It is not like I pay much attention, but are car model years still a thing? It seems Tesla does not have them. Also I see some current car models are being discontinued just about now, the “right” time for model year changes. I suppose some new models are starting up about now too.
But are car model years still important?
Here’s a 2023 Tesla Model 3.
2023 Honda
2023 Ford
Have you checked manufacturer’s websites to answer your question? Is there a specific manufacturer(s) that appear to following this trend you’re noticing? It’s not something I’ve noticed or heard any mention of one way or the other.
Car manufacturers don’t necessarily adhere to the schedule that they did, decades ago, when they’d usually introduce most (if not all) of their new model year cars together, in the fall; introductions of the “new model year” may be spaced out over the course of the year.
However, as @Joey_P already noted, most, if not all, still absolutely do refer to a “model year” for each of their models.
More examples, all of which list the model year prominently on the model’s home page:
2023 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray: 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray | Sports Car
2023 Mazda CX-5: 2023 Mazda CX-5 – Redesigned Crossover SUV | Mazda USA
2023 BMW 5 Series sedan: 2023 BMW 5 Series Executive Midsize Sedan
BTW, my understanding is that traditionally, new models were introduced in September and that was why the television networks started their new seasons then, so that they could show the advertising from the auto manufacturers.
I was always under the impression they (TV networks) started new seasons in the fall because it was when kids were going back to school, the summer (and staying light out much later) winding down and people are starting to settle back into a routine that makes dedicating a portion of the day to watching TV much easier.
Of course with streaming services (and to a lesser extent DVR’s showing up about 15-20 years ago), a lot of that’s been tossed out the window.
Exactly.
I found a cite which suggests that automakers introduced their new models then, to take advantage of high TV viewership, rather than vice-versa. It also suggests:
https://www.toyotaarlington.com/blog/why-do-car-model-years-come-out-early/
From the article:
Unlike most automakers, Tesla does not follow a conventional model year update cadence. What could be considered the 2023 Model 3 gets faster processors for its infotainment system.
Tesla doesn’t advertise model years on their order site. They do make changes of course; they just aren’t synchronized to years. One advantage is that it reduces the effect of people waiting for some year-to-year improvement. You don’t know exactly which version you’ll get.
I think I remember hearing that a while back. Just one more reason to always think of Tesla as the Apple of the EV world (or in this case, car world). Always have to be incompatible with everyone else.
Side note: I don’t own anything Apple, due in part because I didn’t want to be restricted to their ecosystem. That was also part of reason why I got a non-Tesla EV. But part of me thinks that maybe I should get the ‘mainstream’ version this time. While the lack of restrictions is nice, as an Android user in an Apple dominated enviroment, I feel like a lefty in a world designed for righties.
They haven’t changed the body of the Model 3 since it was introduced. Nor the Y. That makes identifying Teslas in the field easy.
I bicycle a lot and one of the things I do to keep my mind busy is to count the EVs I see. On a typical ride I might see a couple dozen Teslas and maybe 6 or 8 other makes. But I’m probably missing a good chunk of those other makes because I have trouble identifying them. And that’s mostly due to the manufacturers changing their bodies so often. For example, I can spot some years of Nissan Leafs, but not all. So unless I see the word LEAF on the back, I miss them. The same with Chevy Bolts.
That’s surprising to me. These are quite obviously the same car to my eyes:
https://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/chevrolet/bolt-ev/2023/oem/2023_chevrolet_bolt-ev_4dr-hatchback_2lt_fq_oem_1_1280.jpg
That’s a 2017 vs. 2023 Bolt. Sure, they tweaked a few things here and there, but 95% of it is the same, right down to the door creases.
I don’t think they’re going out of their way to be incompatible–it’s just that they’ve adopted an “agile” development methodology, the way the majority of software is developed today. Smaller changes, more frequently. It has upsides and downsides, but it is generally faster.
Of course, just as with software, eventually people demand a “major version” upgrade; it’s just not necessarily synchronized to years or anything.
Actually, with the Bolt it’s more that Chevy makes several different small cars (mostly made in Korea) and they look similar enough that I can’t tell them apart without seeing the name on them. The earlier Bolts had the name on the side, just in front of the doors, but they took that off for later models.
The thing is, I look for distinctive features to identify cars, and most cars do not have distinctive enough features. Nowadays I can identify Teslas without seeing the logo, but when I first started to look for EVs, I had to see the logo. There’s a few other cars that have a similar shape and it took me a year or so before I could reliably tell the difference.
Thank you all. I suppose the answer is “Less now than in earlier times.”
Yeah, for many practical reasons it’s not quite really worth it for many makers to make truly distinctive changes to a model year-by-year. Too expensive and requiring too much development lead-time. The thing to do since the late 20th century has been to have each “generation” of a model line be virtually the identical profile through its run, with a general refresh halfway through, and only very minor cosmetic variation, if any, or upgrades to systems, not really visible to the naked eye year by year; while in the past you could have conspicuous elements of the look, even the visible shape and size of the vehicle, or major function features, noticeably change every year in a manner worth mentioning. But if now the main difference between your 2022 and your 2021 is that the driving safety systems package is now standard in all but the cheapest version, or that there’s no more manual transmission option, it’s not really something to trumpet loudly.
For me, the thing that jumps out at me on most EVs is the lack of, or very minimal, front grill. On some cars, as seen in Dr Strange’s pictures a few posts up, it even has the look of a regular ICE car with a piece retrofitted to close it off.
