Tesla owners are overwhelmingly men, and the most common occupations are engineer, software engineer, and manager of operations, one study found.
“Six figures.”
Can we retire this phrase? A lot of these people are earning multi-hundred-thousand dollar salaries. And many of them live in expensive areas where $100k is not some magic number that means you’re rich.
It’s just such a cringey phrase. Not specific enough to be useful, and loaded with economic misconceptions.
The use of “six figures” as a measure of affluence goes back to at least the 60’s… if we use 1970 as a baseline, a salary of $100,000 then is $800,000 today, accounting for inflation.
Inflation isn’t the whole picture , but helps to demonstrate how dated the phrase is.
Agreed. Between my wife and I we gross close to 200k. With a house in a Boston Suburb and 2 kids, it’s solidly middle class. Certainly a far cry from rich.
I think that’s far from Tesla money. I drive a 10 year old VW (Passat) and she drives a 4 year old Honda (Odyssey).
Yes (mortgage) but even that was a bit of luck/circumstance. I’m the only child of an only child…when my grandmother died I bought out her house from the estate at a really good price.
Stayed there for five years and poured in a bit of sweat equity.
When we sold it went for over double what we paid. Our new house isn’t anything special (4bed/1.5 bath, 1100sqft 1970s cape-style), but it’s already risen in value nearly 50% since we bought it.
We also refi’d last year. My wife wants to move back to RI and closer to family, but even a lateral move (similar home, similar neighborhood, similar value) would still cost much more than I’d want to pay due to the higher interest rates.
Honestly if it weren’t for my grandmother dying I’d probably still be renting. I have no idea how people afford down payments while also renting and living a life.
Especially in a HCOL area. We aren’t “truly” a Boston Suburb. We are outside the 495 belt and closer to Providence. Still doesn’t keep my modest house from being worth close to half a million now.
This makes a lot of sense. Tesla is a slightly higher-end car, and it’s not surprising that it attracts people from the engineering fields.
People who work in engineering/tech would be slightly more inclined to buy cutting-edge products.
The funny thing is that it’s objectively not a higher end car. It’s just a cheap Corolla with a big computer in it. Tesla’s build quality is also complete shit, as easily seen in the panel fitment (or anything fitment).
“ The funny thing is that it’s objectively not a higher end car. It’s just a cheap Corolla”
I don’t know if I can agree with that, lol. Teslas are incredibly fun to drive, are the safest cars ever made, drive themselves on the freeway (how well is a debate, but still), cost very little to fuel etc etc.
Very different than a Corolla, and I love me a Corolla!
Depends on how you define “high end.” Most people consider the build quality as a major factor in what makes a car “high end.” Tesla’s are notorious for some of the worst, if not THE worst build quality in the industry. The materials are cheap in quality and QA is seemingly non-existent, with cars frequently being shipped that are duds or begin to literally fall apart (like steering wheels coming off mid drive) extremely quickly.
Tesla has innovated the industry but other manufacturers have caught up and are putting out cars with the same features that have higher build quality and are less expensive.
Comma.ai will let you add driver assistance to most cars almost as good as Tesla and with OTA updates. Under $2k too so cheaper than FSD.
They are behind in their tech. They almost certainly can’t overcome this without changing everything. And the tech is what makes everyone desire a Tesla. There are actually higher end cars with the same or better tech now.
They have some of the worst build quality in the industry. Shit, even musk agrees they have shit build quality.
While they may rate high in safety ratings, I personally don’t like my car spontaneously combusting and/or locking me inside because some dipshit defaulted it to locked when the battery dies. Who the fuck decided on that!?!?!?
If you strip away the big screen and the (now) inferiors gadgets, you’re left with a Corolla with really bad fit and finish.
I’ve been in my mate’s model S*, and lemme tell ya, 0-60 in three seconds is hilariously NOT “objectively not a high end car” lawl
Find me a Corolla that can do that
Edit: I was wrong, it’s the standard model, not the S! I forgot the midrange one, but it’s below an S. It still has two motors and launch… go fast, though!
