What about in heavy traffic situations? Is autopilot practical for that? I tried to get the driver assistant package (adaptive cruise and lane keeping) for my bmw x4 3 years ago. It was being marketed as good for stop & go situations. But when I talked to the rep, he strongly recommended against it, saying the tech is all right but most drivers would not bother using it. I guess the same can be said about auto parking.
It’s the difference between stress and elevated heart rate from the stop and go, versus literally peace and relaxation, while you car avoids all the ridiculous crap that goes on around you while everyone else is on their damn phones.
You look out the window and watch the cars around you driving like absolute garbage, and Tesla keeps you in lane and following appropriately behind the car in front.
It’s about 500ms slow to start from a stop, IMO, once the lead car starts moving. I’ve heard from early access v10 drivers that it’s quicker to start moving again in the latest version. I’ll wait to see that for myself, as placebo effect can be strong.
It’s a weird phenomenon. I’m getting home at exactly the same speed, but because I’m not actuating the accelerator, brakes, or steering and just monitoring the higher order situation, suddenly the traffic just doesn’t fucking matter once AutoPilot is turned on.
With more time to focus on the alertness and driving patterns of the people around you (instead of lanekeeping) you do notice just awful, awful driving practices of everyone around you.
- Buying experience is so much more pleasant - set price and no pressure
- Service experience has been great - much better than Ford or Mercedes. Mercedes is good, but every time we take it in they want a small fortune for this or that - you really get the sense that it's a profit center, whereas Tesla is not like this
- No more gas stations - full charge every day, and superchargers make trips and range anxiety a non-issue (owned a Ford EV previously and it sucked in this regard), and overall electricity costs are much lower than gas
- We both love the user interface - as easy and intuitive as an iPad. I don't miss the buttons, and it's so much easier to use than the Mercedes or Ford infotainment systems - and integrated connectivity and OTA updates are superior to those systems as well.
- Fast and fun to drive - handles well
- Lots of room for trips - frunk, trunk, rear facing seats - the P85+ is a great family car - we've done road trips with 4 kids, dog and luggage no problem
- I like the styling - P85+ with chrome delete and 21s looks really great
- Less environmental impact - I support Tesla's mission and enjoy doing a small part to combat global warming and advance EV adoption
- I enjoy the gimmicky stuff - games, whoopee cushion
- Much less maintenance (except for the darn 21" tires), no oil changes, and over the lifespan of the car I believe maintenance costs will be much lower
I will say that build quality is subpar - the Mercedes is notably better in this regard - very nice. Additionally, I don't trust autopilot for anything but long road trips (it's excellent for that), it's tried to kill me too many times - I think the marketing hype is way ahead of actual capabilities.