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Who is a Stereotypical Tesla owner?

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JonG

Banned
Aug 16, 2015
489
288
UK
I read the forum with interest while I wait the long 4 months to get my car in the UK and some things surprise me. The main one is I can't work out what or who the typical owner is.

A couple of examples - there's the debate about "what if you lose your phone" - Anyone who's a technology early adopter (and given the car its reasonable to assume you might need to be) has presumably been dealing with this for a while. I'd be less worried about my car given my phone can access my bank account, I have confidential documents from work, it tracks my location and so on, all things I've rationalised and managed for some time.

Performance - its quick off a straight line, and it handles reasonably well for a heavy car, but I'm not sure there are many drivers coming from genuine performance cars. Maybe its a European thing in terms of how we judge performance cars. I guess my point is that if you've come from a green or more normal car your benchmark is very different, so how do you judge comments from such a person? I don't feel may people are trading from an AMG Mercedes or M5 BMW. When you see a Tesla owner floor it and you almost get a giggle from them than a "this is a serious driver car"

Green - so there's a lot spoken about zero emissions but is the car really that green? Electricity still needs to be generated, the batteries aren't the most environmentally friendly thing to produce etc.. So do the people that are genuinely after "green" really know the net benefits? There was a lot of talk about the Prius when it first came out and in the UK they drove it hard around a track followed by a BMW M3 - the M3 used less fuel. I personally see it more as a financial benefit because of favourable tax and fuel benefits more than saving the planet which it's not doing IMHO.

I'm not knocking the car, I'd be knocking myself for ordering one if I did, I guess its the variety of different backgrounds and motivations that has surprised me.

Me - I'm getting one because firstly i like cars that are different to others, secondly I like fast cars, and then 3 and 4 would be the technology and I like the fact that the fuel and tax savings mean the car is cheaper than it would otherwise be in comparison to others makes it affordable compared to other cars. Maybe we are all the same but why do others buy the car?
 
I am coming from an AMG MB and I'm frankly tired of going to the gas station! But I'm also used to performance cars of other types as well and didn't want to give that up. i guess for the moment this is the 'best of both worlds." Plus, it's super quiet. Sometimes the AMG engine noise is so loud that it drowns out the B&O Stereo system I paid a lot to upgrade to! Oh, first world problems...
 
I'd suggest that there is no typical Tesla owner. The car appeals to such a wide variety of people that about the only demographic in common is a reasonable credit rating. The Model S and X cover performance, safety, economy, convenience, comfort, styling, roominess, emissions, and technology, so you might purchase one depending upon which one or more of those is important to you.
 
I've met all kinds of Tesla owners.

-90 year old couples with their flip phone attached to their neck lanyard
-Type A independent women
-Couples in their 50s-60s who love and understand technology
-Car guys that had a friend give them a ride and now they are hooked
-Prius Drivers
-People that have no clue how that their electric car does not use gas
-Type A men
-And my favorite (sarcasm) - Elitists who think they are better than everyone else and nothing is ever their fault (most of the time the is a type A person)

Im not trying to be rude, just telling you what I have personally seen.
 
While there is definitely an environmentally-conscious crowd here at TMC, it's not a predominant theme I don't feel like. There are plenty of people who have been even vehemently opposed to the idea of being included in the environmental crowd in past threads--many buy it just because it's a very awesome car.

However, it is still quite environmentally sound. Here in the US, even if we're fully coal powered, you're still on-par with the best hybrids out there for CO2 and pollution emissions, but that pollution is done far from city centers and populations where it causes the most health damage. From there it only gets better as very few places are predominantly coal powered nowadays (cleaner natural gas is much more common, along with a very quickly growing renewable movement).

It's a big plus for me, as I've determined that I'll be EV-only unless my personal plus economic situation can no longer support it. For now, I'm driving a 80 mile range Leaf and it'll be my only car in a few months :) call me a hippy but if my lifestyle can accommodate things like LED lights, power-saving appliances, and a neat little emissions-free car than I'll do it.
 
All over the place with some exceptions.

I've been at Superchargers probably 50 times so far, and from those experiences:

I've encountered old couples
I've encountered youngerish couples
I've encountered fairly young males. late 20's, 3early 30's.
Lots of 40's-50's single males like me. It seems to be a fairly large group. Or it could be it's because we have the most time/resources to go about the country.

The only young woman (in her 20's) I've seen so far was driving a car with Manufacture plates. I was going to loiter around the car to see if I could see anything special, but sadly she went to McDonalds and was back out within a few minutes so I scurried off. I didn't really want to be the hundredth person bugging her about autopilot.

Even on the forums I'm only aware of a handful of young women. But, that probably has way more to do with how male centric high tech, high paying jobs are and not because of a lack of interest from young women.
 
I'm in my early 40s, have two small children, and love using the latest technology (from drones to virtual reality). So, first and foremost, I'm an early adopter. But at the same time, it's a great family car that's also fun (i.e. Insane mode) and incredibly safe. The AWD in snow is excellent. It'll be fun watching Autopilot develop over the next five years. I absolutely love the idea of OTA updates in a vehicle. Basically, it just hits all my check boxes.

Not going to the gas station is awesome, but it's more about being at the forefront of a paradigm shift in transportation. I know it's a cliche now, but it's like a car from ten years in the future. It feels like a flat panel plasma/LCD in a world of bulky CRTs. Or, like an iPhone/Android in a world of landlines.
 
Green - so there's a lot spoken about zero emissions but is the car really that green? Electricity still needs to be generated, the batteries aren't the most environmentally friendly thing to produce etc.. So do the people that are genuinely after "green" really know the net benefits? There was a lot of talk about the Prius when it first came out and in the UK they drove it hard around a track followed by a BMW M3 - the M3 used less fuel. I personally see it more as a financial benefit because of favourable tax and fuel benefits more than saving the planet which it's not doing IMHO.



