Get Amped Tour: Chicago, 7/26 - 7/28

[kevincwelch]

Who will be attending this?

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[tnawara]

Who will be attending this?

I'll be there on Thursday (7/26).

[dsm363]

I'll be there as well.

[raptorweb]

Count me in not sure what day yet.

[PattyChuck]

If I can get a slot on Saturday, I'll be there, too.

[William13]

I plan an early Saturday drive. I may let a friend have my drive as my sig won't be that long of a wait. What is thirty days more after waiting three plus years. This test drive by my friend could mean another sale for Tesla. He bought a Nissan GTR after driving my brothers GTR. At this point he only knows he would be a passenger as I am unsure about my ability to wait.

[kevincwelch]

Rubbish.

I just realized the dates coincided with a trip I had planned on taking with the family. :mad:

I'll have to bum a ride off someone who has an early production number. Alternately: I wonder how many of these places will allow some sort of test drive later in the summer or fall. Any mention of when Tesla may open test drives to the general public or people like myself who can't make an Amped event?

[J in MN]

I'll be there either Friday (my birthday) or Saturday.

raptorweb, are you in Dakota Electric service territory?

[Meursault]

I will be there. Looking for an early morning Saturday slot, although I am P6366 so I am not sure when I will get the email. I have received invites to each of the other events, so I take that as a good sign. My three biggest questions are 1. who to bring, 2. drive a performance or standard vehicle (on the fence with this still) and 3. what the test drive route will be. A good position to be in!

[kevincwelch]

I will be there. Looking for an early morning Saturday slot, although I am P6366 so I am not sure when I will get the email. I have received invites to each of the other events, so I take that as a good sign. My three biggest questions are 1. who to bring, 2. drive a performance or standard vehicle (on the fence with this still) and 3. what the test drive route will be. A good position to be in!

Interesting. I am P8995 and I received my email a few days ago.

I thought about those questions you posed. I am not buying a performance version, so I would want to test drive what I actually am in position to buy, and that's the "standard" Model S. I am tempted to test drive the performance version, but if I did, I would probably want to upgrade and risk divorce!

I'd bring my wife and my kids. I have a 5 year old to test the rear-facing seats and my 5m old to see how the car seat fits. Maybe another 6-footer like myself to sit in back and rate the experience.

[dsm363]

You've already received an e-mail for Chicago? I still haven't received it yet.

[kevincwelch]

You've already received an e-mail for Chicago? I still haven't received it yet.

Oh!

My bad. I received the Seattle notice but was looking at the Chicago dates.

[PattyChuck]

I'd bring my wife and my kids. I have a 5 year old to test the rear-facing seats and my 5m old to see how the car seat fits. Maybe another 6-footer like myself to sit in back and rate the experience.

Tesla has said they are not allowing children under 8-years-old to partake in the Get Amped event. Maybe that will change once the stores have full-time demo cars, but for now, the wee ones have to stay home (much to the disappointment of my wife and 19m/o).

[kevincwelch]

Tesla has said they are not allowing children under 8-years-old to partake in the Get Amped event.

That's too bad; I suppose I understand though since this is the first run of events.

[raptorweb]

I'll be there either Friday (my birthday) or Saturday.

raptorweb, are you in Dakota Electric service territory?

It's xcel for me but they are very close

[W8MM]

We absolutely need a Thursday AM slot. With R#44, one would think our chances were pretty good, but who knows?

[dsm363]

Oh!

My bad. I received the Seattle notice but was looking at the Chicago dates.

No problem. Just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed the e-mail or something.

I assume the event will be out of the Oakbrook store or do we know for certain yet? We should all meet for lunch or something. I'm planning on getting there Wednesday night (that may change) and going to the event on that Thursday.

[kevincwelch]

No problem. Just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed the e-mail or something.

I assume the event will be out of the Oakbrook store or do we know for certain yet? We should all meet for lunch or something. I'm planning on getting there Wednesday night (that may changed) and going to the event on that Thursday.

I would think Oakbrook.

The downtown service store is on Grand Ave and a short jump to the Kennedy, but given the nature of Chicago roads, the only thing that would get a good test would be the suspension. At least in Oakbrook you can drive around the community and hop on the Freeway there as well. Plus, anyone who comes along an isn't thrilled about the wait and the test drive can go shopping.

[raptorweb]

I cannot confirm that it will be at Oakbrook but when I called a few weeks ago to ask about places to stay close by in regards to the test drives they told me hotels close to the Oakbrook store.

[Brian H]

Tesla has said they are not allowing children under 8-years-old to partake in the Get Amped event. Maybe that will change once the stores have full-time demo cars, but for now, the wee ones have to stay home (much to the disappointment of my wife and 19m/o).
The littles can come, but not ride. There are static betas to try the jumpseats on, I believe.

[PattyChuck]

The littles can come, but not ride. There are static betas to try the jumpseats on, I believe.

Yes, sorry, you are correct. I got lazy typing my response. :redface: I know my daughter would get cranky that dad got to go drive in the car without her, but I had ignored the fact that a) there would be other cars in the store to try out, b) GerogeB mentioned there would be a kid watch area with games and movies during the Get Amped events, and c) Oakbrook has enough shopping in the immediate area to exhaust even the hardest of spenders!

[kevincwelch]

I called Tesla this morning. The rep on the line did not know if it will be held at the Oakbrook store. I guess they haven't ironed out those details yet since they want to be able to have a "decent track" for drivers.

For those who have production numbers that are up there, there will be a model in the store available for test drives later in the year -- when, he could not confirm.

[Liz G]

I plan on going, but need a midmorning , early afternoon slot on Thursday as I only have that one day available and have to drive up from St. Louis and back that day. So fingers crossed it works out for me.

[michiganmodels]

Who will be attending this?

I plan on going Saturday morning.

[dsm363]

Any Thursday people want to meet for lunch somewhere near the event? If it's at the Oakbrook Store, there are plenty of places within walking distance at that mall.

[Liz G]

Any Thursday people want to meet for lunch somewhere near the event? If it's at the Oakbrook Store, there are plenty of places within walking distance at that mall.

Would love to meet for lunch and talk Tesla.

[Longhorn92]

I plan on a Saturday slot as well... assuming there are still spots available when they get to 5,539

[tnawara]

Any Thursday people want to meet for lunch somewhere near the event? If it's at the Oakbrook Store, there are plenty of places within walking distance at that mall.

I'd be up for that if I get a Thursday slot. Tuscany or Gibson's are across the street, or Club House, Antico Posto, Reel Club, Mon Ami Gabi or Wildfire are in the mall itself. Take your pick.

[dsm363]

I'd be up for that if I get a Thursday slot. Tuscany or Gibson's are across the street, or Club House, Antico Posto, Reel Club, Mon Ami Gabi or Wildfire are in the mall itself. Take your pick.

What's your favorite of those that you listed? I like Italian food so I assume Tuscany would work. Wildfire sounds nice as well.

[tnawara]

What's your favorite of those that you listed? I like Italian food so I assume Tuscany would work. Wildfire sounds nice as well.

Tuscany would definitely work. It's our regular spot for Mother's Day and other family events (of which, a Model S test drive is certainly one).

[dsm363]

Have the 11AM slot. Will be free for lunch from noon to 2PM when I go on a test-ride. Can't wait.

[Liz G]

Have the 11AM slot. Will be free for lunch from noon to 2PM when I go on a test-ride. Can't wait.

You got your email already?

[dsm363]

You got your email already?

Yeah. A few hours ago.

[kevincwelch]

Can't go, but I haven't gotten one yet.

8995#

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[W8MM]

We'll be there @ 10:00 AM on Thursday.

[raptorweb]

Just signed up for Thursday @ 11 AM

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Just signed up for Thursday @ 11 AM

Don't mean to take this thread OT but, raptorweb, your forum signature needs to be updated desperately. See the latest traffic on these threads:

Latest "Finalize your order" date (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/8290-Latest-quot-Finalize-your-order-quot-date?p=161612&viewfull=1#post161612)

Founders list is apparently getting much bigger day by day (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/9319-Founders-list-is-apparently-getting-much-bigger-day-by-day)

At P 1,620, I'm a pessimistic December 20 now :(

[Liz G]

All signed up.

I'm driving at 1pm

[Nikoli]

Friday at 11am.

[Meursault]

Received two emails inviting me to my personal test drive. I am mere P6366 and so perhaps it is all the sixes that got me lucky (and yes devious forum members, I did try to sign up twice, and no, it did not let me). Registered for what I think/hope is the last slot on the last day - 4pm-5pm Saturday. Why? Curious about what the state of the vehicles will be after being beaten up for a couple days with other test drives. No way to do every repair nightly, and so I want to see some wear and tear. Plus hoping if I am the last one up I might get some extra time with the car. My new interest is in the track that they are creating at Oak Brook. Lots of options as that is a uniquely situated area with lots of terrain and highway possibilities. Has any Amped test drive been in the rain yet? I kind-of hope for this too, and the midwest weather is tricky this time of year - anyone working in the Chicago Loop today knows what I am talking about.... Cheers to a great ride.

[raptorweb]

Don't mean to take this thread OT but, raptorweb, your forum signature needs to be updated desperately. See the latest traffic on these threads:

At P 1,620, I'm a pessimistic December 20 now :(

I know GG but I can hope can't I?

[dsm363]

We'll be there @ 10:00 AM on Thursday.

We'll be having lunch somewhere close to the event so stick around if you can.

[crzyskl]

Signed up for Saturday from 4-5

[Longhorn92]

Confirmed for Saturday 4-5pm for me as well!

P5,539

[PattyChuck]

Saturday 3-4. Bringing a diesel-truck-loving EV skeptic with me in hopes I'll be able to convert him!

