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.
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).
Do you own the house?
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.
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.
This is interesting, thank you for this. Makes me feel less bad
Agreed!
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 to these nice features and are putting out cars with the same features that have higher build quality and are less expensive.
A friend of mine bought a new Model 3 at launch here in Germany. He had to drive a couple of hundred kilometers to pick it up in a city with a port. When he arrived, he was escorted to a warehouse with 100s of Teslas in it. His was actually outside in the parking lot. He was told that he could inspect the car for one hour to find potential faults like panel gaps, scratches in the paint or runny paint (it had been raining the night before and the car was still wet lol).
He found two fault which were going to be sorted out for him no charge. He told me this while we were sitting in the vehicle and I said “oh, so stuff like this scratch in the dashboard here?” and he looked at it and said “… I haven’t even noticed that one -_-”
All in all a very strange way to sell a car and pretty unheard of, especially here in Germany and with a brand new car.
Tesla is weird here in they don’t have “regular dealerships”. You buy direct from the manufacturer, instead of a private owner dealership chain. Idk how Tesla deliver cars specifically but every time I’ve bought a car you test drive it, then you look it over. You see if it’s missing anything like floor mats or they are adding something like clear vinyl or CarPlay they give you basically an IOU for those thing. Also, if you notice anything like a ding or scratch you get that in writing too. I usually don’t take delivery until everything is there/fixed so I don’t have to go back and forth 10 million times. It sounds like your friends experience was pretty similar.
I have however been inside their service center and know quite a few Tesla mechanics. That’s run quite differently to other dealerships service depts I’ve been in.
I’ll never own a Tesla because the surveillance sketches me out, but their “cheaper” models can do 0-60 in like three seconds with full torque. That’s preeeeeeeeetty higher end.
Virtually all electric cars go 0-60 in under 6 seconds, with most around 4 seconds.
But even so, I didn’t dispute the performance of the Tesla in terms of driving power, just commenting on the poor build quality and how some people may exclude it from being considered high end because of that.
That’s fair! For the cost my friend paid for his, I would say it’s a much higher end car than any other cars in that bracket, features-and-performance-wise. It’s been a few years now and nothing feels shoddy, the interior isn’t crazy impressive but nothing is broken!
The surveillance is one of the features I like. Built in dash cameras that surround the car and work non-stop, even when parked? Hell yes. If someone ever fucks my car up in a parking lot and takes off, I’ll have something more substantial than just a dent or busted mirror to show the insurance company and possibly take action against the person who did it.
I love the idea of those features, but not to a placed dialed into a headquarters 24/7 transmitting all of my data to a private Corp. SUPER convenient and awesome features, but Tesla was already busted sharing what were supposed to be private videos around the office of people driving in their cars.
Yeah that part I agree with. I like the idea of the cameras and understand why they are needed for the self driving; but I want it all self contained. I don’t want any of that data to leave the car unless I pull it out from a thumb drive or otherwise physically connected device.
Fast doesn’t equal high end. Fit and finish and overall build quality and reliability do. If you look at a Bentley or Rolls (so so not my type of car, but I respect what goes into one), you can instantly tell the workmanship and quality product that went into the car. You look at a Tesla and you could easily be on a Toyota or Chevy lot.
Also, pretty much all electric cars are that fast off the line. That’s the beauty of electric vehicles.
I’m curious about the “safest cars ever made” claim?
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.
We’ll see! They’ve been saying that for a long time. My point is Tesla is the most advanced you can buy currently, and that appears unlikely to change anytime soon. They have more cars on the road collecting data and improving their systems than anyone. It’s not even close…
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!
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motorcycle != car
Also the torque on the motorcycle would feel completely different. I’ve never felt acceleration like that, it was AWESOME.
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I’m no Tesla fan but suggesting that the existence of motorcycles nullifies the speed differentiator is an asinine argument.
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Higher end S even does sub 2 second times
I can’t even imagine what that feels like.
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.
That person was also me hahaha
I get where you’re coming from, but as a person who loves Corollas, a Tesla is in another world from sitting in one. It’s nothing like a fancy Bentley or whatever, but at its price point it feels fancy enough to be in and it demolishes everything else performance-wise. I wouldn’t say it’s not high-end, but everyone can have their own opinion.
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?
Panel gaps were mostly an early model issue afaik
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.
Interestingly, I think only one of the countless Tesla owners I know works in tech.
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
Those are often pretty wealthy people.
Til the middle class is considered “wealthy.” Maybe I should be more concerned about people like you screaming that we should eat the rich, since clearly your idea of wealth is based on your own socioeconomic standing and not actual numbers. Just like your understanding of EVs, actually! Hmm, a pattern emerges!
@eltimablo @L4s @vacuumpizzas @Hypx
to most of the world, what we consider middle class, is extrodinarily wealthy beyond imagination
The top selling EV in what’s considered a developing economy, China, is a Tesla Model Y. And whilst the USD carries some weight in other economies. Middle-class is middle-class in the US.
