He regrets it every time I talk to him. He wanted the bells and whistles the E Tron offered vs. the minimalist feature of the Tesla. However, the performance is subpar, while my Tesla is the best car I've ever driven. Just a couple of things the Tesla had over the Audi:

- Over the air software updates constantly with Tesla. None with Audi
- Service centers are all trained on Tesla's and E-vehicles. With the Audi, my friend always has to wait until "their electric car guy" is available to help. No one else knows what to do with it.
- Speaking of service, in almost 4 years of ownership, the only thing I had to take it in for were a fogging taillight (under warranty), a cracked rear windshield when a tree fell on it, and when I ripped the upholstery with my boot. That's it. My friend has to take it in all the time.

I think Tesla should update their design and improve the interior. Most Tesla buyers tend to value the non-performance tech. As opposed to, say, handling and comfort and quality of finishes.

Now, I like Tesla cars. And, I am probably driving my last gas car, or maybe next to last.

But, I think Teslas look a little like skinny Dodge Intrepids. Teslas do have world class acceleration, straight ahead speed and range.

But they sure don't look like the new Porsche and Audi electric vehicles.

I agree, Tesla's biggest pro's lie in the technology. Its also the best handling handling car I ever had (my last two cars were an Infinity G35 and Lexus ES). With the regenerative breaking, you can actually drive most of your trip without hitting the brake pedal. They call it one-pedal driving. That alone allows you to handle the car so much better.

However, the design and interior is very boring. Lucid is aiming to be superior in all aspects. The technology is probably only slightly behind Tesla and the design is miles ahead. The only problem so far is production and unknown ability to deliver and serve the cars.

I'm probably due for another car in another year or so. I would look for design upgrades by then.

You say that Lucid’s tech is slightly behind…why do you think this? In my mind their development in battery tech and motor design/tech has flown past Tesla over the past 3-5 years while Tesla has been focusing on the wrong things. While one can agree that driverless tech from Tesla is better than others currently, are they approaching it the wrong way? Eventually they may figure out that using a camera only system isn’t capable of achieving what they currently say they have (full self driving). Elon musk himself has backpedaled on his “LiDAR is dumb” statements as I think he’s slowly realizing his idea of data mining camera video for a car to make perfect decisions isn’t possible.

I believe Tesla is ahead given the massive amount of driver and experience data they've been able to collect. I mean everything about Lucid will be in concept phase until they can actually have a large enough fleet of cars in production.

A like a lot of what Lucid is saying, but until they can produce it at scale and put it into mass production, they will be behind.

With over the air software updates, Tesla can improve driver performance in real time. The car learns my driving style and can adjust accordingly.

The best example is with the battery life estimate. When I first bought the car, the estimated battery life wasn't accurate at all...not even close. A few years later and now its scary accurate!

Last fall I went to the ND-UVA game...driving down from Philly with a stop in DC for a night on the way down. On Sunday, I drove straight back from UVA to Philly. It mapped out my trip back with a short recharge stop built in (the charge time was less than my trip to the bathroom and grabbing a breakfast sandwich to go). The estimated battery life was spot on accurate the entire trip. The estimated remaining battery life when I started the trip was within a mile of two of what it actually was when I got home.

However the mileage estimate on my “only made for EV credits” VW e-golf is very accurate with it’s range. It’s very nice that the Tesla’s will plan your route with stops for charging.

I guess my concern lies in their ability to innovate beyond what they already have. Carbon sleeving to shave a couple tenths off a 0-60 time doesn’t mean anything to the general public. It’s also just improving upon a motor that’s a decade old. Sure, GM was putting the iron duke into cars for 25 years but it’s horrible efficiency lead to them getting passed by Asian automakers when consumers wanted better fuel economy. Then they got complacent (Honda mainly) failing to adapt to more stringent emissions rules when everyone got better at forced induction. In my mind Tesla has hung their hat on a modular chassis they have little interest in updating, along with an aging motor. This while still relying on Samsung cells for the batteries who’s modules haven’t been changed for 5+ years. The biggest innovation they could be doing is figuring out how to reduce prices as they scale yet due to increased demand they’re doing the opposite. I just worry that eventually people will discover that there are other options.

And yes, the Tesla supercharging network is probably the best decision Elon musk has made, but with 850ish stations and sales like they’ve had recently, those eventually become crowded and less useful. There’s also a lot of misinformation regarding charge times like Tesla has a secret sauce…an electrify america station can charge a lucid quicker than a Tesla. And due to battery construction and management, after 20-30 minutes on a level 3 charger, everything becomes equal across makes/models/platforms

I'm not sure if I'd buy anything Ford right now.

I called the dealership because my check engine light came on, and they said they can't get it in for a diagnostic check for at least 2 weeks. That doesn't work for me up here in Minnesota. If the check engine light is on, remote start doesn't work, which isn't good when the temps are so low.

Always nice to have just in case I need to clear a code that isn't urgent.