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I have driven a Tesla Model S. I was so impressed it caused me to write like Dr. Manhattan. Sunday, 24JUN2012 One of the crowd handlers is speaking through a microphone outside in the tents. He’s explaining how they’ve turned the Tesla factory into an amusement park for the weekend, and he’s correct. There is the same sense of a crowd looking just over everyone else’s head. Inoffensive popular music is playing in the background, and there are refreshments and shade waiting for those who have had too much of the mild Bay Area sun. Inside, the factory sits motionless, sterile; it’s a small world, after all, especially with the power off. No one is here to marvel at the pieces of cars being assembled. They’re all here for the park’s one ride. An older woman is ahead of me in line, nodding at the familiarization briefing. She is wearing a matronly floral print and a twenty-thousand-dollar Cartier tank watch. My attention is divided between what I’m supposed to be listening to and the demonstrator cars swooping in and out with other test drives. They are liquid, silent, and hypnotic. The redshirted company handlers applaud each one as it arrives and departs. I drift forward with the crowd into switchback lanes as the next batch drifts in for orientation. The redshirts are there to chat everyone up as we’re waiting our turn. Lanes of red carpeting line the loading chutes. I don’t make eye contact with any of them, and they understand. We all have other things to look at. My wife asks me if I’m excited. I say yes. I ask the gate guard which ones are the performance models, and he asks me if that’s the one I want to drive. I say yes again. One is arriving now. It is metallic gunmetal gray and the Audi-style LEDs surrounding the headlights make it look like a deep-water predator. My passengers pile in to the back; I wait briefly on the previous driver, who has forgotten something in the car. I’m buckled in. It is TARDIS-huge inside. I adjust the seat down and back, and unlike every other car I can stop before I run out of adjustment. The redshirt copilot assigned to me tells me to adjust the steering column, too. I fight with the wheel for a minute before I figure out that the “release lever” is actually a joystick; it’s all power-adjustable. A multifunction display the size of a laptop screen takes up the center of the dash. It is filled with a scrolling Google Maps overhead view. A smaller display fills the space where the instrument cluster should be. The center of it is a combination speedometer/ammeter, and to either side are more multifunction repeaters. I fiddle with little wheels on the steering wheel that can set them, but before I really realize it, I am driving. Theatric applause fades behind us. It does not feel like an American car. Nothing rattles, nothing squeaks. Nothing makes any sound whatsoever. The visibility out is not as bad as I’d feared. bethanye and Zach are already giggling at the redshirt’s sales pitch. He knows I’ve already reserved one, but has a script and is following it. The car reaches the start of the factory’s private road. There is a gray octagonal sign that reads FLOOR IT! I press the pedal down. My vision narrows to a narrow cone. I am eight years old and dreaming of rockets. There is a whine as if someone is using an electric drill across the street. I am going eighty miles an hour. All the cars I lusted after as a teenager would be a second or more behind me. I lift off the pedal and am no longer light-headed, and the ammeter dips from amber to green, showing the braking system feeding power back to the battery. I take the curve at sixty-five. The car does not roll so much as a degree. There is a red light ahead, marking the transition to public roads. I drive the Model S out into the world. I am driving over potholes, and nothing happens. I whip the wheel back and forth, trying to make the car rock; it refuses. There is no sensation of cams, or gears, or mechanical linkages of any kind. I am a telekinetic, steering with my brain. It is difficult to accept that this is not happening in a dream. I am Tron. I am Batman. I am merging onto 880. Without really trying, I’ve reached 65 by the beginning of the on-ramp. The GPS thinks I want to go to Tesla’s corporate office. The company copilot directs me back to the correct exit. I am welcomed with policy-mandated applause. I am out of the car and being whisked away for a photograph, again back in the amusement park. One of the “customer experience” redshirts asks me how it was. I tell her it was pretty good.
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Jun 26, 2012 17:23
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Ineptus Mechanicus posted:You should submit this post to TTAC or something. Consider my incredibly cynical rear end interested in electric cars again. That's very flattering, but since I've already posted it to my Facebook account as well, it's essentially unsaleable.
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Jun 26, 2012 20:25
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The motorized door handles seem to be the early reliability complaint leader on the Tesla.
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Nov 2, 2012 23:11
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Pulled the pin on the Model S today. Turned in my configuration request in person at the Santana Row store in San Jose. Estimated time to completion, about a month. Deposit now non-refundable.
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Jan 12, 2013 19:30
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USAA Insurance rep, during the quote process: "How many cylinders is that?"
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Jan 15, 2013 21:04
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KozmoNaut posted:It seems like they learnt their lesson from the Top Gear debacle. Never trust a journalist. And unlike the Top Gear episode, they aren't coming off as petulant. If Tesla can publicize the rebuttal widely, it will be some marketing aikido that could really benefit them, instead.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:17
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A not-quite-retraction by the NY Times.
