Finally, a "green" car your neighbors will envy ...

The first sight that greets you behind the wheel is a 17-inch touchscreen that fills the dash, eliminating almost all the buttons and knobs that clutter up most car interiors

Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

I can drive it from Denver to Albuquerque without an overnight stop to recharge?

Durendal: Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

You're not the only one at all. It doesn't long to learn all the buttons in your car by feel, and then you can control every feature without ever taking your eyes of the road. Stupid, stupid idea, but it looks cool just like THE FUTURE so I think we're stuck with it.

Durendal: The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road

'cause that's TOTALLY what I do, not look at anything and grope at the radio. NOT!

The Tesla is a rich guy car company. It's $100K or more for their normal model. They aren't making cars for people who are driving anywhere buy in LA traffic. Besides, the girl is the one who's gonna be doing all the button pushing because only nerdy guys will buy this and they'll all be pretending it's the Millennium Falcon because of the noise the electric engine makes.

VictoryCabal: Durendal: Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

You're not the only one at all. It doesn't long to learn all the buttons in your car by feel, and then you can control every feature without ever taking your eyes of the road. Stupid, stupid idea, but it looks cool just like THE FUTURE so I think we're stuck with it.

If you guys are taking your hands off the wheel, you have already failed. Use the buttons on the steering wheel for the functions offered there, or voice commands, otherwise pull over.

haemaker: If you guys are taking your hands off the wheel, you have already failed.

I hope this is irony because anyone who can actually drive drives one handed at least most of the time. It's only hard turns that require two hands, even without power steering.

Two things:

"I can report the Tesla Model S successfully challenges a century of assumptions about what a great car can be"..... Until it catches on fire.

From TFA: "has vowed to make the Model S the best car in the world, and hopes to sell 20,000 a year"

No Farking way.

Well, at least it looks like a car you would be proud to drive.

Durendal: The first sight that greets you behind the wheel is a 17-inch touchscreen that fills the dash, eliminating almost all the buttons and knobs that clutter up most car interiors

Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

No. The idea is predictability and consistency. I can run my touch screen radio without looking at it because of this. Meanwhile the physical controls for the front and rear wipers are completely opposite of each other and after two years I still fark up turning the damn things on.

Elon Musk, Tesla's co-founder and CEO, has vowed to make the Model S the best car in the world, and hopes to sell 20,000 a year -- at prices between $54,700 up to $105,400 -- once the factory ramps to full speed.

Yeah. Because if there's anything that spells "car company success", it's a price range in the 90th percentile of standard gasoline auto prices.

That still only costs 55-107k to own, and already heavily subsidized with half a billion from the taxpayers from a struggling automaker.

92 Octane this morning, NOM NOM NOM.

Benevolent Misanthrope: Because if there's anything that spells "car company success", it's a price range in the 90th percentile of standard gasoline auto prices

Yeah no car company was ever successful selling mostly expensive cars.

doglover: haemaker: If you guys are taking your hands off the wheel, you have already failed.

I hope this is irony because anyone who can actually drive drives one handed at least most of the time. It's only hard turns that require two hands, even without power steering.

Yes, some of us still drive a manual.

taurusowner: Well, at least it looks like a car you would be proud to drive.

It looks like an Aston Martin, don't you think?

unlikely: I can drive it from Denver to Albuquerque without an overnight stop to recharge?

Benevolent Misanthrope: Elon Musk, Tesla's co-founder and CEO, has vowed to make the Model S the best car in the world, and hopes to sell 20,000 a year -- at prices between $54,700 up to $105,400 -- once the factory ramps to full speed.

Yeah. Because if there's anything that spells "car company success", it's a price range in the 90th percentile of standard gasoline auto prices.

Think that pretty much says everything that needs saying.

Reading the review I have one question...

How much is Tesla paying this guy?

Where does electricity come from to run the car?

Dinki: Benevolent Misanthrope: Because if there's anything that spells "car company success", it's a price range in the 90th percentile of standard gasoline auto prices

Yeah no car company was ever successful selling mostly expensive cars.