So we should eat the middle class too?
You sound like a right-wing troll at this point.
Yeah that’s not even a little surprising
Hence why it is a fad. Just a toy for rich people who work in the tech industry.
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.
Holding up fine. I’m about 7% degradation, 2018 over 80k miles on it. 100D. I’ve been very happy with it as far as anything goes. Never serviced, just a few things like lights that I needed replaced.
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
Most modern
suburban tanksSUVs and Crossovers have basically the same problem. They have to have shockingly large wheels and tires just to distribute that weight half-decently. I imagine the problem is worse with the weight of the battery.
Are you me? Lol
No thats me, im u
If I were rich I would like an EV based on the fact that I hate gasoline.
But I dont trust my road safety on a billionaire crybaby who gets triggered by the word “cisgender”
When our current car dies, I’d like to replace it with an EV - but 0% chance it’ll be a Tesla.
Lots of better options out now. And in 5 years, Tesla may be the worst of them, given how bad their quality control is.
I just wish it wasn’t their charging network that manufacturers were moving to, but I have to admit that it is better than the alternatives. And we do need a single standard like gas.
I wouldn’t say there are lots of better options out there. There’s definitely a lot of options. But there aren’t many that I have seen that are better. Those that are, are more expensive. Those that are cheaper and better are Chinese and aren’t available in the US market. I know this because we do receive Chinese vehicles here. From memory, top three selling EV brands here are Tesla, and two other Chinese brands. There are some equivalent alternative options, but it might not be for all people either.
This is exactly it for me too. I’m definitely going electric in my next vehicle, but it definitely isn’t going to be a Tesla.
I said the same thing. Then I test drove every EV I could get my hands on and had an appointment to buy the ID.4. Then I finally caved in and test drove a model 3 just to be sure I wasn’t making a mistake. I was making a mistake. The model 3 blew everything else away at a lower price (excluding the Bolt EUV which was just boring an uncomfortable but $10k cheaper). I bought the model 3. I hate Musk and I refuse to buy his overpriced memestock too. But the car is truly fantastic.
you hate the fascist, and you just can’t help supporting and enriching him further, because you got a better deal on a commodity. oh boy, aren’t you smart. and this is how the world ends.
PHEV because we like road trips but yeah.
Would you drive a car from the guy who can’t even handle a website?
I wanted a Tesla before the whole children in a cave episode. Then it went all downhill from then.
Well, the website is a bit of a distraction. The car sells well in Europe and China respectively, not just the US. Much like how SpaceX has largely been a success globally as well.
Not a musk shill, but teslas have higher safety ratings than like every other car, and nasa certainly trusts him with the rockets. Whats going on with twitter either doesnt relate or he doesnt matter enough to be a concern.
Not a Musk head either but I absolutely thank Tesla for the rise in the technology. I love the idea of electric cars, and although I’ll never be able to afford a new one, as I can’t spend $600+ a month on a car, it’s nice to see us going in a better direction and away from fuel.
I bet most new car owners are in the same demographic. New cars are expensive as shit these days.
I for one am shocked.
The only Tesla owner I know is a Musk-loving, ancap, STEM-bro who probably makes around $160k.
As an engineer, I often find being surrounded by engineers to be exhausting lol
Most of the Tesla owners I know are Chinese. The early adopters were Caucasian, but now that they’re mainstream, they’re being bought by pretty much everyone.
Yes. Teslas are pure fads. And the BEV is just a big greenwashing scam. It just replaces one unsustainable idea with another.
Engineers are easily swayed by hype and propaganda just like everyone else.
Teslas are now the more expensive finance bro Patagonia vests, but on the road I’m seeing more polestars and other Ev’s.
Yeah I only got mine because it had the best range at the time and went “zoom” real good. I’d get an Aptera (if it ever comes out) for my next one though.
In DFW its mostly indians and asians that drive teslas, especially in Plano and Frisco. Its completely replaced the fully loaded honda accord and toyota camry as THE car to get.
I work in car insurance and noticed this whenever I see a Tesla on a policy too, they’re also usually located in the Bay Area, Texas, or a rich suburb of Seattle.
This seems more about demographics than tech. Just sayin
Sounds about right
Yep. It basically proves that Teslas are a toy for the rich. It will eventually be realized that BEVs are a fad.
I’m a white man who falls into that category, I’d never own a Tesla, they’re too fucking expensive. Maybe I’ll get an EV some day, but it won’t be a Tesla. For now, I’ll stick to my 6 year old car that still runs well and didn’t cost me a second mortgage.
That’s okay you can buy me a tesla
I thought Tesla’s were for poor kids who live in trailer parks
They’re toys for rich people. The whole concept is a just big fad.
