04/29/2022
A Quora Post by: Trausti Thor Johannsson
Car enthusiastic, fan of electric cars
Besides being electric, what makes Tesla's special?
I know this sounds weird, but I simply lack a way of describing this otherwise.
A Tesla, like my Model S is simply like the Rolling Stones. When you have everything together it is simply awesome. Each individual on it’s own is perhaps not that great. There is simply something there that you can’t describe but you know it is good. Kind of like the difference between my workman tools and my dads. My dad buys the expensive good stuff that twists your arm if you are not careful.
You can’t just say car X has 4 screens and Tesla has 2, therefore the X is better. You can’t say that X charges faster therefore, seats better therefore ….
You have to compare the whole image.
You might think what I am about to say is superficial, you never needed that, never ever before have you thought you were missing that. Just thinking about the FART PILLOW. I will put money that Mercedes will never ever add a farting sound to their cars. It simply adds to the Tesla feeling. Every setting is not from 0–10, but 0–11 like Spinal Tap, like Arnold Schwarzenegger says, if you do that 1 more you get better results. Having games in the car is just so silly that it is awesome. I play Chess or other games while waiting for something. Me and my wife go and buy ice cream and watch Netflix together.
My car connects to my phone before my behind is in my seat. My key fob automatically adjusts my steering wheel, seat and other settings including how warm I want the car, if the seat is heated or not. If my wife is in the driver seat, she gets her settings.
Just sit inside the car, put on the seating belt, press the brake pedal and take off. No buttons to press, no placement for the key.
I can tell my car to get out of or into a narrow space without a scratch, without needing to push or rub against other cars or dirty walls.
I park my car, then just walk out of it and don’t need to think about locking it, turning it off or anything else. Yes, both me and my wife have left other cars still running.
Navigation that re-routes me if there is a traffic congestion. Seems like something from science fiction, Mr Kitt says “I think you should take the next right and follow my instructions, you will thank me later ..:” and a little later you have to say to your car, thank you, you saved me 2 hours.
Whenever I use fast chargers made by someone who is not Tesla, it simply irritates me. So complicated, so often not working. Tesla supercharger, just back in and plug. No need to do anything. There is no step 3.
There are so many really small details that I simply take for granted. When I look at other electric cars and have a look at their crazy expensive EXTRA, all of these EXTRA things are in my car by default and my car is 7 years old.
Autopilot really helps when driving long distances.
And just the car really takes care of you. Sure there are cars with better seats, better insulation but still they simply are not better.
Over the air updates and upgrades. My car has features today that it did not have when it was new. The interface on screen looks like it does on brand new Tesla, it does not look dated, not old. Bugs are fixed. No other car comes close.
Here is one simple example. Here a car maker thinks that having more screens means it is better.
Let us not even think about the price for having that 3rd screen. But seriously, what is on that 3rd screen that is not on the screen in the middle? Why is that screen there? It is there simply because they think having one more screen makes the whole difference, somehow it is better …. really.
Sure, you can say it looks good, it does. But how many screens do you need in order to do simple things? The picture of the car is useful how? Why split screen? Why complicate things so badly? Where is entertainment? Games? Video? Farts?
And upgrades? Bug fixes over the air?
Just look at Audi etron 50–55, VW ID3, ID4, Taycan .. How many different systems can VW/Audi/Porsche support and release reliable upgrades to? Simple. Very soon, if you want to get something fixed, you need to buy a new car.
This matters, this matters a great deal. I bought my 7 year old car 3–4 years ago from Tesla and I still feel like I am a valued customer. They still keep my car up to date.
A few times I feel like there might be something wrong with my car, I call them and over the air they can check my car from wherever they are and wherever I am, like this
I was driving near Kirkjubæjarklaustur, called them, and from Antwerpen in Belgium they checked out my car and assured me nothing was wrong, and they were right, that noise was a rock stuck in my brake. Can you do this on your car?
There are so many other things, positive things that I simply take for granted.
Right now, I would be hard pressed at not getting another Tesla. I would just never feel good about owning anything else. 5 years into owning Tesla cars (2 cars), I never feel ripped off, I never feel swindled or lied to. After owning 20–30 cars, this feeling is new and I like it.
I hope my jumbled brain managed to get my thoughts out there so people understand what it is that I mean.
