The Tesla supercharger network makes it the current go-to EV if one plans to drive away from local areas and a home charger. The other networks are incredibly unreliable and many are very slow @GKUnion
S and X used to come with fobs which had more functionality than just a key. One can open a door or a trunk by pressing on the appropriate spot on the fob which is shaped as a tiny Tesla. So much better than messing with an app.
Consumer reports has been a stalwart for decades, but its importance has to be waning as its customer base – and survey respondents – ages. CR’s average print customer is >65, so its ‘ratings’ are gonna skew towards that crowd. For example, a review of the Model 3 says the ride is “harsh” which would be true for folks used to riding in a sedan with a soft(er) suspension. Yet, other, (younger?) folks appreciate the ‘sporty’ ride.
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The J1772 was there first, but as designed it can only handle low current.
Tesla needed something that could handle higher power, so it came up with the Tesla plug, which is far superior in that it is smaller, can handle both AC and DC, and at least 250KW of power. Tesla offered this design to the industry, but competitors refused because that would serve as an implicit endorsement of Tesla.
So instead, the industry standard is the combined J1772/CCS monstrosity, which in the real world has rarely shown any benefits. Here is a picture showing the relative size differences.
Not really. The Tesla wall “charger” was cheaper than many J1772 options.
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I’m an electronic subscriber and well below 65.
The Teslas all get dinged for projected reliability.
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Why does the size of the plug matter at all (I DO understand that the connector type matters). The size doesn’t matter to me at all. It’s not like I’m going to be wearing this.
I have been told that the CCS plug is heavy and a two handed operation, so it’s not great for those with physical limitations.
CR’s ratings include a heavy weight for reliability survey results, which tend to drag Tesla cars down compared to their own road test ratings. For example, they rated the Model S at 88 in their own tests, but the overall rating is dragged down to 62 based on the reliability survey.
Both Supercharger and CCS plugs feel heavier because they are attached to heavier cords. The larger CCS plug adds a bit more weight, but probably not so noticeable compared to the cord weight. For home charging, neither Tesla nor J1772 plugs are particularly heavy.
Probably anyone capable of operating a gasoline or diesel pump can plug in a Supercharger or CCS plug.
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correct. And that survey of Reliability (and Owner satisfaction) is based on existing CR customers/members, i.e, folks 55+. (Nothing wrong with that, but not sure how representative it is to today’s millennials.)
It isn’t, but new car buyers also tend to skew older. Probably most younger people are too poor to buy new cars, so they buy less expensive used cars or buy no car or fewer cars (e.g. one instead of two cars).
That’s not why competitors rejected the Tesla plug spec. That was Tesla’s spin on it. The reason everyone else rejected Tesla’s plus spec is that Tesla inserted a clause they wouldn’t negotiate on in their offer that in exchange for using Tesla’s patent for the plug, any company doing so had to agree not to enforce any patents or trademarks against Tesla, period. In other words, Tesla would have been free to exploit the thousands of patents owned by the other car manufacturers for major features and would not need permission or to pay for them. It’s like saying I’ll give you free use of my bike if you give me unlimited use of your house and car. They even added trademark’s to the mix, so hypothetically Tesla could have marketed a Tesla Mustang and Ford couldn’t have done anything about it.
It was not a sincere offer – they knew none of their competitors would take such a lopsided deal and they got what they wanted, which was an exclusive (taxpayer subsidized) network while being to pretend like they had been magnanimous.
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Are you referring to the carbon credits?
Do millennials have a different standard of reliability? That’s not the same as the “harsh ride” example. So if the car doesn’t start, millennials allegedly would be like, “oh, that’s a feature not a bug”?
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At least we can go somewhere where power is not out!!
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Consumer Reports rates the Porsche Taycan low at 61, some of it due to its price, but in terms of ride:
The Porsche Taycan appears to be gaining a huge share of the upper end of the EV market in my neighborhood. Arguably the pinnacle of driving and handling performance for the past 60 +/- years, the Porsche rides better than Tesla according to CR.
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I don’t see the appeal personally with below par range, but to each their own.
We have had a Lyriq on order since last year when they went on sale and do not expect to receive it until the second half of this year at the earliest - not the smoothest rollout from GM. Hoping it can reliably replace our “around town” car. Fingers crossed.
Millennials may well look for something different in a car, and have a different definition of what reliability means to them. Or perhaps not.
Tesla’s User Interface is designed by Millennials, video-gamers. I could see how the boomers might prefer more tactile stuff (I know I do), which could relate to less Owner Satisfaction survey responses.
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No, we replaced the battery and it still didn’t work.