Model S challenges in the UK / Europe

[sp4rk]

Back "home" here in the UK working for a bit, not only am I missing my car terribly, while I drive my diesel powered Mitsubishi, (YUCK) ... (now I remember what noisy, smelly, slow, inefficient things they are!) ...

Driving around I think about how the Model S will fit here. UK is an old country. As is France and the rest of Europe. Will a lot of the roads that wind their way through small villages have the width to handle this car?

In one such example, Marlowe in Buckinghamshire, the approaches to the bridge are width restricted with nasty black bollards. In my car, which is narrower than S, I rub my tyres. And I am an imperfect driver like the rest of us. Brianman is the exception, but he'd love the oval roundabouts.

There are many examples of this in the UK and other narrow stretches.

I don't have my car handy or I'd measure the wheel width. These nasties are 85" on one side, 81" on the other. Definitely not 21" rim country? Anyone have a tape measure handy?

 

[brianman]

Setting aside the bollards for a moment, I'd be nervous about rashing the wheels on the curbs in that picture.

 

[J1mbo]

London is infested with these. Here's one of my favourites...

Forget your rims, these suckers are out to get both sides of your car! To make it worse, the parking sensors on my current car are active at the speed necessary to go through one of these, adding much needed audio drama...

Probably the worse that I know of at the moment are the new width restrictions at Hammersmith Bridge. I can't find any pics (and too busy concentrating when I get there to take any). The road is about as wide as in the pic above, with 1' curbs and posts on both sides.

 

[smac]

I have a Nissan Navara (Frontier in the US) from the spec sheets it is narrower than the S by 110mm (1850 vs 1964). The S is definitely going to be a big car for the UK!

The normal problem I have isn't the roads but car park slots not wide enough to open the doors in!

 

[PV4EV]

London is infested with these. Here's one of my favourites...

View attachment 31979

Forget your rims, these suckers are out to get both sides of your car! To make it worse, the parking sensors on my current car are active at the speed necessary to go through one of these, adding much needed audio drama...

Probably the worse that I know of at the moment are the new width restrictions at Hammersmith Bridge. I can't find any pics (and too busy concentrating when I get there to take any). The road is about as wide as in the pic above, with 1' curbs and posts on both sides.

Last month I arranged to do a test drive at the London Tesla service center, and went along in my Roadster ...

I had to laugh when my satnav directed me into the trading estate via a road with a width restriction similar to the photos above!! As I followed the car in front, I was getting a tad worried about fitting through. It was sufficiently tight for me to consciously 'breath in' as I slowly passed the bollards. The warning sign said that the gap was 2.1m, so in reality I had well over 6 inches spare on each side.


**HOWEVER** .. the Model S I ended up driving was so wide that IT COULD NOT EXIT THE TRADING ESTATE through the same road because it is 2.180m wide with the side mirrors in their normal position, and I had to exit with the trucks out the main access road. It is a HUGE car for Britain's typically tight roads, which is kinda worrying. I later drove it right into central London, in heavy traffic and it did feel intimidatingly large, being a few inches wider than even the fattest BMWs and Audis. Luckily I didn't collide with anything ...

I later checked the exact specs and it would have just about gone through the width-restriction ... if precision guided ... with both mirrors folded in ... and with two people hanging out of each window to get the exact position right to within 10/20mm!!! Seriously! And because folding mirrors aren't yet an option, it means I'd be very wary about driving around London and getting wedged into one of the hundreds of restrictions. Inadvertently finding one that is too tight, and then trying to reverse away from it with a queue of cars behind you is also going to be a night mare. This could be a bit of problem for many UK drivers considering a Model S.


.... Maybe Tesla Inc should scale back the entire cars' 3D mesh-set by -15%, and produce a Model S-UK edition :biggrin:

 

[jackie]

Just got back from taking my Model S from the Netherlands to the UK and back via Calais and Eurotunnel.
Most of the trip was motorway (much thanks to Ecotricity and Welcome Break and the 22kW chargers) so little problems with road width.

However I booked on the "over 1.85" on the Eurotunnel as I had read too much about other wide cars damaging wheels and tires.
Made for a relaxing drive on and off the train and some fun talking to people about the Model S and Tesla while we waited to load.