Car of the decade: Tesla Roadster or Porsche Cayenne?
Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.
The New York Times Wheel's Blog has posted an interesting question along with a lousy answer. The question is: what is the car of the decade? The writer goes on to suggest a few selections, namely the Tesla Roadster and the Porsche Cayenne. We'll happily just dismiss the Cayenne from our list and move on. At some point, history may look back at Tesla and consider their initial offering, the Roadster, to be the most significant vehicle of this decade, but a much more obvious choice would have to be the Toyota Prius. Few would argue that the Prius almost single-handedly ignited the wave of hybrid cars (sorry, Insight), and whether or not you believe that hybrid vehicles make fiscal sense, the fact is that hybrids sell and nearly every manufacturer now has at least one to offer. All of this has taken place in the last decade and it has molded today's automotive landscape for the foreseeable future, as even those automakers which have chosen not offer hybrids are considering other fuel-saving alternatives in order to compete.
Now that we've discussed a few options, we'd be interested to hear what our readers think. Any Cayenne takers? No? OK, how about between the Tesla or the Prius? You certainly don't need our permission to name you personal favorite.
[Source: NY Times Wheels Blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Blaine Decker 9:45AM (3/27/2008)
the Prius is only considered because of the drivers, not because of what it is. If you wanted first hybrid, or electric car, then EV1, or Honda Insight.
If you go for ability, then what about the Smart, it came out years ago, and still had a great mileage back then, and it is not a hybrid. Even the diesel variant gets 75 mpg. Wait until its a diesel hybrid, then we'll see what its really capable of. Either route, its certainly NOT the Prius. It was not the first for anything, besides capitalizing.
Reply
RickM 9:50AM (3/27/2008)
The decade isn't over yet! If someone gets to market with a BEV or PHEV for $25,000 or less that wil go 100 miles on a charge, they'll get my vote.
Reply
Chris 10:29AM (3/27/2008)
Tesla's are great cars.
Greenbang made this film when they visited the Tesla factory
Reply
Chris 10:30AM (3/27/2008)
http://www.greenbang.com/1868/film-greenbang-visits-tesla-factory
Reply
Phil L. 10:45AM (3/27/2008)
A vehicle deserves to be "car of the decade" because it represents an era - or because it changes how people think. I'd argue that many "car of the..." vehicles of decades past weren't really the best example of a particular design or remarkably desireable when they were released. But, in retrospect, they help us understand an era, or mark the beginning of significant change.
Sorry, the Cayenne fails on all points. I believe it will only be significant in the future because it marks the point when Porsche lost its way.
The Prius might rate in this category - but only because it is the popular image commonly associated with our changing perception of transportation efficiency and green products. That said, it's only a start: It's still a 100% gasoline powered vehicle (well, I'll give some props to the PHEV kit folks).
If the Tesla marks the beginning of widely-available, high-quality, desireable mass produced EVs, then it will almost certainly be remembered as a car of the decade. If it fails, it will be yet another interesting yet unattainable EV, slowly fading from memory.
Though I'm simply not in Tesla's market demographic (sorry, no $100K cars in my future), I'm hoping the the Tesla succeeds where others showed so much promise - but weren't able to follow through.
Reply
DC 10:47AM (3/27/2008)
Tesla Roadster, is that a joke? Almost as much of one as the Cayenne. Who cares until they can make a car in significant volume at a decent price, otherwise they'll drown in the EV waves that the heavyweights will start making soon enough. I'd agree with the Prius, although given the luxo-SUV-techno craze of this decade, the RX400h could be a more appropriate if distasteful and unworthy choice.
Reply
why not the LS2/LS7? 11:13AM (3/27/2008)
The Cayenne? You must be joking.
The Tesla Roadster might be car of the decade, depending how the next three years go. If it leads to a huge electric car industry, then yes. But if it instead shows itself to be the best car in a still inconsequential niche, then it's no more the car of the decade than the GM EV1 was.
Honestly, the Prius is likely it, as it was the first mass-produced hybrid. And even though it actually first came out last decade, it definitely left its mark on this one.
Reply
occ 11:31AM (3/27/2008)
The author and the comments has it right...a tough choice between the Tesla and the Prius. The Prius is already ingrained in this decade and I think it should be the Prius. But there's 3 more years for the Tesla...if Tesla li'l bro the Whitestar starts mass producing before 2010 and does well, then it would be recognized as the start of a big change.
Porche Cayenne?!? What was he smokin...
Reply
Gary Reysa 11:49AM (3/27/2008)
Hi,
I would agree that the Prius is the choice.