[www.economicdevelopmenthq.com image 300x187]

They didn't start there either.

Durendal: The first sight that greets you behind the wheel is a 17-inch touchscreen that fills the dash, eliminating almost all the buttons and knobs that clutter up most car interiors

Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

I have driven a Volvo truck with an automatic transmission. The pushbutton controls for it were on an arm of the driver's chair, like the captain's chair on Star Trek. Going from a 13-speed manual to a 10 speed auto like that was... interesting, but it only took a couple days to get used to the change. I can't imagine this would be any different.

Every time you get a new vehicle, you have to get acquainted with the controls. Turn on the lights-- no, that's the windshield wipers. The lights are on the dash itself. Except for the control for the brights, which are on this other wand. And where the fark did cruise control go to? Not that, that's the volume control on the radio, embedded into the steering wheel. Dammit.

It's real easy to criticize any new control layout, they all require a period of adjustment.

Dinki: Benevolent Misanthrope: Because if there's anything that spells "car company success", it's a price range in the 90th percentile of standard gasoline auto prices

Yeah no car company was ever successful selling mostly expensive cars.

[www.economicdevelopmenthq.com image 300x187]

Try again. BMWs don't start at 54K. Car companies that sell the number of cars Tesla is looking to sell at the price range Tesla is looking to sell them have other models at lower price points.

Dinki: Benevolent Misanthrope: Because if there's anything that spells "car company success", it's a price range in the 90th percentile of standard gasoline auto prices

Yeah no car company was ever successful selling mostly expensive cars.

[www.economicdevelopmenthq.com image 300x187]

Um...
There's a pretty big difference between "mostly" and "entirely".

Not to mention the fact that this isn't BMW, they don't have a track record. If I offered you a ... TreizePad that I feel just blows the iPad away, and show you how awesome it is (and it is awesome), how comfortable would you feel just buying it from me at the same or greater price point, with no guarantees that I will even be around to support it in 5 years?

revrendjim: doglover: haemaker: If you guys are taking your hands off the wheel, you have already failed.

I hope this is irony because anyone who can actually drive drives one handed at least most of the time. It's only hard turns that require two hands, even without power steering.

Yes, some of us still drive a manual.

In the 70's I learned to drive in a VW Beetle while shifting, clutching, passing a bong and holding a beer between my legs and changing 8track tapes and scraping the frost from the inside of the windscreen. What do I win?

But how is it around the Top Gear test track?

I work in Palo Alto & see Tesla cars almost daily so I'm getting a kick.

/the best reason to buy one

thesubliminalman: What do I win?

OLD AGE!

OtherLittleGuy: But how is it around the Top Gear test track?

The used '63 bug would have made it around the test track in slightly les than a day, it went zero to 60 in around 20 seconds. As for the cruise control, the long pedal on the floor, push it all the way down and hold it.

doglover: thesubliminalman: What do I win?

OLD AGE!

And this shiny, new onion with belt clip!

PvtHike: doglover: thesubliminalman: What do I win?

OLD AGE!

And this shiny, new onion with belt clip!

I just got a shiny new belt with an onion clip. Modernhigh tech shiat !

Got a chance to test drive a Mitsubishi iMEV at a green-auto show last weekend. I was driving along downtown streets, so I wasn't able to get it much faster than 20mph, but it handled like any other kind of car. Unfortunately, I didn't really pay attention to how responsive the acceleration was, which I really should have since electrics tend to have instant torque. But the ride was quite smooth.

Could have also test drove a Leaf, but I prefer sub-compacts to compacts.

/CSB

What an attractive and successful African American may look like.

haemaker: VictoryCabal: Durendal: Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

You're not the only one at all. It doesn't long to learn all the buttons in your car by feel, and then you can control every feature without ever taking your eyes of the road. Stupid, stupid idea, but it looks cool just like THE FUTURE so I think we're stuck with it.

If you guys are taking your hands off the wheel, you have already failed. Use the buttons on the steering wheel for the functions offered there, or voice commands, otherwise pull over.

