Tesla – Page 2429 – I wish I had more to offer

Smooth

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Cars

Published on October 11th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Smooth

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

October 11th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

Since I got the Tesla Model 3 a month and a half ago, I’ve been trying to figure out a one- or two-sentence summary of the car. It’s been tough. I’m plagued by a few issues. For one, I’m used to communicating with people who know a ton about Tesla (you), whereas people in the “real world” are often not such people. It’s hard to know where to start. Secondly, I had a Model S for a while and I think my brain tries too hard to come up with something new and different for the Model 3 since it’s a different car. I think my typical response about how I liked the Model S was, “It’s awesome!” This second matter actually just came to mind as I started writing this, so maybe that will remove the mental block and I’ll start responding in that way again for the Model 3. It is hard to find a better word than “awesome” to describe the car.

A third issue is that I often just want to say it’s the best car you can imagine, the best car ever. However, “best” is not really a descriptor, it’s a ranking. Additionally, it’s a little ridiculous to make that claim and then not explain why it’s the best, but to explain why it’s the best would entail covering a bunch of different topics. Generally speaking, in these situations, I don’t think the other person really wants to hear a long monologue about a product they know nothing about. Being a totally crazed fanboy talking a million miles an hour is not a good look.

So, with “it’s the best,” I either make a wild claim that is so exuberant that it probably makes people nervous, or I start rambling and ranting for 5 minutes in a way that turns off the listener even more. Not the best options.

Internally, one way I’ve thought about the car is that it’s the most complete car out there. It just feels right because it’s so complete, is put together so thoughtfully and perfectly, is such an overall good package. That said, “complete” is another vague, useless term for someone who doesn’t really know from personal experience what I’m talking about. Yes, I think other Model 3 owners know what I’m trying to say when I say it’s the “most complete car” out there. Strangers on the street? Not so much.

Somehow, in recent days, one word finally popped into my head for how to describe the car — smooth. It drives so extremely smoothly. The user interface on the touchscreen is so brilliantly smooth. Autopilot is now a smoother driver than me. The exterior and interior design of the car is the definition of smooth. The car is a beautiful wonder. The app: smooth. The navigation: smooth. The air conditioning vents: smooth. It’s all smooth. The whole car is smooth.

That said, I’m sure some of you have already thought of this — if someone asks me how I like the car and I say, “Great! It’s so smooth,” they’re going to look at me like I’m a crazy person and probably walk swiftly in the opposite direction. Again, it’s a nice word for describing the car to people who have it or know it well, but it’s a horrid explanation for someone with little to no experience with a Tesla.

My conclusion is two-fold. First, I think it’d be appropriate to say, “It’s awesome! It’s so smooth, such a complete car — like nothing else out there.” Afterward, I can then ask them, “What do you care most about? What’s important for you in a car?” Depending on what they say, it’s very easily to highlight the car’s many benefits. You can talk about its record safety score, its wicked acceleration, its traction control and superb handling, its unmatched infotainment, its home charging and Supercharging capabilities, or other goodies. Inviting the listener to set the frame for the discussion is a good way to make sure your answer interests them, and you know the Model 3 is going to soundly defeat anything else in its price class.

Perhaps awesome is going to be the best way to talk about the car to a newbie asking me about it. However, for talking to myself in my head (it happens), the words that really capture the car best are now smooth and complete. These words represent the car in a useful way. They communicate the car and “life with the car” better than all of the other efforts to put the Model 3 into simple descriptive words.

Have another descriptor you love? Want to chime in about this whole smooth thing. We’ll see what happens as more features roll out.

If you’d like to buy a Tesla Model 3 and want 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, feel free to use my referral code: https://ts.la/zachary63404 — or use someone else’s if you have a friend or family member with a Tesla. I won’t cry.

About the Author

Zachary Shahan Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the CEO of Important Media. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.

Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA] — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in this company and feels like it is a good cleantech company to invest in. But he offers no investment advice and does not recommend investing in Tesla or any other company.

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

Driverless cars are stuck in a jam – The Economist

FEW IDEAS have enthused technologists as much as the self-driving car. Advances in machine learning, a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI), would enable cars to teach themselves to drive by drawing on reams of data from the real world. The more they drove, the more data they would collect, and the better they would become.… Continue reading Driverless cars are stuck in a jam – The Economist

Tesla Semi electric truck to be turned into mobile music studio by Deadmau5

Deadmau5, a DJ and music producer, announced that he is getting a Tesla Semi electric truck to turn into a mobile music studio for his 2021 tour. When launching Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker said that the production versions of electric truck, which is a class 8 truck with a 80,000-pound capacity, will have… Continue reading Tesla Semi electric truck to be turned into mobile music studio by Deadmau5

Tesla updates Model S cream interior

Tesla has made a rare update to its interior design options for the Model S. The Cream interior, which is now one of only three options available on Tesla’s flagship sedan, now has a contrasting floor. In 2017, Tesla started bundling interior finish options for the Model S and Model X in order to create curated… Continue reading Tesla updates Model S cream interior

Dyson cancels its electric car, refocuses remains toward solid-state batteries

Dyson, you might say, has gone back to the vacuum—and to many other things. But not cars.