[William13]

Sat 10 am. Hope to see several fellow Tesla fans. Probably eat at Mangiano's afterward and talk electric.

[J in MN]

Can someone with a Thursday drive please post the route information? I'd like to do some preparation prior to my Friday drive.

[dsm363]

A few of us are thinking about meeting for lunch for the Thursday drive event. We had thought about going to Wildfire which is on the opposite side of the mall but still very close. The Doubletree Hotel where the event takes off from also has a grill/bar called Foxes
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago - Oak Brook Dining (http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/illinois/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-chicago-oak-brook-CHIOADT/dining/index.html)

It might be easier to just come by before or after your drive and hang out since you would only have to park once. It should be easy to find everyone since I'm sure we'll all be decked out in Tesla gear. They open at 11:30AM. I don't think we'll need reservations but I'll check.

[Mkent]

I am flying in Wednesday for the Thursday, July 26th test drive in the 10-11 time slot. I hope to see some members there! With only two members from SC at present, we are a little short on Tesla love! Cannot wait to get to Chicago and get behind the wheel of the Model S!!!

[Liz G]

Looking forward to meeting all the Thursday drivers at the Double Tree.

[dsm363]

I am flying in Wednesday for the Thursday, July 26th test drive in the 10-11 time slot. I hope to see some members there! With only two members from SC at present, we are a little short on Tesla love! Cannot wait to get to Chicago and get behind the wheel of the Model S!!!

What time are you getting into Chicago? Eat at Frontera Grill Wednesday night if you can. Awesome place. That's where I'll be.

[Mkent]

Eating dinner that night with my wife's client and his wife at a restaurant called "MK". I have never eaten there but my wife says it is great! I hope they are right!??? I hear Frontera Grill is great! Tried to get into The Girl and the Goat and Goosefoot, but both were booked for 4 weeks in advance! Crazy! A personal favorite of mine for dinner is Blackbird. Awesome food! Man I love Chicago!

[dsm363]

Eating dinner that night with my wife's client and his wife at a restaurant called "MK". I have never eaten there but my wife says it is great! I hope they are right!??? I hear Frontera Grill is great! Tried to get into The Girl and the Goat and Goosefoot, but both were booked for 4 weeks in advance! Crazy! A personal favorite of mine for dinner is Blackbird. Awesome food! Man I love Chicago!

Have fun.

If anyone wants to meet up at Frontera Grill Wed. July 25th send me a PM. I figured I'd get there early (4:30PM to stand in line for when they open the doors at 5PM). I realize that's really early but if you get there around 6PM or so and have a larger party you can wait hours for a table. I believe everyone in the party has to be there to be seated though.

[Mkent]

Anyone have an idea what colors will be available to drive in Chicago? I am interested in blue, green, black, and possibly silver? So many choices!

[brianman]

Anyone have an idea what colors will be available to drive in Chicago? I am interested in blue, green, black, and possibly silver? So many choices!
They'll probably post about it sometime next week:
Telsa Motors | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/teslamotors)

[gg_got_a_tesla]

From GeorgeB's last blog post:


For the remainder of the Get Amped Tour, we’ll be using Facebook to share the list of Model S colors that will be at each tour location. We’ll do this on Wednesday before each weekend to give you lots of time to get amped!

Get Amped Tour: News from the Road | Blog | Tesla Motors (http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/get-amped-tour-news-road)

[Brian H]

Note to any and all: check the VIN on any car(s) and report. Pix not needed, but helpful.

At least the last 3 digits!
Apparently, 1xx there is reserved for "marketing" vehicles. So any # outside that range is especially interesting.
________
Poached from FB page:

Portland, OR: Silver, Pearl White (in store), Signature Red and Black (driving)
Denver, CO: Gray, Silver, Blue
New York: Sunset Red, Green, Brown, Pearl White, Silver

[brianman]

As stated previously, picture of the full VIN is strongly preferred. Even low quality pictures.

[dsm363]

I'll have my DSLR so can take good quality pictures.

[Mkent]

Question: with the exception of the color of the car, will I have the opportunity to test drive the car closest to my designed reservation or is it pretty much line up and drive whatever they have when it is your turn?

[cinergi]

Question: with the exception of the color of the car, will I have the opportunity to test drive the car closest to my designed reservation or is it pretty much line up and drive whatever they have when it is your turn?

My experience has been they let you choose between perf and non-perf. You get a number for your 1 hour window to control who goes first.. if the car that's available isn't what you want, they simply give the ride to the next person and you get the next car.

There's a static car for checking out, too (probably not in the combo you want). It's hard to check out the interiors of the ones in rotation but if you hang around, you can at least see it from the outside as people are coming and going.

[Mkent]

I will want to drive the performance for sure and would like to see the pano roof v. non-pano roof for the headroom issue. I am leaning towards the pano roof for the extra head room. Thanks for the information. I cannot wait until Thursday!

My apologies in advance to all the natives in the greater Chicago area. If you see smiling face and hear a little slow talking twang, it is only this good old boy from South Carolina having a huge time behind the wheel in a Tesla Model S!!!

[dsm363]

Thursday people: Join a few of us for lunch at the Double Tree Hotel (where the event is) at Foxes Sports Bar and Grille. We'll be wearing Tesla gear I'm sure.

[Longhorn92]

Posted on Tesla's facebook page: Blue, Black, Grey, Silver

[tnawara]

My session's from 11-12 tomorrow (Thursday). Looking forward to seeing TMC members there.

It's unfortunate that Miami's getting the Green and Sunset Red cars (two of my top three color choices), but I'm looking forward to driving the car - whatever the color.

[Mkent]

Awesome color choices! All four are on my list as final selections! I should be able to finalize my color choice after the test drive. Now, I only need to know how soon Tesla will be able to deliver my wonderful car?

By the way, I read the new Motor Trend Mag on the airline during the flight to Chicago today. Can you say they are big fans? The answer is YES!

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at 10AM!

[IlliniT]

I'm slotted for 10 am Thursday. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

[raptorweb]

Here is the route
8211

[Longhorn92]

raptorweb: Thanks for posting the route!!

I mapped it online, and the course is about 4.75 miles long. There are many sweeping turns as well as two one mile straightaways (Roosevelt Rd and Frontage Rd). If memory serves me correctly, there are only two stop lights on the entire course (at hotel intersection and at 16th and Kingery).

[zdre]

Route on Google Maps (http://goo.gl/maps/mvj5J)

[dsm363]

That was fun! Good meeting Liz G and raptorweb. There are already a lot of reviews so I'll just add to the 'It's awesome' chorus. Really fun car, very quick, easy to get into and out of and the 17" screen is awesome. It wasn't that bright outside but I didn't even notice there was a pano roof. No glare on screen.

[kcveins]

Thanks for putting up the map! I know the area well and that course has a good few turns - I'm getting to do my test drive on Saturday.

[Brian H]

That was fun! Good meeting Liz G and raptorweb. There are already a lot of reviews so I'll just add to the 'It's awesome' chorus. Really fun car, very quick, easy to get into and out of and the 17" screen is awesome. It wasn't that bright outside but I didn't even notice there was a pano roof. No glare on screen.

What!?!? Lissen, there ain't never enuf reviews! The vicarious experience is 51% of the point. Get on the stick and put up your turn-by-turn diary. Stat!
:cursing:

[Mkent]

Ok guys! I just got back from Chicago to Greenville, SC after being AMPed up! I drove the black performance Model S since I am ordering the performance version. In short, it was awesome! Now this comes froma guy who has blessed with nice cars during his first fifty years. My V10 M6 BMW would go 0-60 in 3.6 and was the closest thing to a rocket I ever drove until today. On the frontage road, my guide asked me to stop and open it up on a 0-60 run. While unofficial, we timed it at 4,2 which makes me feel solid about the 4.4 claims by Tesla. The constant torque of the electric motor will bring a smile to the most die hard ICE guy! While the fit and finish inside was not as tight as my 7 series BMW, I did not except that to be anyway. After all BMW has been making top quality cars for a long time, but what I will tell you guys, I was so impressed with the quality of the Model S, handling, acceleration, braking, and overall performance, my wife and I are definitely buying the Model S and placing a Model X order for her and getting rid of all of our fancy ICE's!

Now colors are like food, a personal taste; however, all four of my favorites were there (grey, silver, black, and blue). While I liked them all, my wife was blown away by how good looking the grey color was. I have read a lot of flack about the grey in some of the forums, but it is really beautiful in person.

In short, Tesla has a winner on their hands, and I hope everyone in Chicago has as much fun as I did!

Getting AMPed down south,

Mark


C

[MikeK]

Congrats! I wish I could have seen those colors again. I'm interested to know what you and your wife thought of the blue.

[Brian H]

MK;
"While the fit and finish inside was not as tight as my 7 series BMW, I did not except [expect] that to be anyway."
Very interesting comment. Many have excoriated TM for slackness in that area, and Elon calls those problems aggravating to his perfectionist tendencies.

About the Model X reservation: have you seen a prototype in person? And -- what res. # did you get? Post when you get it if you haven't reserved yet!
:smile:

As for the "getting rid of" part: do you intend to use the TM trade-in system, or will you do the dumping privately?

[ohaq]

Did my drive yesterday. I wanted to sign up for Saturday but it was full so I had to take a day off. Even though I will be getting the 40kWh battery I drove the performance model. I was like I cant wait in the line anymore just let me drive any car.

The route was perfect to test every thing. The roads were not that bumpy or the ride was so smooth that it felt that way. Nice curvy road, car was nicely planted on the road. The passenger in the back seat got a headache, maybe he should have had his seat belt on. I went at 80 several times from 0 and then again from 50 and it was fun all the time. On frontage road, the co-pilot said you can test regenerative breaking here, I said let me test the breaks. I went at 80 (floored the padel), well you cant go more than that. They have limited the speed, then I floored the brake, that was fun. My cousin in the back seat said once more. Well there was a stop sign at the end of the road so I did it once more. My co-pilot was great he let me do what ever I wanted.