As I said to someone else, speed doesn’t equal high end. Nor does a price tag. Fit and finish, and build quality and reliability do. Look at a real high end car and then look at a Tesla and tell me they are even in the same league.
I don’t think you know what “objective” means. At least define your criteria more broadly to make a hyperbolic claim like this.
The interior is not on the level of Mercedes but the whole package counting performance, drive and features is luxury.
People fall over themselves to talk down Tesla since Elon is a prick but let’s please try to stay rational here vs knee jerk reddit like reactions.
I’m in the market to replace my current EV, having looked at the M3 and Y, locally here in New Zealand the panel gaps look perfect although these might be the Chinese made models?
Overall, not surprised.
Couple of points I noticed were missing:
- No race-related data was reported regarding the Model 3.
- No data at all from the Model Y.
These are their most affordable models, so I’m reading this article in terms of the Model X & Model S, and not every owner. The data did say that the Model 3 was predominantly male-owned, and I expected nothing less from a car marketed as a sports car.
A state that was once identified as “Camry California”, the Model Y exceeding Camry sales in the state is a big enough deal to include that data to qualify an article that describes all Tesla owners.
It’s consistent with the idea that mostly tech workers buy Teslas. It does not really sell to people outside this demographic.
Around me, I see lots of soccer moms driving them, and I wouldn’t say I live in a particularly affluent area. I do, however, live near a nuclear plant (11th largest in the world, in fact) and have relatively cheap electricity.
Edit: fucking cry more, @Hypx
Yeah that’s not even a little surprising
This is true for me, I have an S.
I’ll also never buy another tesla again but I’ll drive this until the wheels fall off. It’s 5 years old now.
Always refreshing to see somebody who owns one of these cars and hasn’t immediately forgotten all expectations of build quality from an automotive manufacturer. I’ve seen intelligent and analytical people just turn their brains off at the suggestion that these cars aren’t perfect, when the procedure for getting one repaired reads like it’s from Apple.
How is the battery holding up? All Tesla owners I know sold theirs before the 2 year mark worrying that they might need to replace the battery for the price of a new car, always sounded like a misconception to me.
Even for all that is correct to criticize about Tesla’s build quality, the batteries do hold up a while;
Even Tesla’s warranty cites 70% capacity after 8 years / 120k miles, which roughly tracks with real world results.
Although I’d never buy one, the battery seems to be one of the least issue prone areas; usually people cite interior/exterior build quality, a total lack of serviceability and software issues as the main things when it comes to Teslas.
We used to receive the US-built Tesla’s, and now we receive a mix from the Chinese and US factories. The Chinese ones are way better built. Even the options from MG and BYD are impressive. But it’s not all great though, GWM Ora that many journalists are going on about is… Less than acceptable when it comes to quality.
I’ve even had fewer software issues once I got into the FSD beta, at least as far as interior stuff and general driving. The FSD itself is much better, too, but it’s still in beta so it kicks up the odd issue here and there, but as long as you’re paying attention to the road like you’re supposed to be it’s absolutely fine.
The thing gets me about the “$XX,000” battery replacement figure is that people are talking about the dealer quote for a battery replacement. If your vehicle is in warranty (and Tesla has an 8 year battery warranty), then the dealer replaces the battery for free. If it’s not under warranty anymore, there’s no reason to get your battery replaced at the dealer. Third party shops will do it for a fraction of the cost.
I’ve heard the tires are what really cost money because the car is so heavy it wears them out really fast.
It’s really not too bad compared to any other new car these days. I’m at 20K miles on mine and I’ve still got enough tread left to pass state inspection. As for weight it’s definitely not a light car, but my model 3 long range is supposedly 4250lbs, where a BMW M3 is around 3900 lbs, so not a massive difference (but a difference nonetheless).
What really gets you is how you drive it. Electric cars (and especially teslas) have a TON of torque, so if you’re constantly flooring it, that’ll wear out the tires super fast. But I bought mine mostly for safety and tech, so I keep it in chill acceleration mode and drive like a granny to keep my family safe