I think people don't give the Prius enough credit for the amazing engineering accomplishment it is. Its a midsize car that is comfortable, quiet, reliable and very clean. It does all this getting 45+ mpg while cars of comparable size (even hybrids) struggle to get half that fuel economy.
Its not just that its a hybrid, its as much that Toyota focused on designing a car from the ground up for good fuel economy -- reducing weight, low drag, low rolling resistance. Its the whole package that makes it stand out from the other hybrids. They did all this while maintaining a car that is roomy, reliable and easy to drive.
I know everyone loves to hate the Prius, but I think its an amazing accomplishment, and Toyota deserves a lot of credit for its creation and design.
Gary
Reply
Niralisherni 11:48AM (3/27/2008)
I don't think either qualifies because Telsa they are both way beyond the means of 99% of the earth's population. Cars need to be affordable, fuel efficient and earth friendly for them to deserve such an appellation. If the electric car had been permitted to thrive when first it was invented, i bet it would a an electric vehicle that we would be discussing as the car of the decade.
Reply
TheRookie 11:56AM (3/27/2008)
"...nearly every manufacturer now has at least one to offer"
Is this a kind of a joke? I am not sure about the US but here, in the UK the only hybrid cars are either Toyota/Lexus or Honda. There are no other hybrid cars on European market available right now. Lexus aside, the choice is between Prius and Civic, that's it.
Reply
A&W 12:21PM (3/27/2008)
How about the Ford Escape hybrid? One of the first if not THE first hybrid CUV/SUVs. Or better yet the RAV4 one of the first CUVs.
Reply
Taser 12:49PM (3/27/2008)
If the Tesla can qualify for consideration, why not the Aptera? It's at least affordable. Additionally, it starts production in 2008 just like the Tesla. Plus, I'd wager that the Aptera will turn more heads on the road than the Tesla.
Reply
Snowdog 1:23PM (3/27/2008)
The car of the decade can't be some small numbers, high dollar oddity, that has no real market impact.
So far only the Prius makes any sense to me as well. It is not a car I would buy personally (no manual transmission), but it is the car that changed how people think about efficient motoring. As mentioned, it is engineered from the ground up for efficiency and it delivers it practically to significant number of people.
Reply
werepants 1:28PM (3/27/2008)
Gotta give it to the Prius, although if GM pulls off the Volt before the decade is out, that could be more significant.
Reply
Joseph 5:13PM (3/27/2008)
The Prius is an amazing car. However, no matter how advanced it is, exactly what did it spur change?
From what I can see, the Prius' success probably helped other automakers decide to join in on the hybrid game. So the Prius' success enabled the hybrid market to grow.
On the other hand, the Tesla Roadster brought back a zero-emmision technology and has gotten automakers to take a second look at EVs. Who knows, maybe as I am writing this CARB is deciding to keep the ZEV Mandate strong, partially because of the existance of the Tesla Roadster.
Both the Prius and the Roadter changed the industry
but the one moved it towards hybrids (not the long term solution) and one moved it towards EVs (a long-er term solution)
Besides, the Honda Insight deserves the Prius' glory! :)
Reply
DC 2:21PM (3/27/2008)
People need to get it through their heads that Tesla simply cannot possibly scale fast enough or develop fast enough to be more than a pioneer cashing out in a few years. Who cares, do they even have a car in customer hands yet? Not a chance in hell they'll make any real impact except for some publicity for electric cars.
Reply
fnc 2:46PM (3/27/2008)
I'll begrudgingly give it to the Prius, at this point in time. I admire the Tesla and Aptera's devotion to their respective singularities of vision, but they just haven't made any actual impact yet beyond showing us what passionate engineering can accomplish. Hopefully that will change in the next two years.
I'd much rather drive a Tesla than a Prius though.
Reply
Student Driver 3:17PM (3/27/2008)
New MINI, or maybe Smart Car. The Prius definitely made hybrid cars "attractive" (attractive from a usage and business sense, not physical appearance) but as far as a "car" of the decade, and not "alternate fuel car" I would put either of those higher up the list.
Reply
Throwback 3:41PM (3/27/2008)
The Cayenne is significant. It not only allowed Porsche to remain independent, it also allowed them to buy VW, thus ensuring their independence. While many people bash Porsche for doing the Cayenne (me included), the fact is the Cayenne was a brilliant financial move. Car of the decade? Probably not. I would go with the Tata Nano, it will probably put a half a billion more people on the road. That may be good or bad depending on your point of view, but it is certainly significant.
Reply