<![CDATA[Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum - Model S]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/ Discussion about the Tesla Model S en Sat, 25 May 2013 02:27:16 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/images/misc/rss.png <![CDATA[Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum - Model S]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/ Service Experience http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17143-Service-Experience?goto=newpost Fri, 24 May 2013 17:28:23 GMT I just drove my Tesla in for multiple small service issues and had a great experience and wanted to report on that. I arranged service in... I just drove my Tesla in for multiple small service issues and had a great experience and wanted to report on that.

I arranged service in Portland weeks ahead, made the drive, and then dropped off the car for 2.5 days. The service was for all non-critical issues.

The team there did a excellent job. I now have my entire due list complete, got 29 things done all at once, and the car has never looked better than when I picked it up yesterday. I talked to the manager, front staff, and the mechanic with the last thing being really impressive. The mechanic went over every single thing that was done bullet by bullet, his method and thinking, and his suggestions for the future should things arise. He even went on a short drive with me to confirm things had been addressed. What other company does this? Short list of things done:

Requested:
1. Spoiler placed
2. Parcel shelf fixed
3. Headlight fixed (one led has been out)
4. Rear light moisture issue sealed
5. Chrome trim aligned on one door
6. Pano roof track cleaned and fixed
7. Pano roof front seal fixed
8. Rear passenger window re-aligned to spec
9. Bad dash rattle present since day 1 fixed
... (Tiny nitpicky things)

Unexpected:
1. Upgraded to 4.5
2. Firmware updates to multiple components
3. Lug nuts updated
4. New J1772 adapter
5. Rear floor mat provided
6. Replaced old front mats

The thing I've noticed with 4.5 and the firmware updates is there is much better sound with less static in the mid/mid-low range that many have noticed. I was told there was interference from the DC to DC components at least partially causing the unwanted noise.

The car again looks and drives better than ever. This service experience went better than I could have imagined, and I really enjoyed their person to person approach. If they can ramp up service further to improve availability, I see no reason why Tesla can't claim best car and best service. ]]> Model S walla2 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17143-Service-Experience <![CDATA[My Tesla at a Shareholder's Meeting]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17141-My-Tesla-at-a-Shareholder-s-Meeting?goto=newpost Fri, 24 May 2013 16:46:30 GMT As some of you know, I am a Vice President at a Canadian electrical utility and one of our strategic goals is the promotion of electric vehicle... As some of you know, I am a Vice President at a Canadian electrical utility and one of our strategic goals is the promotion of electric vehicle adoption.

Yesterday, we had our annual Shareholders’ Meeting which we conduct in a public forum and invite members of the community and the press. We spend a bit of time with the boring stuff like election of Board members, declarations, payments of dividends etc., but we typically have a keynote speaker on a topic of interest to the community. This year, we invited Cara Clairman, President/CEO of Plug ‘n Drive Canada, a non-profit NGO committed to accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles. She gave an excellent presentation and received numerous questions from the audience. We had our company Volt on hand which received a fair bit of attention, but I also opened my Model S up to the curious and I think it might have become the star of the show. Will be curious to see if it makes it into the papers.

Here’s a few snapshots.

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]]> Model S mknox http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17141-My-Tesla-at-a-Shareholder-s-Meeting Tesla Model S was Third Best Selling Luxury Vehicle in California for 1Q 2013 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17128-Tesla-Model-S-was-Third-Best-Selling-Luxury-Vehicle-in-California-for-1Q-2013?goto=newpost Fri, 24 May 2013 01:33:30 GMT I hadn't seen this mentioned in the forums yet.

The California New Car Dealers Association has their quarterly report out, and lists the Model S just behind the Mercedes E-class and BMW 5 series for sales in California.

Interesting to see the Tesla ahead of the Audi A6 and Lexus GS and hanging in there with the big boys in its first full quarter of full production.

(also, note the irony of getting this info from a dealers association)

it's on page 2: http://www.cncda.org/publications/Ca...ring_1Q_13.pdf ]]> Model S gaswalla http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17128-Tesla-Model-S-was-Third-Best-Selling-Luxury-Vehicle-in-California-for-1Q-2013 Buy extended warranty and service plan? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17119-Buy-extended-warranty-and-service-plan?goto=newpost Thu, 23 May 2013 20:19:03 GMT I am trying to decide whether to buy one of the extended warranties and whether to purchase the roadside service. Does anyone have any advice for me?... I am trying to decide whether to buy one of the extended warranties and whether to purchase the roadside service. Does anyone have any advice for me? Thank you! ]]> Model S laurasquestion http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17119-Buy-extended-warranty-and-service-plan Model S Annual Service Checklist http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17061-Model-S-Annual-Service-Checklist?goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 14:43:34 GMT Attached is a pdf from Tesla that shows the different services performed annually (years 1-5) under the annual service contract, whether pre-paid or... Attached is a pdf from Tesla that shows the different services performed annually (years 1-5) under the annual service contract, whether pre-paid or not.

I hope it provides information that helps you decide whether to buy the pre-paid service plan or not.

(I'm not sure how to get this checklist to show within my post. If anyone knows, let me know and I'll reformat my post.)
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]]> Model S Hometheatremaven http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17061-Model-S-Annual-Service-Checklist Tesla has a fan in this NASCAR driver http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17029-Tesla-has-a-fan-in-this-NASCAR-driver?goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 21:22:28 GMT NASCAR's Leilani Münter Gets Tesla Model S, Goes Activist ]]> Model S mcornwell http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17029-Tesla-has-a-fan-in-this-NASCAR-driver Help talk me away from the ledge http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17018-Help-talk-me-away-from-the-ledge?goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 15:35:33 GMT Hi, I have my test drive in less than 1.5 hrs. I had committed mentally last week, as I have been seriously in love with the tech and looks of the... Hi,
I have my test drive in less than 1.5 hrs.
I had committed mentally last week, as I have been seriously in love with the tech and looks of the MS.
Then, I mentioned my plan to my wife and brother-in-law... I got: "You're out of your F___ing mind!"

Here's the plan, maybe I am crazy... A little preface: I'm not a rich guy, I have a car from a time in my life when I didn't have as many obligations...
That being said:
I have a Porsche 911 C4 coupe that I very rarely drive. It's an 07 with 17,500 miles on it.
I have a Porsche Cayenne that I drive daily and revel in the wonderment that is 17 miles per gallon...

My plan was to sell the 911 and Cayenne and use the money from the 911 to down-pay the S.

Everyone thinks I'm insane. I picked up the 911 after having 3 nails removed from various tires and took my younger son for a ride. Now I'm debating getting rid of it.

So... Is the S really something that would be worth getting rid of 2 arguably fine vehicles for? I know that it would be a 1-way trip for me. What with private school and all, the chances of getting another 911 are slim and nil.

I had been reading the mechanical / technical issues thread, and it does give me some worry...

TIA ]]> Model S stsanford http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17018-Help-talk-me-away-from-the-ledge <![CDATA[New Tesla luggage - didn't see that coming!]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17014-New-Tesla-luggage-didn-t-see-that-coming!?goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 08:07:59 GMT Looks like this just launched in the store. Like the center console, it just shows "coming soon" with no price.

Rolling duffel that fits in the rear trunk in that lower recessed well. Not sure how practical it is as real luggage since they made it conform to that shallow footwell area.

Of all the things i've been hoping would appear in the store, this wasn't anywhere on my list. meh.


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Link here: Shop Tesla Gear Trunk Rolling Duffel
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]]> Model S JoshG http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17014-New-Tesla-luggage-didn-t-see-that-coming! Tesla Model S with Tesla Coils http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17003-Tesla-Model-S-with-Tesla-Coils?goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 23:52:13 GMT Thought about making some goofy thread title, but figured it might get modded anyway so I went for the ultra descriptive one. :) Enjoy! Photos -... Thought about making some goofy thread title, but figured it might get modded anyway so I went for the ultra descriptive one. :)

Enjoy! Photos - Google+

I also tweeted my favorite to @TeslaMotors & @elanmusk: Twitter / deinspanjer: @TeslaMotors @elonmusk Couldnt ... ]]> Model S DEinspanjer http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17003-Tesla-Model-S-with-Tesla-Coils <![CDATA[Lamborgini's]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16975-Lamborgini-s?goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 01:57:01 GMT Had some fun today with a group of about 25 Lamborgini's on PCH between Dana Point and Laguna Beach. Ran into the group multiple times. Never let me catch them after beating them off the line! :biggrin: ]]> Model S SigS905 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16975-Lamborgini-s 150 orders at Menlo Park in a weekend? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16940-150-orders-at-Menlo-Park-in-a-weekend?goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 15:51:02 GMT On the Fiskerbuzz-forum a Karma- and Model S-owner, Dennis, says he heard the Menlo Park-store took 150 orders last weekend. Can anyone confirm that?... On the Fiskerbuzz-forum a Karma- and Model S-owner, Dennis, says he heard the Menlo Park-store took 150 orders last weekend. Can anyone confirm that? If true that would be huge.

Post: Tesla sells more cars than BMW, Mercedes! - Page 6 - Fisker Buzz Forums ]]> Model S Right_Said_Fred http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16940-150-orders-at-Menlo-Park-in-a-weekend <![CDATA[Design News - Is Tesla's Model S the Best Ever?]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16936-Design-News-Is-Tesla-s-Model-S-the-Best-Ever?goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 12:46:47 GMT Design News - News - Slideshow: Is Tesla's Model S the Best Ever?

Reporting on Consumers Reports...