Oh by the way I have driven these cars Mercedes benz ML 350 (2008), Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Hyundai Elantra. The smoothness was a bit better than the Camry. In quietness it just beats all of them easily. The speed pickup was better than all these cars. The handling was great, I wont even compare it to the other cars I have driven. This car had a great handling. I liked both Normal and Sport steering modes. The turn signal in Tesla are from Benz but I don't have a problem with that because I am used to it. I liked the one in Tesla better than the ones in ML350. The ones in ML 350 are stiffer. The ones in Tesla were softer, these may be the new ones that Mercedes may have improved after 2008 or from another benz model even though they look exactly the same.

I though I would just say that it was a great drive but ended up writing the above. This means it was really good. My cousin in the end said that Tesla will eat all the other cars up. He thinks that EVs wont work out. So he said that I don't know if electric vehicles will be the future but Tesla has built a great car.

The screens were sharp crisp perfect, no glare. Every thing was clear easy to read and reach.

The only regret I have is that it was only a short drive. I drove from michigan around 5 hours to test drive for 10 mins and then back home 5 hours, but it was worth it.

[Mkent]

Sorry for the delay guys, but being out all day yesterday has forced me to work a little today.

Answers:

1. My wife loved the blue, but she felt it was not a special standout color like the grey. Personally, I was going to select the blue until I saw the grey in person

2. I am going to sell both BMW's privately and already have them spoken for (yea!)

3. My model x reservation number is performance 1284. I have not seen the prototype in person, but feel another AMPed up tour will be on the way for the Model X as well!

Mark

[Meursault]

Quick question - did the Chicago Amp tour drivers receive a second confirmation email after registering for the test drive? I have the Congrats confirmation from the site when I registered, but never received anything more about the event. Yes, I am paranoid.

[Longhorn92]

I only received one confirmation e-mail right after registering.

[ohaq]

Quick question - did the Chicago Amp tour drivers receive a second confirmation email after registering for the test drive? I have the Congrats confirmation from the site when I registered, but never received anything more about the event. Yes, I am paranoid.

i got an email which had the following text. I took that with me and that was it. When i got there they did not even look at it just asked my last name and they had me in their system.




Your Model S test drive is confirmed. Please bring this email with you, and forward to your passengers if you do not plan to arrive as a group. We recommend arriving 30 minutes early to begin the check-in process

[Mkent]

Same here. No worries!

[Brian H]

My experience has been they let you choose between perf and non-perf.

Brief vapor lock: 'perforated and non-perforated'!? :wink: :confused: :rolleyes: :biggrin:

[zdre]

I saw the confirmation page when I booked, but never got any confirmation email for my Saturday slot. Should I be worried?

[Brian H]

I saw the confirmation page when I booked, but never got any confirmation email for my Saturday slot. Should I be worried?
Absolutely!
When in trouble or in doubt
Run in circles, scream and shout!

Or email or phone for clarification.
;)

Also check your Spam folder.

[Todd Burch]

MK;
"While the fit and finish inside was not as tight as my 7 series BMW, I did not except [expect] that to be anyway."
Very interesting comment. Many have excoriated TM for slackness in that area, and Elon calls those problems aggravating to his perfectionist tendencies.

I think he meant that it wasn't expected because the test drive cars were rushed and partially hand-assembled.

[CapitalistOppressor]

Ok guys! I just got back from Chicago to Greenville, SC after being AMPed up! I drove the black performance Model S since I am ordering the performance version. In short, it was awesome! Now this comes froma guy who has blessed with nice cars during his first fifty years. My V10 M6 BMW would go 0-60 in 3.6 and was the closest thing to a rocket I ever drove until today. On the frontage road, my guide asked me to stop and open it up on a 0-60 run. While unofficial, we timed it at 4,2 which makes me feel solid about the 4.4 claims by Tesla. The constant torque of the electric motor will bring a smile to the most die hard ICE guy! While the fit and finish inside was not as tight as my 7 series BMW, I did not except that to be anyway. After all BMW has been making top quality cars for a long time, but what I will tell you guys, I was so impressed with the quality of the Model S, handling, acceleration, braking, and overall performance, my wife and I are definitely buying the Model S and placing a Model X order for her and getting rid of all of our fancy ICE's!

Now colors are like food, a personal taste; however, all four of my favorites were there (grey, silver, black, and blue). While I liked them all, my wife was blown away by how good looking the grey color was. I have read a lot of flack about the grey in some of the forums, but it is really beautiful in person.

In short, Tesla has a winner on their hands, and I hope everyone in Chicago has as much fun as I did!

Getting AMPed down south,

Mark


C

My impression is that ALL of the colors have gotten flack.. and been loved. It really is a matter of personal taste :)

[Brian H]

Where are all the drive reports for Chicago? Was it all that boring? :crying: :confused:

[mnx]

Which cars were performance versions? I read above that the black one was. Were the blue, grey or silver cars perf models?

[dsm363]

Which cars were performance versions? I read above that the black one was. Were the blue, grey or silver cars perf models?

I think there was only one performance model there.

[Longhorn92]

The grey and black were performance. Blue was non-performance. Don't know about the silver, but I believe that it was non-performance. The only one with a pano roof was the grey.

[Nikoli]

I also test drove the black performance model, and had the same reaction... its AWESOME! I can't believe how quiet it is, amazing. Nothing to add about the interior since I was only focused on the drive.

I wasn't sure about the grey color until I saw it in person. I think that's the winning color for us, with matching grey performance wheels.

[MikeK]

I would sure like to see any photos of the grey and blue together, if anybody got any...

[Longhorn92]

Don't have them together in the same picture, but do have them in the same position and light. These pictures are color corrected using an 18% grey card, so if you have a calibrated monitor, they should be pretty close to actual colors.

Blue
8307

Grey
8308

[Longhorn92]

I've enjoyed reading other folks test drive feedback, so I guess that it is only fair that I post my quick thoughts as well...

A Driver's Car
I drove the grey (performance and pano with grey performance wheels) on Saturday afternoon and can happily report that the Model S is as enjoyable to drive as everyone has reported. Instead of treating it as a test drive where I was looking for any problems/issues, I tried to treat it more like a normal, afternoon drive in my new car (albeit with fairly aggressive driving). Bottom line: it is a very fun car to drive. I must admit, given all the previous test drive comments on the strength of regen, turn signal lever location, and rear view visibility/back window distortion, I thought that these issues might strongly announce themselves during the normal course of the test drive; however, none of these items were forced to enter my mind or became a focus during the test drive.

Regen
Having never driven a car with regen, I was so surprised that this didn't seem to be a big adjustment for me. In fact, about 3/4 of the way through the drive when I finally thought of it, I made my co-plot prove to me that it was in standard regen mode (which it was). Needless to say, it's a non-issue for me.

Turn Signal Location
I have also never driven a Mercedes, so I am not accustomed to the MB location of the various stalk controls. Fortunately, I normally drive in the 3-9 or even 4-8 hand position, so this seemed like a somewhat easy transition. It felt no different than getting into a rental car; it just takes a little while to figure out the control arrangement, but muscle memory develops quickly.

The Value of Friends
I brought two friends of mine with me on the test drive. Over time, I have discussed the high-level benefits and possible downsides of the Model S with them, but I have never discussed the nitty-gritty details that we all discuss on TMC (as well as TM). This was very beneficial because I got to see what Telsa outsiders do or don't notice and comment on. Also, these friends are the type that speak their mind, so I knew there would be no sugar-coating.

Rear Seat Headroom (Pano Roof)
First off, one of my friends is 6' 3", and I wanted to see if he mentioned anything about the rear seat headroom with the pano roof. I would guess that he has a pretty normal torso-to-leg ratio, and he didn't mention a thing. I finally asked him how the headroom was, and he said fine... nothing out of the ordinary. He said that he didn't need to slouch at all. I looked back, and his short hair was definitely touching the roof (but his head was not touching). The one thing he did comment on was that the floor seemed a bit higher than usual, so his knees were higher as well, but he didn't think it was a problem (just different).

Sound System
The other focus of both friends was the sound system. Again, I never said anything to either one about the sound system discussions on the forums, and I wouldn't consider either one an audiophile, but they both thought that the sound system was lacking. We did make the co-pilot switch to radio (which was in and out of HD), and we also adjusted the bass/mid/treble sliders, but their impression was that it still sounded weak and I somewhat agree. I didn't ask and have no idea if we had the premium sound system.

My Conclusion
If you are buying this car for driving enjoyment, this is a phenomenal car, and you will not be disappointed (in fact you will be giddy). If you are buying this car from an environmental perspective, it is the only large EV sedan you should consider, and you will not be disappointed. If you are buying this car as a mid-level "luxury" car, check it out and see, you may or may not like it (a BMW, Audi, or MB may be more to your liking, or you can always wait and see what Model S v2 offers). As far as colors, I have seen most (except green and brown) and I think they are all well done and look sharp (I'm not sure you could make this car look bad), but it is definitely a personal choice, so please don't pay attention to the color discussions on the forums, you really need to see for yourself.

[dsm363]

Great review. Thanks. I must have missed the car with the performance wheels on Thursday. I was there for hours and didn't see it. How did they look in person?
Awesome you brought the grey card as well by the way.

[raptorweb]

Great review. Thanks. I must have missed the car with the performance wheels on Thursday. I was there for hours and didn't see it. How did they look in person?
Awesome you brought the grey card as well by the way.

I don't have any pictures but me and my girlfriend remember the gray having the non perf wheels while we were there. I'm guessing they put them after we were there.

