# Teslas really are not great cars **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2025, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339 "2025-03-30T09:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/561 "2026-08-24T14:03:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you’re not cruising at 120, you’re eating the insides of your fronts and outsides of the rears. Good news, I’m _not_ eating my tires up in my normal, around-town driving! 😲 I was out late the other night; a Tesla pulls out from a luxury apartment complex, drives ¼ mile & pulls into the convenience store in front of me & over to the recharge station. He was still sitting there when I pulled out. Now I didn’t double back & go into said apartment complex to see if they had any chargers or if they were all full, but man that’s gotta suck, instead of charging overnight you gotta get dressed & go sit in a parking lot ffor 20 mins just so you can get to work in the morning. (yes, that’s a generic EV issue if you don’t have dedicated charging, not Tesla specific, but still it gotta suck if you come home late) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/562 "2026-08-24T15:15:31Z")
Unless a new spidey-sense is ESP, you packed a lot of assumptions into that post! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/563 "2026-08-24T15:47:18Z")
For most use cases, you’re going to really want charging at home or at work for an EV to make sense. There is one other possibility. A buddy of mine had a Tesla early on that came with free lifetime charging at Tesla stations. He had a standing weekly date with a friend of his with the same deal. They’d meet at a particular sports bar, plug in across the parking lot and get a burger and a beer or two. Last year he wrecked the car (not using FSD) and the deal went along with it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/564 "2026-08-24T15:51:31Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > . A buddy of mine had a Tesla early on that came with free lifetime charging at Tesla stations We have that deal. Probably hasn’t saved us a ton of money over the years, but it’s a great feeling to plug in and charge for free. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/565 "2026-08-25T16:56:45Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > We have that deal. Probably hasn’t saved us a ton of money over the years, but it’s a great feeling to plug in and charge for free. We get the free charging for (only) one year, and it’s great. Charging is quick at the super charger stations. Friends and family are trying to talk us into installing a charger at home. We’ve decided against it for now. After the one year free expires, we’ll reevaluate and see what we decide. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/566 "2026-08-25T17:22:46Z")
It’s almost double the cost to use a supercharger versus charging at home during off peak hours for me. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/567 "2026-08-26T15:46:21Z")
It’s usually four times it for me, but I live in the land of cheap power (and it’s the same price 24/7). For now. And probably not for long ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/568 "2026-08-30T01:04:59Z")
In the ongoing saga from a Tesla owner of the _actual_ things that make Teslas not great cars… Mixed with some things that do actually make them pretty great. The car has been putting up a “Restraint Control Module warning” for the last week or so. I put the car into service mode, with the super secret method of holding a finger on the “Model 3” label on the screen, and then typing “service” when the keyboard appeared. Service mode let me view the actual alerts and warnings going back weeks. I could see that the real alert was about the “Front left safety restraint system.” This is extremely common, and is almost always due to the connection inside the connector between the seat’s wiring harness and the belt tensioner going bad. (Photo below from Reddit). This is why Tesla is bad. A critical part of the safety system is held together by spot welding, or whatever, a stranded wire to a blade in a connector? Took my connector apart and the black wire was being held on by a single strand. So a single strand of a 22 gauge (or whatever) wire is supposed to set off an explosive to save my life? Anyway, I managed to break the black wire completely off disassembling the connector, and then managed to break off the grey wire, too. The grey one was at least connected by most of the strands. After some missteps with soldering gun\[1\], and the skill bonus from my departed Father-in-laws helping hand device, I made my roll and got the wires attached and the connector back together. Plugged everything back in and the error cleared. Below is a picture I’ve borrowed of someone else’s repaired connector. [![](https://preview.redd.it/h8794aof7qeb1.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=a8dcdcc77b3e0a3c2beaa474e50b124b12f65942) ](https://preview.redd.it/h8794aof7qeb1.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=a8dcdcc77b3e0a3c2beaa474e50b124b12f65942) * * * 1. how do I solder a loose connection inside my soldering gun? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/569 "2026-08-30T07:49:56Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > My Tesla is the best car I’ve ever had and it’s not even close. We are two months into our ownership of my wife’s 3 (our only Tesla) and we continue to love it. It is an excellent car, and its FSD, full self driving, works extremely well. It is truly amazing technology. My wife’s eyesight isn’t great and she uses FSD often, almost exclusively. I feel much safer with her ‘driving’ the 3 than if she were to be driving any other car, and it’s all thanks to FSD. The rest of the car is great, too. We got the performance model and its acceleration is fantastic. And its range is quite good too. Next month we’re driving to Huntington Beach for a long weekend, and that’s 400 miles one way, and we’re planning to take the 3. When I drive the 3 I tend to not use FSD. Early on I was using FSD a lot and it is very relaxing to do so. But I noticed that my driving skills were degrading so I’ve changed back to Bullitt-drive mode. I’ll occasionally use FSD, but mostly it’s me driving it when I’m driving the 3. Yeah, we do love this car. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/570 "2026-08-30T12:55:51Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I’ve changed back to Bullitt-drive mode. You mean like this? