My parents have no idea how to drive a manual transmission.
I know it sounds odd, but he wants it badly. I'm just hoping the learning curve isn't too hard.
Helping my parents get a Tesla
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My parents have no idea how to drive a manual transmission.
I know it sounds odd, but he wants it badly. I'm just hoping the learning curve isn't too hard.
Would a rental be in order to see if he wants it?
I would not be the enabler of my dad for something like that.
I would not be the enabler of my dad for something like that.
It's definitely infinitely stronger decelerating than a manual, but I agree it's pretty easy to get adjusted to.
I think the whole recharging thing with EV's, (not just Tesla's), has to be experienced and realized over time, in order to be actually understood..... And / or successfully dealt with.
For example, people expect to wait at the doctors office. There is no way around it. But nobody likes it, or ever seems to get used to it. Especially if it drags on well past your appointment time. People have other things to do in life, and a limited amount of time to get them done.
Most of the time with health care and dental appointments, the wait is longer than expected. And it certainly doesn't improve anyone's mood when you are forced to do it.
But again, there is no way around it. (I've switched doctors more than once due to unnecessarily long wait times. For both getting in to see them, as well as being forced to wait well past my appointment time when I do).
With EV's it's different. So yeah, you buy the car in good faith, full well expecting to have to wait in order to recharge it...... At least if you plan to go anywhere in the thing, besides running local errands.
But the idea of having to sit around for at least 45 minutes to an hour, after you wait to plug it in, all the while seeing people pull into the gas station across the street, and fill up and leave in 5 minutes, isn't going to sit well with him. In fact I'm willing to bet that he'll find it downright aggravating the first time he actually has to do it.
Especially if it's raining, freezing cold, or if there is ANY kind of inclimate weather involved. And you have to remember, not all these things are directly across the street from somewhere you can go and waste 45 minutes to an hour while your battery recharges.
And I can all but guarantee you, it will irritate someone with limited patience like your dad, even more. I would try to find somewhere that rents these things, and get him to try one for a month or 2. And do some serious driving with it. Before taking the financial plunge and sinking hard earned money into one.
Right now EV's are simply too restrictive to directly compete with the ICE vehicles he has become used to driving his entire life...... And take 5 minutes to fill up.
Maybe you should rent the Tesla and take your Dad out in it. I suspect you have to learn the car and its ways before you can make an informed decision. Most of the people I talk to who love them seem to be the type of people who sit down with a new cell phone and spend all day setting it up just the way they want it, and love doing it.
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Personally I don't think the Tesla will be a good match for OP's parents. One pedal driving sounds like an accident waiting to happen. But having never driven a Tesla (or any electric vehicle besides a golf cart) I really don't know.
But, I recently talked my 80 y.o. Dad into fixing and keeping their 2010 Odyssey (beach/beater) because my Mom is comfortable driving it.
I convinced him that the safety factor of the big, familiar vehicle for Mom to drive, far outweighs any new driver safety aids. They kept it and added a new CRV for longer trips. Best of both worlds
But, I recently talked my 80 y.o. Dad into fixing and keeping their 2010 Odyssey (beach/beater) because my Mom is comfortable driving it.
I convinced him that the safety factor of the big, familiar vehicle for Mom to drive, far outweighs any new driver safety aids. They kept it and added a new CRV for longer trips. Best of both worlds
This. I’ve never bought a vehicle without seeing how they drive and it’s too big of a purchase to gamble on that experience. Even just set up a test drive with Tesla if 1-2 hours will be enough. They give you plenty of time to experience it and don’t bother you while you do. They didn’t send anyone out with us and gave us plenty of time to ask questions before we drove off.
A Tesla has a brake pedal. But the adjustment would be how to deal with the drive by wire controls where the position of the right pedal also controls how much regenerative braking is done. In my test drive, I found it easy.
