New European Model S information / rumors

linaser · Oct 26, 2012

It seems, that there is suddenly movement concerning European Model S delivery and production:

@TeslaMotors said:
@keesvanbemmel @geerinckx1989 European deliveries begin the 2nd quarter of 2013.

@TeslaMotors said:
Hallo München! Model S has arrived! pic.twitter.com/D6cMnVYQ

Norbert.Vienna (Official Forums - MODEL S DELIVERY DATES AND SEQUENCING thread) said:
yesterday I had a conversation with European marketing and they told me that prices will be announced in the next month beta models will be available (not for driving but to look at in the stores) in December ,test drives in Feb or March delivery for signartures is planned for March and general production April May the production will run in paralell to the US production

A few days ago I visited a Tesla Store and talked to the store manager. The store manager was told by an Norwegian Sig reservation holder, that there would be some kind of opening event in January for European Sig holders. At that event, the first 10 European costumers would take delivery of their Model S. It seemed, as if that Norwegian reservation holder was contacted by Tesla because he is amongst the 10 first reservation holders.

As some of these information is not consistent, I still wonder, what really happens concerning European deliveries/production.

The Model S picture from Munich could indicate, that homologation is already completed and that Tesla is delaying production/delivery for European customers for other reasons.

What do you think?

widodh · Oct 26, 2012

It contradicts the story I was told this morning that test drives would be starting earlier, but who knows.

January delivery for the first Sig holders would be very cool! As I'm R231 I might actually get my car in April!

Can a german confirm if these plates we are seeing now are temporary or actual 'normal' plates?

That still leaves the question: Is the 3-phase charging fixed? Could somebody snap a picture of the charge connector and see how it looks like? Could also be that these cars don't have the EU spec yet, since the turn indicator I saw on a Youtube video was red.

NigelM · Oct 26, 2012

linaser said:
The Model S picture from Munich could indicate, that homologation is already completed and that Tesla is delaying production/delivery for European customers for other reasons.

There are hundreds of U.S. Sig holders who don't have their cars yet (there are even Sig Specials who don't have their cars yet!), and there are 200 Canadian Sigs who don't have their cars yet. I think its pretty obvious there isn't some hidden, special reason why Europeans don't have their cars yet.

Laumb · Oct 26, 2012

The plates are regular german plates.
Export plates have a red edge/sidestrip instead of blue, and temp plates have the mentioned line In yellow.

_____
Tapatalkin' from iTalatut.

Adm · Oct 26, 2012

My guess is Photoshop.

nikwest · Oct 26, 2012

NigelM said:
There are hundreds of U.S. Sig holders who don't have their cars yet (there are even Sig Specials who don't have their cars yet!), and there are 200 Canadian Sigs who don't have their cars yet. I think its pretty obvious there isn't some hidden, special reason why Europeans don't have their cars yet.

There are also no reasons besides technical issues to delay European Sig delivery. In a perfect world all Sigs worldwide would be delivered before general production. Not that I care so much if I get my car a couple of months earlier or later ... ;-)

ElSupreme · Oct 26, 2012

My guess is that Tesla got permission for real German plates for some photo ops.

linaser · Oct 26, 2012

NigelM said:
There are hundreds of U.S. Sig holders who don't have their cars yet (there are even Sig Specials who don't have their cars yet!), and there are 200 Canadian Sigs who don't have their cars yet. I think its pretty obvious there isn't some hidden, special reason why Europeans don't have their cars yet.

Actually, that is totally not, what I was implying. What I meant was this: In their tweet Tesla announced first European deliveries for Q2/2013, which would be somewhere between beginning March and end of June (when looking at Teslas track record probably not before June).

If they already have completed European homologation (as suggested by the Model S with German license plates), there would be of course an significant delay between U.S. and European Sigs for no obvious reason. Don't you think so?