[Longhorn92]

dsm363: With a quick disclaimer that the performance wheels wouldn't be my preference if I was getting a performance Model S, I actually thought they looked pretty sharp with the grey paint.

Someone mentioned it before, but I think all the chrome accents on the car somehow make the grey wheels look slightly out of place (the car somewhat screams for chrome wheels to match). However, as with my ending paint color sentence above, this is completely a personal preference, and I would think you would want to see the grey wheels for yourself on a car before deciding (if possible).

[dsm363]

dsm363: With a quick disclaimer that the performance wheels wouldn't be my preference if I was getting a performance Model S, I actually thought they looked pretty sharp with the grey paint.

Someone mentioned it before, but I think all the chrome accents on the car somehow make the grey wheels look slightly out of place (the car somewhat screams for chrome wheels to match). However, as with my ending paint color sentence above, this is completely a personal preference, and I would think you would want to see the grey wheels for yourself on a car before deciding (if possible).

Yeah, I went back and forth on this for the exact same reasoning. I thought for sure they'd be there at the Chicago event for me to see them but I had to lock my order down even before Chicago so went from Performance to silver and back to performance wheels before I locked the order down. Oh well. I think they'll look ok on the Signature Red and I may try and hide some of the chrome either with carbon fiber or there is some kind of carbon fiber wrap which I'm told looks ok.



I don't have any pictures but me and my girlfriend remember the gray having the non perf wheels while we were there. I'm guessing they put them after we were there.

I drove one of the performance models and none of the other cars I saw had them so that must have happened.

[brianman]

Yeah, I went back and forth on this for the exact same reasoning. I thought for sure they'd be there at the Chicago event for me to see them but I had to lock my order down even before Chicago so went from Performance to silver and back to performance wheels before I locked the order down. Oh well. I think they'll look ok on the Signature Red and I may try and hide some of the chrome either with carbon fiber or there is some kind of carbon fiber wrap which I'm told looks ok.
Request for someone with mock-up skillz ...

I'd like to see how the hood and trunk "T" would look in CF.

Edit: Also the trunk "crossbar".

[dsm363]

This looks good
Carbon Fiber Film | Dedicated To Selling 3M Carbon Fiber DI-NOC Vinyl (http://www.carbonfiberfilm.com)

[PRJIM]

Finally got to see the Model S in the flesh for the first time. This car is for my wife (so all that matters is that she likes it). Tesla was nice enough to allow both my wife and myself to test drive the car separately, and we both came away with different perspectives on the Model S. I thought the car had a "novelty" type of feel to it, the big screen was uber-cool but very distracting. I tried to use the steering wheel buttons but there were so many nested functions that it was hard to concentrate on what was going on in the cluster and drive. I thought the interior was austere and definitely needs a significant revamp to compete with other cars in this price range.

On the other hand my wife loved the car, and the open feeling of the vehicle. I am not sure what we are going to do with the reservation; but I feel stomach churning bad spending this kind of money and not being 100% sold on the car.

[dsm363]

Finally got to see the Model S in the flesh for the first time. This car is for my wife (so all that matters is that she likes it). Tesla was nice enough to allow both my wife and myself to test drive the car separately, and we both came away with different perspectives on the Model S. I thought the car had a "novelty" type of feel to it, the big screen was uber-cool but very distracting. I tried to use the steering wheel buttons but there were so many nested functions that it was hard to concentrate on what was going on in the cluster and drive. I thought the interior was austere and definitely needs a significant revamp to compete with other cars in this price range.

On the other hand my wife loved the car, and the open feeling of the vehicle. I am not sure what we are going to do with the reservation; but I feel stomach churning bad spending this kind of money and not being 100% sold on the car.

If she loves it and will be the primary driver it might still be a good purchase. I think you'd probably get used to the screen but you need to feel comfortable with buying it of course as well since it is an expensive car. Welcome to TMC too.

[J in MN]

So here is my review of the Model S silver non-performance car I drove in Chicago. This review is presented in terms of whether it passes or fails my expectations, particularly with respect to the Volt and in areas that haven’t been extensively covered by others. To restate the obvious, the amount of time allowed was sufficient for a drive, but not for a test drive, yet, I tried my best.

Pass
1. Accelerator pedal mapping: Accelerator pedal mapping is done well and allows for good control at low speed.

2. Turn radius and steering feel: My perception of the turn radius agrees with the published 37 ft. While this is more than the Volt’s 36 ft, I give it a pass considering its monster size. Steering feedback was good enough for me and I can see myself using both the comfort and sport power assist settings at different times.

3. Turn signal blip: The turn signal flashes three times after a blip of the stalk.

4. Max acceleration into a right turn from a full stop: Chassis stiffness, suspension, tyres and traction control all need to work together to make this successful. The result was on par with the Volt. The Model S has less chirp from the inside front tyre, but probably only because it is rear wheel drive, while the Volt is front wheel drive. Considering that the Model S is much bigger and heavier than the Volt, I give this test a pass.

5. Cruise control: The cruise control is really well done. When on, it displays the speed set point as a bug on the outside of the speedometer circle, just like the bugs on the IAS or HSI on an aeroplane. Resume and increment/decrement reacts immediately and adjusts the speed assertively without any undershoot or overshoot. The increments are 1 mph (see more below).

6. Acceleration: 0 to 60 mph came in 6.5 seconds and 0 to 100 km/h in 6.8 s. However, as can been seen from the Graph 1 below, the motor overpowered the brakes when applying power against the brakes, causing the timer to trigger prematurely by not more than 0.3 s. So, 0-60 mph in 6.2 s and 0-100 km/h in 6.5 s are probably more accurate. There were four people on board with an estimated mass of 290 kg. With only an 80 kg driver on board, we can expect 0-60 mph in 5.6 to 5.7 s which is close enough to the claimed 5.6 s. Acceleration in the peak torque band was 0.47 g compared to 0.39 g (two occupants 140 kg) or 0.40 g (single occupant 85 kg) in the Volt. While this difference is noticeable, it is not dramatically better, and neither my wife nor I said “wow” or “oh my god”. The important difference, though, is that the Volt starts losing torque at 50 km/h, while the Model S keeps going until 76 km/h (according to the specs page, and confirmed here). At 100 km/h, the Volt has only 0.15 g acceleration, while the Model S still has more than 0.3 g. This will allow highway manoeuvres with much more confidence.

7. Air suspension: The air suspension really does make a difference to the ride quality. I also suspect that it contributes greatly to the quiet interior.

Undecided
1. Regeneration: I was hoping that the Model S would have stronger regen braking than the Volt. What I felt during the drive was that it was initially weaker than the Volt, but then became stronger as the car slowed. Looking at the graph below, this is confirmed. From 65 to 45 mph it was 0.13 g and limited by the 60 kW charge limit. Below that speed it is a constant 0.15 g. The Volt starts at 0.15 g and ramps down as it slows. I prefer the constant deceleration of the Model S, but would’ve preferred it to be at least 0.20 g.

2. Immediate access to air recirculation: This is a big irritation in the Volt. It has 37 buttons on the centre panel for everything under the sun, except for recirculate, which is the one thing that you need immediate access to when driving through a cloud of dust or behind a smoke billowing truck. The Prius has a recirculate button right on the steering wheel, which is perfect. The Model S does not have a recirculate touchon in the A/C controls area, but it does have an A/C on/off touchon, which does turn off the fan. I suppose this is better than nothing.

Failed
1. Door close action: I have written before (Nissan Leaf (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/3093-Nissan-Leaf?p=160458&viewfull=1#post160458)) that the Volt has the best door close action of any car I have interacted with. The doors will close themselves after just a slight nudge out of the hold detent. The model S has an extra hold detent close to the closed position that effectively “catches” the door before it closes. And there isn’t enough spring action left to close it after moving it out of this detent. After all the fuss and bother from Franz about the door handles, I am quite upset that they couldn’t get the door close right. Big Fail.

2. Displays in SI units: The firmware in the beta unit in the store has an option to display distance in miles or km. However, nothing visible happens on the screen. On the test car the option was not in the same place, and the co-pilot did not know and could not find a place to change either distance or speed.

3. Tyre pressure display: The co-pilot did not know and could not find how to display the tyre pressures on the centre screen.

4. Regeneration cut-out speed: In the Volt regen stops at 5 km/h. On the Model S, it was between 7 and 6 mph (see above) so, probably at 10 km/h.

5. Rear visibility: The hatch window looks really small in the rear view mirror. The Volt’s is already small compared to the Prius, but the Model S is almost not worth the effort. I also found that the driver side mirror does not adjust far enough out to cover the 7 to 9 o’clock area.

6. Brake override: See why (Toyota Settles Over Death of Family in High-Speed Crash - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/business/19autos.html)), and how (About Toyota | Our News | Toyota Evaluates Unintended Acceleration Complaints in Remedied Vehicles (http://www.toyota.com/about/news/corporate/2010/03/04-1-recall.html)). GM also (GM to Expand Brake Override Software Globally by 2012 (http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Apr/0405_brakes.html)). In order to simulate stopping the car with a stuck accelerator, my usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator with my right foot, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly with my left foot while holding the accelerator down. Even in cars without brake override, the brakes are strong enough to bring the car to a controlled stop pretty quickly. The Model S failed this test in the most unexpected and unusual way. The test route didn’t have enough space to perform this at 100 km/h, so I started at about 70 km/h / 40 mph. The brakes prevented further acceleration, but did not slow the car. I was about to abort the test, when it slowly started to decelerate, so I kept going. This was probably due to better friction from the pads as they warmed up. Then, at somewhere between 30 and 20 mph, and 3 to 5 seconds after braking, the car suddenly came to a violent stop. This startled me and upset the co-pilot tremendously! It is entirely possible that I didn’t push the brakes hard enough, but there wasn’t enough space or time to try again and the co-pilot certainly wasn’t in the mood. However, I would then argue that the force required for maximum braking is too high, and that the abrupt stop at the end indicates that I did push hard enough. So, it appears that the brakes are not powerful enough, and if there is a motor power reduction, it takes far, far too long to trigger (should be < 0.5 s). Huge Fail. I’ve been encouraged to, and will try to get an explanation of this behaviour from HQ. (Update: With Tesla Engineering as of Aug 1)

Untested
1. Sun visor extension: I wanted to check that the sun visor swivel arm can extend so that the visor can reach the B-pillar, but fussing over the speed display distracted me and took too much time.

