New member intro

tennisman · Mar 13, 2014

Hello to All,

Though I don't own a Tesla S yet (the major word is "yet") I decided to join this forum and look for opinions in regards to my situation. I have taken both the P85 and S85 for demo rides in the last month. Since then, I have been following and reading all the posts on both this website as well as the forum posts on the Tesla website and am "addicted" to them. Very impressed with the enthusiasm of all the members that have posted - I own several different cars from various manufacturers (BMW and Mercedes) and belong to their forums and have not seen this type of owner engagement as compared to the Tesla site. I test drove the car at the Short Hllls mall store in NJ and visited the service center in Springfield NJ and was overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge and the "low key" approach of the sales team - a very different and unique approach versus my buying experience at "dealerships". The Springfiled service center took a lot of time explaining the car to me from a "service" perspective and patiently answered all my questions on concerns that I read from posts from this forum.

My daily driver is a 2012 BMW 550ix and I love the performance of the car and the creature comforts it has. After driving the Tesla, I am frankly torn as to what to do - unfortunately, I drive mostly local, so my gas mileage is a whopping 15 mpg!! When I drove the Tesla I love the "instant" acceleration al all speeds, the earrily quietness of having no motor and the technology of the car. I can see why so many members comment on the "Tesla grin" as I had it when I test drove both cars.

Because I live in NJ, there has been a recent ruling that Tesla can no longer "sell" cars in this state- I spoke to the Sales Mgr at the Short Hills store and he assured me that they will keep the store, but make it into a Gallery - meaning that they just can't talk price and take your sales order (you'll order on line anyway). This will be effective on April 1st - so not sure if I decide to "go for it" if there is any advantage to pull the trigger before the Apri 1st date? Comments please? Also, frankly not sure if I should wait for the AWD MS - because 1) I live in NJ and 2) have always had AWD cars. - Comments, please?

I think that I am sold on the car, but one of the things that nags at me is obviously, the "range anxiety" issue - do most feel that it is a common concern at first, and then goes away? - I only commute about 20 miles a day, so I was more concerned from a "longer trip" issue. Secondly, the interior (specifically the seats) doesn't look as "upscale" as the 550 - or is it just a different way to look at the "old world" thinking of what an automotive interior should look like? - Thoughts?

I appreciate any and all feedback - Thanks for reading my post!!

Tennisman

DingDingDao · Mar 13, 2014

There's no major difference between ordering a Model S in the store/gallery and ordering it online from your house/work/Starbucks. I ordered my Model S in store--all they do is sit down with you at a computer in the store and go through the online purchase process with you. It's literally the same process, as the salespeople in the store are not delivery specialists and are not involved in the purchase process at all.

Only difference is that I got a couple of free Tesla keychains and a Tesla thermal tumbler.

EDIT: I forgot to add that I currently own a BMW X3 as well. My feeling on the interiors is that BMW interiors have always been very businesslike--the button layouts are familiar and comfortable. BMW hasn't really changed the interior layout much over the years, hence the "old world" feeling you describe. The Tesla, in my opinion, feels like stepping into a space capsule. And as you're probably well aware of already, the 17" touchscreen interface >>>>>>>> iDrive.

EdA · Mar 13, 2014

Welcome to the forums.

I for one ordered my car before there was a store in my state.
Telsa will make sure you get your car but you may have to pick
it up in another state? Regardless, when I got my car they were
delivering them to your home or wherever so they may revert back
to that mode of delivery instead of picking it up at a service center.

Regarding road trips, it depends on which direction you will be going.
I've driven from MA to VA beach/Norfolk,VA twice now and I regularly
drive to Philly. Road trips take planning - not necessarily during the drive
but making sure you can charge at your destination so you can get back
to the supercharger. The number of superchargers is increasing by the
month as well which opens up more possibilities.

I've never had an AWD drive (my wife has) but what is your reasoning
for having one? Do you need to get into work in "any weather" like my wife?
Perhaps a Model X will serve you better? Snow tires (Nokian) are highly
recommended.

stevezzzz · Mar 13, 2014

Welcome to TMC, tennisman! Your observations are spot on: you won't find a more dedicated, knowledgeable and enthusiastic set of car owners anywhere.

My advice: just do it. Pull the trigger as soon as you've settled on your configuration. You will not regret it: Model S is a compelling package and a delight to own and drive. Don't worry about the interior too much: it's spare and elegant rather than cushy, but I find the interior to be serene, and very comfortable for road trips.

Speaking of road trips, that brings up range anxiety. Range anxiety is more of a pre-purchase myth than a reality, as you will discover. There is no doubt that taking an EV on a road trip requires planning (the charging infrastructure is still in an early stage of development), but Tesla's Supercharger network changes everything, in a good way, and it's expanding rapidly.