Quote:
Tesla Motors’ Model S sedan “blew away” its $90,000 gasoline-burning competitors in a recent review and may be the best car Consumer Reports has ever seen, the magazine recently said.
"It beats the best," Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, told Design News. “It’s faster; it’s quieter; it’s roomier; it rides better. This isn’t about new technology or environmental impact. This is simply a better vehicle.”
]]> Model S Doug_G http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16936-Design-News-Is-Tesla-s-Model-S-the-Best-Ever Model S in Gran Turismo 6 announcement trailer http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16836-Model-S-in-Gran-Turismo-6-announcement-trailer?goto=newpost Wed, 15 May 2013 16:20:47 GMT I am very excited to see the Model S featured prominently in the Gran Turismo 6 announcement trailer (at 55 second mark). GT 6 Announcement | Gran... I am very excited to see the Model S featured prominently in the Gran Turismo 6 announcement trailer (at 55 second mark). GT 6 Announcement | Gran Turismo 6 is coming | #GT6isComing - USK - YouTube. I was worried that I was going to have to go frame-by-frame through all the headlights and taillights they flashed through. Hope they get the performance right and don't hamper the car's performance like they did with the Roadster in GT5. ]]> Model S Bucket22 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16836-Model-S-in-Gran-Turismo-6-announcement-trailer Tesla Model S Survey by Plug In America http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16813-Tesla-Model-S-Survey-by-Plug-In-America?goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 22:58:27 GMT Although the Model S has been on the road for less than a year, owners are already expressing interest in learning more about how the Model S is... Although the Model S has been on the road for less than a year, owners are already expressing interest in learning more about how the Model S is performing over time and miles and how their experience compares to what other owners are observing.

As part of my work at Plug In America, I did a Nissan Leaf study last year and have an ongoing Roadster study. Now, I'd like to provide a platform for Model S owners to report and share their experience, for the benefit of the owner community and the wider audience of people considering purchasing a Model S or other electric vehicle.

My goal is to find answers to questions like these:

  • What should owners, and potential owners, expect from the Model S experience?
  • How does use of the Model S compare to other electric vehicles?
  • How does the Model S battery pack hold up over time and miles?
  • Does climate have an effect on Model S battery pack longevity?
  • How does the Model S compare to other electric vehicles in battery longevity and major maintenance?

I hope this will be a valuable community resource in both the near future and long term.

Contribute to the Study

I invite all Model S owners to participate in this study. I takes just a few minutes to fill out the survey form, available here:

Plug In America Model S Survey Form

The survey asks for your name, email and VIN sequence number, but keeps those fields private. Your private contact info will not be used for any purpose other than the survey (although I encourage everyone to join Plug In America's mailing list). Except for those private fields, all of the survey data will be available for others to examine and analyze.

After you've filled out the form once, there's an update form you can use to correct or add a value, or to do an update with newer info, without filling in the values that haven't changed. Submit as often as you like, records are grouped by vehicle so there's no problem with having multiple reports on the same vehicle.

Model S Survey Update Form

Once your Model S is in the survey, you can sort the vehicle data by build date, miles driven, location, etc., to see how your car compares to others. I'm open to suggestion on how to best collect and present the data that matters most to Model S owners.

Results

To view results from the study, visit the Survey Results page where you'll find an overview of the participating owners by geographical region and links to other survey resources.

The Vehicles List page shows an abbreviated table of the survey data, sortable by various criteria, which provides an easy way to examine some of the most interesting information collected.

The full survey data set will be available for download in convenient formats in the near future.

Once there's enough data to analyze, I'll publish results and update this post accordingly. ]]> Model S tomsax http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16813-Tesla-Model-S-Survey-by-Plug-In-America Depreciation and long term value (based on mileage) http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16763-Depreciation-and-long-term-value-(based-on-mileage)?goto=newpost Mon, 13 May 2013 17:27:35 GMT I've had a Roadster for a couple years and get my Model S this weekend. I'm a bit surprised by the notion of reducing the value of the car $1/mile driven. I drive a lot, and I'll certainly hit 100K miles. I even hope to be driving it until the battery needs replacement. At that point the car would have a residual value of $0 based on the mileage based algorithm, but a new battery ($12k?) restores the car to near-new condition.

Outside of the battery, is there some other component I'm overlooking? The motor seems like it should last a long time. There's the usual things I expect to wear (and my Roadster used to eat tires) but compared to an ICE car it seems like the basic car could have a much longer lifetime. What do those of you that better understand the internals suggest?

thanks,
chuck ]]> Model S chuckn http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16763-Depreciation-and-long-term-value-(based-on-mileage) <![CDATA[Model S sighting, at Long Beach Grand Prix ("Roar on the Shore" pre-race Promotion)]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16734-Model-S-sighting-at-Long-Beach-Grand-Prix-(-quot-Roar-on-the-Shore-quot-pre-race-Promotion)?goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 22:15:14 GMT Attachment 21899 (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21899) Attachment 21909... Name: 8731875111_526b0a6138_b.jpg Views: 449 Size: 150.1 KB

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Model S sighting at the pre race Indycar Long Beach Grand Prix, on Wednesday 4/17 ("Roar on the Shore").

Background:
ALMS & Indycar (along with Pirelli series) are racing at Long Beach. ALMS is known for a "Technology" racing series, where there is an emphasis on Innovation ("open architecture", as opposed to a more-or-less "closed architecture" Spec series of Indycar). This is where Auto Mfrs come into ALMS ("Development Platform") to do some "Real World" R&D..combining their STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) top-down "Book Knowledge" with some Auto Racing "crackheads" (addicts), who predominantly do Empiricism: "intuitive" guided trial-and-error (aka "Real World Knowledge).

As I'm typing this, I'm watching/recording the ALMS race at Sonoma (N. California, near Silicon Valley), where a General Motors rep said:

"we develop Technology on the race-track, so the Consumer Market cars can become bullet-proof"


So, at the Wednesday event, there is a heavy presence of ALMS cars (P1 & P2 prototypes, & the other "lesser" Sportscar classes). I'm taking pics of the Tequila Patron P1 (?) prototype:

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More pics here:

2013 Indycar Long Beach GP 4/17 Wed - a set on Flickr

& suddenly notice a license-plate-less black sedan..it's a Model S!! I'm pretty sure someone at Tesla Motors (Auto Racing aware/cognizant) realized this Promotional Event for Long Beach GP (especially ALMS), would be a good opportunity to showcase "Cutting/Bleeding Edge Technology"...EV. Did Tesla Motors even "push" this over Social Media?? Is Tesla PR/Marketing even "alive", or are they just overwhelmed like their Model S customer-service?

The legendary Jim Hall (Masters Mechanical Engineering, Caltech), who invented Ground Effects for Motorsports..Formula 1, Indycar, ALMS, etc, was at the Long Beach GP at a promotional event/dinner, with Tony Kanaan (top Brazilian Indycar driver, driving for KV Racing Technology)

[ KV Racing Technology is owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, millionaire Silicon Valley Tech entrepreneur (former CEO Uniphase..fiber optics) & VC company owner. He & I are friends since Champcar 2006, who got me Media-Credentials for 2006 & this years 2013 race. BTW, the 2nd CEO of Tesla Motors (Ze'ev Drori, also Silicon Valley entrepreneur..founder of Monolithic Memories, Sportscar & Racing entusiast, who raced the Toyota Celebrity race at Long Beach GP) was a competitive bidder for bankrupt CART against Kalkhoven/Gentilozzi/Forsythe, who ended up getting the winning bid (to form Champcar)... ]

It's interesting how these wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneurs (who dabble in rich hobbies like Auto Racing & pricey SPortscars), including:

1) Elon Musk
owned a McLaren F1 road-car (1 million $$)

2) Martin Eberhard
desired to buy a electric sportscar, after his windfall sale of Nuvomedia (rocketbook E-reader) to (infamous) Dr Henry Yuen (Caltech PhD Mathematics) for 180 million..got destroyed as part of some "empire building" scheme..HY currently on FBI wanted list for Securities Fraud.

Martin ended up at Alan Cocconi's ACP (AC Propulsion), in attempt to buy the Tzero prototype (Li ion powered electric sportscar, crazy 0 - 60mph performance). No go, but they put Martin in touch with Elon Musk (who contacted ACP about a similar foray into "mass production of EVs"). That resulted in a 1hr appt at SpaceX, which ended up lasting all afternoon, & pledge of 40 million as 1st principal investment in Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors got its start..

Martin was a sportscar enthusiast when he was my grad-school office-mate (driving '67 black Ford Mustang), I still remember how he took me & YC Pan (other office-mate) to his Apartment (with Carolyn in tow)..loaded with Books. (Martin was a great reader, which explains his Nuvomedia Rocketbook venture, then his Tesla Motors venture "hooked" into his other passion: Cars). He got speeding ticket in one "wild moment" outside U of Illinois, Carolyn mentioned something about Martin's "racy driving style" ("the man's a maniac behind the wheel"), so he's got the "racing blood". Martin did is '83 MS Electrical Eng thesis on Robotics, this was my focus when I entered the AARG (Advanced Automation Research Group..Big 3 Tech: Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Robotics..the CORE Technology for "robot cars", aka AVN Autonomous Vehicle Navigation) at Coordinated Science Laboratory at UIUC. Which explains my foray into Offroad & Offroad Racing, i.e. Robotics people LIKE mechanical toys as par of the

"Boys, Toys, & their NOISE"

paradigm (much like most Tesla clients). There's ANOTHER (famous) MIT PhD Artificial Intelligence (same era as Martin & me), who used to drive a red Fire Engine to work, a pioneer in Supercomputing who had his own startup (later failed, due to circumstances beyond his control). Kinda like what happened to Martin at Tesla. This guy recovered nicely, & collaborated with Caltech Physics Nobelist R. Feynman, in Computing. Martin (his 2nd home) & I live near Caltech. That Alan Cocconi (see above, ACP) & Wally Rippel (Tesla hire) are famous Caltech Engineering alumni, who were involved with Development of EV1 prototype at Aerovironment (founded by legendary Caltech Aeronautics PhD Dr Paul Macready), after Hughes had problems executing a contract with General Motors.



