[Nin ja]

KARMA OWNERS should not feel bad, I8 owners shuned by the Telsa Snobs ;-)

"For one glorious week in March, the $137,000 plug-in electric car was mine, on loan from BMW. At various points in my life I have felt like a badass, but rarely with this much external reinforcement. Sure, once in a while a Lexus roared past or an Audi cut me off. But in general to drive the i8 is to be bathed in positive energy that makes road rage passé—the car is a gentleman in the city and a warrior on the curves.

There was, however, a curious exception to all of this techno-worship: drivers of the Tesla Model S. Others rolled down a window, snapped a photo, or simply asked what it was. I shared a few fist bumps with owners of the BMW i3 and even the Chevy Volt, two other electric cars. But the Tesla drivers studiously avoided eye contact. I encountered two or three dozen over the course of a week, but no Model S driver ever acknowledged my car’s existence—a gnawing insecurity was inescapable. Tesla Motors practically invented the concept of the eco-supercar—at least at a consumer level—and it has dominated the sector for three years. But next to BMW’s i8, Tesla bore the patina of age."

http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...odel_s_which_electric_car_is_best.single.html

 

[Fabulist]

KARMA OWNERS should not feel bad, I8 owners shuned by the Telsa Snobs ;-)

"For one glorious week in March, the $137,000 plug-in electric car was mine, on loan from BMW. At various points in my life I have felt like a badass, but rarely with this much external reinforcement. Sure, once in a while a Lexus roared past or an Audi cut me off. But in general to drive the i8 is to be bathed in positive energy that makes road rage passé—the car is a gentleman in the city and a warrior on the curves.

There was, however, a curious exception to all of this techno-worship: drivers of the Tesla Model S. Others rolled down a window, snapped a photo, or simply asked what it was. I shared a few fist bumps with owners of the BMW i3 and even the Chevy Volt, two other electric cars. But the Tesla drivers studiously avoided eye contact. I encountered two or three dozen over the course of a week, but no Model S driver ever acknowledged my car’s existence—a gnawing insecurity was inescapable. Tesla Motors practically invented the concept of the eco-supercar—at least at a consumer level—and it has dominated the sector for three years. But next to BMW’s i8, Tesla bore the patina of age."

http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...odel_s_which_electric_car_is_best.single.html

This is perfectly consistent with my experience during the 18 months when I drove from SF to Cupertino every day through the heart of Tesla country. Other EV drivers, of which there were many, would look, wave, give thumbs-up, and generally acknowledge other EV drivers. Tesla S drivers, by contrast, drove with a zombie-like stare at the road ahead and never made eye contact with me or anyone else in an EV. Oddly, folks who drove Tesla Roadsters were just as friendly as the other EV drivers and would often exchange friendly waves or thumbs-up with me.

My theory is that the Tesla S drivers are ashamed of how plain and unimpressive their cars look and try not to draw attention to themselves by blending into the scenery. This explains why drivers of the beautiful Roadsters are perfectly happy to be sociable because they have nothing to be ashamed of.

Just my personal theory, but it fits the facts fairly well.

 

[sterling500]

I have yet to see one Tesla Model S at any type of car show or cars and coffee. I see many of the roadsters. My take is that people who buy a Model S are not "Car" people. They bought it to fit a family in it or hug a tree with it. Working right near the Tesla factory makes driving my Fisker interesting. I have never even had one owner even look at my car. Several people I work with own the Tesla Model S and none are car people or motorheads.

 

[AlJOHN]

This is all too familiar -- I joined the Tesla Forums when I reserved my Model X (SUV) a couple of years ago --- hopefully arriving later this year. By in large, Tesla owners are Early Adopters and very opinionated. As such, Tesla can do no wrong, and anything other auto is less -- no tolerance for any ICE or any other design or approach to reducing CO2. Thus, I no longer discussed the merits of the Karma in Tesla Forum. Both Forums are Owners who are willing to share, congratulate and discuss options and common themes. However, the Tesla Forum is filled with a few dominate personalities who dominate and hijack discussions with petty editing and over-baring post.

Maybe it is the nature of us "geeks" who are early adopters. Maybe it is the extreme brand loyalty. Oddly few in Tesla's forums know that the Original Model S was designed by Henrick Fisker, or realize that bankruptcy was a few days from Tesla's door step about the same time Fisker failed. Unfortunately, in Tesla there was only room for one mono-maniac at the top -- Elon Musk won out producing a car with few of the Technical issues Fisker originally faced. However, The Model S was less stylish, when brought to market, lacked coat hooks, center console, rear cup holders and even vanity mirrors--which one dare not complain about in the Tesla forums.... less the "rath" of "why don't you buy a Cadillac", and cancel your reservation.....etc.

It got to the point where Tesla created the following "sticky" at the beginning of all the Forums:

Tesla’s forum provides an online meeting space for owners and enthusiasts to exchange ideas that are entertaining, helpful and useful. We encourage you to participate and only ask that you be respectful of others. Don’t post messages that are obscene, vulgar, hateful, sexual in nature, infringe on the proprietary rights of others, or impersonate or misrepresent yourself or other individuals, including Tesla employees. Only post material which you own or for which you have received a copyright license. Whatever you post, we reserve the right to copy and use. We also reserve the right to edit or delete your post as well as suspend your account.
All posts represent the author’s views and not of Tesla’s.


Fortunately, our Mod's have never faced the need to chastise the entire community. Thanks for all the members here and their collective tolerance.

 

[clsr2nrvna]

I have yet to see one Tesla Model S at any type of car show or cars and coffee...

