Magazine test drives coming soon

[TEG]

http://sanmateodailynews.com/article/2007-11-30-11-30-tesla

[Kardax]

This is a very important milestone. When Tesla starts getting kudos from major automotive magazines, they had better have production up and running or all the publicity will be wasted.

I hope this means they expect to have production underway by then :)

-Ryan

[mt2]

The article says, "Tesla officials said they want to produce 1,800 cars in 2009". I don't recall seeing a specific number before. Wasn't it only supposed to be around 1,000 per year? If they can make 1,800 a year, they will certainly sell 1,800 a year.

[tonybelding]

The article says, "Tesla officials said they want to produce 1,800 cars in 2009". I don't recall seeing a specific number before. Wasn't it only supposed to be around 1,000 per year? If they can make 1,800 a year, they will certainly sell 1,800 a year.

It's hard to pin down their production capacity exactly since it's all done on the Lotus assembly line, and one must presume Lotus's own products come first. Making 1,800 Teslas per year might require adding a shift -- unless Lotus sales have gone soft, which is also possible.

I've heard a lot of different production numbers tossed around at different times, but I think 2,000 per year is the highest that I've ever heard.

[malcolm]

I'll have a large "Whoo" with a side order of "hoo!"

So we can expect clarification on the gearbox and air bags, when? By January at the latest?

[BlackbirdHighway]

They must be doing this with a VP, I can't imagine they have any production cars yet. It does indicate that they are confident about having most of the bugs worked out, and that probably the production plan is on schedule.

Maybe they have more VPs upgraded with the new transmission, and otherwise brought up to production intent, since lack of available vehicles was one reason they were putting this off.

I'm not sure how the car mags will react. They will cetainly like the performance, but probably diss the lack of engine growl. I remember C&D in particluar had good things to say about the Elise, so they should like the Tesla even better.

[vfx]

The first articles will be "First Rides".

Tesla would give them a car for 15 minutes or an hour so they can write about first driving impressions. After Tesla exhausts (!) all the chosen media then they start over again giving them test days, and week long "ownership" rides. And then there are the ones where a writer keeps a car for a few months and gives a long range review of the car. (These are not usually exotics though).

I'm curious how the Tesla with its propriety charger that gives the fastest, safest charge -the one you want journalists to swoon over, will be supplied to the temporary owners.

I'm guessing a certified electrician would be 500 to 1000 dollars to do an install depending on power availability and proximity.

[mt2]

Well, here's the "official" announcement.
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog3/?p=69

[siry]

drive went great today with motor trend. Kim seemed to like the car quite a bit and enjoyed the meeting at the end of the day I set up with key engineers for all the major subsystems.

they did an instrumented 0-60 and I will say it was pretty consistent with what we have gotten, if not exactly.

Tomorrow I host Csaba Csere of Car and Driver, who is an engineer by background

[mt2]

Darryl, you posted that you were excited about having the magazines review the car. What is your impression of the reviewers' level of anticipation? After all, they are some of the first people to drive something that is totally new - something that will rock the auto industry. They've got to be at least a little pumped.

[malcolm]

drive went great today with motor trend.

Congratulations Darryl and the team. It's good to get back to some good news after recent events.

Get set for a new media feeding frenzy :)

The Roadster is going to be a very tough product to follow. It sets the bar very high. Will Whitestar be able to take up the torch?

[AGR]

Does the transmisssion shift? Or is it only one gear? Are the automotive media drives comparable to the customer drives that are described on the Tesla blog? What is the 0 to 60 time that was recorded by MT?

[vfx]

MT wrote:
"What is your impression of the reviewers' level of anticipation?"

This is a great question. It's worth writing how each magazine reviewer approached the drive. This kind of Market Research should ask what they have heard, what they believe and what their friends and family are saying.
This from a segment of people who are surrounded by everything car but (unlike us) are not everything EV or PHEV etc.

When they arrived, were they;

Excited?
Interested?
Ambivalent
Skeptical?
Hostile?

[malcolm]

"Hostile"??

Why would they turn up?

[tonybelding]

"Hostile"??

Why would they turn up?

TTAC is most definitely hostile towards Tesla. I don't think any possible experience they could have with the car would change their mind. In fact, one of TTAC's people rode in the car and came away with a positive experience -- which Robert Farago then re-spun into an attack/smear piece on the website. So, it literally doesn't matter how the car performs or what Tesla does or says: Farago will find something to gripe about, or if he doesn't find something then he'll invent something.

I think some top people at Car & Driver and Top Gear have expressed strong skepticism toward electric cars in the recent past, but I expect they can be turned around with hands-on experience of the car.

[malcolm]

With a strident name like The Truth About Cars, I don't think Farago sees his role as entirely in tune with print auto-journalism.

It's all a bit Crouching-Sports-Car-Hidden-Penis.

[donauker]

I am very surprised that they used a non-shiftable car at all. It would seem that they are providing something for any skeptic to dwell on in their writings. Hopefully the scheduled drivers are alot more open minded than TTAC's Farago.

[vfx]

"Why would they turn up?"


One word.






Ammo.

[TEG]

I am very surprised that they used a non-shiftable car at all.

Yeah, doesn't VP10 have the new, improved, transmission?

If so, that seems a bad sign that they had to lock it into 2nd gear.

One would think that all the VPs would get the new transmission in short order.
With all the other herculean engineering done why would it be so hard to get the transmission upgraded on ~6 cars?

[donauker]

Yeah, doesn't VP10 have the new, improved, transmission?

If so, that seems a bad sign that they had to lock it into 2nd gear.

Yes, this really does raise some questions. VP10 is the car owners were driving with the new improved transmission and they indicated that it shifted very nicely.

[siry]

Things went very well with Car & Driver today. Editor in Chief Csaba Csere did the whole review and drive himself. Csaba is by nature a skeptic, but between a business discussion at breakfast, two hours in the shop with a group of engineers representing each of the subsystems, and then many hours in the car with yours truly, the day was very full and very rewarding for everyone.

To answer some of the questions and speculation: We used both VP 9 and VP10 for the drives. VP9 had the 2 speed and VP10 had a transmission locked in second gear. Nothing new here - just playing it safe. It isn't appropriate for us to let people drive the car for extended periods with a shiftable transmission that has not completed durability testing, so we let them do performance testing in VP9 with the 2 speed but the extended drive is in the one speed. No one who has ever driven the car locked in second gear has ever complained because the torque is so strong it doesn't matter at all once you are going over 10 mph. 0-60 in 2nd gear is under 6 seconds, so that isn't exactly slow.

All of the 0-60 pulls and quarter mile pulls on a straight, relatively remote road were with VP9. Csaba Csere did a whole bunch of 0-60 runs, quarter mile runs and top gear accel runs with and without traction control, etc. The ground was wet so the results have to be taken with that in mind (the ground was dry for Motor Trend yesterday and hopefully for automobile magazine tomorrow)

Really exciting stuff. I think the article will be awesome. I will be blogging and posting pictures soon.

[malcolm]

Thanks Darryl.

Any update on 3.moderated or will this only be announced in print?