Back to configuration: buy the larger battery if you can afford it, do not fail to add the tech package, and everything else boils down to personal preference.

wstuff · Mar 13, 2014

Welcome Tennisman, you of course will be a very happy Tesla owner. I have a standard 85 with the beige interior, I am not fond of the accent piping on the performance seats but that is purely subjective, others just love the look. I personally really like the sleek clean look of the non button non switch look of the tesla interior, to me this is accentuated by the lack of piping. Range anxiety is a personal thing, with me it went away completely with a couple of 200 mile round trips. We take one of our little dogs to Orland twice a week for treatments and the Tesla has been a real saving grace. the round trip is approx 220 miles, I drive conservatively on these days so i don't have to charge and get home with about 60 miles left on the car, I also know that if for some reason I had to take a huge detour and was running close on power I simply slow down 5 mph and would be fine, when you adjust to electric driving range anxiety becomes a past experience you laugh at, i save my fun driving for the short trips and use the car for long trips as a transportation conveyance that works beautifully, enjoy your ride.

eepic · Mar 13, 2014

tennisman said:
Hello to All,

Though I don't own a Tesla S yet (the major word is "yet") I decided to join this forum and look for opinions in regards to my situation. I have taken both the P85 and S85 for demo rides in the last month. Since then, I have been following and reading all the posts on both this website as well as the forum posts on the Tesla website and am "addicted" to them. Very impressed with the enthusiasm of all the members that have posted - I own several different cars from various manufacturers (BMW and Mercedes) and belong to their forums and have not seen this type of owner engagement as compared to the Tesla site. I test drove the car at the Short Hllls mall store in NJ and visited the service center in Springfield NJ and was overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge and the "low key" approach of the sales team - a very different and unique approach versus my buying experience at "dealerships". The Springfiled service center took a lot of time explaining the car to me from a "service" perspective and patiently answered all my questions on concerns that I read from posts from this forum.

My daily driver is a 2012 BMW 550ix and I love the performance of the car and the creature comforts it has. After driving the Tesla, I am frankly torn as to what to do - unfortunately, I drive mostly local, so my gas mileage is a whopping 15 mpg!! When I drove the Tesla I love the "instant" acceleration al all speeds, the earrily quietness of having no motor and the technology of the car. I can see why so many members comment on the "Tesla grin" as I had it when I test drove both cars.

Because I live in NJ, there has been a recent ruling that Tesla can no longer "sell" cars in this state- I spoke to the Sales Mgr at the Short Hills store and he assured me that they will keep the store, but make it into a Gallery - meaning that they just can't talk price and take your sales order (you'll order on line anyway). This will be effective on April 1st - so not sure if I decide to "go for it" if there is any advantage to pull the trigger before the Apri 1st date? Comments please? Also, frankly not sure if I should wait for the AWD MS - because 1) I live in NJ and 2) have always had AWD cars. - Comments, please?

I think that I am sold on the car, but one of the things that nags at me is obviously, the "range anxiety" issue - do most feel that it is a common concern at first, and then goes away? - I only commute about 20 miles a day, so I was more concerned from a "longer trip" issue. Secondly, the interior (specifically the seats) doesn't look as "upscale" as the 550 - or is it just a different way to look at the "old world" thinking of what an automotive interior should look like? - Thoughts?

I appreciate any and all feedback - Thanks for reading my post!!

Tennisman

Welcome to the madness! Here are some of my thoughts:

AWD S - Depends on how long you want to wait. From the recent Europe tour, sounds like it will be after the Model X before we'll see it available for the Model S (at least a year). I assume you're concern is traction for winter driving. It's worth noting that because the motors have near-instant response, the traction control probably allows the MS to work better than any gas engine 2WD. That being said, I would imagine AWD would make it even better.

I think it's generally accepted that the MS interior is not quite as great as some of the other luxury cars out there, like your 550. Elon acknowledged that the seats could be better, and they are working on improving it but it will take time since they have airbag trigger sensors in the seats and they want to make sure they do it right.

Range - since you plug it in at home, you start with the full range every day. I think some owners have attested after a while they get 'reverse range anxiety' with their other vehicles because they need to go out of their way to go get gas. The occasional long distance road trip *may* require a detour to a SuperCharger.

Bottom line is, you'll see that owner satisfaction is extremely high (in fact, the highest among all cars according to Consumer Reports' survey) as many owners here will attest to. They've sorted through a lot of the early production issues and there will always be something new coming soon around the corner, so I think now is as good as time as any!

