Man please. Move on. I got it, you think the Tesla is the greatest thing ever. Got it.

M

 

Well, I am glad to have gotten some good dishwasher advice on this thread.

 

Re-read the thread and then tell me if you still believe I think the Tesla is the greatest thing ever. What I've said is that the car is not appealing if your priorities are luxury, but that it's okay if people who don't share your priorities still find the car to be an appealing alternative to traditional luxury cars.

Can we agree on that? It's okay if people who don't share your priorities find the Tesla S a potential alternative to a Mercedes, BMW, Audi or Lexus and those people are just as smart and discerning as you are. They just have different priorities, right?

 

Who said that it was not ok to like the car or that it can't appeal to anyone else? Not me. What I said was that I don't see it. The car is limited, cheaply made outside of its drive system and really didn't impress me for the price. You can see it as an alternative, great, I don't. Not sure what else there is to discuss or why we're going over this again. I don't agree as it being an alternative to the cars in its price range for the reasons I've given. Agree to disagree.

M

 

I agree, while I haven't participated, don't we all think we have beat this issue to its proper death.

Let's give this topic the proper burial it deserves. It's seem to have all been said.

 

I think it comes down to:

Tesla wins: Exterior design, curb appeal, "lust factor", youthful spirit and design, innovation, drive, overall desirability, operational convenience if you don't take many long distance drives.

S Class wins: Interior, proven attributes, fit/finish, possible material durability, backed by a larger corporation, maturity, operational convenience if you drive lots of long distances.

You want the metaphorical hot date? Tesla. You want a more conservative and "blending in" family life? S Class.

Another thing to consider, is that betting against Elon Musk has proven to not be fruitful thus far. One thing that Mercedes, BMW, Ford, Jaguar, etc. are lacking is a founder/innovator type running the show. Their CEO's and Executives are revolving suit types who's job #1 is to please shareholders and maintain their status quo. Elon is trying to literally revolutionize the world and build his own empire for other "revolving suits" to run in a century from now. You can't compete with that hunger and skin in the game, and that's why the public is so behind Tesla, because they feel that drive.

Also, I think in 20+ years from now, the Model S will be an icon, as its legacy is already engrained as the "door buster". How the design ages remains to be seen, as it does on the W222. The W222, will be a 20+ year old S Class, a potential icon in its own right, but no Model S.

 

Not sure how this became a Tesla VS MB thread.

 

Look back to page 1. This all started when someone proclaimed how it was inconceivable for someone to buy a Model S over an S class and I pointed out how that it is not that far fetched and in fact the Model S is outselling the S class in that price segment. We were about to buy an S550 to replace our E550 but after our Model S test drive we not only lost interest in the S550 but anything made by Mercedes with an internal combustion engine and a transmission...

 

So you're the reason? Coming to a mercedes forum and preaching of Tesla and the awakening you had?
Tesla is a nice car, but a Mercedes is a Mercedes.

 

Not preaching anything... Just sharing my opinion like everyone else does on this forum. During the course of this discussion I pointed out a few factual inaccuracies that came up and tried to explain why the premise of getting a Model S over a S550 is not that far fetched for a segment of the market.

I currently drive a Mercedes but the driving characteristics I experienced with the P85 is better than anything I had encountered in any Mercedes, IMHO.

As for "coming to a Mercedes forum," I have been on this forum for about 8 years and have always enjoyed talking about cars and hearing other people's opinions and knowledge. I've liked Mercedes vehicles for decades but it is not a religion for me. I buy the best car for my needs and priorities and as Mike correctly pointed out the Model S and the S550 appeal to a different set of needs and priorities and neither is right or wrong.

As I've said all along I'd love for Mercedes to one day make a no compromise premium EV that I can actually consider buying.

 

I think ultimately a forum exists to serve its members, and not necessarily the brand . When an established member discovers that there may be an alternate vehicle out there that some members of the forum may enjoy but have not previously considered, and makes a calm, rational case based upon direct personal experience, it warrants a discussion. Ideally in its own thread but as is often the case with an open discussion things can get a bit tangential.

 

The problem is often the fanboyism that has roots in trying to defend ones own decision to buy a certain brand. If someone criticize the brand, it is often perceived as if they are critizising you and your choice. People act differently, some get offensive, others get defensive. The offensive type is probably the one who causes most nausea in a forum thread.
I know that i also get pretty defensive, and I apologize for that.

But this thread started as something else, and turned bad pretty quick.
If the OP had asked if he should buy a S63 or something else, it had been OK to start fronting individual choices of other brands such as Tesla or BMW.
It's easy to derail a thread. Next time someone asks a question about turbo issues, or transmission, or check engine light just answer: Good thing I drive a tesla, so I don't have to worry about an internal combustion engine and a transmission...
It's fruitless.
This site should have an active moderator team that deletes posts not in line with the thread, and move discussions to new threads.

 

I'm not sure if it turned bad per se. I think we very quickly established within the first few posts that the S63 is bad ***. I myself agree that the S63 is bad ***. And then someone made a proclamation about how it compares to something else and that point was responded to as you'd expect in a public forum.

You make an excellent point except for the fact that it is not what happened. You don't see me or anyone else who are engaging in this discussion posting all over this forum in the manner you had suggested.

We are continuing a discussion that began and arguably a lot of information has been shared and discussed. These discussions would not have happened if not for the forum members who decided to take part in the discussion.

