Road Trip: The Good, the Bad, and the . . . ugh

[Lucken]

I have to say though, even at 12+ years, the Model S still looks pretty good to me. There aren't too many designs that 12 years later would still look good.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

We have two EVs plus a Honda Odyssey minivan. With the current state of CCS highway charging being what it is, I'm glad our group road tripper is still an ICE vehicle. However, I am itching to replace the Honda with a Gravity SUV and am anxiously watching the clock wind down toward 2024 delivery while simultaneously keeping an eye on the CCS improvement curve. Unfortunately, right now it's not looking promising for the two lines to converge.

We had something of the opposite of your snow experience. During the 9-day power outage after Hurricane Irma in 2017, our Tesla made us the only ones among our friends who could keep a car on the road throughout, as we could keep it charged with our generator. Gas stations started to fun out of gas three days before the storm hit, and most were without power for days afterward. The few stations that had generators to run their pumps were fueling only public emergency and maintenance vehicles.

As soon as the roads were made passable, it was our EV that we used to take the eight people who were sheltering with us out to check on their properties.

Did you see how one of your state representatives is trying to ban EVs during hurricanes, natural disasters etc? It’s like the fool didn’t understand that gas stations also require electricity, and that if you’re in a long traffic jam the best car for that is an EV because mileage is better at slow speed, whereas ICE vehicle mileage is worse in low gears. You’re more likely to run out of gas in ICE car traffic than run out of charge in an EV. I remember after that snow storm stranded all those motorists for like 28hrs they did a test and proved an EV could out-last an ICE car in those conditions.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I have to say though, even at 12+ years, the Model S still looks pretty good to me. There aren't too many designs that 12 years later would still look good.

Porsche 911!!

 

[hmp10]

Did you see how one of your state representatives is trying to ban EVs during hurricanes, natural disasters etc?

Oh, this is hardly the worst of the nonsense that is taking hold here. Even Newt Gingrich, the eminence grise of the Tea Party movement, is calling it "an embarrassment".

 

[hmp10]

I have to say though, even at 12+ years, the Model S still looks pretty good to me. There aren't too many designs that 12 years later would still look good.

I agree that it's still a good-looking design. (We did buy a Model S Plaid, after all.)

However, what Lucid has pulled off with cabin space in a vehicle virtually identical to the Model S in size really reveals the shortcomings of the Model S design -- as does the persistence of lower torsional rigidity that results in the squeaks and groans our Plaid has developed.

 

[Volund]

While I strongly disagree that BMW interiors are bland, my husband is going from the plug in X5 to the iX and a selling point for him was the similarity. The new screen is a HUGE upgrade from the previous one (bye bye horrible maps), but everything else is very similar. It could be on purpose. I'm just happy to have him move over to an EV.

Yeah, I definitely didn't want to come across offending, but I've owned multiple BMW's over the years and even had a few Corvette's (albeit not long), and the reason why I bring Corvette into the discussion is because I am kind of making a contrast.
My C6 looked basically identical to a ZR1 despite the huge price difference between the two.

I kind of meant that even with electrification many ICE legacy automakers are trying to make their EV's look as ICE as possible, and even with the amazing new potential that EV's come with and the technology, they don't reach or take any risks in changing their 'design language'.
And that's what I mean, to me the BMW has always looked like a standard BMW even from 10 years ago.

And that could just be them trying to keep the 'brand' recognition alive, but even on the interior I don't notice MUCH changing or going on or any risks or new tech really being added.

I haven't confirmed this myself, but I have heard that BMW is offering new car owners subscriptions for features inside of the car, for example paying monthly to have the feature to 'sync' the temperature, or auto high-beam assist, or even to have ADAS turned on.

Ridiculous, and greedy in my opinion.

 

[MacDriver]

First of all, I don’t like what BMW is currently doing. They concentrate on China with the i7 and don’t use the full EV potential because their EVs and ICE use the same basis.

On the other hand, it mustn’t be good to build EVs with a different interiors just to be different. Tesla is a good example.

Selling subscriptions is a trend that can be a good idea. I have office in my car one year for free and can now decide to prolong this. So I could really test before buying.