2. Interior noise level: The intention was to measure A-weighted and C-weighted noise at 80 and 100 km/h, but the practice run revealed that there would be time for only one measurement. Unfortunately operator error resulted in no measurement taken. For reference, the Volt noise levels are: 59 dB-A and 81 dB-C at 80 km/h and 61 dB-A and 82 dB-C at 100 km/h on new asphalt. My perception was that the Model S is slightly quieter in the C-weighted range and significantly quieter in the A-weighted range. I suspect the air suspension has a lot to do with that.

3. Cruise control increment in km/h: This test was not performed because we could not get the speed display in km/h. Pass would be if the cruise control increments in 1 km/h steps if the speed display is in km/h and fail would be if it increments in 1.6 km/h steps.

4. Ease of parking: I am concerned about the width of the car when parking (particularly in narrow California parking spaces). Unfortunately all the spots on the approach to the staging area were taken.

Conclusion
I went to the drive expecting and hoping to be wowed, but was not. Maybe this is because the Volt is already so much better than most other cars that the Model S cannot be that much better. Or maybe the Volt is just a better fit to my needs and expectations. The Model S is a much bigger car than I need for daily single occupant commuting. I will keep my reservation and re-evaluate when the time to configure comes in the hope that the failed items are corrected and the untested items pass. Other items that could affect my decision include adding creep, adding a poorly implemented hill hold, interior lighting changes, lack of front proximity sensors and collision avoidance.

As others have said, the Model S is simply too expensive a car to use for one, at most two hours a day and not meet all my expectations.

8315
Graph 1: Model S Acceleration. Non-performance. Standard regen. 4 occupants.

8316
Graph 2: Volt Acceleration. Normal mode, L regen. 2 occupants.

8317
Graph 3: Volt Acceleration. Normal mode, L regen. 1 occupant.

[mulder1231]

Excellent review, I hope Tesla will read it. Please keep us informed if any of your questions get answered.

[AndyM]

Very nice technical review, J.

What did you use to capture the acceleration data?
Do you think the acceleration graph was affected by the test drive car's software limit of 75 (80?) mph?


5. Cruise control: The cruise control is really well done. When on, it displays the speed set point as a bug on the outside of the speedometer circle, just like the bugs on the IAS or HSI on an aeroplane. Resume and increment/decrement reacts immediately and adjusts the speed assertively without any undershoot or overshoot. The increments are 1 mph (see more below).

3. Cruise control increment in km/h: This test was not performed because we could not get the speed display in km/h. Pass would be if the cruise control increments in 1 km/h steps if the speed display is in km/h and fail would be if it increments in 1.6 km/h steps.


I'm very glad to see your experience with the cruise control - it's one item I didn't get the chance to review. And you answered someone's question on the "bug" on the dial!
I had been told by a rep that the speed increments are selectable at +/- 1, or +/- 5mph. So, it is quite possible that +/- 1 kph or +/- 5 kph are possible.


2. Displays in SI units: The firmware in the beta unit in the store has an option to display distance in miles or km. However, nothing visible happens on the screen. On the test car the option was not in the same place, and the co-pilot did not know and could not find a place to change either distance or speed.

The SI units change should be possible (that would be a major gaffe to go without) and it could be that your copilot simply didn't know where to change it. You might have simply tried to tap the temperature display (upper left corner of main display) which switches the temperature displays between SI to English units. It might affect the dash display units - my speculation. I think I need another "test" drive...



6. Brake override: ... I’ve been encouraged to, and will try to get an explanation of this behaviour from HQ.

I hope you will be sharing what Tesla responds to you about the brake override. It won't affect me, personally, but I know that some people out there are trained to use two feet in a two-pedal auto (Improperly trained? Bring on the trolls!) or might accidentally get into this situation. It sounds like a software change could mitigate this risk in the Model S if needed.


2. Immediate access to air recirculation: This is a big irritation in the Volt. It has 37 buttons on the centre panel for everything under the sun, except for recirculate, which is the one thing that you need immediate access to when driving through a cloud of dust or behind a smoke billowing truck. The Prius has a recirculate button right on the steering wheel, which is perfect. The Model S does not have a recirculate touchon in the A/C controls area, but it does have an A/C on/off touchon, which does turn off the fan. I suppose this is better than nothing.

3. Tyre pressure display: The co-pilot did not know and could not find how to display the tyre pressures on the centre screen.


Nice suggested additions, and I am sure they could be added in later. Your high reservation number gives you the opportunity to see those kinds of adds before your delivery.
I don't think the tyre pressure data missing counts as a "fail" item. ;)


I would have reached different conclusions, because my expectations and scenario are different from yours; but I completely appreciate the data collection! Kudos!

-Andy

[mnx]

6. Brake override: See why (Toyota Settles Over Death of Family in High-Speed Crash - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/business/19autos.html)), and how (About Toyota | Our News | Toyota Evaluates Unintended Acceleration Complaints in Remedied Vehicles (http://www.toyota.com/about/news/corporate/2010/03/04-1-recall.html)). GM also (GM to Expand Brake Override Software Globally by 2012 (http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Apr/0405_brakes.html)). My usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly. Even in cars without brake override, the brakes are strong enough to bring the car to a controlled stop pretty quickly. The Model S failed this test in the most unexpected and unusual way. The test route didn’t have enough space to perform this at 100 km/h, so I started at about 70 km/h / 40 mph. The brakes prevented further acceleration, but did not slow the car. I was about to abort the test, when it slowly started to decelerate, so I kept going. This was probably due to better friction from the pads as they warmed up. Then, at somewhere between 30 and 20 mph, and 3 to 5 seconds after braking, the car suddenly came to a violent stop. This startled me and upset the co-pilot tremendously! It is entirely possible that I didn’t push the brakes hard enough, but there wasn’t enough space or time to try again and the co-pilot certainly wasn’t in the mood. However, I would then argue that the force required for maximum braking is too high, and that the abrupt stop at the end indicates that I did push hard enough. So, it appears that the brakes are not powerful enough, and if there is a motor power reduction, it takes far, far too long to trigger (should be < 0.5 s). Huge Fail. I’ve been encouraged to, and will try to get an explanation of this behaviour from HQ.

I'm pretty sure I read (somewhere on these forums) that the brake override kicks in after 3 seconds. (I searched via the forums and google, but couldn't find it...) That would explain the behaviour perfectly.

I couldn't find anything referencing, 3 seconds, but I did find that the Model S does indeed have brake override...

"Model S is equipped with additional safety systems. For
example, the Model S is equipped with brake override where the controller gives priority to
brake pedal input over accelerator input. If the brake pedal is pressed after the accelerator, the
controller will ignore the accelerator inputs and respond only to the brake signal"
(Regulations.gov (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2011-0174-0029))

[dsm363]

Probably a good idea to let the Tesla employee know if you're going to be doing an emergency stop or brake override test. Good review though, thanks.

[Johan]

I'm pretty sure I read (somewhere on these forums) that the brake override kicks in after 3 seconds. (I searched via the forums and google, but couldn't find it...) That would explain the behaviour perfectly.

I couldn't find anything referencing, 3 seconds, but I did find that the Model S does indeed have brake override...

"Model S is equipped with additional safety systems. For
example, the Model S is equipped with brake override where the controller gives priority to
brake pedal input over accelerator input. If the brake pedal is pressed after the accelerator, the
controller will ignore the accelerator inputs and respond only to the brake signal"
(Regulations.gov (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2011-0174-0029))

Wasn't there a story that someone had done this at the first Amped event (Freemont) and an official Tesla statement saying that there had been an incident with an "operator handling error" (or something similar) and then something like "after 3 seconds the car was stopped" or something like that? I remember reading that. I agree with JM above though, brake must always and IMMEDIATELY override gas. Especially since there is no direct acess park/hand brake. Should be mostly software I guess?

[mnx]

Thank you, you helped me find it...
"The customer claimed that the 'throttle misbehaved'. Tesla looked up the logs and told the customer that 'you had pressed the throttle and the brake at the SAME time for longer than 3 seconds, so we automatically disengaged the throttle. That is why your speed was only 15 mph when the incident took place and not 55 mph'. "

interesting story from test drive at factory (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/9152-interesting-story-from-test-drive-at-factory)

So I retract my earlier comment about 3 seconds... This doesn't explicitly say you need to press both pedals for 3 seconds for the accel/brake override to engage.

[Kipernicus]

I also found that the driver side mirror does not adjust far enough out to cover the 7 to 9 o’clock area.


I had the same problem.
Great review, btw.

[MikeK]

Don't have them together in the same picture, but do have them in the same position and light. These pictures are color corrected using an 18% grey card, so if you have a calibrated monitor, they should be pretty close to actual colors.

Blue
8307

Grey
8308

Okay, just want to be extra double sure that the blue there is really blue, and not black. Because it sure looks black in the picture! :-) Also, the blue car in Palo Alto had the 19" wheels.

Do you, by any chance, have larger copies that you'd be willing to share? PM me if you don't want to post.

Thanks!

[Longhorn92]

Okay, just want to be extra double sure that the blue there is really blue, and not black. Because it sure looks black in the picture! :-) Also, the blue car in Palo Alto had the 19" wheels.

