In a time where electric vehicles are getting increasingly popular, there is one brand that has received immense attention, praise, and controversy. In 2003, Elon Musk founded Tesla. Many people dislike Musk for his bigoted political views and his inflated ego, and while I’d agree with those stances, I would argue that his cars are another offense he should be reprimanded for more frequently.
To start, the aesthetic of the cars is strangely dystopian and quite frankly just eye-sores. The mix of the peanut-like shape and nonexistent door handles make the car look awkwardly pod-like. While I understand that cars are supposed to look modern, I think this look makes the car lose all of the charm of nice cars. Rather than looking sleek, and detailed, like a luxury sports car, it looks like a bean with wheels.
Then you have the cybertruck. I mean, if you google the phrase “What is the ugly tesla called?” this model will pop up. This car is massive, and once again, looks dystopian and horrendous. The car is sold for around 100k dollars and you are paying for what looks like an upscaled fifth-grade geometry project. The features of this car that are supposed to justify its price include a bulletproof exterior, an 18.5-inch touchscreen, and button-controlled doors instead of door handles. To start off, genuinely, who needs their car to be bulletproof? I am confused as to why this feature has been advertised at all, and it just seems unnecessary to me. Most angering to me, is the safety concerns with this car. The automatic button-controlled doors cut off people’s fingers within the first few weeks of the car being released because of a lack of safety measures taken into consideration. Now I will admit, the cybertruck is indestructible. The advertisement is accurate. Any collision with the car will leave the car undamaged. This is great in theory… right? The fact that the car is made of ultra-hard stainless steel means that if faced with violent impact, the car itself will absorb zero of that impact. The people inside the car will. So yeah, you won’t have to pay to repair your 100k car, but you are going to have to pay a lot of medical bills to fix all of the spine damage you’ll contract. Cars are meant to crumble in collisions in order to disperse that impact. Hence, why cars aren’t meant to be built with heavy, thick, stainless steel.
Lastly, the safety of any Tesla seems questionable to me. I don’t think in a world where distracted driving is one of the most prevalent catalysts of fatal accidents, that adding a huge iPad right in front of the driver is very smart. Just because you aren’t texting and driving doesn’t mean it’s safe to be able to download apps to use while you are driving through a screen built into your car. Plus, people put so much trust into the “smart” technology of the cars that they think they don’t have to be smart drivers. Then when there are software malfunctions, which have happened plenty of times, they aren’t thinking enough to prevent accidents.
Overall, I think Teslas are dangerous, overpriced, and ugly cars. If someone has enough money to buy a Tesla, I truly think another electric vehicle is a much smarter investment. A BMW i5 or an Audi Q8 are two examples of classy, sleek, electric sports cars that beat Tesla’s pricing, safety, and aesthetics.
