Electric Vehicles - Models Discussion

[RetMD21]

,,,,, The new suspension is nice, but I think if I had to drive it myself every day I would have preferred a Model 3. I have no proff but I suspect Model 3 handles better than Model Y.

I like my MY but the M3s I have driven have seemed much sportier.

 

[joesxm3]

The hatch on my new model Y was louder unlatching than my other one so I drove back to the delivery center to have them listen to it. It was a very enjoyable ride. Either the car is nicer or I am getting old enough where "going for a ride" is a big event.

I definitely feel that the new car is an improvement but I think the quiet new glass is over-hyped.

FSD V13 is noticeably better than V12. But on the way down it was reluctant to pass a garbage truck that was blocking the entire lane on a narrow road. It also did not react to a sign near a school that said "speed limit 30 when flashing" and had two flashing yellow lights.

I tried to talk my neighbor into a ride but she was afraid. She made her husband go instead. I had given him a somewhat scary demo ride with V11 back in 2023. I promised a much safer ride, It all went well until we came up upon a sudden highway construction with a closed left lane. It may not have been clearly marked or I may have been distracted by my passenger.

All of the sudden my neighbor says "Is it going to slow down for that truck?" I realized that there was a pickup in the closed lane playing chicken trying to pass me and cut into my lane. It seems that the truck was about two feet ahead of my Tesla and cutting in. I hit the brake and took over, but I suspect that FSD had things well in control but I did not want to risk freaking out my neighbor. He did not seem to upset and agreed that the truck should have slowed down and merged behind me instead of playing chicken.

All told a nice drive and I am becoming more satisfied with my purchase. Although I did get some bird poop on the windshield.

BTW - Thanks to Midpack for telling me to at least wait for the refresh if I was going to upgrade to a HW4 car. I may not have been as satisfied spending the money on an older HW4 Model Y. The refresh features are nice.

 

[Midpack]

I just consciously tried out the Tesla adaptive headlights last night, and it's pretty remarkable IMO. I've had it for a couple weeks with the Spring update, but hadn't driven much at night, and wasn't paying attention. Available on most, not all, Teslas with matrix headlights.

I understand MB and undoubtedly some other make/model cars have had this before Tesla, but new to me.

Maybe TMI but if you can't readily see it blocking pixels at cars you're following and oncoming cars, here's something to look for to make it even more obvious. Approaching a curve right, you can see brights on trees/buildings or other objects left of the road. If there's an oncoming car, once the car starts to get into your cone of light ahead, you will notice the lights dim noticeably on objects in the background. Once the oncoming car passes, brights restored on objects in the background. It's pretty cool, FWIW.

 

[JoeWras]

^^^ Adaptive headlights: something all cars should have and probably will in a decade or so, or once an admin who wants to expand regulations comes back in power.

This is something that they've been doing in Europe for some time now. It is long overdue here.

 

[audreyh1]

I just consciously tried out the Tesla adaptive headlights last night, and it's pretty remarkable IMO. I've had it for a couple weeks with the Spring update, but hadn't driven much at night, and wasn't paying attention. Available on most, not all, Teslas with matrix headlights.

I understand MB and undoubtedly some other make/model cars have had this before Tesla, but new to me.

Maybe TMI but if you can't readily see it blocking pixels at cars you're following and oncoming cars, here's something to look for to make it even more obvious. Approaching a curve right, you can see brights on trees/buildings or other objects left of the road. If there's an oncoming car, once the car starts to get into your cone of light ahead, you will notice the lights dim noticeably on objects in the background. Once the oncoming car passes, brights restored on objects in the background. It's pretty cool, FWIW.

We rarely drive at night, but I really appreciated it lighting up road signs nearby. And yes reacts to approaching vehicles. I don’t think I have the matrix deadlights.

 

[Midpack]

Adaptive headlights dynamically track and shut off individual headlight LED pixels for followed and oncoming cars, and leave brights on all the time elsewhere. Not the same as autodimming brights which all cars have had for decades I assume.