Do you, by any chance, have larger copies that you'd be willing to share? PM me if you don't want to post.

Thanks!

Believe it or not, yes, that is the blue car. At that time, I was on the shade side of the cars, and the blue is definitely dark (will look similar to black when out of bright sunshine). All four cars had the 21" wheels on Saturday (three silver, one grey set).

I will PM you the larger pictures, including a few more that might be useful, when I get home tonight (have a client dinner, so it will be late). I also have a picture from a similar vantage point of both the blue and black together, and at first glance, it is hard to tell them apart.

[kevincwelch]

J in MN:

Thanks for that excellent review.

[J in MN]

What did you use to capture the acceleration data?
Do you think the acceleration graph was affected by the test drive car's software limit of 75 (80?) mph?
I used the free version of g-tac on the iPhone (App Store - g-tac free (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/g-tac-free/id305409405?mt=8)). The accelerometer on the iPhone is very noisy, so the app uses a low pass filter with a long time constant to filter it. That unfortunately takes away some of the precision and responsiveness, but it gets the job done.

I don't think the speed limit affected anything - I only accelerated up to 65 mph.


I had been told by a rep that the speed increments are selectable at +/- 1, or +/- 5mph.
I checked the Mercedes Benz manual just now and it seems that there is an extra up and down detent on the stalk that will do +/- 5 mph or +/- 10 km/h. Wish I knew that ahead of time.


I would have reached different conclusions, because my expectations and scenario are different from yours
As I said in the introduction, I tried to focus on the things that haven't been discussed much by other reviewers, so please don't think that I will make my final conclusions and decision on these items alone.



I couldn't find anything referencing, 3 seconds, but I did find that the Model S does indeed have brake override...
Thank you for that reference. I read it when it was first discovered, but have forgotten about it. I included it in my inquiry to Tesla.



Probably a good idea to let the Tesla employee know if you're going to be doing an emergency stop or brake override test.
I did, but I don't think he knew what it meant or what to expect. And since I expected a completely different outcome, I did not think it necessary to explain further. Next time.



Okay, just want to be extra double sure that the blue there is really blue, and not black. Because it sure looks black in the picture! :-)
My wife was dead set on getting the blue (her favourite colour), but after the third time identifying the blue as black, she agreed that we should consider something else. Now we are wrestling between Pearl White (her) and Brown (me). Unfortunately she has a negative association with brown due to her work in the medical field...

[AndyM]

Thanks for the reply, J! And for the reasoned thought. I think I understood your use of "conclusions" correctly, and meant it the same in return.
If I read one more thread that drags on the cup-holder issue, I might explode. :)

[MikeK]

Believe it or not, yes, that is the blue car. At that time, I was on the shade side of the cars, and the blue is definitely dark (will look similar to black when out of bright sunshine). All four cars had the 21" wheels on Saturday (three silver, one grey set).

Yeah, that's the blue. Zowie. I know it's dark but that really drives it home! Thanks for the pix.


My wife was dead set on getting the blue (her favourite colour), but after the third time identifying the blue as black, she agreed that we should consider something else. Now we are wrestling between Pearl White (her) and Brown (me). Unfortunately she has a negative association with brown due to her work in the medical field...
Yeah, I wish that there was an option for a brighter blue, like BMW's "Estoril Blue". I bet some brighter colors will come in later years, with Sunset Red being the first. I still like the current blue, because I think the car is pretty in black, and to me, because the blue is metallic, when you mis-read it as black, it looks like a richer black than the actual black.

[Norbert]

I did, but I don't think he knew what it meant or what to expect. And since I expected a completely different outcome, I did not think it necessary to explain further. Next time.

Although I knew the Model S lets the brake take precedence over the accelerator, I didn't even understand your test report (though I admit reading it with little time). I thought you were complaining plainly about the brake force depending on speed, and found that slightly disturbing but very unlikely to be anything else than pilot error or exagerration. In fact, I'd like to suggest you edit your previous post to clarify this for all those who are not as familiar with the expression "brake override".

On the issue itself, without being an expert on this matter at all, I'd think the power to the accelerator should always immediately be cut off, except in so far as it would make the car go backwards on a hill when the brake force isn't sufficient to prevent that (because you are letting go of the brake). But there might be many other factors playing into this which I don't know about.

[Larry Chanin]

Although I knew the Model S lets the brake take precedence over the accelerator, I didn't even understand your test report (though I admit reading it with little time). I thought you were complaining plainly about the brake force depending on speed, and found that slightly disturbing but very unlikely to be anything else than pilot error or exagerration. In fact, I'd like to suggest you edit your previous post to clarify this for all those who are not as familiar with the expression "brake override".

Agreed it was difficult to ascertain what the poster was trying to convey. The poster should describe that he was using two feet to perform this test, assuming that's what he did.

Excellent review nevertheless.

Larry

[J in MN]

The poster should describe that he was using two feet to perform this test, assuming that's what he did.

Does this help? "In order to simulate stopping the car with a stuck accelerator, my usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator with my right foot, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly with my left foot while holding the accelerator down. "


Excellent review nevertheless.

Thank you . Sorry that I could not get the noise measurement(s) done.

[Larry Chanin]

Does this help? "In order to simulate stopping the car with a stuck accelerator, my usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator with my right foot, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly with my left foot while holding the accelerator down. "

Perfect. Great work.

Larry

[Norbert]

Agreed, that's easily understandable (though that's always a subjective thing... ;) )

Thanks!

[favo]

In order to simulate stopping the car with a stuck accelerator, my usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator with my right foot, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly with my left foot while holding the accelerator down.

Judging from Tesla's letter to NHSTA (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2011-0174-0029), the car should immediately start slowing.

[T]he Model S is equipped with brake override where the controller gives priority to brake pedal input over accelerator input. If the brake pedal is pressed after the accelerator, the controller will ignore the accelerator inputs and respond only to the brake signal.

I assume when they say "brake pedal is pressed after the accelerator," that covers your test of holding the accelerator down while subsequently and simultaneously pressing the brake with your other foot. Seems like it is not working the way the said it would. Is it possible you let up on the accelerator, pressed the brake, and then re-pressed down on the accelerator?

I'm guessing the following

Thank you, you helped me find it...
"The customer claimed that the 'throttle misbehaved'. Tesla looked up the logs and told the customer that 'you had pressed the throttle and the brake at the SAME time for longer than 3 seconds, so we automatically disengaged the throttle. That is why your speed was only 15 mph when the incident took place and not 55 mph'. "

interesting story from test drive at factory (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/9152-interesting-story-from-test-drive-at-factory)

So I retract my earlier comment about 3 seconds... This doesn't explicitly say you need to press both pedals for 3 seconds for the accel/brake override to engage.

describes a kind of hill-hold-style functionality that only applies when you have the brake pressed down first, and, while it's still pressed, you then also press the accelerator. This allows a couple of seconds for you to remove your foot from the brake pedal and not slide back. (Seems like 1 or 2 seconds would be enough.)

Tesla's letter goes on to give two other options to deal with a runaway vehicle. Might be interesting to see if these work as advertised on a test drive. Check with your Tesla minder first, though.


In addition, the Model S transmission is designed to allow shifting from drive or reverse into neutral while the vehicle is in motion. Shifting from drive or reverse into neutral will remove torque from the motor. Finally, all Model S vehicles will be equipped with a park brake capable of dynamic application. When the park brake button on the center screen is depressed, regardless of vehicle speed, the brake is applied slowing the vehicle.

I presume that in the latter case (park brake pressed), it also removes torque from the motor.

Mods: maybe this should get its own thread, since it's a pretty serious safety issue.

[RichSh]

Conclusion
I went to the drive expecting and hoping to be wowed, but was not. Maybe this is because the Volt is already so much better than most other cars that the Model S cannot be that much better. Or maybe the Volt is just a better fit to my needs and expectations. The Model S is a much bigger car than I need for daily single occupant commuting. I will keep my reservation and re-evaluate when the time to configure comes in the hope that the failed items are corrected and the untested items pass. Other items that could affect my decision include adding creep, adding a poorly implemented hill hold, interior lighting changes, lack of front proximity sensors and collision avoidance.

As others have said, the Model S is simply too expensive a car to use for one, at most two hours a day and not meet all my expectations.

J, thanks for the very detailed review. Amazing the the number of things you were able to think of and measure for the brief amount of time we had in the cars.

Curious if you already own a Volt, or are simply considering it as an alternative to the Model S? We brought my wife's Volt to my test drive of Model S on Saturday, and see the 2 cars as very much complementary of one another for our needs. Will be nice to have 2 cars capable of short range electric driving, Model S for mid-range electric, and the Volt's ICE generator for very long trips. My wife tends to drive more conservatively, and does not require the added performance of Model S. Still, both of us were wowed (even giddy) from test driving Model S in comparison to the Volt--and by things you noticed--differences in acceleration, smoothness with the air suspension, the lower center of gravity on curves all lead to a far superior driving experience when compared against what is an already a superior experience in the Volt. I commented that Model S was like the Volt on steroids. My wife also found the roller-coaster-like experience of Model S to be far superior. Running the course in both the Volt and the Model S only helped to cement those views. On top of the performance differences, the opportunity to have a pure electric car, with the huge screen, panoramic roof, and much greater electric range easily make the value proposition of Model S understandable in my eyes. The ability of Model S to use the HD backup camera when moving forward helps address concerns with rear visibility. Many of the minor flaws that people see in Model S are far too small to keep me from wanting the car when the total package is considered. Tesla could still address many of those issues before we take ownership (or later via firmware updates, upgrades at annual service, etc.). My main remaining concern is the potential cost of service rangers for annual mantenance living in a smaller market and/or the logistics of making the long drive to the nearest service location. If you prefer a smaller car and really like the Volt, then perhaps the Volt is right for you, or perhaps a Volt lease followed by a Tesla Gen III purchase. It's great to see US automakers providing us with these superior models at this time.