@JonG
How can you say that when the car can go 40 miles on the electricity it takes to make and deliver one gallon of fuel to a ICE car.
Lets see your ICE run off photocells.

 
Green - so there's a lot spoken about zero emissions but is the car really that green? Electricity still needs to be generated, the batteries aren't the most environmentally friendly thing to produce etc.. So do the people that are genuinely after "green" really know the net benefits? There was a lot of talk about the Prius when it first came out and in the UK they drove it hard around a track followed by a BMW M3 - the M3 used less fuel. I personally see it more as a financial benefit because of favourable tax and fuel benefits more than saving the planet which it's not doing IMHO.

Let's see, I generate 30kWh/day on average from my solar array, and use about 30kWh/day in my Tesla. Does that make me green?
 
90% of the energy generated that goes into my battery, and everyone else that charges in BC, comes from renewable hydro electric.

Generation System

That's a lot better than the other option being 100% fossil fuels. I guess I could walk and that would be greener but otherwise I'd say "yes" the car really is green when compared to the option of gas.
 
Green - so there's a lot spoken about zero emissions but is the car really that green? Electricity still needs to be generated, the batteries aren't the most environmentally friendly thing to produce etc.. So do the people that are genuinely after "green" really know the net benefits?

This has been discussed in great depth in the Climate Change thread. The things that stand out are:

1. The studies favouring ICE tend to use old generation data and somehow think that gas magically appears in the gas pump at the service station.

2. Once the batteries have been used for ten to fifteen years in the Model S, they can be used in home solar applications, probably for another 25 years. After that they are almost completely recyclable.

3. The aluminum in the Model S can be recycled to create another Model S. Steel can be recycled, but it can't be recycled into another car because the properties change, so aluminum is more recyclable than steel.

4. Production of the batteries is no more harmful than the machining of the complex engine and transmission parts or mining in general. It's pretty much a wash.

5. It's far easier to control the pollution from a single point of generation (e.g. coal plant) than it is to control the pollution from millions of cars (catalytic converters are not the cleanest things to produce either and can't be recycled). The VW scandal kind of proves this in spades. I suspect that ICE cars cheat as well. In addition, the pollution from cars happens where you live. EVs don't pollute where you live.

6. ICE cars are cleanest when brand new, they deteriorate as they age. EVs are as clean as the power they come from, so as the grid cleans up, the cars clean up. No ICE car can match this potential.

7. EVs just provide a better driving experience. No ICE car can match it.

There was a lot of talk about the Prius when it first came out and in the UK they drove it hard around a track followed by a BMW M3 - the M3 used less fuel.

Of course that it only true if you drive at the most efficient speed for the M3 which can only be done on a race track. In normal driving it's a whole 'nuther matter. Any "test" can be skewed to give the results you want to see. The M3 vs. Prius test was bogus from a normal driving situation point of view.
 
I'd suggest that there is no typical Tesla owner. The car appeals to such a wide variety of people that about the only demographic in common is a reasonable credit rating. The Model S and X cover performance, safety, economy, convenience, comfort, styling, roominess, emissions, and technology, so you might purchase one depending upon which one or more of those is important to you.

This. And it's why Tesla is going to succeed beyond most people's expectations.
 
I'm a single tech middle-aged woman who is really not a "car person" - until I drove the MS and fell in love with everything about the car and the company.
- I love the performance
- I love the styling
- I love that it is green
- I love that Tesla doesn't advertise for all the reasons that I hate advertising (deceptive, contributes to affluenza and the dumbing down of America in general)
- I love the safety
- I love the fact that the company is mission-focused and courageous enough to do the right thing (open source of patents, focusing on product, etc.) just because it is the right thing
- I love the zen of driving this magnificent machine silently and nimbly through winding country roads with the pano open
- I love the fact that my car is discontinued AND more advanced than anything on the road AND still gets upgraded every month OTA
- I love the cool-factor

And it still cracks me up that I told all of this to a guy friend of mine two years ago who said "the problem is Tesla only appeals to women who care about safety and the environment, when this car wins a NASCAR race that's when guys will buy it" - how did I ever give him that impression about the car? at a time when 90% (I think) of registrations were going to men?!? Story had a happy ending, I let him drive it. He has already put a 14-50 in his garage... just waiting for something to go off lease...
 
Late 30's Libertarian anarcho-capitalist tech nerd.
I bought the car because:
1) It's beautiful
2) It's like a gadget on wheels (I like gadgets)
3) I think having a vehicle that could be fueled by the sun could be a huge advantage in a "SHTF" and/or "petro-dollar collapse" scenario
4) The vehicle hauls ass and handles like a dream, but still has plenty of room.
5) HOV lane :)
6) electricity's cheaper than gas and I drive about 15k miles/yr
7) I appreciate Elon's pursuits to change the world by putting his money where his mouth is and creating compelling products that peacefully move us voluntarily towards that end instead of many people who'd rather use government force to regulate our behavior
 
I've met all kinds of Tesla owners.

-90 year old couples with their flip phone attached to their neck lanyard
-Type A independent women
-Couples in their 50s-60s who love and understand technology
-Car guys that had a friend give them a ride and now they are hooked
-Prius Drivers
-People that have no clue how that their electric car does not use gas
-Type A men
-And my favorite (sarcasm) - Elitists who think they are better than everyone else and nothing is ever their fault (most of the time the is a type A person)

Im not trying to be rude, just telling you what I have personally seen.

Last category there, checking in. Thanks for not forgetting about us.