More Reasons Not To Buy a Tesla

 Over at The Federalist, Stella Morabito has a report on her vacation experience renting a Tesla. So, how did she like her Tesla? Inquiring minds want to know. She tells us I Rented A Tesla For A Week And Am Totally Sold on Gas Powered Cars. I have not test driven a Tesla, but I have driven a Chevrolet Bolt once for a short ride from Chapel Hill to the Raleigh-Durham Airport. I can attest to feeling stressed as I did so over this short ride. Supposedly the car was fully charged all night at the Enterprise office. However, shortly after getting on the road, the car indicated a low battery charge, and this continued all the way to the airport.

But let Morabito tell you herself:

While planning a week-long trip to the Seattle area recently, I wondered aloud to my husband if we should rent a Tesla. Neither of us had ever driven an electric vehicle before. The price difference between the long-range Tesla Model 3 and a standard mid-size gas-fueled vehicle was pretty negligible.

We agreed it would be an interesting learning experience despite our objections to the eco-agenda to phase out gas-powered vehicles. We also don’t believe EVs are particularly environmentally friendly since they need batteries that require the strip-mining of rare earth minerals such as lithium and cobalt. The World Economic Forum knows this very well and is likely looking for heavy limits on EV mobility after eliminating gas-powered vehicles.

But more people like us are also finding some very practical reasons to object to Teslas. There’s a glut of them on the market now despite subsidies and price reductions. After test-driving one for an entire week (instead of just 30 minutes,) we learned we will never buy a Tesla or any EV as long as we have the option of gas-powered vehicles or even hybrids. Read on for seven big reasons why. (Yes, “mileage may vary.”)

And here is where Morabito gives her reasons, most of which are deal breakers. She isn't nit-picking, these are very real problems. If they do eventually ban gasoline powered cars, I expect the U.S. will resemble Cuba where 1950s automobiles are kept running on canibalized parts long after the cars useful life.

The first thing that she mentions is that driving an EV is a nail-biting experience as the car's charge keeps dropping. Will it make it to the next charging station? This is because there are only 15,000 charging stations in the entire U.S, compared to 50,000 gas stations. The length of time required to charge an EV means that it would be nice to use that time more wisely than sitting and waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Perhaps always have a book available? Another problem is that those charging stations are not evenly scattered, and in some cases, you may be taking your life in your hands if you have to recharge at night.

She notes that texting while driving is required. I have experienced this on some cars where the radio is a touch screen affair. But a radio can be turned off and doesn't hamper your drive at all. It is annoying, but not dangerous.

Texting while driving is considered dangerous and mostly illegal. How ironic that in a Tesla, you are dependent upon the touch screen that sits between the driver and passenger seat like a big laptop. The interface is not intuitive, and autopilot is too new and unpredictable to use safely.

Luckily for us, there was always a passenger available to cope with the screen. We had to be in motion in order to check for a charging station nearby. There’s nothing intuitive about the air conditioning. Ditto for the radio, which we could only “turn off” by reducing the volume. The windshield wipers are supposed to be automatic, but when it started raining, we realized they were “turned off.” After fishing around the screen, we finally pulled over to consult YouTube to get them working again.

The door locks are another issue. On a normal car, even if the battery goes dead, you can unlock the car with a key cleverly hidden in the remote. Similarly, if you lose battery power in a Tesla, or heaven forbid the battery lights on fire, and you are inside the car, you may be stuck. On a normal car, you can still manually unlock the car, but a Tesla?  Of course, the lack of a manual is a necessary virtue signal to the "paperless" male bovine excrement. When you are out in freezing weather, and it is raining, and your signal is only 1 bar, do you really want to be looking on your phone for instructions on how to change a tire only to discover you don't have a spare tire?

I agree with Mrs. Morabito. Don't buy the things. Period.