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MY LONG EV and MODEL S JOURNEY and the TM Delivery Model

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in a long post

2007


I followed Tesla's progress with the roadster for a couple of years but the size and cost of the car was not a good fit for me. I was excited when Tesla announced they were offering a sedan with a price tag 1/2 of the sporty roadster.


2009

On March 26, 2009 Tesla opened up the opportunity to reserve one of these new cars. I printed off the one page of information offered on the company web site and talked it over with one of the marketing executives in my office. He wanted to be more ecologically responsible but when it came time to put some money down he declined. It was the next morning on March 27, 2009 when I submitted my reservation for this practical electric car concept. At that time I did not know where I was in the que or if I would ever see that $5,000 again.

2010

Sometime later I got a call from Tesla "Kevin" to confirm my order. I was assigned the reservation number 300. I now know I was 300 out of 520 reservations that first week.


2011

About a year later I received a package with Tesla gear including a shirt, hat, coffee mug and toy RC roadster. Later I was contacted and offered the opportunity to upgrade to the Signature series for an additional $35,000, I declined.


2012

In 2012 when the production models started producing I was surprised to learn that I would not be getting VIN 00300. The signatures would be first. I originally configured a 60 kWT car and also learned that those vehicles would not be available till 2013. In November 2012 after Tesla announce the super charger network I called Tesla and had them open up my configuration to change it to 85 kWT.
Tesla called me and communicated a delayed production date in mid-January 2013 due to the Active Air Suspension option. I should have known that there was a lot of variability in this sales process by now but I was still surprised. No Christmas present for me.

On 12/29/12 I received an email from my DS with a VIN number. Ok I thought, 30 days from now.


2013

I called my DS on January 3rd and was shocked to learn that the car was built and ready to ship. It took a week of paperwork and payment tasks to authorize it to be released for home delivery. The amount of time waiting and communication disconnects are a huge waste for TESLA and for customers like me. It then took an additional 4 days to get the car loaded on a truck.
I finally started calling Tesla's 866 number directly and requesting to be connected to delivery to get a live DS. All of the Delivery Specialist were very professional and helpful.
This morning I learned that the truck was 1,044 miles out and was scheduled for delivery tomorrow morning. I called UPS Logistics and confirmed this information and I am now waiting on the “CALL”from the driver. It’s surreal. I’ll post pictures tomorrow.

TESLA’s DELIVERY MODEL

TESLA’s delivery model is the right one. Make to order and personal touch delivery service. The direct ships are a short term countermeasure until they get their service network built. The traditional model would be to exclude sales to areas like Missouri. I am grateful that Tesla did not adopt that approach. The large Gaps in the model are the lack of communication, transparency and visibility. The same gaps that most businesses face today.

I am a Supply Chain and Continuous Improvement executive and I offer George B. my services for one month, free of charge, to assess and develop a strategy to implement the processes needed to close the gaps in their value chain.

Tesla has fantastic people, but flawed, non-existent and disconnected processes. They will not lose enthusiast, like myself, that have been looking forward to this day for 5+ years, but they will not be successful long term with competitive shoppers. They are bleeding 10 to 15% of reservation holders today.
 
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Congrats on getting your S. No doubt this company has serious growing pains, but at its core it is building an absolutely industry shaking car. And while they're losing some customers, I think that will change in the near future as they get caught up with deliveries and work out some of the kinks. I'm a fellow Missouri owner, hope we can meet up one day in KC or somewhere between.
 


I am a Supply Chain and Continuous Improvement executive and I offer George B. my services for one month, free of charge, to assess and develop a strategy to implement the processes needed to close the gaps in their value chain.

.


Thank you for your extreme dedication to the cause. They need someone with your qualifications. This may be the most important think that anyone does for the EV movement. I hope Elon & George take you up on the offer!
 
Congrats K Hall.

I agree with your assessment that they have several areas within the process in need of improvement. I took the chance today while speaking with Matt Farrel about my car to highlight some of the areas I felt needed attention. He indicated they we working to improve the process. Hopefully, when we order my husbands car they will have finalized those improvements.


But you've made it thru the hard part. Have fun enjoying your car tomorrow.
 
I also agree that there are many improvements that must be made in the overall process for Tesla. I love my car but there will definitely some frustration points in the process. Overall I can't complain too much since I got my car really quickly and the early adopters waited much longer. Congrats and enjoy the car.
 
Congrats on getting your S. No doubt this company has serious growing pains, but at its core it is building an absolutely industry shaking car. And while they're losing some customers, I think that will change in the near future as they get caught up with deliveries and work out some of the kinks. I'm a fellow Missouri owner, hope we can meet up one day in KC or somewhere between.

Although across the state line in Kansas, I'm in the KC area and should be receiving my S within the next 2 weeks (going through some of the same hoops Kevin went through with my car sitting at the factory awaiting release to be loaded for delivery). Time to start the KC or KS/MO Tesla club!

Kevin...looking forward to hearing and/or discussing your delivery experience. Good luck today!
 
The thing with supply chain logistics is that, and I'm sure you know, big updates take forever (several months) to be implemented. I'm confident that TM is moving in the right direction as it is getting better.
 


Tesla called me and communicated a delayed production date in mid-January 2013 due to the Active Air Suspension option.

I called my DS on January 3rd and was shocked to learn that the car was built and ready to ship.

Did you go back and add the air suspension? I thought that all cars built before March of 2013 we required to have the active air suspension.
 
Congratulations! I've had my Model S for 3 1/2 weeks and the few hiccups along the way have all been forgotten. Best car I've ever owned. Every time I see the prices change at the local gas stations I grin : )

My car was shipped from Fremont to our service center which is about 60 miles from our home in Florida. Our local DS contacted me and arranged for delivery to the house. I suspect this process is somewhat smoother than the drop-ship method (factory to home). By March, Tesla should have all the kinks worked out of the shipping challenge.