[qwk]

So here is my review of the Model S silver non-performance car I drove in Chicago. This review is presented in terms of whether it passes or fails my expectations, particularly with respect to the Volt and in areas that haven’t been extensively covered by others. To restate the obvious, the amount of time allowed was sufficient for a drive, but not for a test drive, yet, I tried my best.

Pass
1. Accelerator pedal mapping: Accelerator pedal mapping is done well and allows for good control at low speed.

2. Turn radius and steering feel: My perception of the turn radius agrees with the published 37 ft. While this is more than the Volt’s 36 ft, I give it a pass considering its monster size. Steering feedback was good enough for me and I can see myself using both the comfort and sport power assist settings at different times.

3. Turn signal blip: The turn signal flashes three times after a blip of the stalk.

4. Max acceleration into a right turn from a full stop: Chassis stiffness, suspension, tyres and traction control all need to work together to make this successful. The result was on par with the Volt. The Model S has less chirp from the inside front tyre, but probably only because it is rear wheel drive, while the Volt is front wheel drive. Considering that the Model S is much bigger and heavier than the Volt, I give this test a pass.

5. Cruise control: The cruise control is really well done. When on, it displays the speed set point as a bug on the outside of the speedometer circle, just like the bugs on the IAS or HSI on an aeroplane. Resume and increment/decrement reacts immediately and adjusts the speed assertively without any undershoot or overshoot. The increments are 1 mph (see more below).

6. Acceleration: 0 to 60 mph came in 6.5 seconds and 0 to 100 km/h in 6.8 s. However, as can been seen from the Graph 1 below, the motor overpowered the brakes when applying power against the brakes, causing the timer to trigger prematurely by not more than 0.3 s. So, 0-60 mph in 6.2 s and 0-100 km/h in 6.5 s are probably more accurate. There were four people on board with an estimated mass of 290 kg. With only an 80 kg driver on board, we can expect 0-60 mph in 5.6 to 5.7 s which is close enough to the claimed 5.6 s. Acceleration in the peak torque band was 0.47 g compared to 0.39 g (two occupants 140 kg) or 0.40 g (single occupant 85 kg) in the Volt. While this difference is noticeable, it is not dramatically better, and neither my wife nor I said “wow” or “oh my god”. The important difference, though, is that the Volt starts losing torque at 50 km/h, while the Model S keeps going until 76 km/h (according to the specs page, and confirmed here). At 100 km/h, the Volt has only 0.15 g acceleration, while the Model S still has more than 0.3 g. This will allow highway manoeuvres with much more confidence.

7. Air suspension: The air suspension really does make a difference to the ride quality. I also suspect that it contributes greatly to the quiet interior.

Undecided
1. Regeneration: I was hoping that the Model S would have stronger regen braking than the Volt. What I felt during the drive was that it was initially weaker than the Volt, but then became stronger as the car slowed. Looking at the graph below, this is confirmed. From 65 to 45 mph it was 0.13 g and limited by the 60 kW charge limit. Below that speed it is a constant 0.15 g. The Volt starts at 0.15 g and ramps down as it slows. I prefer the constant deceleration of the Model S, but would’ve preferred it to be at least 0.20 g.

2. Immediate access to air recirculation: This is a big irritation in the Volt. It has 37 buttons on the centre panel for everything under the sun, except for recirculate, which is the one thing that you need immediate access to when driving through a cloud of dust or behind a smoke billowing truck. The Prius has a recirculate button right on the steering wheel, which is perfect. The Model S does not have a recirculate touchon in the A/C controls area, but it does have an A/C on/off touchon, which does turn off the fan. I suppose this is better than nothing.

Failed
1. Door close action: I have written before (Nissan Leaf (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/3093-Nissan-Leaf?p=160458&viewfull=1#post160458)) that the Volt has the best door close action of any car I have interacted with. The doors will close themselves after just a slight nudge out of the hold detent. The model S has an extra hold detent close to the closed position that effectively “catches” the door before it closes. And there isn’t enough spring action left to close it after moving it out of this detent. After all the fuss and bother from Franz about the door handles, I am quite upset that they couldn’t get the door close right. Big Fail.

2. Displays in SI units: The firmware in the beta unit in the store has an option to display distance in miles or km. However, nothing visible happens on the screen. On the test car the option was not in the same place, and the co-pilot did not know and could not find a place to change either distance or speed.

3. Tyre pressure display: The co-pilot did not know and could not find how to display the tyre pressures on the centre screen.

4. Regeneration cut-out speed: In the Volt regen stops at 5 km/h. On the Model S, it was between 7 and 6 mph (see above) so, probably at 10 km/h.

5. Rear visibility: The hatch window looks really small in the rear view mirror. The Volt’s is already small compared to the Prius, but the Model S is almost not worth the effort. I also found that the driver side mirror does not adjust far enough out to cover the 7 to 9 o’clock area.

6. Brake override: See why (Toyota Settles Over Death of Family in High-Speed Crash - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/business/19autos.html)), and how (About Toyota | Our News | Toyota Evaluates Unintended Acceleration Complaints in Remedied Vehicles (http://www.toyota.com/about/news/corporate/2010/03/04-1-recall.html)). GM also (GM to Expand Brake Override Software Globally by 2012 (http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Apr/0405_brakes.html)). In order to simulate stopping the car with a stuck accelerator, my usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator with my right foot, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly with my left foot while holding the accelerator down. Even in cars without brake override, the brakes are strong enough to bring the car to a controlled stop pretty quickly. The Model S failed this test in the most unexpected and unusual way. The test route didn’t have enough space to perform this at 100 km/h, so I started at about 70 km/h / 40 mph. The brakes prevented further acceleration, but did not slow the car. I was about to abort the test, when it slowly started to decelerate, so I kept going. This was probably due to better friction from the pads as they warmed up. Then, at somewhere between 30 and 20 mph, and 3 to 5 seconds after braking, the car suddenly came to a violent stop. This startled me and upset the co-pilot tremendously! It is entirely possible that I didn’t push the brakes hard enough, but there wasn’t enough space or time to try again and the co-pilot certainly wasn’t in the mood. However, I would then argue that the force required for maximum braking is too high, and that the abrupt stop at the end indicates that I did push hard enough. So, it appears that the brakes are not powerful enough, and if there is a motor power reduction, it takes far, far too long to trigger (should be < 0.5 s). Huge Fail. I’ve been encouraged to, and will try to get an explanation of this behaviour from HQ. (Update: With Tesla Engineering as of Aug 1)

Untested
1. Sun visor extension: I wanted to check that the sun visor swivel arm can extend so that the visor can reach the B-pillar, but fussing over the speed display distracted me and took too much time.

2. Interior noise level: The intention was to measure A-weighted and C-weighted noise at 80 and 100 km/h, but the practice run revealed that there would be time for only one measurement. Unfortunately operator error resulted in no measurement taken. For reference, the Volt noise levels are: 59 dB-A and 81 dB-C at 80 km/h and 61 dB-A and 82 dB-C at 100 km/h on new asphalt. My perception was that the Model S is slightly quieter in the C-weighted range and significantly quieter in the A-weighted range. I suspect the air suspension has a lot to do with that.

3. Cruise control increment in km/h: This test was not performed because we could not get the speed display in km/h. Pass would be if the cruise control increments in 1 km/h steps if the speed display is in km/h and fail would be if it increments in 1.6 km/h steps.

4. Ease of parking: I am concerned about the width of the car when parking (particularly in narrow California parking spaces). Unfortunately all the spots on the approach to the staging area were taken.

Conclusion
I went to the drive expecting and hoping to be wowed, but was not. Maybe this is because the Volt is already so much better than most other cars that the Model S cannot be that much better. Or maybe the Volt is just a better fit to my needs and expectations. The Model S is a much bigger car than I need for daily single occupant commuting. I will keep my reservation and re-evaluate when the time to configure comes in the hope that the failed items are corrected and the untested items pass. Other items that could affect my decision include adding creep, adding a poorly implemented hill hold, interior lighting changes, lack of front proximity sensors and collision avoidance.

As others have said, the Model S is simply too expensive a car to use for one, at most two hours a day and not meet all my expectations.

8315
Graph 1: Model S Acceleration. Non-performance. Standard regen. 4 occupants.

8316
Graph 2: Volt Acceleration. Normal mode, L regen. 2 occupants.

8317
Graph 3: Volt Acceleration. Normal mode, L regen. 1 occupant.I simply don't understand how you can say that the volt is on par with the model S, especially on things like acceleration. I have driven both cars and I would say that comparing the volt to the model S is like comparing a geo metro to a Bentley continental. There simply is no comparison. The Volt has horrible throttle response and is almost 4 seconds slower in the quarter mile. In drag racing that is a lifetime. I can appreciate different point of views, but this is as bias of a comparison as you can get, sorry.

[Zythryn]

I haven't had the pleasure of a test drive. I very much look forward to getting the chance to compare the two, as those will be our two cars.
I agree with the previous poster that mentions they compliment each other very nicely.

[brianman]

I simply don't understand how you can say that the volt is on par with the model S, especially on things like acceleration.
Perhaps he's going by the shape of the charts, not observing that the X axis (time) is different between the two. ;)

[J in MN]

Is it possible you let up on the accelerator, pressed the brake, and then re-pressed down on the accelerator?
No.


Shifting from drive or reverse into neutral will remove torque from the motor.
Yep, tested that while in D. Any movement of the stalk makes it go to N, and it will not go to R while moving forward.