1. Not all cars have controls on the wheel.
2. Not all cars have voice commands.
3. What about manual transmissions?
4. If you think I'm going to pull off the interstate just to adjust the heat on the defogger then you're bloody nuts.

Taking one hand off of the wheel to make a quick adjustment does not a lousy driver make.

Starts at 60k to save me 60 bucks a month? Nope. Didn't change my mind at all.

It's good that someone realized that the only people who ever bought the horribly inefficient Priuses were rich people with more money than sense, and knew that they could exploit that same market to get people to buy an even more useless and over priced hunk of junk.

Durendal: 3. What about manual transmissions?

What about manual transmissions? It's an electric car.

Durendal: 4. If you think I'm going to pull off the interstate just to adjust the heat on the defogger then you're bloody nuts.

Don't worry, it's soon going to be illegal to take it on the interstate, because it runs out of charge too quickly at those speeds and becomes a hazard to the other drivers.

Lost Thought 00: Don't worry, it's soon going to be illegal to take it on the interstate, because it runs out of charge too quickly at those speeds and becomes a hazard to the other drivers.

Trolling or just stupid?

Am I the only one who now wants a Subaru BRZ?

Dwight_Yeast: Lost Thought 00: Don't worry, it's soon going to be illegal to take it on the interstate, because it runs out of charge too quickly at those speeds and becomes a hazard to the other drivers.

Trolling or just stupid?

If you were to try and drive this car from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, You'd either find yourself on the side of the road or stuck spending the night at a gas station, depending how lucky you get with your timing and acceleration.

Lost Thought 00: Dwight_Yeast: Lost Thought 00: Don't worry, it's soon going to be illegal to take it on the interstate, because it runs out of charge too quickly at those speeds and becomes a hazard to the other drivers.

Trolling or just stupid?

If you were to try and drive this car from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, You'd either find yourself on the side of the road or stuck spending the night at a gas station, depending how lucky you get with your timing and acceleration.

Ah, so just stupid.

VictoryCabal: Durendal: Am I the only one that thinks this is a horrid idea? The whole point of physical buttons and knobs is that only a slight glance and the feel by hand can locate what you need with minimal eyes off the road. Not so with a touchscreen, especially if a small bump has you hitting the wrong button, and then you have to undo, go back, find the right one...I just can't see this as being a step forward.

You're not the only one at all. It doesn't long to learn all the buttons in your car by feel, and then you can control every feature without ever taking your eyes of the road. Stupid, stupid idea, but it looks cool just like THE FUTURE so I think we're stuck with it.

Damn. I put my bets on wall mounted keyboards being THE FUTURE.

The Prius will make you sniff your own ferts. This car will make you eat your own diarrhea.

Obviously, any car that doesn't cost at least a full year's pay isn't even worth driving.

unlikely: I can drive it from Denver to Albuquerque without an overnight stop to recharge?

Maybe, the 85 kW model has a 300 mile range and they plan to offer a setup to deliver a 1 hour full charge.

They randomly have one on the 2nd floor of Bellevue Square not far from the Microsoft and Apple stores, then they double down on the random by apparently having relatively young kids selling them. But if I was in the market for a $50k luxury sedan, given the amount of city driving I do, I would have to give the Tesla S a strong look.

Oh look it's this thread again....

Don't argue with the "well I can't drive it from x to y" without spending all night charging. There is NO distance they will find acceptable - if it was 12000 miles between charges they'd complain you can't drive it from the US to Europe because it doesnt float.

J. Frank Parnell: [img.izismile.com image 640x480]

/the best reason to buy one

...so you can attach a license plate to your plastic bumper that's made from oil?

haemaker:If you guys are taking your hands off the wheel, you have already failed. Use the buttons on the steering wheel for the functions offered there, or voice commands, otherwise pull over.

How am I supposed to change gears?

unlikely: I can drive it from Denver to Albuquerque without an overnight stop to recharge?

Honestly, how often do you drive more than 300 miles in a day? Do you own a full size truck and moving van, just for the one time a year you need it? Or do you rent one when you need it and own what works for 99.9% of trips?