There was a time when you would just have to put up with certain things if you wanted to own an electric vehicle. Long charge times, a self-serve approach to service, and the kinds of quirks and bugs that come with buying a product from a startup. Audi, on the other hand, wanted EV customers to be able to enjoy the same kind of ownership experience that they've already come to expect from Audi vehicles and dealerships. How does the biggest startup electric vehicle maker measure up to the Audi experience? It's worth a closer look.
Audi VS Tesla
At one time, Tesla was the largest producer of electric vehicles in the world, and about a decade ago, that also meant that Tesla engineers had the experience to make more advanced products than the competition. But what seemingly has never really been a priority at Tesla is updating the tech or even the styling of its aging lineup, which has allowed more mainstream automotive brands to quickly close the gap on Tesla's electric vehicles.
In the case of Audi, the e-tron line-up of electric vehicles have not only closed the gap on the EVs offered by Tesla, but surpassed them. From a styling standpoint, the Tesla Model S is probably the most illustrative example. The Model S was first introduced in 2012 as a MY2013, and even as of today has only received a few minor tweaks to the headlights and grille design over a decade of production. The battery technology in the Model S has fared a bit better, getting an update in 2020, but in the years since 2020, Audi has developed an 800v battery architecture that is far more advanced. This architecture allows the onboard charging system to treat the battery pack like two 400v volt batteries that charge at the same time. This makes for much faster charging, especially on DC fast charging, than what the 400v architecture used by Tesla allows. Audi also uses a more advanced thermal management system that improves range and extends long-term battery life.
Tesla has attempted to make the interiors of their vehicles look futuristic, giving them a stark minimalism that is perhaps more reminiscent of a minimalist art exhibition than what most people would think of as luxurious. Beyond the look of it, Tesla has almost entirely buttonless interiors, making you dig through endless touchscreen menus to find even basic functions. This isn't a problem with Audi EV interiors, which not only look and feel far better, but also employ frustration-reducing redundant buttons and dials for the most-used functions. The minimalist nature of Tesla's interiors comes from a product philosophy that's deeply rooted in the tech sector. Tesla thinks of its cars as another accessory, like a smartphone or laptop, and the result is new features and models being rushed to production before they're ready, with the idea of being able to tweak or fix any issues that might pop up later via updates.
Updates are just a part of the problem with Tesla ownership, but they are a big one. Tesla issues more recalls than most automakers, including Audi, and most of these are in the form of software updates that Tesla expects you to install yourself. They tend to take a long time, usually something you need to do overnight, and if anything goes wrong during this process, which it does a fair amount of the time, you'll have to start all over again before your vehicle will work the way it's supposed to. If things go awry, you can theoretically contact Tesla for assistance, but the Tesla service network leaves a lot to be desired. A very limited number of service centers, as well as questionable built quality, mean that queues for service are long, and quite a few Tesla owners have reported waiting weeks with a dead vehicle in their driveway and no indicator when someone would be able to help. With Audi, and specifically Audi Louisville, these kinds of things aren't a problem. We have available service loaners here, so you can just drop your vehicle off and let us handle everything that needs doing. Audi understands that the service experience is an important part of ownership, and dealerships like ours have to maintain a high standard of service, something we take very seriously.
Lastly, and although the things listed above are all very good reasons to pick Audi over Tesla by themselves, there is one more reason that doesn't usually come up in comparisons with other automakers. That thing is Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla who has become a polarizing person all across the globe. This has resulted in those same polarizing aspects of Elon Musk the person to unfortunately be transferred to many of the products his company produces - including protests outside Tesla dealerships. Audi doesn't have these kinds of associations, and you can be sure that Audi owners are very grateful for it.