 

[RetMD21]

We rarely drive at night, but I really appreciated it lighting up road signs nearby. And yes reacts to approaching vehicles. I don’t think I have the matrix deadlights.

It was part of software update 2025.14.1
The hardware was there but there was a hold up awaiting regulatory approval

 

[Texas Proud]

I am curious if anybody here has knowledge of the Lexus all electric?

Not looking right now but we bought a plug in hybrid and really like it... so when we replace my car I can see going EV as we will have the PHEV to go on long trips and it would only be used around town... no charging anxiety...

 

[audreyh1]

Adaptive headlights dynamically track and shut off individual headlight LED pixels for followed and oncoming cars, and leave brights on all the time elsewhere. Not the same as autodimming brights which all cars have had for decades I assume.

I think my Tesla has something intermediate. For example, the lights seem to shift to the right when a car approaches.

 

[audreyh1]

It was part of software update 2025.14.1
The hardware was there but there was a hold up awaiting regulatory approval

Hmmmmm….. well we haven’t driven at night in a long time. I’ve lost track of the versions.

 

[joesxm3]

It was part of software update 2025.14.1
The hardware was there but there was a hold up awaiting regulatory approval

Hmm. I might not have it on my new Model Y. The app says I have 2025.8.7. I have not driven at night yet.

Today FSD did something suboptimal. It was pulling out onto a left turn from a T intersection. As it was pulling out a car came wizzing along over the top of a hill from the right. I think I saw the car out of the corner of my eye but the Tesla seemed committed to pulling out. The oncoming car honked and the Tesla stopped halfway out into the lane that the oncoming was not using. Maybe not a safety critical incident but not good.

At another point the Tesla needed to take a right turn at a T intersection. There was a big line of five or six cars coming in the lane the Tesla needed to be in. After a couple of cars the Tesla jumped into the line. If it were me I would have waited until all the cars had passed.

One other thing it does that scares me is when turning left with an oncoming car, it lets the car pass (by one millimeter) then takes the turn. Cutting it too close for my taste.

 

[RetMD21]

I don't drive enough at night to notice the adaptive headlights, lol.

FSD does things differently than I would but I haven't seen any actual safety issues

 

[Midpack]

I don't drive enough at night to notice the adaptive headlights, lol.

FSD does things differently than I would but I haven't seen any actual safety issues

+1. Only 5 months of experience but not once did FSD do anything unsafe. It was a little aggressive for my tastes a few times, but it was too hesitant for my tastes far, far more often. And it missed an exit once, turned the wrong way once, but no other errors among hundreds of decisions. Bottom line, FSD never failed to safely get me to the chosen destination, disengements were my impatient choices. I am sure my disengagements would have been successful if I’d just let FSD handle it.

 

[swakyaby]

I am curious if anybody here has knowledge of the Lexus all electric?

Not looking right now but we bought a plug in hybrid and really like it... so when we replace my car I can see going EV as we will have the PHEV to go on long trips and it would only be used around town... no charging anxiety...

I’m in the market for replacing my current Lexus sport coupe with an all-electric car. I have been looking at the Lexus RZ online, and am liking the interior. It has gotten poor reviews mainly regarding its lower than expected range. I’m probably the target customer for the RZ since I mainly drive around town, have low daily mileage requirements, and willing to pay more for a nice interior. I already have a NEMA 14-50 240V outlet in the garage for charging my spouse’s Tesla, but he rarely uses it, preferring to charge at a nearby supercharger (it’s free for our car). What’s holding me back is the SUV size is larger than I need and won’t fit in the small 3rd car garage space that my current car resides in. I really like the Lexus LC 500, a smaller luxury coupe, but there is no BEV model, only a hybrid, and a full combustion engine model.

 

[swakyaby]

I have read reports that a new model 2026 Lexus RZ was displayed in Japan, with a slightly improved range, a drive-by-wire drivetrain, and an optional yoke type steering wheel.

 

[Texas Proud]

Since the LC started over $100K I did not even look at it..

The other problem is that there is a total of ONE within 500 miles of me...