I have an Indycar project going

[ "Technology Partnership", drawing Tech companies..21st century version of traditional Mfr "Big 3" involvement: Ford, General Motors, Dodge ]

..& I'll stop here. I may be a factor in getting Tesla Motors (& other startups/initiatives in Electric/Hybrid), some "Protective Umbrella". To lessen risk, as per the Formula 1 saying:

"In order to Push the Limits, sometimes YOU HAVE TO EXCEED THE LIMITS"
-- F1 "knife edge cars"
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]]> Model S chimpanzee http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16734-Model-S-sighting-at-Long-Beach-Grand-Prix-(-quot-Roar-on-the-Shore-quot-pre-race-Promotion) Funny ad I created for the Model S http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16704-Funny-ad-I-created-for-the-Model-S?goto=newpost Sat, 11 May 2013 19:51:12 GMT ......I emailed Elon the ad and he responded "Nice!"
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]]> Model S Viperbrad http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16704-Funny-ad-I-created-for-the-Model-S Model S proximity fob sensor type?? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16703-Model-S-proximity-fob-sensor-type?goto=newpost Sat, 11 May 2013 18:45:55 GMT Does anyone know what type of sensor is used in the Model S proximity fob key? I want to play around with one or something similar and do some DIY... Does anyone know what type of sensor is used in the Model S proximity fob key? I want to play around with one or something similar and do some DIY stuff. ]]> Model S de704 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16703-Model-S-proximity-fob-sensor-type Tesla Model S Car Simulator http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16690-Tesla-Model-S-Car-Simulator?goto=newpost Sat, 11 May 2013 08:19:17 GMT Hi guys!

I just had a "brilliant" idea. What if Tesla Motors got in contact with...say Ubisoft or Bioware or some other big computer game developer to make a specific Tesla Model S simulator for PC? In this simulator future owners would get the their first "real" impression of the car by driving it in certain areas or check out the interior in 3D etc...

So here are the highlights:
- roadtrips around the US with a real functioning range-meter
- different ways to charge the car and see the monthly cost
- virtual supercharging
- TONS of opportunities to modify and customize your virtual Model S
- multiplayer capabilities where Tesla-fans can meet up and talk about their cars using their own avatars looking like real humans and maybe race together (lol)
- DESIGN FUTURE TESLA MODELS! (Like Gen III for example)

Maybe the most fun part would be the option to fully customize your Model S in like a thousand different ways. Different colour-schemes....different suspensions....different sized motors....sort of like Forza or Gran Turismo 4 but with only Tesla instead.

They could sell this simulator on the Tesla Motors website. It could also be a GREAT way to try and convince your wife/husband to actually buy the real thing.

It shouldn't cost too much...like maybe 20-30 $. What do you think? ]]> Model S Nichen http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16690-Tesla-Model-S-Car-Simulator 14 Weeks and counting! Pure driving bliss....... http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16667-14-Weeks-and-counting!-Pure-driving-bliss?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 18:35:56 GMT All -

7,000 Miles in 14 weeks in my Model S.

My average Wh/mile (going down) is now: 352

The last 28 days I'm averaging $4.91 (measured from the wall) in electricity per day
based on 500 miles per week - 71 miles/day.

That's 6.87 cents/mile driven!

My ConEd electricity cost averages 19.9 cents/kWh. I live in Westchester County, NY.

Aaron

http://engage.efergy.com/content/get-products
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]]> Model S aaron.s http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16667-14-Weeks-and-counting!-Pure-driving-bliss No Parts Available http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16662-No-Parts-Available?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 16:39:37 GMT Anyone else having issues with parts not arriving? I know there is a backlog of carbon fiber spoilers and hpwc. However I have contacted the... Anyone else having issues with parts not arriving? I know there is a backlog of carbon fiber spoilers and hpwc. However I have contacted the service center and ordered the 3rd brake light about 4 times over the last 5-6 weeks (each time overnighted). The brake light still hasn't come in. My brake light has a burnt out bulb and needs to be replaced.

The other thing that baffles me is the carbon fiber spoilers. I never received mine on delivery and never received a phone call when one came in, but now the service center has about 5 in stock. I asked them about the matte vs. gloss and they said the matte spoiler is much nicer, so I am going to wait now till the matte spoiler comes in.

The people at the Seattle service center are great, but I think there is an issue with the factory not sending parts to them. I was also told that the factory has prioritized rattles and noise and other things are down the list on service, so I wonder if this is why I can't get a brake light yet.

Anyone else having issues? ]]> Model S kunal http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16662-No-Parts-Available Early adopter peak is this over yet? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16651-Early-adopter-peak-is-this-over-yet?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 09:47:16 GMT I am a UK reservation holder for a Model S and while looking through the recent stock increase I came across an interesting article on early adopters... I am a UK reservation holder for a Model S and while looking through the recent stock increase I came across an interesting article on early adopters and the first wave of purchases.

It occurred to me that it is possible a lot of people will see through any early issues as the car would have been purchased by those people anyway, like me wanting to see this technology gather a foothold and move forwards.

On the Tesla forum one owner had a battery fail completely out the blue (ICE engines do the same also) but wondered if there was any merit in this early adoption stage where the euphoria and early reports then get lost in the second phase of ownership and use?

Like any new system, the early adopters would have gone in anyway, or has we passed this phase with cars now being over 6 months old and proving their durability? Plus of course the new CR review seems fairly strong, can this car get past this early phase or has it already?

Just asking.
Dan43 ]]> Model S Dan43 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16651-Early-adopter-peak-is-this-over-yet Next up... JD Power and Associates... http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16644-Next-up-JD-Power-and-Associates?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 04:05:57 GMT Things are looking good with auto review after review. Should be interesting to see what the next annual review from JD will yield. It looks like... Things are looking good with auto review after review. Should be interesting to see what the next annual review from JD will yield.

It looks like their Initial Quality report comes out end of June each year.

How they gather data and report:
F.A.Q.'s - Frequently Asked Questions | J.D. Power ]]> Model S SCW-Greg http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16644-Next-up-JD-Power-and-Associates Anyone have Silver or Gray w/Tan interior? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16635-Anyone-have-Silver-or-Gray-w-Tan-interior?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 22:01:36 GMT My husband only has a few days to finalize his design..If you have this combo please post.... My husband only has a few days to finalize his design..If you have this combo please post.... ]]> Model S giasmom http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16635-Anyone-have-Silver-or-Gray-w-Tan-interior Consumer Reports Podcast #5 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16633-Consumer-Reports-Podcast-5?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 21:02:14 GMT Very good discussion: Talking Cars with Consumer Reports: #5 Tesla Model S - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXP4Do1xPGk) :rolleyes: Very good discussion:

Talking Cars with Consumer Reports: #5 Tesla Model S - YouTube

:rolleyes: ]]> Model S jandkw http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16633-Consumer-Reports-Podcast-5 12-volt battery: Proactive fix (Replacement) http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16627-12-volt-battery-Proactive-fix-(Replacement)?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 19:07:41 GMT Tesla called me a couple of days ago and said that they had a proactive fix for my 12-volt battery. A tech came out and is working on my car right... Tesla called me a couple of days ago and said that they had a proactive fix for my 12-volt battery. A tech came out and is working on my car right now...He said that some of the earlier VINs had been having trouble with the 12-volt batteries (sometimes something as simple as a software push would drain the 12-volt battery, rendering the car useless)...So, they are proactively replacing that battery with a different version, one that isn't prone to getting drained so easily.

For reference, I have a P85, my VIN# ends in 1929, and I took delivery on December 30th...I'm not sure exactly what range constitutes "some of the earlier VINs" as the tech said, but if you're anywhere close to mine, you may have a proactive fix/replacement in the works.

FYI. ]]> Model S TheAustin http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16627-12-volt-battery-Proactive-fix-(Replacement) Fill out the Consumer Reports Annual Survey!! http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16618-Fill-out-the-Consumer-Reports-Annual-Survey!!?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 15:14:27 GMT Yesterday, I did something I normally don't do: I filled out Consumer Reports Annual Survey and gave them data on the Model S.

Reading the CR review this morning, while the S blew the reviewers away, they need more data from real users (their subscribers) before they can recommend it.

I don't have a problem with this. That's their methodology. They've always done it that way. They're up front about that and say so. And frankly, their reasoning makes sense. They're a pretty data-driven bunch of people.

So we Model S owners need to give them data. It will still take a year or more I think before there's enough data for them to predict long-term reliability.

But if you're a CR member/subscriber and you can give them data, do it now. Fill out the survey. It's 10 minutes if that. And every bit of data they have helps. ]]> Model S rcc http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16618-Fill-out-the-Consumer-Reports-Annual-Survey!! Fill out the Consumer Reports Annual Survey!! http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16617-Fill-out-the-Consumer-Reports-Annual-Survey!!?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 15:02:57 GMT Yesterday, I did something I normally don't do: I filled out Consumer Reports Annual Survey and gave them data on the Model S.

Reading the CR review this morning, while the S blew the reviewers away, they need more data from real users (their subscribers) before they can recommend it.

I don't have a problem with this. That's their methodology. They've always done it that way. They're up front about that and say so. And frankly, their reasoning makes sense. They're a pretty data-driven bunch of people.

So we Model S owners need to give them data. It will still take a year or more I think before there's enough data for them to predict long-term reliability.

But if you can give them data, do it now. Fill out the survey. It's 10 minutes if that. And every bit of data they have helps. ]]> Model S rcc http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16617-Fill-out-the-Consumer-Reports-Annual-Survey!! Consumer Reports results are in! http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16609-Consumer-Reports-results-are-in!?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 08:47:53 GMT My hubby just informed me that Consumer Reports review of the MS is live! Overall score.... 99, baby! sorry.. right link! This should... My hubby just informed me that Consumer Reports review of the MS is live!

Overall score.... 99, baby!

sorry.. right link!

This should get you to the overview.. full ratings and road test article require log in.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/tesla/model-s.htm
 ]]> Model S bluefuego http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16609-Consumer-Reports-results-are-in! (Silly but True) Can an Entire Kindergarten Class fit in a Model S? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16603-(Silly-but-True)-Can-an-Entire-Kindergarten-Class-fit-in-a-Model-S?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 01:32:21 GMT Our 6-year-old presented his kindergarten year-end project today: Gas vs. Electric Cars. He used posters and pictures, explained several facts and... Our 6-year-old presented his kindergarten year-end project today: Gas vs. Electric Cars. He used posters and pictures, explained several facts and differences about the two different types of power sources, and then ended with the class playing How many kindergartners can you fit in a Tesla Model S? The answer: The entire class! All 15 kids and his great teacher! All doors/hatches could be closed, but we didn't want to freak out the school administrators standing nearby; 6 kids in the trunk, 4 in the back seat, 3 in the front, and 3 in the frunk! There was even room to spare. The kids loved it... and given the choice they ALL wanted to be in the frunk!

