Quote:
Originally Posted by visualguy
Give us a 5-series size car which is all-electric. It's hard to justify spending this kind of money these days on an internal combustion engine car when you can get a Tesla Model S 60D or 75D for similar money. Carpool lane driving, no emissions, quiet, luxurious enough and fun to drive, no visits to the gas station, easier to repair, etc.
The M550i is an evolutionary tweak on obsolete technology. The established car manufacturers should have been a lot more aggressive about electric. It's amazing that Tesla had such a huge head start on them.
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Take it from someone who used to sell Teslas during college; the Model S is overrated. The fit and finish was crap, interior was crap, and it wasn't fun to drive in anything but a straight line. Even at that, it was boring to just step on the pedal without the ability to shift your own gears or hear the rumble of an engine.
Go ahead and get a Model S as your next car if that floats your boat; overall it is a great car with very impressive technology. Tesla is constantly updating its software which makes all other manufacturers look like dinosaurs in comparison. But there's a reason why the majority of Model S owners are nerdy techies instead of true automotive enthusiasts: it's just not a driver's car. I live in an area where there are a ton of them roaming around, and only once have I ever seen one driven in a spirited manner. The people who own them don't care about driving.
Beyond the electric powertrain, Tesla's fundamental goal as a company is to
eliminate the need for human control of a vehicle entirely. That doesn't sit well with real car enthusiasts such as myself, who much prefer having their hands on the wheel, rowing through the gears, and feeling the road.
BMW's claim to fame is "sheer driving pleasure." That means the brand fundamentally (unlike Tesla) focuses on things like chassis response, handling, and having world-class engines (especially their straight 6s). Turning the 5-series into an electric car would be blasphemous to the brand's heritage.