Additionally, I'm sure that aesthetics will actually make a big difference to any potential buyer and so do matter a lot, so I think you are right to voice a subjective opinion on how it looks.

Me too. I rather like the Fiat 500e better than the Tesla for styling. I'm going to put down the deposit for a Tesla Model 3, though.

Personally, I love my Volt. I only use gasoline on rare occasions -- a couple of out-of-state trips per year -- but don't have to make long stops (30 minutes is long for me) at charging stations along the way. And I think it's a pretty cool looking car. But then, I'm over 30, so what do I know about cool?

The Tesla Model 3 looks better than either, from what I've seen, but doesn't stand out from anything else from similar priced cars from BMW, Audi, Lexus, or Mercedes. It's all very subjective however.

I like the 1st gen volt though. It's sort of chunky-yet-handsome from certain angles, esp rear 3/4.

I think what bothers me is that they don't look like normal cars. Their shape is closer to a toaster than a sports car, they have small little plastic looking wheels, and smiling face headlight and bumper styling.

I absolutely think cars should move away from what they are now toward something more like an appliance, but I won't enjoy it.

But who am I to talk anyway, my current car is terrible.

All this leads up to; when you see significant numbers of electric cars on the road you'll see roadside businesses start to cater to them. That model isn't bad, customer parks, plugs in the car and goes in for snax and coffee. 20 minutes later the smart phone dings saying the car is good go. That's different than having stand around a gas station for 20 minutes.

I've traveled with lots of friends who are the same way, and a few people who make much longer stops like the ones you describe.

Who is more representative of "most people"? I have no idea. But I wouldn't want to stop for 15 minutes every 80 miles, or 30 minutes every 170 miles.

I think most people will find the stops to be more than they're used to, but not onerous. You'll probably hit 4-5 chargers in a day of driving. If you can time it right, two of those will coincide with meal breaks, so you're looking at 2-3 where you hit the bathroom, grab a snack, and maybe have to wait a bit on the car.

If you make big trips once or twice a year then it can easily be a net win over a gas car. The gas car wins on long trips, but requires ~15 minutes/month at gas stations even when you're just local. In my year of Tesla ownership, I'd say I've lost about two hours total waiting for a charge, and gained about that much not going to gas stations.

oh, I agree. I just don't see it as a win over a plug-in hybrid with a gas generator, yet. In ~6 months of ownership of a Volt, I've been to the gas station about 4 times (all on a trip to/from another state) at 5-10 minutes per stop, and have never lost time waiting for a charge.

The supercharger network is a nice step, and combined with electric vehicles with a 200+ mile range, we're a step closer to electric vehicles becoming the norm. But there are still obstacles to be overcome -- still some inconveniences that are better solved by other technologies.

Edit: I just looked up the specs. The PHEV version (at least the UK one) apparently drops the third row seats. I can't figure out the available cargo space. Everything I find says it's 436L, which is about 15ft^3, but there's no way it could possibly be that small. In any case, all I can say is: no wireless, less space than a Nomad, lame.

I think it depends very much what you grew up with. My wife and I both grew up in families when 8-9 hour drives with only a quick stop for lunch as a vacation was the norm from basically when we where born, and neither one of us thought anything about it.

Our daughter on the other hand spent the first several years of her life basically never going anywhere by car (as we didn't have one) and she absolutely hates spending more than an hour at a time in cars.

(IMO of course).

It's kind of shocking how tied up to a specific roofline profile Tesla is, in order to meet range/price expectations. They'll likely never be able to put out an estate car without sacrifising range or making it obscenely expensive.

Also, wtf is up with everyone comparing the model 3 to A4/c-class/3-series? Current best estimates I can find put the model 3 at 5-10 inches shorter than either of those, and with a smaller interior (obvious just from looking at pictures, the model 3 interior roof profile is a lot less "square" than ze Germans, again for aero reasons). I think Mazda 3, but with a smaller trunk, is a better comparison. (Yes, I know the model 3 has a "frunk" to compensate.) I also think Tesla are being deliberately secretive with the external dimensions, to keep people thinking it's bigger than it actually is.

[1] http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--uaROKJL5...

Full autonomy is very challenging. More standardization among the manufacturers is needed, like the recent braking standard they've announced, but also that includes local governments to stop doing crazy things like different sign shapes, colors, fonts, messages, even vertical vs horizontal traffic lights. There's a lot of work to be done by more than just the car manufacturers.

Remember: there are already 100% fully autonomous vehicles roaming real roads in Silicon Valley. 5 years is a very long time to shrink and improve sensors, learn from real-world driving experiences, and beef up the software.

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/report-10-million-self-drivin...

I'm seeing someone DDoSing autonomous taxis by booking a ton of them to an address with known bad routing...

[1] http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/13/us/google-self-driving-car-pul...

There's a huge difference between mostly working (especially on a highway) and truly autonomous door-to-door.

You also don't seem to have addressed my point that there are cars on the road right now with no driver behind the wheel. We are long past the point of mostly working and very close to the point of autonomous door-to-door in favorable cities.

I think autonomy will be partial, conditional, and thus not door to door autonomous for at least a decade.

I sooner expect Alphabet to sell this tech to a big 10 auto manufacturer, or to Apple, for the same reasons as Boston Dynamics: where's the cashflow? If it's not up for sale in 5 years, I'll expect it's the real deal and we'll see door to door in another 10 years.

This looks ugly too. I'm undecided on the model 3.