After an extensive three-and-a-half-year journey with Tesla, we decided to part ways with it. This decision wasn’t made overnight; it was a culmination of various factors that shaped our driving experience and, ultimately, our satisfaction with the vehicle. I started sharing about our journey with Tesla on social media which has driven a lot of interest in why we decided to get rid of it, so I am going to share my personal experiences, both the good and the bad, that led us to this significant decision.
Before I get into the pros and cons, I want to address that many people genuinely love their Tesla, and there is no malice or disrespect towards Tesla lovers in this piece, as we had hoped to be Tesla lovers as well. As a personal decision, it wasn’t a good fit for us.
The Cons
1. Feeling Like a Passenger in a Giant Battery: One of my primary concerns with the Tesla was the feeling of sitting inside a massive battery. This perception affected my comfort and enjoyment, as I was constantly aware of being surrounded by a vast amount of stored electrical energy, which did not sit well with me. We don’t know the long term effects of what this will do to our health, and there is a chance I am being extreme, but my intuition tells me otherwise.
2. The Charging Ordeal: Charging an electric vehicle should ideally be convenient, but in our case, it was not. Road trips turned into meticulous planning sessions, ensuring that charging stations were within reach, stopping for 30-40 minutes to continue on the road. What should be a 5 minute stop, was 6-7x longer. Additionally, once we moved out of Brickell/Downtown Miami, living in a complex without a charging station added another layer of inconvenience, making what should have been a simple task into a logistical challenge, driving 15 minutes from our building to charge our car.
3. Driving Dynamics: The driving experience in a Tesla is often lauded for its innovation and smoothness, but for me, it was like navigating a golf cart at higher speeds. The excess acceleration and the car’s propensity to ‘jump’ at every touch of the pedal were disconcerting. The feeling of sudden torque and being on a rollercoaster detracted from the joy of driving, leaving me missing a more traditional driving experience. If you take your foot off the pedal, the car stops. You don’t need to brake at a redlight. It’s something I never got used to. Tesla allows you to adjust settings to drive more like a normal car, but I still did not feel comfortable even after changing the settings.
4. Technology and Interface Issues: While Teslas are renowned for their cutting-edge technology, my encounters were less than stellar. The voice technology was extremely unreliable and often misinterpreted commands. The GPS was erratic, frequently thinking we were in the middle of Biscayne Bay. The reliance on voice commands for basic functionalities like using windshield wipers or opening the glove box felt cumbersome and unintuitive. When Albert would initiate a prompt to call Meg, it would call some other random person, and when he prompted it to play a song from his Spotify, it would get it wrong more than half the time, which was concerning from a distracted driving standpoint.
Working closely with my friends and Co-Founders Garin and Barrie at ping for many years, I have become very educated on the dangers of distracted driving. The voicetech issues with Tesla were a recipe for distracted driving disaster in my personal opinion.
6. It was almost ‘too smart’ – Although I mentioned how I felt the tech was flawed, I still felt overstimulated by so much going on on a screen. I significantly missed having a traditional dashboard with buttons and felt overwhelmed by everything being on the iPad-like device and not even having a key. The car is always ‘on’ because it’s not fueled by gas. Once the Tesla detects you’re close to it, your phone is your key unless you use a keycard, and you just get in the car and start driving – you do not need to turn it on or off. Many people enjoy this, but I personally did not.
The Pros
Despite the challenges, it wasn’t all bleak. There were aspects of the Tesla that I genuinely appreciated:
1. Charger Locations/Parking Privileges: Tesla’s network of chargers is strategically placed in well-thought-out locations, ensuring safety and convenience. This thoughtful placement provided some solace in the otherwise tedious charging process. Many times, the chargers are at a nice mall, Whole Foods, Target, Wawa or equivalent. Also, many places had parking privileges for electric vehicles, which I certainly will miss.
2. Quiet Ride: The absence of a traditional engine made the Tesla remarkably quiet, and depending on personal preference, this is an impressive ‘pro’.
3. Spacious Interior: The design of the Tesla, devoid of a conventional engine, allowed for maximum interior space. This clever use of space provided ample room for storage and passenger comfort, and ‘frunk’ (front trunk) which was a significant plus that we used frequently.
4. Entertainment: If you do not want to experience the stores/locations near Tesla superchargers, you may play games on the screen or watch YouTube, Netflix and other entertainment while charging. The screen also has funny features such as making it a Santa’s sleigh or the whoopie cushion feature, which creates lots of laughs.
5. Safety Features: While I felt personally overstimulated by the safety features on the screen, it is definitely impressive how the vehicle can detect other cars, pedestrians, cones, and motorcyclists, etc with the front and side cameras, allowing for a safer experience.
Conclusion
While the innovative aspects of Tesla were appealing, the drawbacks significantly impacted my overall experience. From the unsettling feeling of being in a “giant battery” to the practical challenges of charging and the vehicle’s driving dynamics, our journey with Tesla was a mixed bag of high-tech allure and real-world practicalities.
Ultimately, the decision to turn in the Tesla was driven by a desire for a more traditional and intuitive driving experience, feeling as if I was in control and underscoring the idea that innovation must align with user comfort and convenience to be truly effective. Many people are thrilled with their Teslas and I love that for them!
As we move on from the Tesla, we have learned more about what we value in a vehicle, shaping future choices, and I’m so excited to share our next move!