge you $100/yr to update your nav. Autopilot is not in any way autonomous, but it’s better than pretty much all the competitors except Cadillac’s supercruise.
Things like dog mode (keeping a/c in care while you’re in the store), sentry mode, phone-based entry, not having to stop every 1-2 weeks at the gas station, etc all may be more noticeable luxuries to the average consumer than panel alignment and paintwork. Tesla does a good job of making many current new models cars to look dated.
I rented a model 3 on a vacation in southern california once back when I was starting the car shopping process - it was a way for me to evaluate what it would be like to live with the car for a week, and I was truly intrigued by what it had to offer - I went in with a completely open mind.
I will say this:
Although this isn’t exclusively an issue with Tesla, as I believe most manufacturers today are guilty of this, but Tesla seems to lead the pack. Automakers are chasing ultimate performance at the expense of fun and passion. It’s a neat party trick to hit 60 mph in 2 seconds, but beyond that where’s the emotion in driving?
I came away that week feeling like I had just gotten done driving a kitchen appliance with a fancy touchscreen attached to it. It was fast and efficient, but I felt ZERO emotional attachment to it.
Beyond that, there was no HUD, no surround view camera while backing up - the materials didn’t feel very premium - the phone charging tray was incredibly cheaply made (and it broke), 9 times out of 10 the tray lid wouldn’t close on the first attempt.
I came away feeling confused. This is supposed to be the best selling car in its segment, but besides the fact that it’s electric, I can’t imagine why anyone would choose this over something else in that price range.
It’ll be interesting to see when other luxury automakers expand their EV offerings, how those stack up in comparison.
If not luxury, what do you call a $250k tesla roadster, a $140k Model X and a $130k Model S?
+1.
There’s no $ in creating emotion in driving, so auto makes can’t be bothered w/ it. No, seriously.
There’s no doubt that they will be vastly superior cars. Whether they can capture market share is entirely different matter…
I don’t think there’s a crazy amount of other cars in the Market. With some of the deals I’ve seen on the E-trons, I would chose that over a Tesla.
There’s some promising other EVs that will hit the market in the next few years. I think Tesla will lose market share. The Lucid Air and Polestar look pretty nice. I also can’t wait for a full EV SQ5 
Tesla is a car that millenials adore. Its like an iphone, everyone has to have one. I have to say ev competition is going to take tesla by surprise. Yes i know tesla owns the ev market, but no one has a clue how quick competition can come in and steal market share when you think.you are king of the universe. I dont see the hype behind the premium costs tesla sells for, especially the most bland model 3.
I assume by the price-point you mean Roadster 2, so the answer is vaporware.
I remember the “blowout leases” Tesla did on the original Roaster, $1600/mo until the Model S arrived.
Edit: I found the original lease offer from 2/25/2010
I also have the email from Sept 2010 about leasing the Roadster until the Model S arrived, but it’s one of Tesla’s first marketing emails with remotely hosted images, and doesn’t load anymore (not unlike a 100k+ Roadster that they stopped servicing a couple years ago).
And how tesla is worth nearly.a half of a trkllion dollars with approximately 500,000 car sales is absolutely insane. Worth more than Honda and Toyota combined, pleaseee. Something is very very very wrong, but what do I know.
Proof that quality is irrelevant to most of the market.
There is a correlation between the perceived luxury and high priced vehicles. Eventually people will realize $$$ does not equal luxury and luxury does not equal $$$. It is more about the specific car/brand. Genesis has tried to flip the model on its head by providing luxury for low $ and Tesla charges lot’s of $$$ without the luxury. People will come to their own conclusions at the end of the day.
They will certainly lose market share of BEVs, but I wouldn’t be too sure about market share of passenger vehicles. Their TAM is much more than the current amount of BEVs sold today, especially as regulations continue to push consumers and automakers into BEVs.
Until the next Tesla comes along. I have been intrigued by the Lucid Air. From what I have read online, it is going to cost close to $100k (not in my price point right now). Lucid’s CEO said it will be as or more luxurious than an S class. Time will tell. I am hoping in a few years, they can make an “affordable” (less than 60k) sedan that will be as luxurious as the Air.
For now, I will keep driving an ICE car.