And our son's favorite part — handing out Tesla key-chains to each classmate, kindly provided by the Tesla Director of Marketing!

Name: 5-8-2013 6-16-23 PM.jpg Views: 2137 Size: 61.8 KB

(Owner is not in the photo.)
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]]> Model S Monsoon http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16603-(Silly-but-True)-Can-an-Entire-Kindergarten-Class-fit-in-a-Model-S Real estate available for superchargers in NJ http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16600-Real-estate-available-for-superchargers-in-NJ?goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 23:42:36 GMT Does anybody know who I should contact to discuss a parcel of land located on a major highway, next to a diner that is open 24/7 and just 1.5 miles... Does anybody know who I should contact to discuss a parcel of land located on a major highway, next to a diner that is open 24/7 and just 1.5 miles off the NJ Turnpike? I have discussed this with the NJ store but no one seems to know who the best person to contact. The NJ supercharger promise isn't moving as fast as I would like and I am getting my car in 16 days, lol. I only hear that the original location on NJ Turnpike is mired in bureaucracy.....

Many thanks! ]]> Model S Panacea http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16600-Real-estate-available-for-superchargers-in-NJ Video of Hidden Menu ! http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16579-Video-of-Hidden-Menu-!?goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 11:16:48 GMT Interesting look into the back-end menu ! http://www.autoblog.com/2013/05/07/tesla-model-s-secret-menu-shows-possible-upcoming-features/ Interesting look into the back-end menu !

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/05/07/t...ming-features/ ]]> Model S Zas http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16579-Video-of-Hidden-Menu-! Model S Coupe? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16576-Model-S-Coupe?goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 04:30:44 GMT OK, to make this easy, who is NOT buying this??? http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2013/4/7/Tesla-to-Offer-Model-S-Coupe-7714231 OK, to make this easy, who is NOT buying this???

http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2013/4/7...-Coupe-7714231 ]]> Model S akula http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16576-Model-S-Coupe My NBC WNWO-TV Segment on the Model S http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16570-My-NBC-WNWO-TV-Segment-on-the-Model-S?goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 00:27:11 GMT This morning, I talking on the morning show NBC-24 WNWO-TV about Tesla Motors and the electric car. Let me know what you think! :) ... This morning, I talking on the morning show NBC-24 WNWO-TV about Tesla Motors and the electric car.

Let me know what you think! :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5uPeI-0U38

Yes, I know the PowerPoint is screwy, no idea how that happened. ]]> Model S TimothyM96 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16570-My-NBC-WNWO-TV-Segment-on-the-Model-S Someday our car will be in this museum! http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16568-Someday-our-car-will-be-in-this-museum!?goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 22:13:55 GMT Attachment 21675 (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21675) Took a drive down to the Lemay Museum in Tacoma, WA. It is... Name: Where the car will end up someday.JPG Views: 396 Size: 35.8 KB

Took a drive down to the Lemay Museum in Tacoma, WA. It is known for its largest collection of American made cars, trucks and motorcycles.

They have vintage electric cars on display - I hope that they get a Model S to show as well!
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]]> Model S Geoff http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16568-Someday-our-car-will-be-in-this-museum! Need Feedback from real world users - long commute http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16564-Need-Feedback-from-real-world-users-long-commute?goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 20:16:24 GMT Hello current owners -

I'm looking for feedback from current owners before putting in my order, preferably owners who use the S for regular longer commute/trips.

I'm currently make regular trips between Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. The trip is exactly 191 miles door to door each way (178 of which is freeway speed of 60 or 70 mph zones) and I would be making the trip at least once a week. Obviously this is within advertised range for the 85kwh battery ( I would be ordering the performance version), but I'll like owner feedback on this type of trip range (what percent battery would be left, etc). Again real world conditions (radio, AC, etc on).

Also, thoughts on wear and tear of doing this trip regularly. Basically that's 20k miles a year from just this trip and Seattle roads are as bad as any city. Would you do it? Would you get something else. Comparing other cars, it would be an S vs an S6 Audi. Thoughts?


Thanks in advance. ]]> Model S RichSeattle http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16564-Need-Feedback-from-real-world-users-long-commute Yahoo Cars: Six months with a Tesla Model S: the good, bad and glitchy http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16563-Yahoo-Cars-Six-months-with-a-Tesla-Model-S-the-good-bad-and-glitchy?goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 19:55:44 GMT Six months with a Tesla Model S: the good, bad and glitchy | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos... Six months with a Tesla Model S: the good, bad and glitchy | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos

Not sure if this was posted previously. I guess is hard to get these articles completely right, but its fair for the most part. When you write for the masses, I guess you have to gloss over a lot of the details. ]]> Model S jomo25 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16563-Yahoo-Cars-Six-months-with-a-Tesla-Model-S-the-good-bad-and-glitchy Anybody have pic of new carbon fibre matte spoiler? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16490-Anybody-have-pic-of-new-carbon-fibre-matte-spoiler?goto=newpost Sat, 04 May 2013 21:28:47 GMT pics? pics? ]]> Model S Raven5000 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16490-Anybody-have-pic-of-new-carbon-fibre-matte-spoiler Sig S owners: Signing up for SigX? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16487-Sig-S-owners-Signing-up-for-SigX?goto=newpost Sat, 04 May 2013 20:56:26 GMT I am trying to decide about signing up for the 'X'. Currently, I have a deposit on regular 'X'. I am soliciting opinions from Signature 'S' owners. Was it worth it to you to you to get a Sig S versus available 'S' now? Have you, or would you, recommend signing up for a Signature X based on your feelings about your Signature S experience? ]]> Model S AlMc http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16487-Sig-S-owners-Signing-up-for-SigX Tesla Model S Purchase Experience and First Impressions http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16482-Tesla-Model-S-Purchase-Experience-and-First-Impressions?goto=newpost Sat, 04 May 2013 16:41:52 GMT Hi Everyone, I had a very interesting experience with Tesla throughout the whole process from test drive, deposit, to ordering and taking delivery... Hi Everyone,
I had a very interesting experience with Tesla throughout the whole process from test drive, deposit, to ordering and taking delivery so I thought I would gather my thoughts and post them.

Discovering the Model S:
Let me start off by saying that I'm a huge car fanatic. Before I discovered the Tesla Model S, I was determined to get myself a BMW 550xi. I wanted a new car for myself ever since I started college 3 years ago but my parents were adamant about the fact that they wouldn't buy me a new car until I finished my undergraduate studies. So I pretty much spent my years basically looking up various comparable vehicles (BMW 5-series, Audi S etc.) and decided that a 550xi would be the best fit. I would have preferred an M5 but the rear-wheel drive made that option in-feasible for the brutal NY winters. I went to various BMW dealers in Long Island to test drive the 550xi with my parents, and had everything completely spec'ed out in the Fall. When I came home for winter break in December, I visited one of the dealers that I found to be really nice, discussed the options for the car, and had everything configured. They informed me that I would need to place the order about 6-8 weeks before I wanted to take delivery of the car, so I planned on dropping by during Spring break (which would be the next break I would be home for) to do the final paperwork in order to ensure that I had the car by May graduation.

Until last December, I hadn't really known much about Tesla or the Model S. All I knew about the company was that it was started by this guy named Elon Musk who was a founder of Paypal, and also owned SpaceX, which was a pretty big deal among the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers here at Cornell. Nevertheless, I was interested in looking at a Model S simply because of a single number: 4.0 seconds. That's almost .6 seconds faster than a 550xi, and as I mentioned, I'm a big car fanatic, so 0-60 times played an important part in my purchasing decision. The fact that it was an all electric car, and hence resulted in gas savings, was enough to get my dad interested in the car. The Lexus ES330 which I previously owned gave us ~21/mpg combined while the car was originally rated for ~27/mpg (I drive with a heavy foot) and cost $60 to fill up. So, when my dad heard that the 550xi had a lower mpg rating, he became concerned about the fuel costs adding up.
I mentioned to him that the Model S cost ~90K (remember this was before the price increase), conveniently leaving off the additional costs for extra packages and addons. That got him interested in the car enough to allow me to get a test drive, if I could find a location nearby that was. I mentioned to him that we would need to put down a 5K deposit to drive the car, and to my surprise he was okay with that. A few years ago when I wanted to buy a car for myself, he wouldn't even have let me get near a car that was this expensive, and now he was saying "okay go ahead," so I was extremely pleased.

Unfortunately, the nearest store I could find on Tesla's website was in Manhattan, and back then, they required a $5000 online deposit before you could even contact the store for a test drive, and I was uncomfortable doing that.
Then, one day, while I was walking through Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, I noticed that there was a Tesla store listed under the mall directory. I wasn't aware that a store had existed on Long Island, and must have missed it while skimming the Tesla website. Since Tesla's website has service centers, and stores, I thought that "stores" wouldn't have cars available for test drives, and were only places where you could buy Tesla gear/swag.

Note: I hope that if Tesla is reading this, they make this clear, since no other car dealership has a similar approach to Tesla's, one doesn't think that they should go to the Tesla store in the mall in order to do a test drive.

