As Oscar Wilde said: "The only thing worse than being talked about it NOT being talked about." Tesla must be feeling the heat from the BMW i3 as company officials continue to snipe at the new i3. Perhaps it has something to do with the i3 having generated 10,000 orders in advance, whilen there are only 13,000 Teslas on the road, in total.
This time the company's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, has likened the model to a piece of IKEA furniture. Speaking to Autobild, von Holzhausen said he considers the i3 "the myth of the Ultimate Driving Machine" as he isn't sure that it meets the "basic standards of the brand." While he did compliment the modern interior, he said the car looks a "bit strange and unconventional" which is unnecessary because the proportions and electric powertrain are unique enough. In particular, his IKEA swipe is noteworthy because Tesla has previously said they prefer "buying low cost desks from IKEA, rather than spending large sums of money on architectural and interior design."
Besides talking about the i3, von Holzhausen said the company is putting the finishing touches on the Model X and has started work on their entry-level sedan. Speaking of the latter, the designer said the car won't look like a smaller Model S because we "do not want a unit face like Audi."
I guess Tesla's just going out of their way to win friends and influence people. Like Elon Musk saying he asked the NHTSA "to look into the Tesla fires." When asked about that claim by Bloomberg News, NHTSA chief David Strickland observed dryly that no manufacturer has EVER asked for an investigation, pointing out that's why the NHTSA exists, to look into problems that IT thinks are important.—Paul Duchene
