Problems Of Tesla Owners
Originally published on EV Obsession.
The life of Tesla owners can really be tough. There are a lot of problems Tesla owners face after getting the car. As an example, a Missouri lady on the Tesla Motors Club forum recently lamented that her husband keeps making fun of her while they are on vacation. I’ll let her own words explain:
We’re on vacation and my husband keeps making fun of me because I keep forgetting to lock the car. And several times I’ve gotten out of the car and left it running.
And on top of that I’ve nearly rear ended several cars, because I have no regen.
Vacation isn’t nearly as much fun without my Tesla.
Can’t wait to pump gas (heavy sarcasm)!
Ah, life can be tough. I feel for Liz G, and all the other Tesla owners out there who sometimes have to rent crappy gasmobiles.
In all seriousness, since the internet is a funny place where ton of voice is completely absent, I’m definitely not making fun of Liz G’s “troubles.” Rather, like her, it’s the out-of-date nature of so many non-Teslas and non-EVs, in general, that I want to highlight. The world is changing, as it always does. Teslas and EVs, in general, are better vehicles. These are just some of the small things that better, but the story is a good way to highlight something so many EV owners know: going back to a gasoline-powered car is, indeed, going backwards.
We’ve all experience it with one thing or another. Going back to a crappy PC after buying an Apple computer, using an old phone instead of our smartphone (I actually use an old phone, as I have almost no use of a smartphone, but I assume that many people find these things very useful and panic when they are without theirs), etc. As time marches on, more and more people realize that they can never go back to enjoying a gasmobile.
These troubles also echo stories I’ve heard of EV owners not on vacation. Many times, a household has two cars and one of them becomes an EV (a Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S, or even Chevy Volt). It doesn’t take long for the spouse who stuck with the gasmobile to realize that the other car is much nicer to drive. The person who originally “got” the EV ends up not being able to drive it… thanks to the spouse confiscating it. The solution? Buy another EV, of course!
Image Credit: Zachary Shahan | EV Obsession | CleanTechnica (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Reprinted with permission.
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That’s my situation. The family SUV sits in the driveway when my Smart ED is available to drive. Meaning, the two seat micro-EV is the preferred car over a luxury Mercedes SUV. Looking forward to selling the Merc and buying a Tesla, it’s only a matter of time/price.
Thanks. This is what so many people don’t get. The Tesla Model S is wonderful, but the benefits of electric cars in general make any electric a fun and smooth drive. Hopefully it won’t take too long for people to catch on.
Never underestimate the ignorance of the general American public
You should make that sentence into a meme. Gave me a chuckle.
As a fellow Tesla owner I can relate. Once recently while renting an ICE vehicle, I came out of a store only to find that I had left the vehicle unlocked and running.
Crappy PC vs Apple computer… plz, Hipster comment… Grow up, you snob
Humor much?
That’s what I used to think of Apple fans… until I realized I had been living in the stone ages. Honestly, if you work on a computer all day (like I do), there’s a dramatic difference, and it’s a nightmare to go back to a PC, which I have to do here & there for things.
First off, to whatever extent you practice it over there, hope you had a happy Turkey day or Tofurkey day, according to your tastes. 😀
Now as to the Apple comparison, just not sure if you should have gone there. I don’t disagree that their computers are very usable for some situations, and still have a couple from back in my working days when they were the standard with some properties/companies. But to say that they are the ultimate for all situations and people just isn’t true. To me it kind of compares with trying to replace my old diesel one ton truck with an EV, yes it is possible, there are now options for doing so, but at a cost that makes it very impractical for the 10-15 times a year that it is used. In the same way that my home network and security camera system is run by a home modified PC running Linux, yes at quite a bit of expense it could be replaced with an Apple model. Doing so would also open me up to a much higher hazard of attack or hacking because of the higher prevalence of Apple systems. This has been seen with acquaintances that use Apple computers for music and video production on a professional scale, they do like the ease with which their work can be done, but have just as many complaints about the cost and hassle of implementing upgrades and or new software.