So, the following weekend (on 1/11/13), I take my both of my parents, and we decide to go to the Tesla store during the afternoon so I could find out what the car was like and see it in person. At this point, I had already spent the majority of my winter break trying to test drive the Mercedes AMG, and Audi S5 so that I could get a feel of the competition, and I found myself to be leaning very strongly towards BMW (which was my initial choice). I never wanted to purchase an electric car, simply because I felt that it was too much of a hassle to have to deal with range anxiety and public charging stations etc. Nevertheless, in the interest of giving the compitition a fair chance, and wanting to experience the "no-lag" 4.0 second experience, I decided I wanted to go for a test drive. However I went into the entire experience with a bias towards BMW, thinking that nothing could beat the "ultimate driving machine." ( A slogan, that I now feel should be chance to "the ultimate ICE machine", since the Model S is ages beyond a BMW).
I spoke with Kamille, the assistant manager at the store about the Model S, and was very interested in the car. She let us go inside the Model S they had on the showroom and take a look at it, and talked to us about what Tesla is all about (although by this point I had read enough about Tesla to pretty much know everything). We weren't able to get a test drive that night since it was about 8:30PM and the mall was about to close, so she said we should come in the next day to take a drive of the car.
While I really enjoyed looking through the car, I found the lack of soft-touch doors, front and side cameras, multi-contour massage seats, lane departure warning, Heads-up-display etc. to be striking on an almost $100,000, and I once again leaned towards the BMW 550xi (although the 4.0, or 3.9 tested, kept on itching away at my decision).

The following day, I decided to come back with my parents to do a test drive. This was quite an interesting experience. Since Kamille had to stay at the store, she asked one of the other employees to walk us out to the car, where Billy, who was the employee we were going to go on a test drive, would be waiting. The Tesla employee walked us out of the mall, pointed to the car parked across a cross-walk and asked us to go ahead and get in the car.
I walked towards the car, my parents following slowly behind, and Billy noticed me near the car, touching it and trying to get in. He thought I was just a random kid that wanted to look at the car, and started yelling at me, telling me to back away until he noticed my parents come up behind me and realized that we were the customers who he was suppose to take on a test drive. He was extremely apologetic about the entire incident for several minutes, and I couldn't stop laughing about it. While others might have taken offence to the incident, after I got over the initial reaction where I was slightly taken back, I found the entire thing to be extremely funny. To me, the incident in a sense re-iterated that Tesla was a startup, and as a Computer Scientist, I feel like I have a sort of soft-spot for technological startups.

He walked us through the interior of the car, the 17" display was a center of attention as it provided the only glow inside the car during the night time and it was where all the action happened. The lack of interior handles and pockets felt weird, but my dad and I liked it since my mom has a tendency to put stuff in pockets and clutter up the car.
Since the car was going to be for me, I was the first to drive, followed by my dad and my mom. I found adjusting to the size of the car interesting since the back is wider than the front, and the regenerative braking gave an extremely different feel than a normal ICE car when letting go of the accelerator pedal.
However, the best part was when we made the turn on the highway, and I slammed my foot down on the peddle. I will never forget that moment as my body got slammed into the seat and the only reaction I could conjure up was a huge grin. My parents were tossing and turning in the back seat as I roughly turned the car to change lanes, and kept on hitting the gas until I, unfortunately, hit the 80 mph limiter.
IT ABSOLUTELY BLEW AWAY the BMW 550xi! The car's driving dynamics were brilliant, the breaking was amazing (although the smoothness of the Model S makes stops feel harder in the 550xi, making you think that the 550xi has better breaks when it doesnt).
I simply loved the drive, and was very disappointed when it ended.
I went back into the store, and thanked Kamille for letting us test drive the car without putting down a deposit. (Even though its Tesla policy, she allowed us to drive the car because I explained to her that I could give her a deposit that monday, two days later, because it was an auspicious day for us, but needed to test drive the car over the weekend so my parents could experience it as well).

I went back home, now caught in a dilemma between the Model S and 550xi. I couldn't make up my mind on which car I wanted, but since the Model S had a 6 month waiting list at the time, I decided to come back on Monday 1/14 to put down my deposit, and get my reservation #18,278. Now I had until March, when I would need to finalize the 550xi order, to decide.

Or so I thought.


Ordering & Tesla Financing Crisis:
So, on 2/4 I get my "Finalize Your Order" button appear on the Tesla website. This was way earlier than I expected because Kamille had said that the wait list is 6-9 months long, and I would have to wait probably 2-3 months after my reservation to finalize my order and decide on what configuration I wanted.
Nevertheless, I was extremely excited, and eager, so I went ahead and finalized my order. I knew exactly what I wanted (more or less), so I got the email at 8:34PM EST, and finalized by 9:42PM, after a quick conversation with my parents about the color selection and paint armor.
I finalized the following configuration:
Tesla Model S 85KWh Performance with Pearl White exterior, and a Tan interior. All Glass Panoramic roof, Carbon Fiber spoiler, 19" rims, Carbon Fiber decor, Tech and Sound package, paint armor, Twin Charges and a High Power Wall connector.
So I pretty much got everything except the rear two-seats. My mom wanted me to get them (so that if I ever have kids they could use them) but I didn't want to because I didn't realize they fold away when not in use.

And now began the troubles:
My delivery window was March/April. At this point I had pretty much committed to buying the Model S, and we started looking for financing.
As my posts on this forms indicate, financing was quite a big pain in the butt.
I didn't bother looking for financing until the end of February since we had a March/April delivery window and most places only give a 30-60 day loan guarantee.
Then, at the end of February, I emailed Tesla about financing for the car, they initially didn't reply for about a week, so I got upset, and I sent them another email. I finally got a reply from Matt in the financing department, who sent me over the paperwork to apply for a loan. I also asked my dad to apply for financing through our local credit union where we have banked for more than 10 years. Matt didn't reply to us about the loan for a few days, and I started getting nervous.
On 2/10, I had gotten an email from Tesla asking me about my delivery preferences, and I completed it as soon as possible, and to my surprise at the end of the questionaire, I had a delivery window: March 13th-27th.
So, when was 2/22 and I still hadn't heard from Tesla about my loan application, I started to get worried. I followed up with Matt and realized I had made a mistake on the application which was causing a delay, I rectified the mistake and got an immediate reply on the following day that I had been approved for $70K.
Meanwhile, our local credit union had rejected our loan application for $100K.
The pre-MVPA showed that the car, including all the options, tax and charges came out to about $117K, out of which we had given $5K as a deposit. This meant that if we took the Wells Fargo loan (which they gave a terrible rate for 60 months btw), we would still need to get $42K cash to pay the difference on the car, money which we simply didn't have.
I started getting worried, I scurried to find financing for the car, and applied to various credit unions/banks online and based on recommendations on this thread. I read that Alliant had the best rates, financed the full car, and had great response time so I applied there and ended up getting rejected.
I was surprised by all of this because, my father (under whose name the car was going to be financed), had great credit history 750+ and makes $125K+/year. So we tried to do joint applications with both of my parents but still kept on getting rejected.
We got various reasons, for example, one local credit union said at first they could approve us for a $100K loan, and then when we went in, they said they couldn't do so because they considered Tesla to be an "exotic" car, and they didn't finance exotic cars.
Places like Chase (with whom we have our home loan), refused to give a loan for more than $70K because they didn't give loans that were more than 2x previous car loan amount (which was ~$35K for the Lexus ES330 we had bought in '05).
Alliant rejected our loan application because their underwriters had a hard time understanding our fluctuations in income, since some years my parents work through our consulting company, and other years they have a full time job, so the tax situation was slightly complex.

Meanwhile, I get a call from a Tesla employee on 3/7, a Thursday, saying that my car would go into production the following Monday, and that it would be ready for delivery on 3/21.
I explained to him the problems I was having with financing, and that I had been in discussions with Matt in financing to try and come up with a solution to get money for the car. He said that my car was scheduled to go into production on Monday, and that if, by the start of business day (9:00am PST/12:00pm EST), I could get him a definite answer about whether or not I would be able to take delivery of the car, he would be able to move us to the back of the reservation queue or refund our $5000 deposit. So, I tried to make some final attempts to get financing from various banks throughout Thursday and Friday to no avail. During those two weeks, I probably ended up spending close to 5 hours/day coordinating with Tesla, and banks about the financing situation, and somehow trying to obtain a loan for the car.

Then, I get a call on Sunday morning from some guy on the delivery team (a manager, I don't remember his name) saying that Tesla would not refund my $5000 deposit, nor would they push my order to the back of the reservation queue, and give me a new reservation number so that I had more time to save up the $42K that was required to cover the gap between the financing and the value of the car. He pretty much said that if, by Monday morning, I wasn't able to pay for the car, they would simply cancel the order and that would be that. According to him, the car had already gone into production whereas my delivery specialist had clearly told me that it would not go on the assembly line until Monday morning. I was extremely angry about the entire situation, and I immediately wrote an email to the people at Tesla, and to Elon, about the situation. Late Sunday night, I got a reply from Elon saying that they should be able to give me a new reservation and push my order to the back of the line.

Monday morning I called my delivery specialist around 9:30am EST, telling him the news and asked him to get me a new reservation number. The instant I hung up the phone, I got a phone call from the manager at Bethpage Federal Credit Union (in Long Island), stating that he was replying to a loan request I made about two weeks ago. I had followed up with Bethpage the week before about the status of my loan, and upon hearing that I was rejected, I asked them for a reason, so they said they would have the manager call me back with details.
The manager basically said the same thing that other banks' representatives had told me, they couldn't approve the loan because it was more than 2x the previous highest loan amount. I was extremely upset by this line of reasoning, and told him, that the policy was stupid and made no logical sense. I asked him to reconsider my loan application, and he said that he would do so if I was able to send him tax returns and other supporting documents. I did so, and about an hour and half later, someone from Bethpage FCU contacted me saying that they had approved my loan for $100,000 @ 2.71%/apr for 72-months (which came out to a monthly payment of $1,500).
I asked them to send me all the documentation, which I received at 11:30am, read, and called my delivery specialist to say that we were back on track. I emailed Elon as well to update him, and got the following response: "cool, credit unions are often the best way to go" :P

After all of this, I was glad that things were back on track, and I asked my delivery specialist to postpone delivery from 3/21 (which is the date he gave me), to 4/19 since that was an auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar, and also the two year anniversary of the closing for our home (the first home purchase for the family in the states). He said that he would make it so.
I followed up with my bank and Tesla over the next week or two about what I needed to do for the insurance binder etc, and they said that all that stuff would happen about a week before delivery when they shipped the car to me.

