Driving a Tesla for a week as a Mercedes-Benz fan
Driving a Tesla for a week as a Mercedes-Benz fan & owner. Read about my experience and highlights. It felt like digital vs. luxury.
Mercedes vs Tesla
I’ve been working for Mercedes now for about 4 years and I was interested in testing out a Tesla for more than just a test drive to get a better taste of the experience from a real customer. Not that I am thinking on buying one, but I think it helps a lot to understand better what we are up against to.
Besides working for Mercedes, I happen to be a fan of the brand. Somehow I just always felt attracted to the idea of perfect german engineering & premium quality. The first car I purchased was an old ML320 that I bought on eBay while I was in college and since then I’ve only had Mercedes cars, ranging from really old ones to brand new ones.
Wows & Ughs... Driving a Tesla Model 3 for a week as a Mercedes-Benz fan & owner
Last week, I had the chance to drive a Tesla Model 3 for a week and it was definitely amazing.
I am currently driving a CLA 35, so this was my point of reference in many things while checking out the Model 3. I’m lucky enough to be able to switch cars every 6 months so I’ve driven some of Mercedes latest models over the past years and gotten to test their newest features.
Having lived in Palo Alto for a few years, Tesla was definitely not strange to me and I’ve driven the Model S a few times in the past, but having a Model 3 for a week, was different. Being honest, quite a few of the Wow and Ugh moment were to the fact that it was a fully electric car and not specific to a Tesla, but nonetheless, the experience was definitely a bit of a rollercoaster of excitement & disappointment.
Updated – Well, this post received a bit more attention than expected (~17K views).
This means I got a few questions regarding the the context, so I’m giving a bit more info here to be able to better give the readers a better understanding the impressions. I’ve learned that while both Mercedes and Tesla are vehicles, they appeal to consumers in different ways and context probably plays a bigger role in a Mercedes vs Tesla decision as in a Mercedes vs BMW, Audi or such. In the terms of electric vehicles, it is also clear that driving habits and charging infrastructure/capabilities play a big role. These impressions remain as a quick take away and can’t definitely be replaced by the experience of a long-term Tesla driver, so I’d be happy to hear any comments from one. Feel free to email me if that is the case.
Tech vs Automotive Affinity:
I somewhat in the middle. am more of a techy turned auto fan. I definitely have a stronger affinity for technology than cars (or at lets in the technical way). I have simply more experience with technology in the context of digital products (websites & apps) and I am not an expert in engines & mechanical functioning of cars (I’m the only non-engineer in my family). Growing up in a country with speed limits and in an area were most people have pick up trucks, didn’t make the engine the most exciting part of a car for me while growing up but I since owning a few Mercedes cars, I’ve learnt to appreciate them. That being said, looks, functionality and comfort are still quite important for me in a car.
Driving Patterns
My commute is fairly small, at around 20km roundtrip per day. Most of my driving during the week is within the city center of Stuttgart with occasional shopping trips (around 50km roundtrip) and work trips (average of 200-300km). I am also a frequent weekend long-range driver. I do have charing infrastructure at the office but not at home. The topic was discussed with the landlord and he said it was too complicated and politely declined. This makes an EV highly practical for daily usage, but requires some planning for bigger trips.
During my testing week, I did have a team offsite which was around 120km one-way. It did generate some anxiety regarding charging since I was driving after that directly to the office next day. While I did some searching of potential charging stations in the way, it all seemed a bit inconvenient, but luckily the hotel had a charging station (which was nowhere to be found online or in the hotel’s website.
WOW's
Well, it all starts with the fact that it’s a Tesla and it’s just different in many ways. From the looks to the inside. It’s not necessarily better but contrast just gives it a novelty feeling.
1. Acceleration
Even compared to my AMG, Tesla’s acceleration from 0-100 is just fast at 3.5 sec (advantage of being fully electric, plus incredibly quiet)
2. A big ass screen in the center console and almost no physical buttons.
The big screen and minimalistic UX make it feel somehow easy and it feels like using a tablet, which most of us can relate to. This is somewhat distracting while driving, but by being different, it simply gives an initial perceived feeling of an improvement.
3. Letting the user know what the car is “seeing & thinking”
I think Tesla does a great job in making the user understand “what the car sees” with their display showing the lanes, other vehicles and lane detection for Auto-Pilot. This was probably one of the things I liked the most about the Model 3. (e.g. just the fact that it automatically changes the number of lanes detected in the display, as well as the size of vehicles passing by, makes you feel like the car understands your surroundings. My Mercedes doesn’t go that much into detail).
4. Opening the car with a plastic key (in case you haven’t driven a Tesla, its literally like a hotel key).
This somehow felt like an amazing thing, but it quickly lost its enchant. Funny enough I actually lost the key card and I’ve never lost my car keys…
Ugh's
1. Missing the “luxury/premium” feeling
While the Model 3 feels particularly modern, once you stop being enchanted by the big screen and take the time to look at your surroundings in a more attentive way. You start realizing things such as how the steering wheels feels quite “basic” compared to the Mercedes one. Seats also feel a bit more like a low-end vehicle and not “premium” at all.
2. Details do make a difference
The more you drive around in the Model 3, you start to realize of things that could be better, especially since you kind of assume that it would be fully equipped with all the possible automotive tech available.
Examples of this are the backup camera, ambient lights, and even the same UX in the big screen that at the beginning feels like a WOW. You slowly start missing your dashboard (even literally looking straight), 360 degree camera, being able to open your sunroof, the lights (compared to my CLA, it felt like if the lights were super small compared to my multibeam LEDs).
3. Juice Anxiety.
This is not something specific to a Tesla, but relying on any fully electric vehicle brings a new type of stress in life that makes everything somehow feel just more complicated.
Think about the anxiety you get while being out and fearing running out of battery and multiply it by 10x.
I think the most impressive thing, it’s how even being someone super loyal to the brand, Tesla just makes you feel like being part of the future.
I wasn’t able to figure out exactly it feels like that, but I think it’s a mix of the fact that Tesla is not yet mainstream enough and the feeling of having something that others have only heard about, as well as Elon’s Musk reputation for challenging the status quo of the industry.
The interesting thing is that feeling makes you think about ignoring the things you might be missing (at least compared to a Mercedes).
While I was mostly excited about the Tesla over the week, as soon as I got back to my CLA, I appreciated things a lot more.
if I had to purchase or lease a car, price would still be a big decision factor. I would consider a Model 3 but it would be a tough decision and it would depend a lot on where I live, charging infrastructure and my commute. Within the price range of a Model S, I would definitely get a Mercedes.
I feel I’ve gained a better understanding of our competition.
While there are definitely a lot of loyal customers out there, there are also many people that want to feel like “being part of the future” or not missing out (same reason driving Tesla stock prices higher and higher). I think this is were we at Mercedes have been struggling. Even when our cars continue to be improved every day and have amazing features, its tough for us to provide that feeling of a perceived extreme improvement (I say perceived, since our improvements feel many times incremental rather than extreme). This means we need to work harder to retain and continue to acquire customers while Tesla and others keep growing in the market.