There is 1-2 Tesla's that have showed at my local CnC, in the Pittsburgh area of all places. I have yet to get to talk to the owners, but will make it a point at the next meet. I have had similar interactions with EV owners vs anti-interaction with Tesla owners in the past. I'll have to check back in after I try to make a new friend, LoL...

 

[sterling500]

Oddly few in Tesla's forums know that the Original Model S was designed by Henrick Fisker,

Interesting. I thought he was out of the picture after the Roadster but I didn't follow the development of the Model S that closely.Learn something every day. Thanks for that.

 

[Fabulist]

I have yet to see one Tesla Model S at any type of car show or cars and coffee. I see many of the roadsters. My take is that people who buy a Model S are not "Car" people. They bought it to fit a family in it or hug a tree with it. Working right near the Tesla factory makes driving my Fisker interesting. I have never even had one owner even look at my car. Several people I work with own the Tesla Model S and none are car people or motorheads.

I have seen them at EV-type events here in New Hampshire and I have seen a few of them on the road. Back in Northern California, they would show up at dedicated EV-type events, but not so much at cars-and-coffee type events.

Your observation also matches my experience. I know several people who own a Tesla S, and with one notable exception (looking at you @dennis), they are not car enthusiasts but people looking for reliable daily transport that does not consume Gasoline, or that can get into HOV lanes without a second passenger, which of course is the whole point of the Model S, to be a luxury family car, not an EV.

 

[Fabulist]

There is 1-2 Tesla's that have showed at my local CnC, in the Pittsburgh area of all places. I have yet to get to talk to the owners, but will make it a point at the next meet. I have had similar interactions with EV owners vs anti-interaction with Tesla owners in the past. I'll have to check back in after I try to make a new friend, LoL...

The ones that show up at CnC type events are more likely to be car enthusiasts than the average Tesla driver. Still, it never hurts to engage in positive EV diplomacy.

 

[dennis]

My theory is that the Tesla S drivers are ashamed of how plain and unimpressive their cars look and try not to draw attention to themselves by blending into the scenery.

Not all of them...

 

[Fabulist]

Not all of them...

As I said, a couple of posts ago:

Your observation also matches my experience. I know several people who own a Tesla S, and with one notable exception (looking at you @dennis), they are not car enthusiasts but people looking for reliable daily transport that does not consume Gasoline, or that can get into HOV lanes without a second passenger, which of course is the whole point of the Model S, to be a luxury family car, not an EV.

 

[Fabulist]

And by timely coincidence, Mashable is profiling people who bought a Tesla S as a luxury car, not as a statement or need to be early adopters of cutting-edge technology.

Here is the first part.

Click on the picture below to read the full article.

 

[AlJOHN]

Nice Dennis... Is that a wrap or custom paint. At any rate, nice looking S P85+.

 

[JCMorrill]

(How come every thread seems to wind up talking about Teslas?)

It seems to me that the BMW I8 isn't really anything to do with being ecologically friendly. They added electric power to their car to shore up the shortcomings of a gasoline engine by having the instant torque of a battery. But, the I8 isn't really meant to be driven around on battery alone for any length of time. That's almost a "novelty". Or, they would have put in more EV range.

 

[Nin ja]

(How come every thread seems to wind up talking about Teslas?)

Actually this thread started with I8 and Telsa - btw we are talking about owners of the cars and not the cars ;-)

 

[JCMorrill]

Fair enough (on the Tesla in the thread title). But, I think that the I8 buyer is gonna be a different breed (or at least interested in other things) than Tesla or Fisker owners. The supercar makers/buyers are mostly focused on performance regardless of emissions & the environment. Whereas, Tesla/Fisker were interested in making electric vehicles and then working to get them to perform the best that they can with low/no emissions.

 

[Fabulist]

Fair enough (on the Tesla in the thread title). But, I think that the I8 buyer is gonna be a different breed (or at least interested in other things) than Tesla or Fisker owners. The supercar makers/buyers are mostly focused on performance regardless of emissions & the environment. Whereas, Tesla/Fisker were interested in making electric vehicles and then working to get them to perform the best that they can with low/no emissions.

I think calling an I8 a supercar is a bit of a stretch. The Tesla S P+ or the new Tesla S P85D has better performance than the I8 for less money. The I8 looks a lot cooler, but supercar, I don't thinks so.

 

[Nin ja]

My Karma is my 21st century supercar in looks with 20th century super car performance - In the 20th century I had a Lancia Scorpion with super car looks, with 19th century performance - what can I say, I have nostalgic good taste - LOL

 

[JCMorrill]

Yeah, ok. But McLaren & Ferrari are doing the same thing ... just adding a battery boost to their gas powered supercars. I agree with Nin_Ja -- 0-60 in 6 seconds was hugely respectable and not accomplished by many not long ago.

 

[shrowell]

I have met quite a few Model S drivers here in California (they are very common here in the Bay Area) and by and large they remind me of iPhone users - there is that strange blinkered, almost religious belief, that their car is the very best and an absolute refusal to entertain the idea that other EVs are comparable. Like Apple with their iPhone, Tesla currently only has one offering with a couple of minor variations, and so Tesla owners are desperate for Elon Musk to come up with something new, lest their religious beliefs be seriously challenged. I guess polarized beliefs are the human condition...

 

[sterling500]

I have met quite a few Model S drivers here in California (they are very common here in the Bay Area) and by and large they remind me of iPhone users - there is that strange blinkered, almost religious belief, that their car is the very best and an absolute refusal to entertain the idea that other EVs are comparable. Like Apple with their iPhone, Tesla currently only has one offering with a couple of minor variations, and so Tesla owners are desperate for Elon Musk to come up with something new, lest their religious beliefs be seriously challenged. I guess polarized beliefs are the human condition...

Totally agree