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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday June 23 2015, @08:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the how-many-cup-holders-does-it-have dept.

Business Insider:

According to the Washington Post, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that the Model S is "a little too guy centric." It's an issue that the company is actively trying to correct with X, a vehicle that's expected to cost between $50,000-$70,000.

And it seems to be working, with more than half of the pre-orders for the Model X coming from women.

That's certainly a good thing. In 2014, women account for 40% of the nearly 17 million cars and trucks sold the US, the Washington Post reported. For crossover SUVs, that number is closer to 50%.

Do EVs really have gender specific appeal?


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:09PM (#200102)

    Do EVs really have gender specific appeal?

    I don't know about EVs, but I would guess that penis-compensators like the Tesla Roadster probably appeal more to men. I would guess that the Model S might be of a somewhat similar bent.

    We all look for different things in our cars, and groups of people (by gender, ethnicity, region, wealth) tend to look for similar things to other people in that same group. This is hardly news.

    SUVs and vans tend to have more 'mom appeal' because of the extra room for kids/groceries.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:55PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:55PM (#200118) Journal

    SUVs and vans tend to have more 'mom appeal' because of the extra room for kids/groceries.

    Motorised womb extension, that is.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:56PM (#200119)

    SUVs are the new minivan, that's the main reason it is nearly impossible to find a 2-door SUV anymore.

    One of the biggest reasons modern women perfer SUVs over minivans is because they are bigger - they ride higher and they feel safer because of the rugged appearance. That doesn't mean they are actually safer (e.g. roll-over risk, especially when hitting low obstacles like guard-rails is much greater), but marketing is all about perception.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by jcross on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:35PM

      by jcross (4009) on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:35PM (#200130)

      I'm guessing that when Tesla builds one, it actually will be safer than your average minivan. Just at a guess, the batteries on the bottom will drop the center of gravity and reduce rollover risk, and the frame will be built to survive being turned upside down and dropped a good distance.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:39PM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:39PM (#200132) Homepage

      My hypothesis about women with regard to SUV size is not only a misguided belief of safety, but that being seen next to something bigger makes them feel smaller (and by extension more girly or less fat, or both).

      It's why they wear those gigantic dumb-looking Jackie O. sunglasses and coats and boots with all those puffy and furry-looking embellishments. It's also why being taller (including with the height of her shoe heels) than she is is a requirement, and not optional, in the dating scene.

      But as far as the safety thing goes, you are 100% correct about the larger SUVs like the Ford Expedition -- hit a bump in the road and the vehicle will flip, and the people unlucky enough to be sitting in the flip-side are going to have their heads bashed in because those things don't have a proper roll protection mechanism and the roofs crumple like tinfoil.

      • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:01AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:01AM (#200217)

        For every "rule" there are numerous exceptions that show it to be nonsense.
        Dennis & Elizabeth Kucinich [google.com]

        -- gewg_

        • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday June 24 2015, @09:03PM

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @09:03PM (#200599) Homepage

          Go date heterosexually online, in a context with average people with average professions where there's no significant difference of money and power between each match, and tell me just how many will date shorter compared to how many won't. Run a little statistical analysis and then tell me your handpicked example from celebrity magicland is significant.

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:27AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:27AM (#200220)

        > My hypothesis about women with regard to SUV size

        Who are you kidding? The only women you know ride the bus.

      • (Score: 1) by Type44Q on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:21PM

        by Type44Q (4347) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:21PM (#200453)

        In other words, more women prefer SUV's because less women are physics majors? :p

    • (Score: 1) by theronb on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:58AM

      by theronb (2596) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:58AM (#200180)

      Saw a Buick Roadmaster station wagon from the 1970s (I think) the other day - those had the same mom appeal but were easier to get into.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:01PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:01PM (#200120)

    How is the Model S a "penis compensator"? It's a 4-door luxury car (5 if you count the liftback), not a 2-seat sports car, nor a giant land yacht or jacked-up pickup truck. I would think it's about as far as you can get from a "penis compensator" without going into, say, Fiat 500 or Smart ForTwo territory (since obviously, the Tesla is not meant to be anything like an econobox).

    SUVs appeal to women because they want to compensate for their physically smaller size, as far as I can tell. It does seem that I see a lot more women (especially small women) driving them than men. You don't see a lot of women driving 2-seat sports cars, which, while fast, don't have any kind of size or height advantage. It's not about utility, either; if women cared about that, they'd all be driving minivans. The only reason you pick an SUV over a minivan is because you think vans aren't "manly" looking enough. Vans are superior to SUVs in every other way, except for off-road ability (which shouldn't matter to someone who just hauls around kids and groceries).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:04PM (#200121)

      The seats in my minivan drop down and/or come out. When they do, I can lay flat full sheets of plywood. WAY better at hauling than a pickup or SUV.