NigelM · Oct 26, 2012

linaser said:
....there would be of course an significant delay between U.S. and European Sigs for no obvious reason. Don't you think so?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. The obvious reason is that Tesla hasn't produced enough cars yet. I can think of other obvious reasons such as the disrupt caused by changes in the production line, Tesla would probably not have ordered EU spec parts without homologation approval so there's that lead time to account for, or simply the shipping logistics which I guess could easily take a month or more.

ElSupreme · Oct 26, 2012

NigelM said:
I'm not sure what you're getting at. The obvious reason is that Tesla hasn't produced enough cars yet. I can think of other obvious reasons such as the disrupt caused by changes in the production line, Tesla would probably not have ordered EU spec parts without homologation approval so there's that lead time to account for, or simply the shipping logistics which I guess could easily take a month or more.

Not to mention service and support staff limitations. And delivery (similar to shipping, but not quite the same) are other big tasks that need to be solved before Europe starts seeing deliveries.

gregincal · Oct 26, 2012

NigelM said:
I'm not sure what you're getting at. The obvious reason is that Tesla hasn't produced enough cars yet. I can think of other obvious reasons such as the disrupt caused by changes in the production line, Tesla would probably not have ordered EU spec parts without homologation approval so there's that lead time to account for, or simply the shipping logistics which I guess could easily take a month or more.

According to this UK review, about the review cars in Germany: "The car was production ready save for a couple of parts, such as rear headlights, which are still being prototyped for European homologation."

Laumb · Oct 26, 2012

No problem getting local plates without the proper homologation.
In Norway you do some last minute hack jobs and get plates under a law (shortname: §5-15) that allows for some differences and missing documentation. But it has limits like; your not allowed to change anything after approval. They take pictures of the car. If you change wheels, paint a part, swap out a grille, whatever - and it needs a new approval (hard to get!).

To get the same, regular plates, without the limitations it need to have a EU approval number sticked to it that refers to the documentation telling it has passed all 80 control items/homologation. I can find this list tomorrow so ya'll can see what needs to be done for the car to get regular plates here.

My best guess is the german plates are real, and it has been done though the german equivalent of "our norwegian §5-15".

_____
Tapatalkin' from iTalatut.

NigelM · Oct 26, 2012

gregincal said:
According to this UK review, about the review cars in Germany: "The car was production ready save for a couple of parts, such as rear headlights, which are still being prototyped for European homologation."

I grew up in the UK so I normally can understand the language quirks, but I am still puzzled by "rear headlights"...

Tommy · Oct 26, 2012

NigelM said:
I grew up in the UK so I normally can understand the language quirks, but I am still puzzled by "rear headlights"...

Isn't there a requirement for rear fog lights for the EU market, perhaps that's the "rear headlights" referred to and lost in translation.

dpeilow · Oct 27, 2012

NigelM said:
I grew up in the UK so I normally can understand the language quirks, but I am still puzzled by "rear headlights"...

Well, I'm still here and I am just as puzzled.

nikwest · Oct 27, 2012

gregincal said:
According to this UK review, about the review cars in Germany: "The car was production ready save for a couple of parts, such as rear headlights, which are still being prototyped for European homologation."

Just been to the Tesla Store Munich today and had a look at the Model S. They have a Sig Red displayed for a week starting today.

According to Tesla this is a standard US car which has been slightly adapted manually (e.g. rear fog light) to get a local registration. Far from having gone through homologation unfortunately. This also means no news about how charging will be adapted to 3-phase.

Talkredius · Oct 27, 2012

linaser said:
The Model S picture from Munich could indicate, that homologation is already completed and that Tesla is delaying production/delivery for European customers for other reasons.

What do you think?

Not necessarily, the number plates are regular ones, but you get an individual approval for a car without homologation 74 times, with the car number 75 you have to have the homologation, this approval process is quite expensive, I would guess 10.0000 .... 15.000 EUR for each car

Talkredius · Oct 27, 2012

dpeilow said:
Well, I'm still here and I am just as puzzled.

perhaps the view of the tester was a little bit foggy ?:biggrin:

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