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lDp9M2IfUzM/maxresdefault.jpg "Bullitt - The Chase (1968)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDp9M2IfUzM&t=217) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/571 "2026-08-31T22:36:02Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > After the one year free expires, we’ll reevaluate and see what we decide. I have done “trickle” on 120V, which gives you 1kw, or about 3~6 miles for an hour of charging. I managed to get my Ariya from about 20% to 97% in a little less than 3 days. If you are doing 20 to 30 miles a day on average, trickle might be good enough.        My car came with a charging cord that fits either regular 120V or NEMA-14 240V. Having a 240V outlet is all you really need to have level-2 at home (which charges about 7 times faster on my car). But I still bought a charging unit, to save wear on the outlet.        Level-2 home charging really is the game changer. 2 hours of charging every night would have easily covered my daily commute, with room to spare – most cars you can set a charging schedule or charge limit right into the car, plug in and ignore it till you need it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/572 "2026-08-31T22:50:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > most cars you can set a charging schedule or charge limit right into the car, plug in and ignore it till you need it. Most models of Tesla are supposed to be always plugged in and set to a max of 80% charge. Of course you can pop that up to 100% prior to a long drive when you need it. The charge limit setting can be done on the app. You can also set the timing of when you charge to take advantage of only charging during cheaper utility rates if that’s a thing where you are. That can be set and overridden on the app as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/573 "2026-09-01T23:53:58Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > You mean like this? You know it! I used to live in San Francisco and I’ve been on those streets, including on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway where the chase ends at the west end. > [@eschereal](#): > > I have done “trickle” on 120V, which gives you 1kw, or about 3~6 miles for an hour of charging. I managed to get my Ariya from about 20% to 97% in a little less than 3 days. If you are doing 20 to 30 miles a day on average, trickle might be good enough. That’s what my wife did with her 2012 Nissan Leaf, the 1st generation, a very humble car. She only drives a few miles a day, less than 20, and that might be good enough for us. Yes, we’ve capped our charging on Three at 80%. That’s her chosen name for her car, Three. The car’s full, formal name is a reference to the Borg Collective: Three of Six, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Tesla. Since we bought Three, we feel that we’ve drank the Tesla Kool Aid like many others here in the SFBA CA have. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/574 "2026-09-02T11:55:07Z")
Bullitt, I like the names. What year is your M3P? Does it have the turn signal stalk? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/575 "2026-09-02T12:05:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The factory spec settings on BMWs are chosen so the tires run true at about 120mph. When the car is lifting a bit and there’s a lot of drag force on the fronts and drive force on the rears. If this is correct, then I conclude that anyone driving a BMW so that the tires run true according to factory specs should be in jail. We live in a real world populated by other cars and drivers and their families, pedestrians, and pets, not a race track. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/576 "2026-09-02T12:07:31Z")
You mean anyone driving not in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/577 "2026-09-02T12:08:17Z")
If this is true, it’s not crazy for a car to maximize its grip of the road when running at the highest plausible speed it might be driven. So long as it also works at normal speeds. You’re supposed to rotate the tires and all that. Oh, yeah, and you might briefly drive that speed in a safe and legal manner on the Autobahn. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/578 "2026-09-02T12:27:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You mean anyone driving not in Germany. No, I mean anyone driving anywhere. Parts of the Autobahn do have speed limits, and the parts that don’t, at least have _Richtgeschwindigkeit_, or advisory speed limits, that can lead to serious liability claims if the driver exceeding it is at fault in an accident. Additionally, I don’t think I’m making any major assumptions that BMWs are mostly driven on residential streets, country highways, and expressways that are not the Autobahn. The Autobahn’s advanced highway design isn’t reflective of highway design everywhere. And even there, research suggests that enforced speed limits would significantly reduce traffic accidents and fatalities: > **[Fewer Traffic Deaths with a Speed Limit of 75](https://news.rub.de/english/press-releases/2025-09-23-economics-fewer-traffic-deaths-speed-limit-75)** > > The first major study in almost 50 years shows that a highway speed limit would reduce fatal traffic crashes by over one third. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/579 "2026-09-02T12:47:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > You’re supposed to rotate the tires and all that. Tire rotation is pretty much dead, at least on performance cars. With radials, once they are mounted they take a set based on direction of rotation. Swapping them from left to right would have the tire rotating “backwards” compared to what it “got used to”. Not good. You totally can swap a front and rear as long as you keep them on the same side for the life of the tire. But … Further, most performance cars have different sized wheels and tires front to back. So you can’t mount what was a front tire on the back nor a back on the front. With the end result that modern tires on many cars can’t be swapped at all. The tire must spend its entire life on whichever corner of the car it started on. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339/580 "2026-09-02T12:52:39Z")
I’ll take your word for it because I have almost no experience with performance cars. I do know that Teslas aren’t performance cars. At least not the 3, the Y and the truck which are all that they make at the moment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teslas-really-are-not-great-cars/1016339.md?page=30)