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Comment by FireBeyond | Hacker News Reader

Right. That article ignored the single biggest difference - there is no competitor to the Model S in the luxury space, electrics, and very few, if any hybrids.

Go to the entry level luxury ('executive')? Lexus, Acura, even Cadillac all have hybrids, with outright electrics planned over the next year to two (and despite pre-orders being available soon, it's not likely we'll see the 3 before 2017 - and that's only on the west coast; good luck getting an 3 in PA before 2019 - and as soon as you do see a firm delivery date, all those other manufacturers now have a concrete target to aim at).

It's not all a matter of "well, the S sold well, so the 3 will conquer."

Not even close.

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> Go to the entry level luxury ('executive')? Lexus, Acura, even Cadillac all have hybrids, with outright electrics planned over the next year to two

But they all lack the coolness factor. Even for entry level luxury that is needed. I am sure they will all have electrics at some point, but in that market it will be a "me too" thing. And those that want the real thing will want a Tesla. For luxury market brands are everything, and Tesla has that.

Others to compete will have to offer something unique -- self driving, much longer range, and so on to be noticed.

BMW, Mercedes, etc, don't have the cool factor for the entry luxury market? They own that factor right now, and already have hybrids, and could add outright electrics if that's what the market starts wanting. What would cause them to instantly lose the cool factor just because Tesla enters the market?

I have a couple of coworkers with Teslas. I have far more with cars in the same market range that come from Porsche or Alfa or BMW or Mercedes or...

But it is not Tesla.

Tesla is something parallel (so maybe someone into Mercedes or Cadilac will not like Tesla and would not see the point). Let's say I wanted to buy an electric car. Even if BMW or Cadilac had more features, longer battery life, and even cost less. I would not buy it, and would rather spend more but get a Tesla.

Also, to illustrate my point, imagine when you are a kid perhaps and you want legos. But your parents buy you knock-offs. Functionally they are the same, you can build stuff from both, but emotionally it is not the same.

"It's not Tesla" is probably a good thing. The build quality and comfort inside the car is shockingly bad for something that has such a high price tag. Plasticy finishes, sub-par seating - let's fact it, the only thing it has going is a widescreen display mounted in the centre of the console and serious acceleration and range. But the inside of the Tesla is a joke in the luxury market.

I'm preaching to the choir, but the problem with other manufacturers, and why I would never consider a Bolt, is it's got a 0-60 time over 5.5 and it looks like crap. To me, it's a 3 series with a way better user experience.

For now, you may be right. But "cool" is a fickle thing. DeLoreans were cool too.

I live in a high-end condo (not in the Bay area), and in a building of 400 units there are 5 Teslas on the first 3 floors of parking (8 floors total).

Not to mention, everyone I know with a Tesla is only considering Tesla for their next car.

That's pretty subjective. Especially for someone who just upgraded from an Altima to an Audi, not in part because of my partner's insistence that it was the coolest of options (and she has test driven an S - which is not to imply that the two are comparable, only that she is not particularly ignorant on the subject).

True, although you can say that (maybe indirectly) the model S is competing with the likes of S-class, LS, A7/A8, 7er, etc. and compared with those it hasn't done extremely well. It has done well yes, but it had the novelty/coolness factor going for it. Let's see how it compares 2 or 3 models from now. My guess is it will have a hard time keeping the novelty (and thus the sales), especially, like you mentioned, when others will catch up on the electric cool(if they haven't already).

> it had the novelty/coolness factor going for it

Yes. I think there is almost a parellel market for. If I had $100k+ to throw for a car, I would not buy a Mercedes, BMW or Cadilac. I would still be driving a Honda Civic. But I would buy a Tesla.

True, I know a few (here in SV, where else? ;) who went from a Prius to a Tesla.

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