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Feb 20, 2013 01:18
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Have now wired one cubic assload of money to the Tesla Motor Company. It's gonna be the future soon. Got the post-transaction shakes, just like when committing for a house.
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Feb 21, 2013 06:09
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ozmunkeh posted:Tesla need to hire some actual QA staff. This is getting embarrassing for them now. Datapoint: I picked up mine from the factory today, and the weather stripping on the trailing edge of the massive sunroof had come unstuck by the time I got home. I'm taking it back to the factory Thursday morning. It's a lower-risk affair, early-adopting, since I live so close to the Tesla plant. Which is, by the way, amazing to watch in action. The lingering impression I got from the buyer's tour is that it looks like a videogame level.
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Feb 27, 2013 04:47
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As of apparently a week ago, these little badges have been added to the rear bumper to visually differentiate the Model S subtypes:
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Feb 28, 2013 00:48
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After seven days and a little over five hundred miles, I can say it really is everything advertised. My perspective is obviously skewed, I'll be the first to admit--I've never owned a really high-end car in my life, until now. It's nicer than my house. But drat, does it go when you press the pedal. It's not without nuisances: there are a grand total of two undersized cupholders; aside from the glove compartment, there's no concealed storage without opening the trunks; the seats don't have adjustable headrests. Stuff like that. But these are all nitpicks, rookie mistakes from a young company, and things one would expect to get ironed out in subsequent model years.  ...still don't have my plates.
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Mar 5, 2013 21:28
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oogs posted:Now that it's been a little longer, is it still everything you expected? It's closing in on a month and 2500 miles. I'm beginning to get a sense of what it must be like to be popular. Sometimes I can't change lanes because somebody is pacing me, scoping the car. Strangers will come up in the parking lot and ask questions. Driving the car is still like being a motherfucking sorcerer. You know those little toy horse rides on springs you can see in parks? That's what every other car feels like now. Life improved considerably once we got a NEMA 14-50 outlet installed, even if our crappy 1970s aluminum wiring means we can only effectively use 26 amps through the plug. I am not terribly impressed with Solar City's customer service thus far. Am also standing by for bullshit old people lawsuits against Tesla: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/29/woman-crashes-new-car-into-camarillo-restaurant/
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Mar 30, 2013 18:20
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So... quasi-leasing? Tesla press release quote:Tesla Motors announced today that, in partnership with Wells Fargo and US Bank, it has created a revolutionary automotive financing product that provides the best elements of ownership and leasing to Model S customers.
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Apr 2, 2013 22:47
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eeenmachine posted:I'm always spitting out facts to random people who ask everywhere I go. The rides are mostly friends and family. I've begun to sound a little like a sales rep, too--even when I'm not wearing my Tesla shirt. It's easy to do.
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May 14, 2013 01:11
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Apparently, an auto dealership lobby group in North Carolina is trying to push through a Texas-style ban on direct factory sales, specifically aimed at preventing Tesla from doing business.
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May 14, 2013 17:53
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Now that the Model S has appeared in the Gran Turismo 6 trailer, I may be obligated to buy the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM-8_N8gcaw
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May 16, 2013 04:07
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Whoever guessed "battery swap," for the final Elon Musk announcement, you win. Tesla plans Model S battery swap as "fast refueling" option quote:Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, in a Twitter post today, said the event would feature a “live pack swap” demonstration at 8 p.m. California time on June 20. “Seeing is believing.”
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Jun 18, 2013 20:16
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mobby_6kl posted:So was the battery swap capability built in to all Model S cars, or is that a new addition? I seems like the ability to quickly exchange batteries is something that needs to be designed for (think Apple vs other phones). Having them in one layer in the floor would certainly help, but I'd assume there is more to it than that. The battery is the last major component added during manufacture, specifically so it can be easily removed.
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Jun 19, 2013 02:42
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Powercube posted:Just chiming into say. loving BUY IT! Can't drive the loving thing enough. I even live in a condo that makes charging a bit of a pain, like when some rear end in a top hat parks in the EV charge spot all weekend, but there's free charging a block from the parking lot. I'm a bad person, because I now want to buy a house just so I can have a place to put an HPWC and pull 72/72A for a while. I'm living comfortably with a NEMA 14-50 plug, even though I can't run the dryer and charge the car at the same time. Still, it's plenty of juice to get the car charged overnight, even if I've run it down nearly flat. A high-power charger would pull more current than my entire house, so absent the wherewithal to trench new copper into the townhouse (with attendant HOA fight), I'm at the happy medium. Parking sensors? How long have these been a thing? It could definitely use them.
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Sep 16, 2013 18:02
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The Alameda building inspector is refusing to sign off on Solar City's paperwork for my charging connection. It's on a 30A fuse (a circuit it shares with my dryer connection, selectable through a transfer switch in the garage) which is fine, I can dial the Model S down to not draw more than that while charging. But because the car is rated for 50A @ 240V, the inspector won't approve it until Solar City produces an official document from Tesla that says the car can be charged at less than fifty amps.
