My 2021 Tesla Type A is 2 1/2 years old with a bit over 21,878 miles on it. The recent miles have been local driving around the San Diego area and a few longer trips to the local mountains. Since the last Tesla post the only thing needing service was the glove box stopped opening. Tesla came to my house to service it and replaced the whole unit for free. It took about two hours work for the service tech. When he was here he put air in the tires too.
My Tesla has the beta FSD software in it and that is pretty amazing some of the time. Part of the time (maybe 50%) it works well and control of the car is completely self controlled. But you still need to keep very alert when driving like this to make sure the car stays driving safely. Frequently unexpected errors in the full self driving and cruise control happen. Many times cruise control’s, control is interrupted by unexpected changes in speed. To me the older style Acura cruise control is easier and works better but is not perfect either. The Acura has radar to see the distance to the next car like the Tesla. And in a lot of cases the really old style cruise control with no monitoring of the car in front of you works the best. You just use it until you need to slow down and you do this manually.
The Tesla still drives very smoothly on smooth roads. It sort of glides along like a magic carpet ride. Rougher roads can activate rattles and other noises. The Tesla has become noisier due to rattles with age. I have noticed a deterioration in the battery to hold full charge. When I first got the car at 100% charge the Tesla would tell you that you had 310-311 miles of range. When I charged the battery to 100% a couple of weeks ago I was told it had 277 miles of range. That is an 11% decline in range. My Tesla has added Apple Music to it’s system. I mostly do not use it due to problems getting it to work right. When I do use Apple Music I connect the phone to the car and play it that way. The Tesla has not added Apple Full Car system like the Acura does. I much prefer the Acura’s full integration. The Tesla wireless charging pad does not work most of the time unless you take off my Apple silicone case. The Acura wireless charge pad nearly always works. I paid extra to get the Tesla electric gate and garage doors to open wirelessly. This works very well. My 2022 Acura has three built in buttons for gate and garage door activation. The 2023 loaner Acura MDX I have deleted this feature.
The Acura has a very large sunroof that you can open the front half of. The Acura also has an electric sun shade. The Tesla has a very very large full see through roof that does not open. It has no built in sun shade.
The Tesla model Y that I have still is a hoot to drive. It has wonderful integrated acceleration and braking plus very connected steering and a good road grip. It is a bit too rough a ride for streets that are not in good condition. But for every day local driving the Tesla is a great car for four people. The way it drives is the key to liking this car. The electric drive system that comes with this car is the best overall drive-braking system on any car I have ever driven. If it is not 100% perfect it is 98%. But the 2022 Acura drives well too. And it is a more comfortable ride on longer trips. Along with driving another great feature of the Tesla electric system is that you can leave the air conditioning on when you are out of the car or turn it on remotely without turning on the motor. Then it is 100 degrees in the summer this is a very good feature.
A significant issue to me on the Tesla is lack of a spare tire. To me this disqualifies the car for anything but local driving. I mostly do local driving, but not always. I will not take this car on a trip out of town again without a spare. To have a spare for the model Y you need to buy a wheel and tire and put it in the back area. This is a large expense and very inconvenient. There is no AM radio on either the Tesla or Acura. Why not??? I used to use AM radio all the time. I want it back. The key unlock – lock system on the Tesla is OK, but the standard last generation remote in your pocket works better for me. The Acura comes standard with two wireless controls. The older system for music-news worked better. I also much prefer having a CD player for when you are in the boon docks. Todays systems require you have some kind of streaming service. I preferred the old style radios that had AM, CD, and streaming.
Maps. The Acura came with ability to use online maps like Apple or Google and also comes with a GPS system that works when you are out of cell service. Many parts of the USA do not have good cell service. To me this is a big omission. Before I went on a trip in the areas of the US that are away from cell service I would have to buy a Garmin type GPS. That said, the Tesla and the Acura have very good integration for maps when you are in cell service.
Construction quality. The Acura is built way better than the Tesla. My last Acura MDX I sold to my daughter and still a very good car. That Acura is now 15 years old.
Ecology – kind to the Earth. In California where I live the government/electric company is very pro charging between midnight and 6am. The rates are much cheaper. Therefore almost all of the power I put in my electric car is not from renewable sources. Simply put, between midnight and 6am no solar power is produced.
Availability of gas vs electricity. You can get gas on most every corner. Charging stations are pretty plentiful if you have a Tesla or use a Tesla plug, but still not anywhere nearly as good as gas. There is no range anxiety when you have a gas car.
And now a real big issue with the Acura. Back in June I left my Acura MDX outside of the garage for one night. Rodents got into it and it is almost three months since I have had use of my car. The Acura dealer has not been able to get a replacement fuel line. It has been back ordered for over two months. My oldest daughter has my old 2008 Acura MDX. She parks outside. Her fuel system needs new fuel lines. Her Acura has not be working for three months. In both cases Acura has given us loaner cars eventually, but the cars have not been fixed. In my case they did not give me a loaner car until I complained very loudly about it. This is very! unusual for Honda-Acura. I have had three MDX’s and several Hondas. None have ever suffered lack of parts and the three MDX’s never needed many parts. My current Acura had required no parts since new. So Honda – Acura are good machines and usually very reliable. But, when you need parts you need them. My question now is, “If you take an Acura MDX out for a Car Trip and something breaks, can you get it fixed easily?” That could be a very big issue if you are in that situation.
Bob Nuttmann 