My computer use experience comes from an almost forty year progression through Cobalt, Unix, Linux, and now mainly Android, with a fair share of Microsoft and Apple along the way. So while I don’t disagree that the sheer bloat of Windows on a PC platform can cause more issues than practicality, for some people it does do what they want, and that is really what is important.
I am glad that your Apple computer does what you want in the situation that you are in, but that doesn’t make it the most practical solution for all people in all situations. So it seems that your comment in comparison to an EV over ICE is more likely just to stir up a flame war like the Fanbois over on Computerworld get into.
My biggest problem with the Macs is the they are becoming less and less DIY friendly. I admit they provide a better user experience. However I like to be in control. Call me old-fashioned but my screen broke (accident) on my laptop I fixed with a $50 screen I bought on Amazon. My fan broke – ditto. My PC is 4 years old and I expect the only other significant moving part , my hard drive to go bad soon but then I know what to do. It is everything glued nature of Apple products that bothers me. As a sustainability advocate I believe in making things last. It is strange for people on this forum to advocate Apple products because they are far from eco-friendly.
With Zach’s comment I think it was really just from a software perspective, so that was how I addressed it, the hardware issue is a whole different ball of wax as they put it.
But from my experience starting 15-20 years ago it was difficult when possible, and then very expensive to try and upgrade Mac equipment.
Having just come back in response to your comment I see by all the others posted that the flame wars have begun, which is really kind of silly. With computers and software it is possible for people to use whatever works best for them, which to me is great because not everyone’s head works the same, just like software.
What does this have to do with Tesla Model S?
Nothing. We just happen to take a detour down the well trodden Mac Vs PC path when it was brought up as an analogy.
Maybe in your single user world, as a redactor… But when you work in an enterprise (thousands of users), and you must maintain/support/deploy/upgrade thousands of desktops everyday, PC is the ONLY way to go. You don’t have the vision of someone working as an I.T. professional (no offense, sorry), you think as a guy using his mac, in his home office, drinking StarBucks, and doing Facetime with your girlfriend…
Sorry 😉
i work in IT. A Mac is ideal for developers and everyone for that matter. We are moving more and more people onto Macs as they are so much more productive on them.
Again, you only think on the user side. Developers are “artists” (without sarcarsm) working with a computer. I’m talking about infrastructure people, does who supports the networks, servers, workstations, appliances… In this world, you can’t have serious tools or management possibilities on mac. Only on Windows/Linux/Solaris. Mac is a beautiful, refined device. But MacOS doesn’t do well with a infrastructure where you must applies policies to desktop… Active Directory (or LDAP on linux/solaris), Intel vPro, “enterprise applications”, doesn’t exists on Mac.
Mac is good for a bunch of users in a small office (less than 100 users). Where I work, we have 5000 users, my everyday, complex job can’t happen on a mac.
For business software development, I don’t know of an environment that is more productive that Microsoft .NET.
“Microsoft .NET”
that is your problem. There is a reason the big boys don’t use proprietary Microsoft platforms…
You said Apple was more productive, but now you are moving the goalpost to include concerns about targeting a particular platform. For sure, you are not developing everything from scratch, so I assume your company is only using open-source software (not really Apple’s philosophy, BTW), which should hardly be considered safer in the long run. Another possibility is that you are just bashing MS, but that is so yesterday. Hint: people have long since moved on.
Jim,
You might be interested in http://cleantechnica.com/2014/12/14/truth-teslas-demand/
100% agree. Microsoft Windows is terrible.
Glad to know I’m not the only Tesla owner who forgets to turn off a gas car, or has to jam on the breaks because I’m expecting regen braking to kick in. We are a two car family – one EV and one ICE. Looking forward to being fully EV one day.
Personally I’d suggest throwing in a “non” into the title so it becomes “The Non-Problems Of Tesla Owners” or something along those lines. Otherwise people in favour of drowning people might just read the headline, experience a wicked thrill of schadenfreude, and then move on without reading further. And heaven knows we wouldn’t want that.