 

[explanade]

I am curious if anybody here has knowledge of the Lexus all electric?

Not looking right now but we bought a plug in hybrid and really like it... so when we replace my car I can see going EV as we will have the PHEV to go on long trips and it would only be used around town... no charging anxiety...

First generation Lexus and Toyota EVs are not that well regarded. Limited range, closer to 200 than 300 or even 250 miles.

Toyota generally dragged their feet on EV but they have said they will develop better EVs, including solid state batteries at some point.

They apparently do sell EVs in joint venture with China which would be more attractive but they have no plans to bring to the US. They may also release some EVs for Europe that they again won't bring here.

They're going to have to up their game. Honda is getting ready to put out second generation EVs in the next couple of years which may be the EV versions of their popular cars like the Accord and CRX.

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks... I now see the limitation as I have done some research... from what I see the Lexus are acting like the Leaf and dropping in value quickly.... since I am not looking at getting one for long trips maybe I can get a cheap one...

Right now I will stand pat and wait to see what develops...

 

[sailor]

DW got a used VW ID.4. Great driving/handling, mediocre software experience according to her. It does not bother her too much as she is using Apple Car Play. She mentioned that I should have told her earlier they have great acceleration, she would have looked at electrics sooner. As I'm paying 7c/kWh in electricity, it's much cheaper to run vs similar ICE. Fast charging pricing are much higher, but we only did it once to verify it's working, planning to do majority of charging at home.

 

[RetMD21]

Like a caveman I have been voice commands to fold in the mirrors each time I back into the garage. I recently found it that the car will do it automatically by location. It's great.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am just curious what people do for charging.. we have a PHEV with 36 or so miles on EV but so far we plug in every night. Even if we (well, really DW as I am limited how much I get to drive) go 5 miles... and will only be driving 5 miles tomorrow..

So, if you have an EV and only dive a few miles and do not have any long trip planned do you plug in? I would think that if you dive 10 miles a day you can go at least a week without plugging in...

 

[braumeister]

When I got my first PHEV it only had 18-20 miles of battery range, so I got a Level 2 EVSE in my garage. Plugged it in every time I got home.
Currently I get at least 40 miles of battery range, so it's not as critical but I still plug it in if it has less than 30 miles range on it. No reason not to.

 

[RetMD21]

I added 24 miles of range this afternoon. It was sunny and the solar panels were producing so why not. I didn't really need it. I can get away with charging twice a week most of the time. If I let the solar production go to the grid they add a transmission charge when I buy it back.

 

[Texas Proud]

When I got my first PHEV it only had 18-20 miles of battery range, so I got a Level 2 EVSE in my garage. Plugged it in every time I got home.
Currently I get at least 40 miles of battery range, so it's not as critical but I still plug it in if it has less than 30 miles range on it. No reason not to.

We just use the level 1... it takes 10 to 12 hours but we charge overnight so not a big deal.. only once was it not 'full' but she did not come close to using all EV range the next day...

 

[Midpack]

I am just curious what people do for charging.. we have a PHEV with 36 or so miles on EV but so far we plug in every night. Even if we (well, really DW as I am limited how much I get to drive) go 5 miles... and will only be driving 5 miles tomorrow..

So, if you have an EV and only dive a few miles and do not have any long trip planned do you plug in? I would think that if you dive 10 miles a day you can go at least a week without plugging in...

I would think charging practices would differ for PHEVs and EVs. You don’t have to charge a PHEV, not so with an EV. Plus PHEVs have far less electric only range vs any EV. I’d probably plug a PHEV in every day, but I don’t see a need with an EV.

Tesla recommends you plug in every night whether you need it or not, and some owners do, some don’t. I drive about 8K miles/year. I charge level 2 at home, probably average every 3-4 days, but it varies from 1 to 5-6 days depending.

Of course it’s a whole different ballgame on longer trips, but superchargers are reliable and plentiful and integrated NAV does all the charge planning for the owner (where to stop, preconditioning battery for faster charging, etc.) - there’s no range anxiety once you’ve experienced it…