      • (Score: 2) by slinches on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:25PM

        by slinches (5049) on Tuesday June 23 2015, @10:25PM (#200128)

        Hey, can you haul this full-height refrigerator for me? Oh, and this queen size mattress and box spring set.

        Both minivans and SUVs can be useful for hauling things, but they'll never really compare to a pickup.

        • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:52AM

          by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:52AM (#200177)

          To build my gaming table, we managed to fit a 3/4" sheet of plywood and a sheet of melamine into a station wagon. The entire time I found myself wishing my minivan was still operational, but the rack and pinion had worn itself down to the point that it was scary driving it. Those were the days.

          --
          Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
        • (Score: 1) by Kharnynb on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:21AM

          by Kharnynb (5468) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:21AM (#200232)

          My xsara picasso can fit a decent amount of kit and has a pulling hook for a trailer....

          I hate the big Suvs as they reduce visibility at parking lots and crossings for people in normal cars.
          Not to mention the usually atrocious gas milage and weight.

          And 90% of these people never even use it to go off-road or in any worse weather conditions than light rain....
          I can drive perfectly fine in Finnish winter in a front-weel drive car, then you can probally manage the once a year rain storm in cali...

          --
          Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
          • (Score: 2) by aclarke on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:59PM

            by aclarke (2049) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:59PM (#200499) Homepage

            I'm not really disagreeing with you, but just pointing out a few things. First of all, not all of us on the site live in California, and it's not really appropriate to use that as a pejorative anyway.

            Second, I did live in California for quite a while, and it's the fact that it only rains once a year, or at least not for months, that makes the roads very dangerous when it does rain. People have summer tires on, and the roads have had 8 months of detergent buildup from exhaust fumes that make the roads VERY slippery. If you're driving a FWD car in Finland in the snow, you probably at least have snow tires on. I can assure you as a Canadian in a similar climate to yours that a wet road in southern California after 8 months of dry weather makes for very slippery and dangerous conditions.

            Most people around here do just fine with FWD cars, year round. Then again, it's hard to argue that AWD isn't in most cases safer than FWD, and everyone's circumstances are different. I'd rather we all spent a bit more on better cars, and a bit less on salting the roadways. But that's another pet peeve for another discussion.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:40PM

          by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:40PM (#200346)

          I've never done that and never will. Delivery is too cheap. When I have hauled giant things, the home depot truck still costs $19 for 90 minutes. I rent it about every other year, maybe a little less. That does cost me about $10/yr average. However it saves me about $50K in the cost delta between a giant pickup and my commuter car.

          When you start talking about spending $50K to "save money on deliveries" you pretty much have to run a moving company to run a net profit. Like every single week haul a fridge somewhere. Otherwise it starts getting cheaper to hire a truck driver.

          About ten years ago $250 got me a flatbed truck driver and his forklift to deliver a small load of patio supplies (multiple pallets of bricks, gravel, sand, and other stuff). I could have spent $75K to get a pickup truck and drive about 5 hand loaded and hand unloaded trips, but I saved $74750 and had someone else do all the work for me. I suppose in the grand scheme of things putting in that patio probably was more work than transporting the material, LOL.

          Its interesting that the difference in "car" payment between a pickup truck and a car means I could afford to hire a pro roughly monthly, in addition to the lower maint cost of my car.

          • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 24 2015, @01:38PM

            by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @01:38PM (#200378) Journal

            That's right. Unless you're somebody who runs his own contracting business and has to haul equipment or lumber or something around everyday, or you need 4WD because you have a ranch and need to be able to haul feed around the back 100, there's no real reason to have a big truck. It's harder to park, it costs way more to fuel, and it's not as versatile as a van or hatchback.

            --
            Washington DC delenda est.
            • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:01PM

              by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:01PM (#200403)

              Those are likely to be bought and owned by the business anyway, rather than individuals.

          • (Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday June 25 2015, @03:06AM

            by slinches (5049) on Thursday June 25 2015, @03:06AM (#200757)

            I own a truck (mid-size pickup) which is also my commuter vehicle (22mpg actual) and I probably paid about the same for it as you did for your commuter car (~$18k). Maintenance is no more expensive, so a truck does not need to cost much more than a car. Certainly not $50k more. The biggest difference is the fuel costs, which would only be ~$3000 (assuming the car gets 30mpg) for the 114k miles I've driven mine in the 11 years I've owned it. That only comes out to an extra ~$270 per year that I'm paying to own a truck. Since I use it to carry something big enough to not fit in a car at least once every couple of months, I avoid more than $114 (6 x $19) in rental fees each year. That means I'm paying less than $156 a year for the convenience of being able to haul anything I need to whenever I want. Doesn't seem like such a bad deal to me.

