I was at a Tesla dealership the other day, and the "sales associate" or whatever they call them was really pushing me away from the Model 3. He said, "Think of it like an electric Civic. It has no luxury features. The dashboard is a flat board like a picnic table. It has no speedometer or any gauges in front of the driver (it's all on the touchscreen in the middle). It doesn't have air conditioning on the passenger side, or even a glove box. The entire $30K of the car is for the battery."
It almost made me want to pull my Model 3 reservation.
I suspect they are trying to exaggerate not having a dual zone climate system. So sure there's cool air in the interior for all 5 seats, but not a separate zone for the front seat passenger.
Go look at the interior options and features (and materials and fit+finish) of any mid-range luxury car (5series, E-Class, A6) and the Model S comes nowhere near in terms of luxuries and amenities and functions. Never mind the actual high end cars that the Model S is supposedly competing with (7Series, S-Class, A8).
They play it off as a very modern, minimal aesthetic but they're not fooling anyone - the interior is sparse and cheap and poorly executed.
What's unbelievable? I was in the market for a Mini Countryman and the Mini rep was pushing me away from it and warning me that it was underpowered. I could see people having a certain expectation of Minis being zippy cars. It's not ideal, but better than selling someone a car they don't want.
Or is it unbelievable that salespeople tell the truth when they aren't on commission? :)
It almost made me want to pull my Model 3 reservation.