"Burn rubber, not gasoline!" - Deutschlandpremiere des Tesla Elektro-Sportwagens

dpeilow · 08-14-2008, 12:06 PM

"Burn rubber, not gasoline!" - Deutschlandpremiere des Tesla Elektro-Sportwagens | Utopia

vfx · 08-14-2008, 12:18 PM

Can't understand a word of what the video people are saying to me.

If only there was someone in this forum who understands 5 languages could translate what each word is speaking at me with.

bobw · 08-14-2008, 12:38 PM

Mein Deutsch is sehr rustig! Vieleicht Finkenbusch will uns hilfen?

During the drive I wanted her to floor it. I wanted to hear what a passenger would say in German.

He asked the lady if she will get one. I think she said "at once!". Perhaps she was being sarcastic. It is kinda spendy.

Electrische Überwagen!

Finkenbusch · 08-14-2008, 01:06 PM

@vfx & bobw- A second language would help to understand
the big whole world outside the comparable tiny US... :-)

Anyhow - shortened

Its a more then positive report, a praise without hesitation on the first appearance of the Tesla on German soil - two unknown journalists (self described Guy Henrik Pfeiffer Utopia - das Internetportal für strategischen Konsum / the lady self named journalist Anne Urbauer a Ferrari & 911 in the garage as day-to-day car) test-drive the car and are more then satisfied.

First they are stunned by the silence of the Tesla...
Then there flattened by the brutal power, going off like a rocket...
Folks stare at the sports car first and then the jaw drops to the floor when they dont hear a motor...
The lady would get one at once - only she has to find someone sending the check to...
Going price in Europe is a steep 99.000€ - about 147.000 USD
Aaron Platshon from Tesla (white shirt) tells journalist that Tesla produces four cars in a week today and wants to raise production to 40 until the end of the year...
Claims to have ten cars delivered in the USA and further thirty to be finished are on the way to california ...

In general - a unrestricted jubilation, not even a hint of sarcasm.
Pure praise.

I dont want to minor the review.
But,
Both reviewers are not known to me as seasoned car journalists. Actually I dont know any of them.
Lets see when a decent German reviewer equivalent to the seasoned US experts jalopnik or Robert Farago gets in the Tesla driver seat.
Or me.

bobw · 08-14-2008, 01:42 PM

With all due respect. German is my second language. I learned to speak while my father was stationed in Germany for three years starting in 1959. I have 4 1/2 years formal instruction. That instruction ended in 1980. I have not had much chance to use it since. My German is indeed rusty.

That said, people outside the USA overestimate the utility of foreign languages to the average American. One must literally travel for days before leaving the country. Americans who live in border states do learn Spanish. It is useful to them. Americans further away can find more cost-effective uses for their time.

A European, who cannot throw a rock in any direction without starting a war, needs to be able to apologise to the owner of the window he broke.

On one hand, I get impatient with Americans who assume that foreigners are idiots for doing things differently than Americans. On the other hand, I get impatient with foreigners who assume Americans are idiots for doing things their own way.

On the gripping hand, what takes the cake are Americans who assume that Americans are idiots for not doing things the way Europeans or the Japanese or other foreigners do.

"Never critcize another until you have walked a mile in his shoes. For then, you are a mile away from him -- and you have his shoes."