In an update yesterday that now occupies what formerly was a teaser for the automotive project, James Dyson, the company’s founder, called the car they’d developed “fantastic,” yet explained that “though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply cannot make it commercially viable.”

James Dyson

Dyson pointed to a decision by the company’s board to, as he put it, “propose the closure” of the project.

“I wanted you to hear directly from me that the Dyson Board has therefore taken the very difficult decision to propose the closure of our automotive project,” said Dyson, who added: “This is not a product failure, or a failure of the team, for whom this news will be hard to hear and digest. Their achievements have been immense—given the enormity and complexity of the project.”

The project had been a shocker from the start. The company, well-established for its vacuums, emerged two years ago with news that it was working in earnest on a complete electric car, one with solid-state battery technology, advanced materials, new motor tech, and innovative packaging.

Dyson Automotive Manufacturing facility – Singapore – rendering

Dyson drew executives from Aston Martin and Tesla, and just earlier this year poached Infiniti President Roland Keueger. The company was planning to build a huge test-track facility as well as an office building, specifically for the project, that could accommodate 2,000 people.

The company acquired solid-state battery tech company Sakti3, and then walked away from that technology in favor of another one it has reportedly developed internally. It was also working on its own motor technology, and its first product was shaping up to look a lot like a Tesla Model X rival, albeit with fewer frills.

Patent drawing for Dyson electric car due in 2021

James Dyson emphasized that it will continue to expand its facilities in Malmesbury, Hullavington, and Singapore, among others, which had all been linked to automotive operations.

“We will also concentrate on the formidable task of manufacturing solid state batteries and other fundamental technologies which we have identified: sensing technologies, vision systems, robotics, machine learning, and AI offer us significant opportunities which we must grab with both hands,” said Dyson.

Startup electric automakers: Be forewarned. It isn’t easy. But there might be some good solid-state battery opportunities, and motor designs available for licensing.

Dyson scraps plans for electric car

Dyson, the technology company best known for its vacuum cleaners, has scrapped a project to build electric cars. The firm, headed by British inventor Sir James Dyson, said its engineers had developed a “fantastic electric car” but that it would not hit the roads because it was not “commercially viable”. In an email sent to… Continue reading Dyson scraps plans for electric car

Toyota does electrification backward, unveils RAV4 PHEV when it issued to have all-electric version

Toyota has unveiled a new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the RAV4 for 2021 – showing that it is doing electrification backward since it used to have an all-electric RAV4 SUV more than a decade ago. The Japanese automaker was early to the hybrid game with the Prius, but where most automakers moved to plug-in… Continue reading Toyota does electrification backward, unveils RAV4 PHEV when it issued to have all-electric version

Closer look at Tesla’s new Model 3 Sports aerodynamic wheels for China

A set of Tesla’s new Model 3 Sports aerodynamic wheels for the Chinese market has made it to the US and it might make a few owners jealous. With the Model 3, Tesla has spent a lot of efforts on its wheel development. The standard wheel is an 18″ with aerodynamic caps to cover the… Continue reading Closer look at Tesla’s new Model 3 Sports aerodynamic wheels for China

Tesla Model 3 Almost Tops Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV In Sales In Sweden

14% of new passenger car sales in Sweden were plug-ins and Tesla Model 3 is almost on the top of the list. September was another great month for plug-in electric cars in Sweden, where 3,518 new registrations were recorded (up 52% year-over-year). The market share of 14% is outstanding and close to the all-time record… Continue reading Tesla Model 3 Almost Tops Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV In Sales In Sweden

New Tesla Model 4 And Future Tesla SUV Rendered To Life By Jalopnik

These renders are far from real, but that’s the point. The future Tesla SUV certainly won’t look even the slightest bit like this. And, believe it or not, that’s the whole point. Our pals over at Jalopnik called us out on our recent Tesla truck render (image down below) and we found Jalopnik’s take on the… Continue reading New Tesla Model 4 And Future Tesla SUV Rendered To Life By Jalopnik