Why, in America, Teslas crash more than gas cars & Hertz is dumping theirs.

[kenny]

Some surprises here ...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/18/business/why-do-people-keep-crashing-teslas/index.html

 

[Karl_K]

If you have a heavy right foot a Tesla can get you into trouble very quickly. More quickly than some people know how to react.
The same reason new owners of high HP cars wreck them at a higher rate when they first get them.

 

[kenny]

If you have a heavy right foot a Tesla can get you into trouble very quickly. More quickly than some people know how to react.
The same reason new owners of high HP cars wreck them at a higher rate when they first get them.

That reminds me of a scene from a film ... a guy asked the owner of a very-high horse-powered Mercedes if he could borrow it.
She paused, then responded, " ... Have you ever actually driven a car like this?"

I didn't understand her question, but the unfamiliar danger related to high-end high-horse-powered cars must have been what she was referring to.

Of course, like all sellers, Tesla wants maximum sales.
It reminds me of Henry Ford's famous marketing quote about his Model T, "A Ford in every driveway.".

I hope this legit concern about this new technology will be more widely communicated, along with that promise of "self-driving".

 

[Karl_K]

I didn't understand her question, but the unfamiliar danger related to high-end high-horse-powered cars must have been what she was referring to.

Yep.
I saw a brand new hell cat get wrecked leaving the dealers lot.
He hit the gas and lost it ended up doing a near 180 into a rock wall next to the exit.

 

[kenny]

Sounds to me that the solution education - rather the willingness to give and receive education.
Sadly that's something that's in decline in my country.

Of course education-uhm-challenge explains Muhrika'a problem with Teslas.
Per the article above China has more Teslas than Muhrika has, but does not have this crash problem.

Ya know, here in Muhrika those highfalutin science-believing edjumakated deplorable just make me wanna puke!

But, Hey! all that matters to this goodall Muhrikan boy is picking up busty chicks in my 0-60 in 1.1 sec Tesla Roadster SpaceX!

 

[Avondale]

That reminds me of a scene from a film ... a guy asked the owner of a very-high horse-powered Mercedes if he could borrow it.
She paused, then responded, " ... Have you ever actually driven a car like this?"

I didn't understand her question, but the unfamiliar danger related to high-end high-horse-powered cars must have been what she was referring to.

You sure the fancy Mercedes wasn't just manual transmission? That's the usual movie jab at americans, that you don't know how to drive a stick.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

It's an electric motor, for chrissakes, no transmission. The faster it goes, the faster it goes.

 

[kenny]

You sure the fancy Mercedes wasn't just manual transmission? That's the usual movie jab at americans, that you don't know how to drive a stick.

True, it could have been that too.

I grew up driving mom's VW bug with a stick.
My first new car, a 1982 Nissan Sentra (for around $5,500. LOL) had a stick, and roll up windows too.

 

[LilAlex]

If you have a heavy right foot a Tesla can get you into trouble very quickly.

This all the way. And it's not when you are trying to push it; it's when you are not trying to push it.

I had my eye on a super-high HP car many years ago coming off a terrible 0-60-in-[sideways 8]-seconds slug of a 4-cylinder SUV (that had served us well, I must say, except your could not pass anything going uphill). I test-drove the one-small-step-down version and it blew me away -- I knew I needed some learning time before I'd be ready for the true rocket. I was on a back road enjoying this new almost-beast and I went to pass a bike the way I always do -- wide berth (nearly full-on in the wrong lane) and punch it. And I, however briefly, forgot what I was in and it nearly sent me over the opposite embankment. (Not a fatal drop, but would certainly have been an expensive and embarrassing one!)

Most Teslas I see are driven with zero skill - way worse than Civics. Floor it for 50 yards in a short straight stretch and then hard-break for every bend in the road. What fun.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Most drivers suck. Fact of life.
I’m an electric car devotee. We had a Tesla….. just traded up to a BMW electric. It makes so much sense to me- and so little sense to so many people I talk to.
Personally, the speed and power are intoxicating. For sure. But I’ve had very powerful cars before. Getting on the highway is a pleasure.
One pedal driving seems much safer to me once you’re used to it.
Self driving. Amazing. Will prevent far more accidents than it will inevitably cause. But the focus is always on the accidents it’s caused.

 

[AdaBeta27]

You sure the fancy Mercedes wasn't just manual transmission? That's the usual movie jab at americans, that you don't know how to drive a stick.

True. I taught myself. I bought a 5 speed manual transmission car back in the '80s and talked the dealership into delivering it to my home because I didn't yet know how to drive it enough to get beyond 2nd gear. They delivered it on Friday. I took it out at daybreak on Saturday and Sunday and practiced driving. Drove it down the Interstate to work on Monday morning. My dad, a diehard Hudson antique car guy, was kind of horrified on Friday but impressed by Monday. He'd never been able to teach my mother how to drive a standard. She ground the gears every time.