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Sep 27, 2013 21:18
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Latest Model S software push disables the auto-squat feature of the air suspension at speed, presumably a response to the battery fire accidents.
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Nov 18, 2013 19:32
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Anti-direct-sales amendment attached to an unrelated bill in the Ohio legislature was stricken, though the dealers' associations will probably try again as a standalone bill. Related: test drives for state representatives!
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Dec 4, 2013 01:07
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ColoradoCleric posted:So apparently there's some rumors that a 2.0 of the model S is going to come out when the model X launches and will be AWD since it'll share the same motors with the performance model hitting 3.2 sec and updated seating. Anyone else hear anything about this? Only rumors. Some photos of the Model X test mule have been circulated, with a Model S having ballast on top and a version of the Model X undercarriage. It seems like an easy leap to a Model S P85++.
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Mar 18, 2014 20:33
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Madurai posted:The motorized door handles seem to be the early reliability complaint leader on the Tesla. Prescient! My passenger door handle no longer opens the door from the outside. Harry Tuttle came and took it back to the Burlingame service center.
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Jun 26, 2014 21:11
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Ola posted:Test drove the e-Golf the other day. It was excellent. Great to have adjustable regen braking as well. You move the shifter sideways to select three leves of regen. Then if you pull it towards you, you get a fourth level with a lot of regen. Perfect for long downhills. If it's braking a little bit too much, just give it a bit of gas. Is this common for all EVs? It's electronically selectable in the Model S with either a mild or aggressive setting.
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Jul 6, 2014 22:24
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rcman50166 posted:Has there been any Tesla Model III chat in here yet since the announcement? I've only checked the last two pages. $35,000 in 2017. The last tiime I had heard any major news about it (maybe 2-3 years ago) it was supposed to be <$30,000 and come out in 2015. I don't know about you guys but I wouldn't really consider $35k economical. I'll be very interested to see if there's a 2-door version. I can't imagine how doors 20% smaller than those on the Model S would work.
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Jul 16, 2014 19:12
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The Tesla factory shut down today to allow the changes to the production line to start building the Model X in quantity.
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Jul 24, 2014 01:30
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Lesson learned the hard way: NEMA 14-50 isn't actually the standard RV plug, after all. Need to pick up one of these.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:33
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If you leave the key fob in your Model S, it could be stolen--but hey, at least you can watch where they go.
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Sep 4, 2014 22:05
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Sawing the roof off a Model S: funny-looking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g_cCKNxrdE
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Sep 25, 2014 22:48
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Elon Musk ready to "unveil the D" COMMENCE GIGGLING
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Oct 2, 2014 03:06
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As expected, the D was for dual-motor. Less expectedly, it'll be offered as an option for all levels: there'll be a 60D and 85D in addition to P85D. 691 horsepower, 3.2sec 0-60
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Oct 10, 2014 04:55
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HJE-Cobra posted:Wasn't Tesla supposed to "probably" show off the Model 3 at the 2015 Detroit auto show? That's the first mention I've seen of one being there. If they've learned anything from the Model X, it's don't reveal things too early.
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Jan 21, 2015 00:30
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eeenmachine posted:For what it is worth, In my 4 or so years of being a Tesla owner their service has bent over backwards to completely resolve every issue I've had, minor or major. But I live in a major city where there is a dedicated service center so that may be a difference. Yes, living a short drive from the factory means my experience may not be a good national metric, either. FWIW, I had my own door handle issues.
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Feb 13, 2015 19:43
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Ola posted:Sounds amazing. About the screen, does it dim dark enough to not interfere with your night vision? I've never had a problem with that. In twilight conditions, it sometimes does the reverse--switches to night mode before it's really needed.
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Mar 27, 2015 21:55
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eeenmachine posted:I just ordered my 3rd Tesla, a P85D to replace my two year old Model S. You won't regret it. The wife is on me to trade in the P85 for a P85D. She's an enabler.
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Apr 16, 2015 01:57
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Subjunctive posted:I'm in the throbbing core of silicon valley, and I was 3-abreast with 2 other Model S's stopped on 101 the other day. I have seen 4 in a single day while dropping my daughter off at school. It's a plague. Hence the term, "Stanford Camry."
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Jun 12, 2015 20:09
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Advent Horizon posted:What does that do to the battery temperature? Supercharging a Tesla on a hot day made it sound like it was attempting vertical takeoff, what with all the fans running.
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Jun 24, 2015 16:42
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In Alameda (which has its own little splitter power company, we don't pay PG&E) there's an EV discount in addition to off-peak rates, but only if you use off-peak charging. It's not really a significant amount of money, but hey, double discount!
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Jun 26, 2015 00:50
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Anybody pointed out that it looks like a Pontiac Aztek yet? I dunno--the front of the Model X doesn't look like it's been taken off and reattached upside down.
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Sep 30, 2015 19:02
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