Scared to ask... anyone tempted by Model S Plaid?

[Vim Schrotnock]

The thing I find most interesting about what Tesla is doing is their rate of change. These guys are blindingly quick in introducing new features and 'upgrading' their cars. I think part of this is they don't have the 'legacy culture' that even Porsche has to deal with. As I heard from one CEO of a major company recently "...I and my entire executive staff get the importance of 'this' (a new technology that every company in the field needs to adopt), but getting someone 7 levels down who had done things the same way for 30 years is the tough part."

I wouldn't discount this as a major advantage of a company like Tesla. Remember, Japanese cars were crap when they started out, but they didn't have all the legacy stuff the major carmakers are dealing with now. Porsche is absolutely the best of the major manufacturers on being able to design a fantastically responsive car that connects the driver to the road. They are also one of the best at quality and quality control. But with EV's, I'm not sure they will be able to maintain their superiority, because there are a lot of folks that can design really sophisticated suspension, steering and braking systems, and that's pretty much all you need to think about in terms of connectivity. In terms of quality, Porsche is at the top from a mechanical standpoint, but as we move more into software controlled functions, I think they are in trouble...

 

[XLR82XS]

Remember, Japanese cars were crap when they started out, but they didn't have all the legacy stuff the major carmakers are dealing with now.

Not really. Look at the Honda S600....

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

Not really. Look at the Honda S600....

My comment was not relative to a single car, but the Japanese auto industry in the 50's and 60's. Overall, the Japanese car industry suffered tremendously in the 1950's and 60's from very poor quality and reliability. You can read all sorts of articles etc. on this, and much of their turnaround is credited to Edwards Deming, who was ignored by the US auto industry.

 

[kreshi]

My comment was not relative to a single car, but the Japanese auto industry in the 50's and 60's. Overall, the Japanese car industry suffered tremendously in the 1950's and 60's from very poor quality and reliability. You can read all sorts of articles etc. on this, and much of their turnaround is credited to Edwards Deming, who was ignored by the US auto industry.

Sounds like Tesla to me