Undeniable Facts About Tesla Motors:
PART 1
* Elon Musk did not create Tesla Motors. Elon Musk took over Tesla Motors and was sued for fraud by the actual founder.
* Senator Dianne Feinstein arranged for Tesla Motors to get free State & Federal funding along with Solyndra. She, and her family, received stock benefits, HR contracts, construction contracts, supplier contracts, staff jobs and sales contracts for her efforts.
* Tesla cars can be remotely hacked, and taken over, from anywhere in the world per a 60 Minutes, Fox & MSNBC newscast.
* A Tesla suddenly swerved off a cliff in Sonoma, California and killed the driver.
* A Tesla swerved into a bicyclist near Santa Cruz, California and killed the rider.
* A Tesla crashed into a wall in Los Angeles, California and killed the driver.
* A Tesla in California swerved into oncoming traffic and killed the oncoming occupants.
* Tesla has been sued for homicide.
* Tesla has been sued for fraud many times.
* Elon Musk has been sued for fraud many times.
* Tesla employees have been burned alive.
* The batteries in the Tesla were never designed to be used in automobiles.
* Tesla batteries are so sensitive that they can ignite and explode if they become wet or are knocked. Over 2000 published technical papers and lab test videos prove this as fact. Fisker, is out of business because millions of dollars of it’s cars, using the same lithium ion battery solution, got wet and burned into slag heaps.
* The U.S. FAA has issued a film and report that proves that Tesla batteries can not only spontaneously ignite but also explode like a bomb.
* Tesla’s have been recalled, at least, twice for starting fires. One time the battery chargers needed to be replaced for starting fires. The other time the entire floor of all of the cars needed a titanium shield to help reduce fires from bumps.
* After claiming that sales in China would save Tesla, Tesla only sold 120 cars and had to fire it’s Chinese staff. China sees Tesla as a conduit to Obama’s funding and not only wants to cut off his funding but even got their university to demonstrate how easily the Tesla can be hacked.
* The primary beneficiaries of Tesla were the campaign backers of the first Obama campaign.
* Elon Musk had to divorce one ex-wife twice and per her two different hush-money amounts.
* Tesla has been sued for “Lemon Law” violations which stated that the car was shoddilylt by inexperienced workers.
* Per Federal MSDS documents, when the Tesla batteries are on fire, they release toxic smoke which can give the occupants and by- standers brain cancer, liver cancer and toxilogical poisoning.
* Fire Departments are ordered to wear the highest level of HazMat gear when dealing with a Tesla on fire.
* Tesla booked it’s free state and federal tax credits as “profit” when it issued it’s investor reports.
* Tesla was caught sending emails to its staff and potential buyers stating that it wanted to book potential sales as fully received revenue.
* Tesla has paid bloggers to act as “meat puppet” promoters on the web to make it appear that there is a large group of supporters when, in fact, these “meat puppets” are hired shills.
* Tesla investors have personal, and financial relationship,s with CBS Bay Area, Reddit, Google, San Jose Mercury News, Hearst Corporation, and other media outlets, and forbid them from publishing negative articles about Musk or Tesla.
* Google investors and staff own part of Tesla.
* Tesla analysts have engaged in the process called “pumping the stock.”
* Tesla is so frightened of owners publicly disclosing the many problems with the car that they require buyers to sign non-disclosure agreements.
* Every major Tesla investor was a campaign contributor.
* At the time that the U.S. Department of Energy was reviewing Tesla’s application for funding, Tesla was technically bankrupt, as disclosed by Tesla staff, and had the worst debt-ratio of any applicant. According to the federal section 136 law, this made it illegal to give Tesla the money but they were given the money based on “special orders”.
* At the time that the U.S. Department of Energy was reviewing Tesla’s application for funding, Erick Strickland of the NHTSA was reviewing documents that said that the Tesla batteries would explode. He later quit the NHTSA on 48 hours notice.
* 80% of the Tesla investors owned stock interest in Afghanistan lithium and indium mining used for Tesla and Solyndra. As of 1/1/15, The Afghan war has cost U.S. taxpayers $6 Trillion.