Delivery Fiasco:
So, things were looking good, at the end of March I got a call from Tesla that my car was built, and waiting in the White Plains service center waiting for delivery on 4/19. I said that sounded great, and made plans to come home for the weekend for delivery.
Then, I started thinking about getting some after market work done on the car. I had already called up Tesla and removed the paint armor from the order after reading these fourms. So I contacted several places on the Northeast about getting work done, and after a lot of back and forth, and negotiations, I decided to get the work done from Gus at Technik 1 in NYC.
He was suppose to install radar detectors, jammers, paint armor, front/back parking sensors, and window tint. I got a very good quote from him during the second week of April, and he said he would need a week to get the car ready. So I contacted Tesla to have the car delivery moved forward by a week.
They said that they would be able to do so, as long as I had the bank send them the check, and got insurance for the car etc.
So on 4/10, I went back and forth with my bank, and insurance provider to get all of the paperwork done, and within a day, I had my bank mail out a check for $100K, I transferred remaining payment via ACH, and had worked with AutoNation the week before to get my old car applied as trade-in towards the car loan. So, I sent the deposit, a copy of the bank check and insurance paperwork to Tesla the following morning 4/11 and asked them to send the car to Gus as soon as possible so he could have enough time to work on it, and I could still take delivery on 4/19 as originally planned.
Then Lauren, my delivery specialist, calls me up from Tesla to tell me on the afternoon of 4/12 that my car, which they said had been delivered to White Plains service center two weeks ago, WAS STILL ON THE FACTORY FLOOR IN FREEMONT!

That was absolutely ridiculous, I was so angry at them for not realizing this sooner. For two whole weeks, we had been talking, and everyone at Tesla claimed that the car was in White Plains, and it was the day that they needed to put the car on a truck, and ship it out, did they realize: uh oh, the car isn't here! The inner communications at Tesla was absolutely atrocious, its as if no one ever communicated with each other, or for that span of 2 weeks had decided to take inventory and make sure that the cars were actually on the lot as the system claimed. I was slightly annoyed, but by this time, my father was extremely angry. I had spent every day or every other day on the phone with Tesla coordinating financing, delivery and other logistics and my dad was absolutely furious that they didn't seem to care or pay attention to what was happening. He almost cancelled the entire order!
Lauren had the car put on a truck that day itself, and said that it would take a week to bring the car on the east cost. I was extremely angry at them for this, but the car ended up getting delivered to Gus on the morning of 4/17. Gus, who had been great thus far, moved some of his other work, and got everything except the Beltronics system installed by friday night, 4/19 (the Beltronics system was on back order, and I still haven't gotten it installed).
He drove the car over to the Queens service center on Friday night, and early Saturday morning, the car was delivered to our house.

The guy who did the delivery was great, he walked us through the car, unfortunately, they didn't have the front bracket so he couldn't install the front licence plate, but he came back the following morning to do it.

The car was a lot of fun to drive, and Gus's installation was great. Unfortunately, I barely put 50 miles on the car before I had to come back on campus Sunday afternoon. I'll be going home this week and probably just go joy-riding across the island and will update on the car's handling and driving dynamics.

Until then, here are some pictures:

Attachment 21452

At the Queens service center, washed, detailed, and ready to be delivered.
Attachment 21453

Gus opening up the car for some installs
Attachment 21454


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Tesla Grin:

A baby Tesla, on my Tesla:
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Better than an M5, AMG, or S:
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]]> Model S hershey101 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16482-Tesla-Model-S-Purchase-Experience-and-First-Impressions 21 inch tires and replacement after 12-15,000 miles http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16473-21-inch-tires-and-replacement-after-12-15-000-miles?goto=newpost Sat, 04 May 2013 05:58:53 GMT We find it hard to believe these tires really need to be replaced after every 12-15,000 miles, whats your experience been? We find it hard to believe these tires really need to be replaced after every 12-15,000 miles, whats your experience been? ]]> Model S giasmom http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16473-21-inch-tires-and-replacement-after-12-15-000-miles Repurchase Guarantee http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16459-Repurchase-Guarantee?goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 22:55:50 GMT I'm scratching my head a bit trying to understand exactly who the repurchase guarantee benefits. It is offered only to those that finance. Are those that finance a special class deserving of repurchase protection? Did those that shelled out $100K not take on more Tesla risk? Why are those that lay that risk off on a third party the ones deserving of the guarantee?

The answer would seem to be that the guarantee was designed not for the customer but to meet a Tesla goal. That would be a reasonable thing for a company to do. My question to those with a more financial mind/skill set is exactly what is this guarantee designed to do and who is the audience?

Is all of this an elaborate way to get the payment down to the magical $500 per month level by extending the term, increasing the end of term valuation and getting potential customers to truly consider the reduction in fuel bills (needed to get to that $500 per month payment level)? ]]> Model S lolachampcar http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16459-Repurchase-Guarantee Model S - Range in winter and Driving dynamics in snow (Prospective Buyer) http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16450-Model-S-Range-in-winter-and-Driving-dynamics-in-snow-(Prospective-Buyer)?goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 18:57:07 GMT Hello Tesla owners, this is a great forum for owners and future owners. I joined the forum for some help with my EV purchase. I had decided on Leaf,... Hello Tesla owners, this is a great forum for owners and future owners. I joined the forum for some help with my EV purchase. I had decided on Leaf, but after consultation with Leaf owners in cold climate have come to a conclusion, it may not suit my needs. I live in Michigan, with temperature below 30 F for almost 4 months in winter, with frequent dips below 20 F. I have a commute of 50 miles RT, with close to 70% of that on highways. I was told that maximum range that I should expect is 60 miles, with compromises. I may need an EV with Thermal Management System (TMS) or with bigger range. I was browsing previous posts, and was thrilled to see many owners in cold climates and some of them have also taken their Model s out for frolic in snow. These are my limitation with Leaf.


Limitations for EV use
- Frigid climate with Temprature below 30 F for 4 months, with frequent dips into 20s
- Snow covered roads for commute
- Frequent high wind days
- Daily commute of over 50 miles RT
- More than 50% on highways (mine is around 66%)
- L2 charging overnight at home only, not available at work
- Cold soaking in parking lot for over 10 hours and sometimes overnight
- Inability to trickle charge at workplace (to prevent cold soaking and preheat the car for return journey)



It seems Tesla fits the bill, however I haven't figured out how to pay it's leasing bills. I have contacted Tesla team about new leasing program, but it is still an expensive affair. Recent announcement by Elon has been positive. The nearest Tesla store is in Chicago, IL and nearest Tesla service center is in Columbus, OH. I need to know few things even before I start thinking in that direction.


(1) How to get the service? Tesla says that they will cover me with Ranger service program and car doesn't even need a service and now the service requirement has been waived off. I just wanted to ask owners how has been their experience?


(2) I have seen only one Model S in Detroit, and couldn't catch it with my ICE. But how's the battery performance in the cold weather? It has TMS unlike Leaf, so it should fair better. Most of the Model S sales are still in CA. However Tesla was at Detroit Auto Show, and they clearly want to sell their car in all climates, and are not stupid to make car only for warmer climate. They are pursuing European sales now.


(3) Other question that I have is, how is it to drive in snow considering it is a rear wheel drive car? Tesla's answer was that, it should not be any problem with traction control system.

(4) If you could also post your mileage in snow, and how much degradation to expect. I will be keeping my car in parking structure for 10 hours or so, and worried about loosing a lot of range.


Thank you all in advance. ]]> Model S Aphysician http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16450-Model-S-Range-in-winter-and-Driving-dynamics-in-snow-(Prospective-Buyer) Model S Video Game Appearances? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16437-Model-S-Video-Game-Appearances?goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 15:02:04 GMT I know there is a little Model S available in Car Town (or whatever that Facebook game is called), but is the Model S in any of the other driving... I know there is a little Model S available in Car Town (or whatever that Facebook game is called), but is the Model S in any of the other driving games? ]]> Model S joshuaeven http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16437-Model-S-Video-Game-Appearances Center Screen Night Mode in daytime http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16430-Center-Screen-Night-Mode-in-daytime?goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 12:41:09 GMT Can the center screen be switched to the dark Night Mode so it stays on during the daytimg? I tried changing the settings to night, but it is... Can the center screen be switched to the dark Night Mode so it stays on during the daytimg? I tried changing the settings to night, but it is automatically switching back to the bright daylight screen. I have the black interior, and think it would look better and be easier on the eyes. ]]> Model S rogbmw http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16430-Center-Screen-Night-Mode-in-daytime <![CDATA[What's hiding under the Frunk?]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16417-What-s-hiding-under-the-Frunk?goto=newpost Thu, 02 May 2013 23:57:41 GMT If you've been to a Tesla Store, then you've probably seen the rolling chassis or "skateboard" on display with its various gadgets up in the nose. Actually, there's a little more to it than what you saw. Here's a walk-through, beginning at the top of the image...

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1. At the very top, the grey ribbed area is part of the battery pack, a taller part than the rest of it, containing the brains of the battery.

2. Just below that, centered, is the air conditioning compressor.

3. Below that is the power steering unit, with the steering rack behind it. Note the steering shaft angling off to the right.

4. Next are two coolant pumps on the far left and far right. I believe both are used for the battery pack.

5. Below the pumps, from left to right, are the suspension compressor, water heating/cooling unit, and the ABS system.
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]]> Model S ToddRLockwood http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16417-What-s-hiding-under-the-Frunk <![CDATA[No wait - buy it now - P85's?]]> http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16411-No-wait-buy-it-now-P85-s?goto=newpost Thu, 02 May 2013 21:20:16 GMT How To Get A Tesla Model S Right Now - Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-a-tesla-model-s-right-now-2013-5) If this is... How To Get A Tesla Model S Right Now - Business Insider

If this is true, why I have I been waiting months for my fully loaded, multi-red P85? Where are these cars? ]]> Model S andrewket http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16411-No-wait-buy-it-now-P85-s IMPORTANT: New Model S torque specification for mounting wheels http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16389-IMPORTANT-New-Model-S-torque-specification-for-mounting-wheels?goto=newpost Thu, 02 May 2013 13:39:39 GMT Tesla has recently updated the torque specification for wheel mounting. The change appears to have taken place in March or April of 2013. If your car... Tesla has recently updated the torque specification for wheel mounting. The change appears to have taken place in March or April of 2013. If your car was manufactured before March 1, 2013 and you have not been in for service yet, you should check the torque on your lug nuts. I recently discovered that mine were surprisingly loose.

