I agree with most of the things OP said. With a few ifs an EV is great for lots of people. I think range anxiety is somewhat overblown. If you don't have the ability/desire to fast charge at home/on the way/at work then you need to choose an EV that can comfortably get you to work and back at least twice without charging at all (leaving a cushion of ~35 miles, that percent will depend on the size of the battery). This leaves you needing to go to a super/fast charger halfway through the week if you can slow charge at home/work. If you can't slow charge anywhere you'll have to go charge twice during the week. In either case you'll have to charge on the weekend to start the week full.
I don't think it makes much sense to buy an EV, whose real world range becomes known pretty quickly, and then have anxiety about that range. To me, that says you need to wait for batteries/efficiency to improve (and both are) or an EV isn't the car for you/your situation. The as-tested range is good for comparison purposes. But the real-world range is critical (much more so than on ICE vehicles) because charging is not as accessible as gas.
I think when it comes to the driving experience it's just a matter of preference. Acceleration is fun, and as OP mentioned you can do suspension work to make a Tesla (or any performance oriented EV) an animal. The EV's from tried/true sports car brands will undoubtedly be great. The old knowledge but with instant power/reliability/tech. I do think my Mk7 TDI is more fun to drive. The latest Audis/Porsches are in lots of ways more complicated (from a module/component/integration perspective) to achieve the "just drive-ability" with high (if not engaging) performance that every Tesla has.
Tesla specific things:
- I love/hate the constant, iterative, vehicle and software updates. On the whole things trend the right way there are often weird side/back steps.
- When we got our 2019 the situational display of surrounding vehicles was wild... cars "dancing," appearing/disappearing all the time. That improved to where I almost never see a car dance these days, except when distant car is obscured by closer cars and the system can't decide if it's a truck or bus.
- I also recall thinking the brake lights were not coming on appropriately when single pedal driving (using regen)... where now it gives brake lights when I would if using the brake pedal.
- Very recently (like since the last 2 or 3 updates) the ACC gradually slows down when approaching slower cars as opposed to maintaining set speed then braking hard at (what I consider) the last minute, although I never thought it would run into anyone
- The service center has been slow to get parts (probably not their fault) but their communication between each other and to customers needs work... everything is scheduled in the app (including uploading pictures) but the service techs/reps never seem to look in there when you speak to them until you mention it.
--- Had an issue at delivery with tail light condensation and some marks on our white seats, scheduled appointment and uploaded pictures. Dropped off the car when the replacement cushion showed up, got a message saying the car was ready but the invoice didn't mention the tail light. I called and asked about it, was told they didn't know about the tail light. I referred them back to the communication in the app where I could still see my service requests with pictures. Ohhhhhh they said, we'll order a tail light. All well and good, they ordered, when it showed up they scheduled an appointment and replaced it in my driveway, simple. But it could have been ordered at the same time as my seat cushion.
- Computer glitched once and darkened the side mirrors "permanently." Service center said "side mirrors" don't have that functionality. Sure enough, it was not a published feature/not supposed to be active yet but the hardware was in the car. For whatever reason the glitch activated it. Had to take it to a service center where it was fixed in a couple hours, not sure what they did.
That being said, updates are pretty regular and I've not had one fail and "brick" the car (something I was initially worried about despite lack of reported issues). Of course, all manufacturers will/should get to that point so reliable OTA updates should become the norm and not an advantage.
With regard to the EV community, or at least the Tesla community which I am technically a part of (though I don't participate)... kill me please, I hate us so much!
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