Ugliest1 · Mar 13, 2014

Echo above comments. I'd add that if you are looking at longer trips, consider adding the dual chargers as well as enabling supercharging. The duals won't help at a supercharger, and won't help at any charger that delivers less than 40A, but there are more and more 90(72A) and 100(80A) EVSE/s coming available (especially in Canada). When I'm on the road I want my future non-supercharger stops to be as short as possible, so I got dual. The superchargers spoil you, generally making each stop a decent rest period and you're off (30-45 minutes, or an hour lunch). I've been on one 1,200 km US supercharger-enabled trip and it was a breeze; now planning others. No range anxiety yet!

Beckler · Mar 14, 2014

If you're an official full Tesla enthusiast as you appear to be, then there's nothing to think about.

It's the easiest car choice possible because nothing else compares, even remotely, and they only have 1 model. There's nothing to consider except which version. The one exception is if you drive a very specific route and distance where available charging won't work. But that doesn't sound like it's the case for you.

I happen to think the textile interior looks pretty upscale but that's all just opinion. And all these small factors are eclipsed by the fact that it's a Tesla.

Nuts4MS · Mar 14, 2014

Hi everyone,
I just picked up my 85 yesterday (3/13) and look forward to a great experience both on the forums and on the road! My friend made a quick video so hopefully the embedding works!

<div id="fb-root"></div> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/graham.gronhoff/posts/10203301686642197" data-width="466"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/graham.gronhoff/posts/10203301686642197">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/graham.gronhoff">Graham Gronhoff</a>.</div></div>

- - - Updated - - -

Well that didn't work lol! Soory I will try and get it fixed and repost

kp.sfo · Mar 14, 2014

I'm in the same boat as tennisman. Don't own a MS *yet*, but turned into a fan boy instantly after our first test drive a couple weeks ago. I am a car nut through and through, but still contemplating whether I can justify a $40k upgrade to our 2011 X5 Diesel.
Fun side note: My wife enjoyed the test drive even more than I, and she keeps asking "So, have you pulled the trigger yet and ordered the car?"
...keep those comments coming!

Btrflyl8e · Mar 14, 2014

It's weird how it actually is fun planning for longer trips. Sort of like a small challenge, I guess. I feel like it's a disservice to the Model S to be referred to as a "car". What should we call it instead?

Even though Tesla can sell in my state, I ordered my car on my iPad from my living room. It was really TOO easy.

Order your car, Tennisman. No one ever says they regret this purchase!

Great Dane · Mar 14, 2014

Not for one millisecond do I regret this purchase
It cost more then my house , but I cant drive my house around . lol
I also had range worries before even owning the car!
On the first trip home from the DS that went away real quick
that green I phone battery in the dash is very predictable
I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to drive slower on the interstate to achieve good miles per WH
We are all secretly working for Tesla !! Bunch of hungry Sales people waiting around like vultures.
What would it take for you to buy this car today ????
Bet you heard that sales line a lot.
Absolutely love the car , it is all I want to talk about
And also addicted to the forums

Mnlevin · Mar 15, 2014

I am the one odd ball here. I own a 60 and love the car as much as anyone could love their Model S. Mine is pretty simple only 3 options, Roof, Leather, and cargo cover and yet feel the car is more than complete. I dont regret anything about the car even the fact that I dont have 260 mile Range. We charge the car every night so we have a full tank each day. In 9 months I have put 20000 miles on the car without every coming close to worry. The lowest I have ever had the battery is 22 miles RR on a supercharge trip. Even my lowly 60 has tremendous punch and kick. Everyone who sees, drives or rides in the car is amazed. Where you live in the NE corridor, you should never have any anxiety on a road trip. In fact I plan to drive my car from Fla to our summer home in Western Mass in a few months. Sure the trip will take an extra 6 hours overall, BUT it will be FREE. And there are plenty of places we have been that have public chargers or Hotels with overnight chargers. The proof again is in the responses on this forum and the very few used cars for sale. I am thinking about getting a second one and was considering an 85 but will probably go with another 60 just because it makes sense. 90+% of our driving is done on the overnight charge from our house. Dont wait, Dont hesitate, join the fun!

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New member intro

tennisman

Member

DingDingDao

Member

EdA

Model S P-2540

stevezzzz

R;SigS;P85D;SigX;S90D;XP100D;3LR;YLR

wstuff

Junior Member

eepic

Member

Ugliest1

S85: "Sparky"

Beckler

Member

Nuts4MS

Member

kp.sfo

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Btrflyl8e

MSLR, W/W 21s FSD 1145 DEL 11/26 VIN MF454

Great Dane

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Mnlevin

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