Get Amped - Hamburg (DE) - 15-17 Feb 2013

[bonnie1194]

Use this thread to plan your meetups, experiences, and photos.

[fischca]

I will be there on sunday 17th at 11am. Arriving with my Ampera and trying first time the Tesla feeling

[shiitake]

I will also be there on Sunday the 17th at 11am. I'm taking the train to Hamburg, though.

[Volker.Berlin]

Sunday 17, 10 AM. Arriving by train from Berlin, will be hanging out for a couple hours after my drive. PM me for my mobile phone number.

[Wardenclyffe]

Saturday 2pm. We're going by train from Frankfurt.

[Volker.Berlin]

This is also the weekend of the TeslaRoadTrip:
Recreating the NY Times Road Trip - We're on This Weekend!
TeslaRoadTrip on Twitter

Tesla, can we have a screen at Hamburg's Get Amped location that shows the live feed from twitter?

[Wardenclyffe]

Hi all,

I just got back from grey and cold Hamburg. On the way down there we saw nice snowy scenery, but that was not what I was hoping for on a test drive of the P85.



The event was well organized and the location was nice. The Wine-red display car was very good-looking. The first impression was good. It was more solid-feeling then anticipated, and I liked the door opening and closing mechanism (I don't mean the handle but the locking/unlocking). My girlfriend liked the colour a lot and the interior build.
While we were waiting for our turn, we overheard some feedback from the previous testdrives. Someone found it not on par in terms of build quality with a Porsche Panamera which sits in the same price bracket as the P85.
Whilst I understand where he is coming from, this is argument is missing the point. Part of the price of a Tesla is covering the research that was done and is still being done on the technology. That is the reason why they come out with a premium sedan in the first place, so the that cost is relatively lower then on a small car. The Tesla people shied away from mentioning this, as I guess the Model S is just not the car yet for mainstream car buyers. On the other side, the fact that someone compares the S to a Panamera does indicated Tesla is on the right track!



Before the test-drive we were given the short presentation. Nothing news for forum-members. The presentation was well executed.

Onto the Test-drive. We had a co-pilot from Tesla Switzerland (sorry, forgot his name in all the excitement). We drove the pearl-white car.



My Reference
To bring my first impressions of the drive into perspective: I currently drive a bmw 535d, with adaptive drive, 4-wheel steering and sport suspension (AC Schnitzer).

Test-drive
The first feeling was eerie. I was not used to a car where you have no sensory indication that the car is on or not. The car feels big and heavy but glides effortlessly.

The suspension does a good job of filtering out uneven roads, but my first impression was that it is not as refined as my 5. The test-drive was much too short however to asses this. I hope I can make a longer test-drive in the future on roads that I know well to see if this actually true or not.

The steering is good, the wheel has a nice grip to it, similar to my Msport wheel. The car seems less sharp to turn then my 5. I will need more time to test this in detail.

The acceleration was nice. It did not blow me away. Maybe that's because I am used to a lot of torque, or maybe I was too worried about getting a ticket to properly floor it. Part of the problem was the test-course. We had a short straight stretch where we could floor it, but the speed limit of 70km/h made it a difficult proposition. I will need to test the car again with 21" wheels, dry weather, and a proper road. My girlfriend did like the acceleration, and the whizzing sound when you push the pedal.

The regen, I liked. It's perfect in standard mode. It's similar to the regenerative breaking in my 5 just more aggressive.

The test-drive was over much too fast.

Post Drive
When I got back I asked one of the Tesla people a few questions on insurance, old car buybacks, and parksensor. The answers I got were short, dismissive, and really left a bad impression. I was a bit annoyed in the way the answers were (not) given. My girlfriend saved the day though as she spotted the guy who gave the original presentation and suggested I ask him instead. What a change! The guy was friendly, informative and very helpful. Car buybacks are not organised but they might be able to link you up with interested parties. fine. Parksensors: the cabling is already in place. This i did not know yet. So once they get the software hookups for it sorted, they will be easily able to retrofit the parksensors as the cables are already there. I was very happy to hear that.

Conclusion
The ride was very short, but better then nothing.
I will need a longer Testdrive to know for sure whether I will order the car.
The events was very well organised. I do hope they vet their pre-sales people a bit more because they cannot afford to put people off people from buying the car in such a crucial time for Tesla.
All in all it was a great experience

[brianman]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

- - - Updated - - -

The answers I got were short, dismissive, and really left a bad impression. I was a bit annoyed in the way the answers were (not) given. My girlfriend saved the day though as she spotted the guy who gave the original presentation and suggested I ask him instead. What a change! The guy was friendly, informative and very helpful.

Bummer and great!

- - - Updated - - -

Parksensors: the cabling is already in place. This i did not know yet.

We've heard rumors to this effect, but this is the first case I can recall where it was formally stated by a presenting Tesla person.

[widodh]

While we were waiting for our turn, we overheard some feedback from the previous testdrives. Someone found it not on par in terms of build quality with a Porsche Panamera which sits in the same price bracket as the P85.
Whilst I understand where he is coming from, this is argument is missing the point. Part of the price of a Tesla is covering the research that was done and is still being done on the technology. That is the reason why they come out with a premium sedan in the first place, so the that cost is relatively lower then on a small car. The Tesla people shied away from mentioning this, as I guess the Model S is just not the car yet for mainstream car buyers. On the other side, the fact that someone compares the S to a Panamera does indicated Tesla is on the right track!

You get the point!

If you compare a Panamera vs a Model S PURELY on price and what you get for it in terms of options and refinement, yes, the Panamera wins. However, I think most people get it that you indeed pay a lot for the R&D of the Model S and the fact that batteries are just plain expensive.

Nice to hear this coming from a German, since you (no offense) are usually very 'german car minded'.

[Volker.Berlin]

Can you read some German? I posted my impressions here:
Tesla-Fahrer und -Freunde Forum Thema anzeigen - Get Amped 17. Feb. 2013 in Hamburg