Tesla Model S - Second Thoughts?

It's been 2 months since I picked up my Tesla Model S. Even though I bought the cheapest model (+white paint and +enhanced autopilot), it was still $72k before taxes and almost $80k out the door. It's been cool not having to fill up the car and all but while driving around, it's hard not to compared what else I could have got for ~$72k.

Examples:
- Maserati Ghibli ($71,600)
- AMG E43 ($72,400)
- BMW M3 ($66,900)
- Audi S6 ($70,900)
- Lexus LS460 ($72,520)
- Jaguar XJ ($74,400)

Those are all very nice cars, with better fit and finish than the Tesla. I don't even have a power liftgate and lighted vanity mirrors. I guess what I'm paying for is the electric drive-train and the Nvidia supercomputer that will eventually drive the car by itself.

Tesla Model S - Another Pending Software Update

I read online that there was another Tesla software update pending which allows autosteer to be used on regular roads up to 35 mph. Meanwhile, autosteer speeds was increased to 50 mph during the last update for divided highways. My commute has been pretty bad this week (~2 hours in the morning) so I've used autosteer a lot lately. If the weather is good, it's stable most of the time. I think the system still has issues with overhead signs/overpasses and freaks out when the lane lines disappear/veer-off for an exit. I don't think there is any predictive feature on lanes at all. Not sure how that will play out on local roads with intersections and stuff.

It's been about 2 months and I have ~3,300 miles on the car and used almost 900 kWh of energy. I'm mostly satisfied with the car though still a bit disappointed in the slow progress on software updates. The 50 mph limit on autosteer is workable but often I find myself the slowest car on the freeway as traffic flow has increased >50 mph but my car is still cruising at the lower speed. Also, my garage is a tight fit with my parents' Honda CR-V so autopark/summon was a feature I was looking forward to but still not available. Finally, the reason I went for a HW2 car was the promise of full-self drive. I think that is probably not feasible with the current AP2 cars, despite Elon's tweets about availability this year.

I finally received my white carpool sticker from the DMV. I'm still debating whether to stick them on directly (semi-permanent and ugly) or wait for the vinyl sticker I ordered as a middle layer so I can peel them off when the program expires in 2019. I'm hoping CA DMV will cut-off access for plug-in hybrids (green stickers); if they are driving in the carpool lane on a freeway, chances are they've already depleted the battery and burning gasoline anyway.

Produce 101

I'm about a year late but I binge watched all 11 episodes of Produce 101. It is a reality survival show where they take 101 female trainees at various management agencies and pick 11 to debut as a girl group for one year. I think they said about 50 agencies sent trainees/contestants but noticeably missing were SM and YG, and JYPE only sent one girl.

Anyway, I already knew about the group and actually bought a signed CD of their last official mini-album before they disbanded. I haven't watched the actual TV show so I didn't know any of the backstories. It was more interesting than I thought. I think only snippets are available on YouTube. To watch the entire thing with English subtitles, go here.


[MV] Very Very Very - I.O.I

This is their last promoted single. My favorite out of the 11 that made it in the end is probably Kim Chungha, mainly because she lived in Texas and speaks English. Jeon Somi also speaks English and is half-Canadian but she's a bit young/immature/hyper. There are several Chinese girls on the show as well; the one from China made it to the final 11 while a girl from Hong Kong was cut in the 3rd round. The group of 11 (I.O.I) was here in LA last year at KCON. I probably should have gone since they have now disbanded and are no more.


[Perf] Intro + Dream Girls - I.O.I (KCON LA 2016)