Johnhav430

It was a 75D but apparently speed limited being a mfg. car.

I'm very much anti gadget anti Hollywood, but I have to admit I was impressed, just a little, ok a bit. The wood was real? And apparently the 0-60 is in the 4's? Even experienced self park for the first time.

Maybe this is the future, and us folks who want the stick with no nav are already DOA....

I'd really at this point have to be dishonest if I wanted to slam this car. I'm envisioning that the new LS500 has a similar shape...who's making these rearview mirrors? They all look alike, I first saw one in the 2015 XTS that I had in Chicago...

I would like to remain open-minded, but the world keeps making 19 mpg of my current DD not look all that good....

Toys4RJill

Consider the difference between a new Tesla and your daily driver. Or even a LS500. You could buy a lot of gas with the difference.

Johnhav430

My colleague was telling me that in 35 min, it goes from say 20 miles left, to full @ 200+, and the recharge is free. How is this quantified, I mean in the gasoline world, maybe that's worth $35? I'm not sold but I can envision someone born 1994 or later, simply saying this is the only way. I see the so-called connected car in action on the screen. What we once thought was futuristic, is everyday for some. And again, if I had to choose that, or a 335 with a stick, I choose the latter. But I can also see I chose the road less traveled, maybe at some point it's no longer cool to care about driving. Now I can say I saw the car accurately park itself, I was in it. I'm not exactly sure how it chose the spot it did--the example I used was say the guy who owns this Tahoe is a jerk, and I wanted to park next to the 4Runner, why did the car decide to take this spot? My colleague was not sure...

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

congrats... happened to notice this image on their website... what a stunningly beautiful shape... pretty much puts everything else to shame...

mjeds

The owner of my former employer had one, and my current Director has one, and I have driven and ridden in them, and while the technology is impressive, the overall vehicle to me is not, the seats are uncomfortable, the tablet is distracting, and I personally prefer tactile buttons, not touch screens with sliders that require me to look away from the road to open the sunroof or adjust the HVAC.


I also crunched the numbers between my RCF and a Tesla, even at the lowest level the price difference doesn't offset the cost of fuel for the RCF. it would take me about 7 years to re-coup the added cost of the car over the savings in fuel.

IF I didn't already hold the title to my RCF it might be a consideration, but for me it makes no sense to fork over $100K for a vehicle that would save me maybe $140 a month in fuel.

Johnhav430

I figured it couldn't be a no-brainer...7 yrs is a tough break-even. Some of it has to be because it makes you feel good, you want advanced technology, etc. If you're in Hollywood I don't see how you could drive anything else....maybe Silicon Valley mogul as well....

Duck05

We drove/rode a '14 Tesla S 85D in June. The car was set to "normal mode" (not "insane" or what ever the proper term is) and at 693hp it is a rocket. I said this in other threads but these cars are too powerful for the vast majority of the people that can afford them. I think the only reason that we do not hear a lot about horrible crashes in these cars is that owners are mature and cautious drivers as a whole.

The wife would have no problem with this Tesla against her LS460 except for the range and charging requirement. And we did not do the math but even with premium fuel a gas engine is still viable (environmental issues aside).

Saw a Tesla model 3 at a recent Cars and Coffee event and if that car holds up to the hype and they can ramp up to meet demands it is a sign of the future.....

riredale

We'll see how this all sorts out. As we've all discussed before, the EV has fundamental strengths but also major weaknesses and the marketplace will determine how we evolve.

One thing I definitely DON'T like about Tesla is Elon making promises that fall woefully short. Just a month or two ago he says about 1,600 3's will come off the line; in reality we get 260. Company losing big money every month. But I have no skin in the game, so he can say what he wants. I guess the operative phrase here is "Go Big or Go Home."

chromedome

If I lived on the West or East coasts, I'd probably have gone for a Tesla, if my wallet magically inflated a few times too A Tesla makes sense if you live near Supercharger corridors and have access to chargers at home and at work.

My hybrid is a pale shadow of a performance EV but I still get a smile when I pull up in electric mode next to a Tesla at traffic lights. Once you go electric, there's no going back - you can't entice me with a flat-plane V8 or a screaming E60 V10 to ditch them electrons.

peteharvey

Model S has good and bad points.
The styling is lovely as Bitkahuna has said, and Toyota Motor Corporation's Calty Design Studio must take heed.
However, the price of the Model S must really fall to become reasonable and competitive, before the Model S can sell in much larger numbers.
Specifically, as others have already mentioned, the cost of the Model S car and battery replacement, still far far far outweighs the cost of weekly gasoline and annual traditional ICE servicing.
Furthermore, EV's don't really reduce the carbon footprint, until most power stations use non-fossil fuel burning methods to generate electricity.
However, I can certainly see an EV future coming for all of us...

Johnhav430

I remember in 2005, a CPA buddy told me he would never lease a car, he just doesn't understand it well enough (and I think back then crucial info was missing as well in order to make a sound decsion). Today? He leases 2 cars, and owns 1. And is single. His justification is two-fold--one, he wants a car to commute with, and to keep his BMW a garage queen (it is a ZHP which I never see on the road). The other is a play car (oh the first is a Prius btw). He in no way states that this save money, etc., he says it wastes money, but he wants now a new car every 36, which he did not back in 2005. So I would be that way with a Tesla--since I don't know enough about it, I would go LS500 and feel comfortable about the decision, just like in 2005, my buddy refused to lease.

But by all means once a person can let go of some constraints, get it....like if the 7 yr. break-even is accurate, it really wouldn't make sense for too many. But it's a like to have. And if the cars don't reduce the carbon footprint based on how the energy for them is generated, that becomes a not in my backyard feel good deal....

As a car, it was the first time I rode in one, and I have to say the quality seemed good. One of my pet peeves is Corolla like power window switches in the LS430, engineers must have missed on that one. Tesla has quality PW switches (as does a BMW 3)....the real wood was surprising. Even Rolls Royce is a veneer....

Toys4RJill

It's not really free. Someone is paying for it. The new Tesla 3 does not get free supercharging from Tesla.

Johnhav430

Gotcha, it has to be like a season pass at an amusement park, a buffet at a restaurant, an extended warranty, a health club membership, and on and on......

geko29

I don't think full pricing is yet available on the LS500 (at least not on Lexus' site), so I mocked up the current model.

LS460 the way I would option it: $90,090
Model S the way I would option it: $92,700

So the difference is about $2,600, though the LS500 will probably be a touch more expensive and diminish this somewhat. I pay $1,100/year for fuel in my diesel 3-series. My wife pays about double that for her RX350. I suspect the LS500 will be closer to hers than mine. So split the difference and call it a year and a half.

mmarshall

Jill brings up a good point, though. You can buy a LOT of gas for what a new Model S would cost.....even compared to a lot of other premium/upmarket vehicles.

Of course, I can understand the desire to drive at least a reasonably new car.....I get one myself usually every 5-6 years or so. No one is going to fault you for that.