My dad has over 60 years of driving automatic transmissions that basically drove the same whether it was a 3 speed or a CVT. His current daily driver is a CVT Nissan with paddle shifters and an an up-down gear selector that I’m thinking he’s never used before.
You don't have to sit on a charger for 45 minutes. You can, but that is hardly the recommended way.
I think for my parents, letting it charge overnight in the garage is preferable to going to a gas station.
And everyone else, too.
Somehow I got recruited to go for a morning demo drive, even though my dad has one scheduled for the weekend. I can make my own schedule now so it’s not an issue. My dad wanted me to drive it so that I’d know how to help my parents out.
It was a while since I’d driven a Tesla before, so it was back to learning. Not really that hard, but I can see all the little things dealing with the menu and just driving that would frustrate my parents. But so would almost any new car where so much operates off a touch screen menu. We were just given the car to drive without a minder, so we were on our own after being set up. It was set to creep mode and even then it took a few minutes to get a feel for the automatic braking when just letting off the right pedal. I had to park to figure out how to turn on the AC.
I’d have no problem just taking one and going, but my parents are going to need a lot of handholding. I think part of it would be having a smart phone and using the Tesla app plus looking up how to do things in search engines.
It was a while since I’d driven a Tesla before, so it was back to learning. Not really that hard, but I can see all the little things dealing with the menu and just driving that would frustrate my parents. But so would almost any new car where so much operates off a touch screen menu. We were just given the car to drive without a minder, so we were on our own after being set up. It was set to creep mode and even then it took a few minutes to get a feel for the automatic braking when just letting off the right pedal. I had to park to figure out how to turn on the AC.
I’d have no problem just taking one and going, but my parents are going to need a lot of handholding. I think part of it would be having a smart phone and using the Tesla app plus looking up how to do things in search engines.
Press the right steering wheel button and say, "Set the temp to 68." Or, "I'm hot."
Would it catch you off guard if the car said "I know, have you been working out?"
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The dealership should have given you basic instructions how to operate the vehicle. If voice commands are possible, they should have told you. I certainly would never have "guessed" to press some random button and say "I'm hot". Inexcusable.
Sure, when you can. But that's not going to help you when your battery dies, and you're nowhere near the comfort of your garage. Because you had the fool notion to actually try to go somewhere in your EV.....
Instead of just using it as a golf cart to pick up a prescription and a half gallon of milk at the local drug store or market. Going any distance is not a problem with ICE. It is with EVERY EV on the road. And will be for decades to come. Unless you don't mind sitting around while everyone else happily motors by.
There are far worse commands that I won't post here.Would it catch you off guard if the car said "I know, have you been working out?"
"My rear is hot (or cold)". Except don't use "rear". Try, "2 strips of bacon."
You have no idea. The voice commands keep growing. There is no complete list. Basically, I rarely use the touch screen. No need.
They’re at the stage in life where they’re generally not interested in going on long road trips, and 125 miles round trip is about far as they can handle. And even then they’re probably going to find a place to charge it on the road.
They’re also not eliminating their gas powered car. But this is the ideal vehicle for most of their needs once they figure out how to drive it.
The other thing is that they live on a hill (at about 1000 ft elevation) and maybe 90% of the time they’ll be going downhill immediately at the beginning of each trip. Not sure how the regenerative braking works if it’s at the maximum set charge. Maybe set it for less than a target and then adjust? Like set it to 85% when they get home but 90% before they leave?
I guess the question I’m asking is that if it’s set for 90% charge level and it’s going downhill, will regenerative braking take it over 90% or will it prevent it from charging the battery and maybe require more use of the friction brakes?
Also, my parents prefer a longer battery life and it sounds like a 90% charge level will work for them with pretty much only short trips.
I guess the question I’m asking is that if it’s set for 90% charge level and it’s going downhill, will regenerative braking take it over 90% or will it prevent it from charging the battery and maybe require more use of the friction brakes?
Also, my parents prefer a longer battery life and it sounds like a 90% charge level will work for them with pretty much only short trips.
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