Grabbing your parking ticket with a plastic stick in a six-figure car isn't a good look.
Tesla fans in the United Kingdom recently learned that Model S and Model X cars in that country would no longer be sold in a right-hand-drive (RHD) configuration, and now, Tesla's workaround for this problem has left many people displeased.
The EV maker has introduced “The Reacher” for these UK customers – and presumably customers in other RHD markets, too – which is essentially an extendable plastic grabbing stick that allows drivers to reach over to the “correct” side of the car to, for example, retrieve a parking ticket from a machine or grab food from a drive-through.
One Model X Plaid owner named Tony Wootts posted pictures of The Reacher on social media, with the extendable arm coming in its own box that can fit into the frunk. It's hardly a replacement for sitting on the correct side of a vehicle, though, and will likely fail to appease UK customers.
CarBuzz Tony Wootts/Twitter Tony Wootts/Twitter https://twitter.com/Tonywootts/status/1674752770576924678
Tesla made the decision to scrap RHD derivatives to lower production costs and also help it meet the high rate of orders. While the smaller Model 3 and Model Y will still be offered as RHD vehicles in RHD markets, it's especially disappointing that customers paying the most for the company's halo models will be stuck manipulating a plastic arm. The move also makes Tesla one of the very few automakers to force UK customers into an LHD car, with its main rivals all offering proper RHD cars.
While some thought The Reacher was a joke, other commenters were decidedly unimpressed. One described the grabber as “a kick in the teeth,” while another pointed out that you won't be able to “use a drive-through, get a parking ticket, use a toll road, or get on a ferry without a passenger.”
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Perhaps The Reacher is no surprise for a car company that often breaks the rules and follows its own path, regardless of who it upsets along the way. Consider Tesla’s NACS charging connector, which is different from the connectors used by manufacturers of all other EVs. Following Ford’s lead, multiple automakers’ EVs will soon be compatible with Tesla’s supercharging port, so Tesla has the last laugh on this one.
Fortunately, not everything Tesla does is copied, be it its testing of inconsistent driver-assistance technologies on public roads or its dramatically fluctuating prices that often leave customers fuming. We’d be surprised if the LHD-only Model S and Model X models in the UK don’t suffer a drop in sales; unlike some of Tesla’s other questionable choices, this is a factor that will prove disruptive to the driving experience every day.
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Keyword: Tesla's Solution For Canceled Right-Hand-Drive Models Is A Joke