The old spec was 140N.m. (103 lb/ft)

The NEW spec is 175N.m. (129 lb/ft)


Here's the whole story about what happened to me...

Has your Model S suspension lost its new-car crispness? ]]> Model S ToddRLockwood http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16389-IMPORTANT-New-Model-S-torque-specification-for-mounting-wheels Riding in an ICE makes my little girls cry http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16362-Riding-in-an-ICE-makes-my-little-girls-cry?goto=newpost Wed, 01 May 2013 17:00:15 GMT While my wife was out of town last week I picked up my 6 year old twin girls after extended day at school. I got my S on Tuesday and they were the... While my wife was out of town last week I picked up my 6 year old twin girls after extended day at school. I got my S on Tuesday and they were the first passengers that same day. They loved the seats, the play any song feature on Slacker and the cool new tech. But that paled compared to the thrill of acceleration. "Go fast, Dad" was a constant refrain all week when they got in the car.

Yesterday, my wife went to pick up the girls at school for gymnastics and Ellie burst into tears upon seeing the minivan waiting for her. She desperately wanted to ride in "the red car." My wife said "next time we'll take the Audi" (which is red) but Ellie cried harder because she wanted to ride in Dad's car. Nice going, Tesla, you've made my little girls cry ... is there now an X in our future? ]]> Model S JohnQ http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16362-Riding-in-an-ICE-makes-my-little-girls-cry How is current to the motor limited? Electronically or physically? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16319-How-is-current-to-the-motor-limited-Electronically-or-physically?goto=newpost Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:42:36 GMT Hi guys, new member looking into the Tesla Model S from a purely performance car standpoint.

I come from a background modifying BMW's for big power and the Model S has me thinking about taking a "new school" approach to modifying cars.

Now, from what I read here if the Performance Model S had 4.375C like the 40kWh model was supposed to have output would be in the 506 horsepower range. That's a boost of almost 100 hp and a good amount of torque to boot likely putting the 1/4 mile time and trap speed on par with something like a Panamera Turbo S or the upcoming all wheel drive version of the E63 AMG.

The Tesla is respectably quick as it sits but to truly perform like the top guys more torque/power is necessary. I also understand the motors in the cars are basically the same with the inverter being different in the performance model.

So is it just software that is holding the car back? Tesla simply chose between the best balance of range and power? I wouldn't mind a high performance mode with less range and replacing the battery earlier wouldn't bother me earlier for more performance.

- - - Updated - - -

Hmm can't edit my post meant to say "wouldn't bother me either" whoops. ]]> Model S Sticky http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16319-How-is-current-to-the-motor-limited-Electronically-or-physically Strange test drive requests http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16309-Strange-test-drive-requests?goto=newpost Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:25:02 GMT I've had my Model S since early December, and being in CT they are still exceedingly rare. Thus, I get regular comments and even some random strangers asking for a test drive (happened twice, once at my nephew's birthday party by another parent).

Today, however, is the most random. Apparently the junior whatever (seriously don't know his job) that works for my accountant felt it would be ok to ask for a test drive while also getting some other details, like the VIN, for paperwork.

I thought it was both hilarious and random. I said yes, which probably shocked him more than his question shocked me.

Anyone else get random test drive requests? ]]> Model S Mike_Schlechter http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16309-Strange-test-drive-requests Should I buy pre-paid service/extended service? Or annual service every 2 years? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16301-Should-I-buy-pre-paid-service-extended-service-Or-annual-service-every-2-years?goto=newpost Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:02:14 GMT I assume most people on this forum have purchased a pre-paid service plan. Some because they had to, before Elon's recent announcement that made it optional. Most because after spending $100K on the car, what's another $1900 or $3800 or $6300.

I am not like most S buyers. I don't like to pay for things I don't think are a good investment (except for this car, which I view as a work of art). I bought no tech package, no air suspension, no premium sound, no performance, no fancy wheels.

I will drive maybe 5K a year.

I realize this is a new somewhat untested car in the real world. Things will go wrong. But that's what the original 4 year warranty is for, right? Should I pay $1900 for 4 year's worth of changing my wipers or rotating my tires?

Elon did mention preforming hardware upgrades in the annual service. I wonder if I have the "annual service" when I hit 12K miles (which will be in about 2 years), if I'd get all the new hardware upgrades to date? I guess I can choose to do the "annual inspection" whenever I want (ie. every 2 years)?

I have 3 weeks left to decide. Yours thoughts are appreciated. ]]> Model S Hometheatremaven http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16301-Should-I-buy-pre-paid-service-extended-service-Or-annual-service-every-2-years Top 10 tips for showing your model s in public http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16257-Top-10-tips-for-showing-your-model-s-in-public?goto=newpost Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:03:01 GMT I showed my Sig Performance at the Earth Day Event this past weekend. Lessons Learned:

1. You can never have enough water & sun screen
Bad case of sun burn and heat exhaustion after 7 bottles of water

2. People just can't keep their hands off the car
I had the car roped off and still had to keep adults from trying to enter the car. Spent most of my time wiping finger prints off the door handles.

3. You will hear "WOW" almost every time someone approaches the car....never gets old!

4. I opened/closed the doors/rear hatch and had the touch screen/rear camera on the whole day (7am 530pm) and lost only about 20mi of range...do as much demo as you want!

5. Print out the TM web site....there will be hundreds of questions

6. Buy TSLA stock since you will sell a half dozen cars or so...might as well get paid!

7. Kids LOVE the jump seats...just leave the rear hatch open

8. Nobody will believe the S can beat an M5 ... you need to show them the youtube clip!

9. Prepare to be embarrassed as everyone will ask "how much does it cost?"

10. Where a T-shirt that says "I don't work for TESLA... this is my personal car." ]]> Model S joefee http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16257-Top-10-tips-for-showing-your-model-s-in-public Tent Camping in a Model S http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16248-Tent-Camping-in-a-Model-S?goto=newpost Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:53:34 GMT Has anyone here thought about or even tried tent camping in a Model S? I think there can be three great advantages to doing this: 1) You can... Has anyone here thought about or even tried tent camping in a Model S? I think there can be three great advantages to doing this:

1) You can charge your car overnight while you are camping,
2) If you use one of those SUV tents, you could pipe in the air conditioning into your tent and
3) If you fold all the seats down, it looks like you could even sleep in the car with an air mattress or memory foam mattress.

I was expecting my Model S P85 tomorrow, but the truck bringing it to So. Fla broke down in Louisiana. :-(

Does anyone know if the seats fold back in such a way to put a memory foam mattress in it and if the A/C can be made to run all night long? ]]> Model S holstein13 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16248-Tent-Camping-in-a-Model-S Game changer and life changer http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16245-Game-changer-and-life-changer?goto=newpost Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:04:24 GMT Like many on this forum I am over 60, just old enough to still be in wide eyed wonderment over new tech toys and even some of the things you guys and... Like many on this forum I am over 60, just old enough to still be in wide eyed wonderment over new tech toys and even some of the things you guys and gals can do with them. My sordid story is a life of hard work and abusing my body thru that work, I am paying for that dearly now. We did get a slight benefit of retiring a bit early and found a quiet place in the center of the state that is very economical to live. The down side is , although we do appreciate our privacy we miss the restaurants and social life we had in Boca, a bit more accessible to shops and fine dining than where we are now. That wasn't even an issue because we would RV in our bus two or three months of the year and visit area's that filled that particular itch, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Antonio, well you get the idea, we could get great food where ever we went. Now the fix is in, since the arrival of the Model S in early Feb, we regularly jump in the car and go to Tampa, Orlando or even Boca for lunch. What a treat, we would never think of doing that in the Jeep at $4 per gal, but in the lap of luxury for about 2 - 4 dollars, you bet. For us the Model S has been a very welcome LIFE changing experience, a real freedom we didn't have before. ]]> Model S wstuff http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16245-Game-changer-and-life-changer When does the new service policy go into effect? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16234-When-does-the-new-service-policy-go-into-effect?goto=newpost Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:24:20 GMT When does it go into effect? I have a rental from tesla right now and it sucks! When does it go into effect? I have a rental from tesla right now and it sucks! ]]> Model S Raven5000 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16234-When-does-the-new-service-policy-go-into-effect My service experience http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16199-My-service-experience?goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 23:39:21 GMT This post details my Tesla service experiences in the last 4 months. The executive summary: Tesla has some nice, hard-working people in service,... This post details my Tesla service experiences in the last 4 months.

The executive summary: Tesla has some nice, hard-working people in service, but they need a whole lot more service advisors in Fremont and Menlo Park.

Specific complaints:
There should be a higher chance of speaking to a service advisor when you call.
Service advisors should be able to return your call at least within an hour, if not within 20 minutes.
The ability to email a service advisor could be helpful. service@teslamotors.com doesn't seem to get through to your advisor, though.
They seem to be lacking in some back end tools that ensure they don’t forget what they said.
Ranger service should leave some documentation of what was done.
I’m surprised that my car was returned with a lower SOC than when it left. Yeah, this is normal for gasoline cars, but it surprised me in this case.

Specific things I liked:
Even when I was persistently calling Tesla over minor concerns, they were always polite to me.
They were willing to call me well after they should have been able to quit work for the day.
Everyone I dealt with seemed nice.
Pickup/dropoff was easy.
I think being able to make an appointment 1 week in the future for a non-critical issue is reasonable.
Washing and vacuuming the car is very nice of them. I didn’t expect that.


And now the gory details….


