Tek23

I cross shopped the 85D v. the S7 and ended up with a S7. The things that turned me away from the tesla were the cheap feeling seats, no HUD, buttons on the steering wheel felt off (didn't correspond with how the door switches felt), lack of volume ****. I know that last ones are kinda funny but I like how ***** and switches feel. Otherwise the Tesla is a great car, and the buying experience seemed like it would be better than Audi's.

In the end, I do sometimes wonder what if.... but I am extremely happy with the S7 even if it doesn't have as much of a gee whiz factor of a Tesla. Besides, the convenience of filling up wherever and whenever I want to, and the grunt of the V8 are pretty nice too!

a7ubercoupe

Tesla needs to offer a Recaro upgrade option, or better yet, include them at no extra charge for cash paying buyers

PS: tek23, I'll look for your S7 on the Eisenhower sometime?

schalliol

The Audis are MUCH more refined cars than the Teslas at this point. From a performance and running cost perspective, the Tesla is better, but someone with a Prestige Audi that likes the refinements will only like a loaded Tesla. I drove a 90D vs my S6 and found that you end up paying more with the Tesla with fairly similar performance and less features and less finesse.

The range doesn't bother me with the cars, 85 or 90s version, and I like that you basically never stop to fill up unless you go a long way out of town. The S6 is more fuel efficient than my old A6, but I feel like I'm having to stop a lot more because they've shrunk the tank in C7.

Don't get me wrong, Telsa will continue to advance and as battery technology improves, but Audi will have to play catch up with e-trons and Tesla has free energy infrastructure all around the US too. That Tesla is even competitive with gasoline cars at all suggests that soon, the EV is the future. I really enjoyed driving the Tesla Roadster Sport when I had the chance.

I feel like our cars are the pinnacle of gasoline vehicles, which is one of the reasons I wanted mine, and I bet this is my last gasoline car. I'm going to enjoy it while I can!

looking@audi

My 2013 A7 lease ended in November. I have owned several BMW and Mercedes models in the past, however, the A7 was my all time favorite car!

I looked at dozens of different replacements and in the end my final 3 contenders were a new A7, Tesla S, and Porsche Macan S. I eliminated the A7 simply because I felt a 2016 was too similar to my 2013. I wanted a change (but will consider again after the next redesign). I eliminated the Tesla S for 3 reasons: 1) a "properly" equipped Tesla S is significantly more money than the A7 or Macan, 2) range anxiety, and 3) in the final analysis I wasn't ready for a silent car - regardless of the performance. I like the involvement of a revving engine, changing gears, exhaust, etc. Sometime in the future a majority of cars will be electric so I want to enjoy a combustion engine for a bit longer.

I custom ordered a Macan S in December and now anxiously awaiting delivery sometime in early February. A lot of folks may think the Macan is simply an SUV and not comparable to the A7 or Tesla S - and they would be correct in some regards. However, the Macan is sexy, fast, all-wheel drive, handles great, versatile, unique, and has a hatch - much like my beloved A7. Plus it has some of the best seats I ever experienced - and a throaty roar when you fire it up!


Good luck with your decision! Enjoy the ride!

georgenyc

Wouldn't you want a midway stop anyways, if not to refuel, but to take a break and go to the little boys' or girls' room?

schalliol

If you do a lot of 8-10 hour trips. You might not find it the perfect car, but one of my friends owns one and goes from Silicon Valley to Yellowstone and Vegas and several other far away places. You definitely have to plan for it, but in the next few years, this concern will go away as batteries get better. The next battery is lithium-air, which promises an order of magnitude performance over LiIon, but of course it is unclear exactly when those will be available. For the vast majority of people, the ocassioinal very long trip it isn't a problem with them as it is.

One thing I don't think I mentioned is that some places offer better rates for EV charging if you get a separate meter. The power company in the city of Indianapolis offers an incredible rate, and it only costs a few bucks to charge a Tesla all month long.

fkaufman

I usually do that, mainly to have something to eat/drink. However that 15-20 minutes stop wouldn't put much charge into the car.

fkaufman

You are right, lithium-air battery is showing a reasonable promise but this technology is still a decade or so away. The demonstration battery produced by scientists at Cambridge University still needs pure oxygen in order to charge so the "air" part of the name is a misleading misnomer at the moment.

TopDoc72

I looked at the P85D as well. In the end, the RS7 won. 1. Better range. 2. More comfortable. 3. More aggressive look. 4. Easy for quick trips. Not as much preplanning. 5.....wait for it.....faster.
I know that last one will rattle the tesla faithful. BTW I've been a tesla fan since their roadster so no hate, but the thing everyone of the YouTube videos never show is how everything the tesla races destroys it once you reach 60mph. The tesla is the quickest when your talking 0-20 or even 0-40. All the rolling starts show the stock rs7 demolishing the tesla...from about 30mph.
Just my $8.75

nakenergy

Tesla sales are up as compared to other luxury cars albeit this is from Tesla's latest earnings report.