            If we also consider that I take my truck camping 3 or 4 times a year to places a car just can't go, I think I made the best choice I could at the time for my usage.

            That being said, my next vehicle purchase will be an Elio assuming they make it into production. At $6800 and 84mpg it will pay for itself twice over in the next 114k miles just in the fuel savings (assuming gas prices average $3.5/gal or more over the next decade).

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @02:53PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @02:53PM (#200400)

          Yes, I can put the mattress on the top of my minivan like everyone else does, and it won't bend and overhang out the back of the pickup. I can haul a shitload more plywood/drywall than in a pickup for the same reason; you can lay it flat. Plus, rain/snow is not an issue to worry about.

          No, I cannot haul a full-size fridge unless it lays down. I've hauled every other major appliance in the van though. Also cabinetry. I've done kitchen and bathroom remodels and had no problems bringing in the new tubs, cabinets, etc.

          So apart from hauling fridges around (which I've only needed to do once in 40 years) or loose top soil, I've found a van is much better general purpose vehicle than a pickup.

          By the way, an SUV is entirely unsuitable for any of the stuff we're talking about, unless you're talking about real SUV's, like Suburbans from the 90's. Today you wouldn't try to push anything into the back of an SUV for fear of tearing the leather seats.

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:19AM

      by frojack (1554) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:19AM (#200224) Journal

      SUVs appeal to women because they want to compensate for their physically smaller size,

      More psychobabble from a lonely guy, probably drives around in boom car always ALONE.

       

      --
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    • (Score: 1) by istartedi on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:28AM

      by istartedi (123) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:28AM (#200254) Journal

      He didn't say the Model-S was a penis compensator. He said the Roadster was. They don't even make them any more, although I understand they're still maintaining them and even upgrading the battery packs. Anyway, that's beside the point. The Roadster is a Lotus body with E-car torque and presumably insane 0-60 times. The Model-S is a luxury sedan, also pure electric, heavy as a brick and yet still insanely fast due to all that torque from the electric motors. I'm not a car guy, and I can't afford anything Tesla is putting out; but it sounds like they'd be great fun. Forget all that pop psychology. Maybe it applies to some guys; but it can't apply to everybody.

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      Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
    • (Score: 2) by mojo chan on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:44PM

      by mojo chan (266) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:44PM (#200348)

      The performance model, the P85D, is the fastest road legal sedan ever made. It can do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, comparable to a McLaren F1. It's not quite as obvious a penis extension as say the Roadster, but it's certainly got a certainly amount of "gr0w ur member1!" about it.

      --
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      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:54PM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:54PM (#200495)

        This isn't quite correct. McLarens and even Lamborghinis are faster, just not in the 0-60 metric. Try driving 200mph in a Tesla; I'm pretty sure it doesn't go that fast. The Tesla's amazing acceleration is a by-product of its electric motor propulsion; electric motors produce peak torque at stall, which is completely different from gas engines.

      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday June 27 2015, @02:47PM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Saturday June 27 2015, @02:47PM (#202077)

        In addition to my prior reply, I'll also add: Performance alone does not equal "penis compensator". There's lots of high-performance luxury sedans from Mercedes, Bentley, etc., but I've never heard anyone call a Bentley a "penis compensator". It may have a big V-12 engine in it, but it also looks nothing like a sports car.

  • (Score: 1) by Wierd0n3 on Wednesday June 24 2015, @01:17AM

    by Wierd0n3 (1033) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @01:17AM (#200188)

    my mom went to a escape for 3 main reasons:

    more room for the dogs, fold down the rear, and they have free reign back there.

    higher ride height. she was sick of getting to a intersection and not being able to see over other peoples hoods in her taurus.

    clearance. she actually has better clearance in that little 4 banger than my chevy 1500. usefull for our horrid WI winters.

    not to mention, i've seen her cram so much stuff in that little fake truck, it could give my pickup a run for it's money.

    (30 mpg doesn't hurt either)

  • (Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:58AM

    by Dr Spin (5239) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:58AM (#200247)

    My wife wants to buy an SUV as our next car because she wants the extra height (our kids are grown up).

    Maybe women want height the way men want penis extensions?

    Seriously: An SUV is likely to be a sencond car, because of the higher running costs. Whose name appears on
    which car in a two car family probably has little to do with who uses the car, as that probably depends on what
    they are doing with it. It may have more to do with the timing of the purchase or minimising insurance.

    --
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