* Without free non-competitive federal cash and credits, in a fair-market layout with special-interest protections, Elon Musk’s 3 companies would not exist today.
* No documentation, for buyers of the Tesla, ever disclosed the fire danger, hacking danger or lethal fumes toxicity issues.
* Panasonic, the maker of the Tesla battery cells, has been charged with corruption, price fixing, dumping and the deaths of thousands of it’s employees in battery factories and nearby towns, from toxic materials.
* Elon Musk spends more per month, on personal PR and promotion than any other billionaire in America.
* On 60 Minutes, while Elon Musk was being interviewed about his rockets, he cried when the interviewer told him that real astronauts thought he was a poser. So far, Space X has had three times more explosionsand failures tha NASA ever had in the same point in their agency history.
* When part of NASA’s budget was gutted and many NASA staff were fired, Space X immediately received a contract for the same services that had just been curtailed at NASA.
* The NUMMI plant, that Tesla took over, next door to Solyndra, was said to “not ever be a possibility for Tesla to use” in the news, by Elon Musk. Dianne Feinstein arranged for Tesla to use NUMMI and told NUMMI workers they would all be employed. Most were not hired and Tesla hired off-shore workers to replace many of them.
* There are thousands of news articles online that charge that Tesla Motors was funded as a political kickback operation and that it was about skimming the funding fees more than building the cars.
* Even though the federal funding discouraged applicants from using taxpayer money to build buildings, due to the glut of empty factories, in America, at the time, Tesla tried to build buildings in multiple cities, got sued for fraud by some of the cities and then went to NUMMI. In every city deal, the property rights deals were designed as tax write-off profits for Tesla investors.
* Tesla owners have blogged about over 150 defects with the car ranging from noise, to thermal issues, to range issues to get getting locked in the car and getting locked out of the car.
* Goldman Sachs was involved in every part of the Tesla deals. Goldman Sachs is under investigation by Congress, and others for minerals commodity manipulations of minerals used in Solyndra and Tesla. Solyndra Afghan chemicals, in the Solyndra solar tubes spontaneously caught fire when installed on roof-tops.
* Elon Musk once spied on all of his employees by sending each one a different email with a slightly different secret in it to try to find out who was ratting him out.
* Tesla told the U.S. Department of Energy, in it’s writtem submission, that their car would cost 40% less and sell 2000% more than it actually did.
* Tesla had no actual design for the Model S when it submitted it’s materials to the U.S. Department of Energy. What was submitted by Tesla was artists ideas. Tesla then used the taxpayer money to figure out what it was going to do. The Tesla Model S has no engineering it in that was submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy.
* Bright Automotive, a competing applicant against Tesla in the Department of Energy funding, beat Tesla on every financial and engineering metric and had more customers demanding the car yet Bright Automotive got sabotaged by DOE staff because Bright did not make campaign contributions.
* Most of the Department of Energy “reviewers” had a financial and/or political connection to Tesla Motor’s investors.
* Tesla Motors staff had personal relationships with all of the key White House staff of the first Obama White House. They all quit the White House mid-term.
* Emails and whistle-blower documents reveal that White House staff coordinated the Department of Energy Funding and that Steven Chu had a personal relationship with almost every Tesla investor and advisor. Steven Chu’s nomination documents are mostly authored by Tesla investors and their associates.
* During the Tesla application process with the DOE, the Tesla design was $200,000.00, PER CAR, overbudget, yet this was not disclosed. It was hidden in the documents.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2…
Looks to me that we’ve got a pile of bits and pieces packaged in a deceitful manner. I’m going to leave this up for a while and let more knowledgeable people take a look at it but I suspect it violates the site ban on post FUD.
The Tesla owners who “died in a fire” were killed in a small plane crash.
There were two Tesla fires caused by running over large pieces of metal in the road. The cars were recalled and a protective shield installed.
Tesla cars have apparently been hacked. But the juxtaposition of hacking and the list of “swerved” events seems to be designed to attribute accidents to hacking. Someone want to deal with that one?