Over the past few years I have seen three or four types of Tesla driver - the BMW-style driver who goes everywhere at full speed with little regard for others (hence the 'BMW' label), the 'successful businessman' type who's fairly well-behaved but still keeps up a decent pace, and the family type who drives around with wifey in the front passenger seat and tidy kids in the back while making decent progress on the road (stereotyping or what! ). I have also seen a few businesswomen-type drivers who do well.

In the past week I've met two examples of a new type - they must have graduated from Nissan Micras because they were driving around national-speed-limit country roads at little more than 30mph, braking for the slightest hindrance (like a slight corner, hedges, lorries coming the other way on a wide road) and coming to a full stop at the entry to every roundabout despite there clearly being no other vehicles anywhere. One was a Model 3, and the latest example was a Model Y dual-motor!

Sometimes I do despair... fortunately I wasn't in a desperate hurry to go anywhere.

<end rant>

I don't know whether it's related to your Micra graduates, but I have been aware of many electric car owners (not just Teslas) who seem to think 30mph is perfect for getting the longest range. I appreciate that range anxiety is still a thing, but 30mph in a national speed limit is plain dangerous.

The reason I think they're after the maximum range is that they also seem to have a complete lack of acceleration, often meaning that instead of 6 or 7 cars getting through a traffic light cycle, there's only time for 3 or 4.

Tbh you lost me at tesla. when i look at them i always think that the proportions just look wrong and i wouldn't say they’re a good looking car.

As for the driving, I'm convinced that most electric cars are purchased purely for the tax reasons and thats why the second hand market is so poor on them. Once the company car/lease terms come to a end the market gets flooded with them with not many people prepared to invest there own money into them

The reason they are categorised as you say is because they are not purchased by a person who is interested in the driving dynamics of the car but as the next must have like a white bmw, iPhone etc with the benefit of a huge tax incentive atm.

A while ago I drove a Tesla model Y dual-motor for a couple of weeks. It handled well, was stupidly fast - and I really didn't like it one bit. The finish was ok-ish, but the software was a nightmare... It was fine if I drove it the way it expected me to, but fought me all the way if I chose to change any settings.

I love driving my EV - it's quick and comfortable, and does just about everything I want (Kia Niro EV). My wife also loves her Renault Zoe, as she finds it's just like driving her previous ic car (Citroen C1).

I would never go back to a petrol or diesel car, if I possibly can avoid it.

Guess it’s inevitable.

Early on Tesla buyers were into cars and the tech but now they are a lot lot more prevalent and accessible at sensible prices second hand I guess it’s not a surprise that micra drivers are graduating to them.

I cycle commute and oddly it’s always the Tesla tall suv thing that drives most aggressively, gives me little space etc. yummy mummy brigade by the looks of them. On a par with the Chelsea tractor brigade

I find everyone drives too slow. Maybe it's just me

The last straw for me and Teslas is the fact that they've taken the indicator stalk away - you have to use buttons on the steering wheel.

This might be fine in the USA where roundabouts are very rare, but if you indicate properly on a UK roundabout you may be changing the indicator a couple of times as you go round. So you're going round, maybe indicating right as you're planning to take the last exit, and want to indicate left to show where you're going off - where the hell is the correct button on the wheel?! Do you need to be so distracted when you're already busy manoeuvring around what may be a busy roundabout?

Just imagine driving from one side of Milton Keynes to the other (something we do a couple of times a year) - I think we have to negotiate 14 roundabouts!

[Edited on 4/5/24 by David Jenkins]

"The reason I think they're after the maximum range is that they also seem to have a complete lack of acceleration, often meaning that instead of 6 or 7 cars getting through a traffic light cycle, there's only time for 3 or 4."

OK, cannot agree with that one iota - my Kona electric, besides being a totally boring SUV, does 0-60 in around 7 seconds - slightly quicker than my 3 litre V6 Alfa 175 Veloce Sprint was, although, OK, that was a few years back - even a Nissan Leaf or a Zoe has pretty decent acceleration. It can only be down to the driver not applying the correct pressure to the right boot!

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Originally posted by russbost
"The reason I think they're after the maximum range is that they also seem to have a complete lack of acceleration, often meaning that instead of 6 or 7 cars getting through a traffic light cycle, there's only time for 3 or 4."

OK, cannot agree with that one iota - my Kona electric, besides being a totally boring SUV, does 0-60 in around 7 seconds - slightly quicker than my 3 litre V6 Alfa 175 Veloce Sprint was, although, OK, that was a few years back - even a Nissan Leaf or a Zoe has pretty decent acceleration. It can only be down to the driver not applying the correct pressure to the right boot!

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quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
It was fine if I drove it the way it expected me to, but fought me all the way

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There's a trick to maximum acceleration in an EV, especially as so many are FWD, as booting it will only result in wheelspin due to the immense torque at zero revs. You need a controlled and progressive push to get maximum effect. My Niro has the same acceleration to 60, which is not surprising as it has the same mechanical gubbins as the Kona! When you consider that I had similar acceleration in my 1660cc Locost, and the Niro is at least 3 times the weight.

The only trouble with rapid acceleration in an EV is that they eat front tyres, unless you do it properly. Their weight also contributes to tyre wear, unless you're careful.

EVs aren't perfect, and I'd be the last to say that they were: they are over-priced due to manufacturers loading them with features to make them 'top-end spec'. The do eat tyres, as I mentioned. You have to keep an eye on the braking system as in normal driving the brakes are rarely used due to regenerative braking - rusting disks are not unusual, as is seized components.

The rapid charging network was a problem, but that's changing, e.g. Sainsburys is putting rapid chargers in most of their larger supermarkets, and our local Lidls already has them. That problem is going away rapidly.

But on the good side, servicing costs are (should be) much cheaper, as there's little to be done. Also, no emissions to worry about at the MOT.

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Originally posted by Slimy38

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
It was fine if I drove it the way it expected me to, but fought me all the way

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I smiled at this, because this is exactly how I thought when I got my first automatic!! A Saab Turbo auto, it always seemed to be in the right gear for a very particular scenario, and woe betide me wanting to do anything different. My current DSG is similarly single minded but in different ways.

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I wasn't talking about the driving so much - the Tesla drives quite well - but more about the basic controls. Every time I got in it in the morning the heated seats were on - I didn't ask for them to be on and I couldn't find how to stop this in the software - and I did spend quite a while looking. The automatic wipers worked in an odd way, but I couldn't set them to a more conventional way of working. And so on, and so on.

It didn't understand democracy or the freedom of self-rule.

My Kia Niro is almost 100% configurable. Most controls work via switches and/or stalks. There are quite a few autonomous functions, but I can strongly influence the way they operate (e.g. when auto lights come on, when auto wipers operate, and so on).

[Edited on 7/5/24 by David Jenkins]

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
I wasn't talking about the driving so much - the Tesla drives quite well - but more about the basic controls. Every time I got in it in the morning the heated seats were on - I didn't ask for them to be on and I couldn't find how to stop this in the software - and I did spend quite a while looking. The automatic wipers worked in an odd way, but I couldn't set them to a more conventional way of working. And so on, and so on.

It didn't understand democracy or the freedom of self-rule.

My Kia Niro is almost 100% configurable. Most controls work via switches and/or stalks. There are quite a few autonomous functions, but I can strongly influence the way they operate (e.g. when auto lights come on, when auto wipers operate, and so on).

[Edited on 7/5/24 by David Jenkins]

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