You do realize that based on your logic, your own post falls in the category of posts that should be deleted -- right?

Based on your opinion, only posts that either agree or disagree with the S63 being bad *** will belong on this thread. That post on page 1 where someone had difficulty understanding why anyone would want to buy a Tesla would also then have been deleted. Based on the draconian moderation you have suggested, there would then be very little discussion. I certainly would not have turned to these forums for information the last 8 years if no one could question or discuss anything presented by someone else.

The fact that these discussions are allowed it is a testament to the moderators that they allow these discussions to take place in a respectful manner. What makes MBWorld great is that it is not an echo chamber and forum members are given the ability to ask questions, express opinions, and share facts while allowing the community in general to rebut any opinions and present facts to justify their own opinions or contrary assertions.

 

Yes i know and I agree. My posts should be deleted since my comments would have nothing to do with the case of S63 being a badass. And I wouldn't have posted any of this because we would have a separate thread comparing or listing the virtues of the other brands.
That would mean a cleaner, more "to the matter" kind of forum.
As it is now, we have gone from S63 being a badass, to S63 is better than Tesla, to tesla is the best, to I hate you for liking any other car than Mercedes, to forum etiquette

 

I think you missed a few pages though because I think Mike more or less very succinctly summarized the outcome of this discussion and that is that they are different cars for people with different priorities within the same market segment and that it is not inconceivable to pick one over the other based on what's important to you.

I think the forum is richer for having had this discussion than not. I see you live in Norway... We even discussed Norway a few pages back

 

Funny how people in MB Forums always resort to this quote. Not to be offensive, but it's really meaningless nowadays. M-B has plenty of models that aren't very special, not nearly as much as a Model S, especially.

 

Really? We needed a pure, unadulterated thread to discuss how "bad ***" a $150,000 AMG S63 is? Of course it's "bad ***". It's like posting a new thread entitled "Rosanne Barr: Annoying!" and then getting upset because someone brings up Oprah Winfrey in it.

 

Sorry i brought it up.
Carry on.

 

Whew, that S63 is sick. Perfect color and those wheels are awesome. Al Gore(idiot) should drive one and pollute the air instead of driving those upscale golf carts with leather seating. Until the Government doesn't allow me to drive an internal combustion engine anymore, I'll stick with those. Just a fad, like when the Prius came out. Edit: Sorry, this is just my opinion.

 

I just don't get why the concept of polluting the air and feeding money to oil tycoons from across the earth something to be proud of, to certain people?

I'm telling you guys, in half a century from now, those clinging onto gassers will be akin to future generations as those who thought (and refused to accept otherwise) that the earth was flat.

 

50% of US electricity is made from coal. A Tesla pollutes the air too, unless you charge it strictly via solar or hydroelectric power. The only way pure EVs replace gasoline, is if a solar cell at 5x the current conversion efficiency is developed. When I can drive home, and there is a solar panel on the roof of my garage that can charge my car for free, for 500 miles of driving, then the internal combustion engine is dead.

 

I think Elon Musk's vision for a sustainable future calls for just that. The simple correlation between Solar City and Tesla, the railway idea, etc. shows that Tesla using general electricity is just the beginning of the transition.

Solar City is a VERY key aspect to his future business and sustainability plan.

Like I said, on a passionate level, I love a good combustion engine like every other car enthusiast, but sometimes the future is so clear, you have to "adapt or die". This is one of those times. Somebody had to be the one to do it, and right now that looks to be Musk.

Also, no matter how you shake it, whatever "pollutant" a Tesla might have, pales in comparison to gasoline and oil being burned and us immediately breathing in those toxic fumes.

 

All that is a moot point for those who drive a high performance EV and surmise it is a better driving car. My current car gets me barely 14mpg so it's not like I'm a tree huger but I'd switch to a Model S because it offers me a better driving experience not offered by any current Mercedes model. Well, perhaps the SLS Electric but that costs 5X as much as a Model S, offers half the range and has much less space. If you compare the Mercedes SLS Electric specs to a Model S P85, the Model S is actually a great value for the level of performance and driving comfort you get.

As for the pollution from electric plants, how efficient do you think that internal combustion engine is? About 60% of the energy consumed by an internal combustion engine is used to generate heat, not forward momentum. Large scale power pants are vastly more efficient in generating energy as well as trapping and managing pollutants than the inefficient tiny internal combustion engines of our cars.

As for Solar, I did the math. We have a fairly large roof that gets lots of sunlight and even with the current efficiency/conversion levels, it will pay for itself in 8 years and then we'd have almost free electricity. Like you we decided to wait a bit longer for efficiency levels to get better but even now it is not a bad investment.

Technology is evolving and things are changing. Even with current technology and a decent sized roof with good sun exposure it is possible to meet the electricity needs of a home and car courtesy of the gigantic nuclear fusion power plant up in the sky called the sun

 

we need to save all our gas to leave the planet after we're done ruining it.......gotta go EV!!

 

There was a study done a while ago that has already proven that 1 Prius creates more pollution in it's lifespan then 2 full size Hummers.
It's not just the exhaust fumes (or lack of them) that counts overall, electricity used to charge these appliances on wheels does not come from nothing and production of these fairly short living batteries is certainly not pollution free.....
But driving these things makes some folks feel good about themselves, like they are "saving Mother Earth" or some other BS.
These are people for whom appearances are everything.
All BS, no substance......

Btw, on another note, that girl above (nice face) has really flabby tummy, huge turn off......