I’ve got a Niro EV with a front end like this, and people often notice it. I get a lot of people walking past my car that keep looking at the front end, I assume, trying to work out what’s going on with it.
I’ll rebut that with this:
And that’s not to mention that their superchargers which are both everywhere (IME far out numbering EVSEs for non-teslas) while also not being compatible with non-teslas. I don’t even think I could charge my non-tesla there with an adapter. Granted, my information may be outdated as I’ve never needed to charge away from home and I know they were talking about unlocking them and providing adapters. However, a few years ago, one of the big box grocery stores near me put in bank of 10 Tesla charges which is rarely more than half full and they’re currently installing a set of non-tesla charges right next to it. I’d be willing to bet whoever is paying for these non-tesla chargers wouldn’t be laying out, what, $100k+ if people could just use the tesla charger literally 20 feet away.
Start around 18:09 if you want to see Technology Connections complain about the Tesla EVSEs being proprietary when everyone else uses the same one.
Still reminds me of apple. Even before the lightening connector, I heard countless reports of non-apple USB cords that wouldn’t work with iPhones. And now, of course, we have the lightening connector which doesn’t even pretend to be compatible with anything else.
Like showing up at my house with your tesla, if you walk in and need to charge your cell phone, I’ve got a bazillion random USB cords laying around but nothing to charge an Apple product with.
Some manufacturers have a consistent system for each model. The Toyota Rav 4 undergoes a new generation every 4 years with a refresh halfway through. My 2021 is a fifth generation with the 2021 refresh. So 2023 should be a new model.
I also note that manufacturers make major changes as required. I am sometimes asked to provide the VIN when looking for replacement parts. The person at the counter will ask, “Is the 11th character a K or J?” as just the year was not specific enough.
I formerly owned a 2011 KIA Sorento. In that case there was no 2010 model. The new version was so different that Kia began selling the 2011 model in 2010. That’s when they dropped the truck-based version and began building the car-based platform.
I wonder if that’s just a way to make absolutely sure they don’t sell you the wrong part. FWIW, J is model year 2018 and K is model year 2019 (10th character, not 11th). Does that change independently of the advertised model year? I always assumed parts departments have probably had too many times where I customer installed a part that didn’t work because they gave the wrong model year by accident. Other digits can denote other specific things like transmission or engine. And then if you open your glove compartment (usually where it’s located) you’ll find a sticker full of random looking numbers and letters, those RPO codes will tell you just about everything regarding the specifics of your car.
A couple things:
Recently, Tesla has opened up their charging standard to others:
https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard
So far, there are a couple of small takers (Aptera and Bollinger), but no big names yet. Regardless, technically speaking the Tesla connector is now the most widespread North American DC charging standard (due to the sheer number of installed ports).
That’s not a problem for a Tesla. They can all do Level 2 charging with an adapter. It’s only the other way that’s a problem (showing up at a Tesla owner’s house with a non-Tesla EV).
The same Tesla connector works for level 2 (around 8kW, home charging 240V ~40A) and for Level 3 fast charging (usually half an hour for a full charge, typically 150kW to 250kW, 350V or so) . My Tesla home charger will charge almost any vehicle that supports J1772 standard, using the simple plug adapter - or the other way, I can charge off J1772, using the adaptor that comes with the car. I have a ChaDemo adapter to fast charge, same plug as a Nissan Leaf, but the current and faster non-Tesla standard is CCS1. Starting in 2020 or so, Teslas supported CCS1 - just need a simple plug adaptor. My older Tesla (late 2018) requires an upgrade to the ECU power board, so a few hundred dollars. However, there are still (until Biden gets his plans going) a lot more Tesla fast chargers out there. Also, most of the new ones are going to be CCS1 rather than the current combo CCS1/ChaDemo, so Nissan drivers will be out of luck.
From what I’ve seen, new Tesla chargers are built with a few non-tesla CCS1 pedestals so they qualify for the government subsidies for installing the infrastructure.
The biggest hassle is payment. You would think it would be simple, swipe your credit card and away you go like a gas pump. With non-Tesla chargers, it isn’t. Every one is different, memberships, weird costing practices, different network memberships, pre-pays, etc. Worse yet, “out of order” or flakey connections seem to be a problem. At least with Tesla on the Tesla network, they communicate with the charger and the card on file with Tesla is charged for the charging. (…?) For non-Teslas, when they get this compatibility going - there’s a suggestion that Tesla has a special design of adapter for the plug end, and you use an app to tell the charging system “Hey, that’s me on the Podunk City charger, stall 3” and it will cost it to the card you have on file with Tesla. (because their chargers have no payment interface on the pedestal)
As a user of Apple products, I have all of them - still in use; old big plug for 2 iPads, 2 old iPhones and an ancient iPod, small lightning connector for 2 iPads and 4 iPhones, including my current ones. Plus assorted versions of USB for a Samsung tablet, a bunch of induction chargers (for iPhones) assorted phone charger banks (oh, one is USB C), speakers, a bluetooth keyboard, and a toy helicopter. ANd assorted other stuff.
What’s that bit about - “the good thing about standards is there are so many”?
I suspect a lot of it is that the EVs are relying on their powertrains as their distinguishing feature, not styling, internal features, etc… So there’s not a lot of pressure to innovate from year to year in the classic way. People are interested in buying a new Tesla because they want a Tesla, not because they’re intrigued with the 2023 Tesla features vs. the 2022 features.
Meanwhile, gas vehicles are going along much the same as they always have; some years there are dramatic changes, others have nearly none.
