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A bit of Tesla - Lotus history

5K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  wfink 
#1 ·
#3 ·
If I ever go electric, the Tesla/Elise roadster would be #1 on my list. They seem to retain their value relatively well and rarely come up for sale.

BTW, it is only me who thinks Tesla simply took the Eterne, put on a plexiglass "grill" and re-badged it as their Model S? The similarities are too coincidental.
 

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#4 ·
I spoke to a few Roadster owners - I'm a little surprised by the range loss (on the order of like 30%) some reported after like 36k miles (which is apparently a lot).
 
#6 ·
I took a test drive last night on both the 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive variants of the Model S, because my 82 year old mother wants to buy one. I was very impressed by the build quality and handling the 2.5 ton car. The ride quality and engineering is superb. By the looks of the exposed chassis, I think Tesla simply grafter suspension parts from a S class to an all aluminum platform - reminds me of the custom built slot car chassis from the late 60s.
 

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#12 ·
That turns me off about Tesla. Same as the Apple phenomenon. Even if the product sucks we "believe" it is the best because it's Tesla, Apple, etc.

They have come up with some cool stuff, but the battery technology is still decades away from being viable for most of us non-urban lifestyle people. I think electric cars have a place in the car-scape but certainly it's not the end-all be-all solution that the electric car "religion" people tout it to be, and probably never will be.

Also Tesla's progress has been at great taxpayer expense and the company is still very financially unstable. I once read a great summary about Tesla - "Tesla is a car built by a billionaire, For millionaires, paid for by the middle class taxpayer who will never be able to afford one."
 
#9 ·
gray:
was actually little surprised by the poor build quality of a loaner (with only 1200 miles on it) we had when our car was in for service. For example, this was the driver's side door panel fitment (with the door fully shut!):
I should have been more specific about the build quality: I didn't pay much attention to the panel fit, the paint looked reasonably free of orange peel and the interior was nicely done. I only had a half hour allotted to test drive for each model. I was a little taken back by the sales Nazi who would not allow me to deviate from his "test drive circuit" and take it on the roads of my choice. If this car was for me - that would have been the end of the conversation; but since the car is for my mother, I grinned and drove the exact country club street circuit twice. The rear wheel drive felt better than the very heavy steering feel of the 4 wheel drive; the best part was the acceleration - it felt like my M5 E39, but without the noise.
 
#10 ·
gray:


I should have been more specific about the build quality: I didn't pay much attention to the panel fit, the paint looked reasonably free of orange peel and the interior was nicely done. I only had a half hour allotted to test drive for each model. I was a little taken back by the sales Nazi who would not allow me to deviate from his "test drive circuit" and take it on the roads of my choice. If this car was for me - that would have been the end of the conversation; but since the car is for my mother, I grinned and drove the exact country club street circuit twice. The rear wheel drive felt better than the very heavy steering feel of the 4 wheel drive; the best part was the acceleration - it felt like my M5 E39, but without the noise.
The steering weight is selectable - perhaps the cars were setup differently.
 
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