I presume that in the latter case (park brake pressed), it also removes torque from the motor.
I am not excited about using the parking brake as mitigation. If you are going 125 mph, are you really going to take your eyes off the road to search through the menus to find the parking brake touchon on the centre screen? And, if 4 large sets of brakes could not slow the car significantly, how will 2 small sets do any better? Unless, as you say, it also cuts motor torque.


Mods: maybe this should get its own thread, since it's a pretty serious safety issue.
I don't think we should make too much of it until after I hear back from Tesla Engineering. The way I see it, the behaviour can be changed easily through an OTA software update - it is not a difficult to fix, recall inducing design flaw.


Curious if you already own a Volt
Yes, we have since April 2011. It replaced a Corolla.


We … see the 2 cars as very much complementary of one another for our needs. ...and much greater electric range easily make the value proposition of Model S understandable in my eyes.
I absolutely agree. The Model S is intended to replace a Prius, and eventually a Bluestar/Gen III will replace the Volt. If family came to visit more often (they think the Twin Cities are too boring), or if we had children (unfortunately we don't), or if either of us had to make frequent trips longer than 50 miles, the Model S would've been a no-brainer. Absent that, I was hoping for something more spectacular about the driving experience to convince me to part with my money.


I can appreciate different point of views, but this is as bias of a comparison as you can get, sorry.
You quoted my entire posting, but did you read it all?

[favo]

Yep, tested that while in D. Any movement of the stalk makes it go to N, and it will not go to R while moving forward.

I guess you can then go back into D, but not R (unless you come to a stop first).


I am not excited about using the parking brake as mitigation. If you are going 125 mph, are you really going to take your eyes off the road to search through the menus to find the parking brake touchon on the centre screen? And, if 4 large sets of brakes could not slow the car significantly, how will 2 small sets do any better? Unless, as you say, it also cuts motor torque.

Yeah, clearly not a first option, but redundancy is good.


I don't think we should make too much of it until after I hear back from Tesla Engineering. The way I see it, the behaviour can be changed easily through an OTA software update - it is not a difficult to fix, recall inducing design flaw.

I'll be interested to hear the response. Thanks for following up.

[Brian H]

...
Now we are wrestling between Pearl White (her) and Brown (me). Unfortunately she has a negative association with brown due to her work in the medical field...
Don't win the argument. She'll probably dub it the Fecal Flivver!! :scared: :-D

[vfx]

Our copilot suggested a two foot start. Holding L foot on brake and stepping R foot on the accelerator to preload the motor. Then rapidly letting off the brake for a "launch" acceleration. In the Roadster I have never found that to be faster and we have been told many times it does not harm the car.

Question is, why would not the car shut down with both pedals depressed? Do you have to launch in under 3 seconds?
ETA: Answered above^^^^(which pedal is first counts)

BTW, your review is amazing detailed. Makes me feel like a troglodyte driver. And also that no car could ever meet all such metrics combined with styling and fun. Analyzing a door closure is so far out of my thought process that it might as well be counting grains of sand on a beach. I'm sure there is someone in a car's design team that looses sleep about the door closing as I obsess about my work (and play) on occasion but how many typical drivers think of such things? I would guess none until it was pointed out.

J, Tesla should hire you for a week to go over the car with the fine toothed comb you have in your back pocket. :)

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Analyzing a door closure is so far out of my thought process that it might as well be counting grains of sand on a beach. I'm sure there is someone in a car's design team that looses sleep about the door closing as I obsess about my work (and play) on occasion but how many typical drivers think of such things? I would guess none until it was pointed out.

Yeah, that's what I thought too when the DVD that came with my BMW 325i's manual showed a video of the time and effort BMW's sound engineers put in to get the various "bongs" in the car just right and how they get more 'playful' in a Mini vs in a BMW :)

[tnawara]

Sorry that these took so long to put up, but I went on vacation immediately following the Chicago Get Amped stop. Here are some images of the VIN plates on each of the four cars that were present in Oak Brook:

8767
Silver Model S - VIN 5YJSA1AN1CFR00112

8766
Pacific Blue Model S - VIN 5YJSA1AN9CFR00102

8765
Dolphin Grey Model S Performance - VIN 5YJSA1AP6CFR00107

8764
Black Model S Performance - VIN 5YJSA1AP0CFR00104

[dsm363]

So here is my review of the Model S silver non-performance car I drove in Chicago. This review is presented in terms of whether it passes or fails my expectations, particularly with respect to the Volt and in areas that haven’t been extensively covered by others. To restate the obvious, the amount of time allowed was sufficient for a drive, but not for a test drive, yet, I tried my best.

Failed
1. Door close action: I have written before (Nissan Leaf (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/3093-Nissan-Leaf?p=160458&viewfull=1#post160458)) that the Volt has the best door close action of any car I have interacted with. The doors will close themselves after just a slight nudge out of the hold detent. The model S has an extra hold detent close to the closed position that effectively “catches” the door before it closes. And there isn’t enough spring action left to close it after moving it out of this detent. After all the fuss and bother from Franz about the door handles, I am quite upset that they couldn’t get the door close right. Big Fail.

2. Displays in SI units: The firmware in the beta unit in the store has an option to display distance in miles or km. However, nothing visible happens on the screen. On the test car the option was not in the same place, and the co-pilot did not know and could not find a place to change either distance or speed.

3. Tyre pressure display: The co-pilot did not know and could not find how to display the tyre pressures on the centre screen.

4. Regeneration cut-out speed: In the Volt regen stops at 5 km/h. On the Model S, it was between 7 and 6 mph (see above) so, probably at 10 km/h.

5. Rear visibility: The hatch window looks really small in the rear view mirror. The Volt’s is already small compared to the Prius, but the Model S is almost not worth the effort. I also found that the driver side mirror does not adjust far enough out to cover the 7 to 9 o’clock area.

6. Brake override: See why (Toyota Settles Over Death of Family in High-Speed Crash - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/business/19autos.html)), and how (About Toyota | Our News | Toyota Evaluates Unintended Acceleration Complaints in Remedied Vehicles (http://www.toyota.com/about/news/corporate/2010/03/04-1-recall.html)). GM also (GM to Expand Brake Override Software Globally by 2012 (http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Apr/0405_brakes.html)). In order to simulate stopping the car with a stuck accelerator, my usual test procedure is to start by flooring the accelerator with my right foot, accelerate to 100 km/h and then apply the brakes firmly with my left foot while holding the accelerator down. Even in cars without brake override, the brakes are strong enough to bring the car to a controlled stop pretty quickly. The Model S failed this test in the most unexpected and unusual way. The test route didn’t have enough space to perform this at 100 km/h, so I started at about 70 km/h / 40 mph. The brakes prevented further acceleration, but did not slow the car. I was about to abort the test, when it slowly started to decelerate, so I kept going. This was probably due to better friction from the pads as they warmed up. Then, at somewhere between 30 and 20 mph, and 3 to 5 seconds after braking, the car suddenly came to a violent stop. This startled me and upset the co-pilot tremendously! It is entirely possible that I didn’t push the brakes hard enough, but there wasn’t enough space or time to try again and the co-pilot certainly wasn’t in the mood. However, I would then argue that the force required for maximum braking is too high, and that the abrupt stop at the end indicates that I did push hard enough. So, it appears that the brakes are not powerful enough, and if there is a motor power reduction, it takes far, far too long to trigger (should be < 0.5 s). Huge Fail. I’ve been encouraged to, and will try to get an explanation of this behaviour from HQ. (Update: With Tesla Engineering as of Aug 1)

Untested
1. Sun visor extension: I wanted to check that the sun visor swivel arm can extend so that the visor can reach the B-pillar, but fussing over the speed display distracted me and took too much time.

2. Interior noise level: The intention was to measure A-weighted and C-weighted noise at 80 and 100 km/h, but the practice run revealed that there would be time for only one measurement. Unfortunately operator error resulted in no measurement taken. For reference, the Volt noise levels are: 59 dB-A and 81 dB-C at 80 km/h and 61 dB-A and 82 dB-C at 100 km/h on new asphalt. My perception was that the Model S is slightly quieter in the C-weighted range and significantly quieter in the A-weighted range. I suspect the air suspension has a lot to do with that.

3. Cruise control increment in km/h: This test was not performed because we could not get the speed display in km/h. Pass would be if the cruise control increments in 1 km/h steps if the speed display is in km/h and fail would be if it increments in 1.6 km/h steps.

4. Ease of parking: I am concerned about the width of the car when parking (particularly in narrow California parking spaces). Unfortunately all the spots on the approach to the staging area were taken.

Conclusion
I went to the drive expecting and hoping to be wowed, but was not. Maybe this is because the Volt is already so much better than most other cars that the Model S cannot be that much better. Or maybe the Volt is just a better fit to my needs and expectations. The Model S is a much bigger car than I need for daily single occupant commuting. I will keep my reservation and re-evaluate when the time to configure comes in the hope that the failed items are corrected and the untested items pass. Other items that could affect my decision include adding creep, adding a poorly implemented hill hold, interior lighting changes, lack of front proximity sensors and collision avoidance.

As others have said, the Model S is simply too expensive a car to use for one, at most two hours a day and not meet all my expectations.

I have to say for me at least the things you consider not up to par are very minute and probably fixable by Tesla fairly easily. I'm not sure how the door close action would negate getting this car but that's a personal opinion. #2-4 seem minor or fixable by software. The rear visibility does seem limited but think driving with the rear view camera on may help. Unintended acceleration seems so far down on the list of possible things that could happen in a car but I've never even thought to test this but if the difference between 0.5 seconds and 3 seconds is a deal breaker, maybe Tesla could revise this in the future with software.

You have to be happy with the car you are buying of course though.

[brianman]

Unattended acceleration
I did a double take on this one. I had flashes of (Arnold's) Total Recall.