On January 22nd, I tried calling Tesla service. I got a voicemailbox, so I tried email instead. I listed the following issues:
1) 12V battery needs service
2) Flaky 14-50 adaptor to the UMC
3) Left rear seatbelt doesn’t move smoothly
4) Car not waking up happily

I got a reply that item (1) would be fixed in FW, and that for the other issues, they’d contact me.
I got the FW fix the next day, and it fixed problems (1) and (4). I didn’t receive a contact on the other issues before I had to reach out to service again…

On January 23rd, (my 2nd time driving with the new FW), my car went into limp mode (“Car needs service… Please pull over”). After limping for 5 seconds or so, the car came back to life, and I drove it home. I sent an email, but after not getting a reply for a few hours, I called. I was told they were busy but they’d call back. They did call back, and said that they weren’t sure what happened, but if it was fine now, I was fine. We started talking about the seatbelt and flaky adaptor, and they said they could schedule me for service in a few weeks and they’d call back to make the appointment. They didn’t call back.

Fast forward to March 22nd, I call the 877 Service number on Friday evening requesting service:
1) Flaky 14-50 adaptor to UMC
2) Left rear seatbelt doesn’t move smoothly
3) Left rear door occasionally opens itself and occasionally refuses to open
4) Front right speaker makes a crackling sound over Slacker/USB stick (not FM or Bluetooth)
5) Interior cabin temperature reads about 7 degrees hot
6) Charge port door occasionally doesn’t open
7) P85 badge and spoiler would be nice, if available.

My call is answered, and they ask if I’m available Thursday 3/28 @ 9am. I was having some pool work done then, so I said 3/29 would be better, so we set up ranger service on 3/29.

Later on, I realize, hey, why not do them both on the same day? Car service and pool service, so I can be around for both… So I call the 877 service number Saturday morning to ask about switching days. I get through to the Fremont advisor who tells me he’ll check and get back to me. I wait around for a half hour, and don’t get a call, so I try calling back. He’s unavailable, so I leave a message. Two hours later I call again. He’s still too busy to check. Late Saturday, he calls me back and says he can do Thursday, just be sure to send the flaky UMC. I get confused, “send?” “yeah, when they come to get your car, send the UMC”. “Oh, I thought you were sending a ranger to me, not sending a trailer to get the car.”

Thursday 3/28 arrives. The pool guy comes and goes, so around 10:30 I call Tesla and am told that he’s on his way. He arrived shortly after. The ranger tells me he’s not picking up the car, but will service my car at my house. We talk through the issues, and it seems that the only issue he’s prepared to deal with is items (3) and (7) above. For (1), he brought a UMC, but no adaptor. He says that they can mail me a new adaptor. Anyway, I head off to work and leave him to it. When I get back, the key is where we agreed it would be, and the car has a new badge and spoiler, but there’s no indication of what else happened.

I try calling service, but struggle to get through. After a couple weeks of trying to get through, I do get a hold of Fremont service, and get a new guy. He suggests I drop off the car in Fremont. I explain that I paid for ranger service, and that would be more convenient for me. He acquiesces: okay, we can send someone out if that’s what you want. It is. So we schedule a week or two in the future, 4/18 for service.

4/16, my wife tells me that she wants the carpool sticker car on Thursday. So I try all day Tuesday to get a hold of service to let them know to send the ranger to a different address. I finally get through on Wednesday. The service advisor has no record of the appointment I set up the previous week. He tells me that he can pick up my car on Monday 4/22.

Sunday 4/21, 9pm, I get a call asking what address to do the pickup at. He said he thought he remembered us agreeing to pick up the car at my work (also the way I remembered it), but that his computer had them picking it up at my wife’s work. I’m glad he could remember the conversation!

The car is picked up without a problem on Monday, 4/22.

Tuesday, 4/23, around noon, I call to ask how it’s going and leave a message. Tuesday night, around 7pm, I get the reply:
1) I forgot to send the bad adaptor, but they’ll send one when they return my car, anyway.
2) They removed an extra glide that shouldn’t have been there.
3) We’re guessing the ranger fixed this.
4) Software bug. Wait for update.
5) Nothing they can do.
6) Can not duplicate. No action taken.
He schedules delivery for Thursday 4/25.

Thursday comes, and my car is delivered. It came with an “invoice” detailing my complaints and what they did (or didn't do) to fix them. There was still no charge cable adaptor, though. The driver took some pictures and says that they’ll mail me one. Hopefully they will this time.

My biggest frustration has been getting a hold of someone. Maybe 10% of the time, I can talk to a service advisor. Around 20% of the time, I don't even get past the main 877 switchboard to Fremont service.
My next biggest frustration is the way things keep changing. It's a ranger service, no it's a pickup, no it's ranger service. We'll send the adaptor. We'll send the adaptor. We'll send the adaptor.

Yes, I'm still glad I own a Tesla, and I'm happy to cut them some slack. However, if Audi's service center seemed this overworked and disorganized, I would be disappointed that I had just bought an Audi and would do my best to avoid them except for warranty service. ]]> Model S derekt75 http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16199-My-service-experience New winter test in Norway http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16187-New-winter-test-in-Norway?goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:33:15 GMT The Norwegian car magazine Autofil just posted a new article also containing a video that I think you might enjoy. It's all in Norwegian, but the video is quite entertaining anyway.

This same guy drove 1200 km in a Leaf during one weekend, and thus suffers from range anxiety. His solution this time is to put tape over the range indicators and drive the TMS as he would with an ICE car. He also stops by IKEA to pick up a big pile of stuff to bring to the cabin. The trip he's making this time is approx 273 km in cold winter weather, with a heavy right foot and some "fun time" with donuts in the snow. Enjoy :)

TESLA MODEL S: Tesla Model S: Møt virkeligheten! - autofil.no


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD ]]> Model S Zneip http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16187-New-winter-test-in-Norway Model S makes Hagerty Hot List http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16180-Model-S-makes-Hagerty-Hot-List?goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:01:41 GMT He's predicting the Model S will be valued as a "classic car" in 2033.

Classic cars of 2033 - MSN Autos

The awards keep piling up. Tesla has to be proud ]]> Model S jeff_adams http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16180-Model-S-makes-Hagerty-Hot-List Minor accident in my new Model S http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16173-Minor-accident-in-my-new-Model-S?goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:21:56 GMT Was driving home from the airport and a car in front of me at a light backed into my new (less than 2 months old) Model S. Still don't know why he put his car in park at the light or how we put it in reverse instead of drive. He cracked the nose cone and the frunk won't open (latch appears jammed). No other damage that I can see.

Other driver was a local high school student, talked to his mom and when she asked me what kind of car I drove, she immediately knew it was going to be costly.

I expect to get the estimate from their insurance company and then take it to the autobody shop recommended by Tesla to get the full estimate (they need to take off the nose cone and root around a little bit.

Thank goodness the car is still drivable and the damage is relatively minor. I love this car more than any other I have owned and I get into my first accident of any kind in over 10 years in it. ]]> Model S debuntx http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16173-Minor-accident-in-my-new-Model-S MODEL S in Paris 24th april to 5th may ! first french customer to ride in France !!! http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16170-MODEL-S-in-Paris-24th-april-to-5th-may-!-first-french-customer-to-ride-in-France-!!!?goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:02:50 GMT Hello I am from France If you have opporunity to go to Paris, you will be probably lucky to see Tesla Model S between two tests. I had the... Hello
I am from France

If you have opporunity to go to Paris, you will be probably lucky to see Tesla Model S between two tests.

I had the chance to be the first to try it yesterday morning officially in France, with a ride not far from 3 quarter of an hour because I had arrived earlier, and that next trial was only at 11:00 AM

It was Model S Performance, metallic brown color (which looks black when it is not sunnt) 85kwh battery, and 21-inch aluminum wheels, given for 4.4 sec from 0 to 100 kmh

When tested in Paris, we went near Trocadero place , then towards too "Bois de Boulogne" where traffic is less dense for a better test.

I could test air suspension which allows to lower or raise the car, so it was set up to max, and attacked the pavement, as in Paris, there are many.
It was disconcerting how little vibration seen in the box, and the steering wheel, it's almost as if there were no pavment.
(I tested again in the evening with my peugeot 206, and it shaked around, vibrations in the dashboard, steering wheel, unbearable noise ....)

I set the screen to display google map. It is not always quick to display bitmap tiles, but hey, it seems that it can be cached, and as the car was not yet gone to Paris, The man from Tesla also says that it should preload images. ..

I brought my USB key with compounds or remixed by myself (Special Bass Dance Electro) titles to test premium audio system. With high volume, the sound is very good, without saturation, with good bass.
I did not tried to custom EQ, but I think for fans of deep bass, it can do it too. Some of you were unhappy with premium sound, I think because you need more bass ;)

For those of you who want to test my own sound, go there https://www.youtube.com/user/djromai...view_as=public

What is nice with the central touch screen is that you can choose to show two things at the same time, there is a choice between: music, google map, chart energy, internet browser, back camera, phone
At first, I displayed map and camera, which is a good add to mirrors, especially to see motos, scooters coming from anywhere in Paris: D
After I choosed to display chart of consumption.

When I camed into the car, it seems to have 90% of charge, with an ideal range of 417 kms remaining
As shown in photo, I just abused acceleration (completely amazing, we did not have time to finish sentence, we find ourselves well above the speed limit and we are obliged to cut " gases "uh sorry, slow down ....
Regeneration is pretty good, compared to a Nissan LEAF (for almost non-existent), but obviously not strong enough when it comes to heavy braking after such acceleration

Near "Arc de Triomphe", many eyes of people were looking at the car, especially at stoplights, where some of them will not have had time to see long ;)

With all stop and starts and times done, range projection was "only" 230 km ... against the ideal range calculated 417.
But it is still very good, when you see parameters of the city where a steady speed is impossible given the traffic conditions.

Now about the charging infrastructure, it is clear that France is a very small market for TESLA, compared to the rest of Europe which mainly germany, belgium, switzerland, netherlands and other ... and therefore the installation of solar recharging terminals (Superchargers) will be very limited
Perhaps we will have some at strategics points : in Paris, Lyon, in the south of the mediterranean, in Brittany

This was my second test of tesla model S, and as exciting as the first one at Anvers in Februrary !!!

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]]> Model S djromain http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16170-MODEL-S-in-Paris-24th-april-to-5th-may-!-first-french-customer-to-ride-in-France-!!!