Hello from South Florida

Hi friends,

I've purchased my 85 model last Tuesday Aug 11 with a projected delivery date in early October. This is going to be an incredibly long two months since I think about this car pretty much every day! Here are the options I went with, along with general rationale:

• 85 - I opted for the larger battery for a combination of longer mileage, faster charging, and I think over time I'll get some of that money back if I sell it. I largely debated 85 vs 85D (I still debate it!!) but I opted for the 85 because after test driving both, it didn't feel any different. Also living in South Florida, snow and hills are non-existent. There's quite a bit of rain in the summer, but I've read enough good reviews around the RWD handling in rain to not be concerned.
• Blue Metallic body, grey next gen seats and black headliner - Most of this is pure preference. I did like the feel of the next gen seats (I was able to sit in both at the store), but I had read there were some that didn't prefer them.
• Matte wood decor - At the store, I noticed thumbprints showed up more than I'd like with the glossy options, so it was between the matte wood or the carbon fiber decor. My wife liked the matte wood. Sold.
• Panoramic roof - The requirement of a roof rack for my bicycles made it a choice with very little consideration, but I can't imagine not getting it anyway. It's just way too cool of a feature with the sunroof!
• Standard 19" rims - Too many stories of people needing tire replacements with 21" rims sold me against them, and the 2% efficiency gain of the cyclone rims weren't enough for me.
• Premium Interior and Lighting - Required in order to have the black headliner, so congrats Tesla, your choice to bundle them paid off! I probably wouldn't have gotten it on its own, but it certainly will look pretty in the evening.
• Smart air suspension - This is one I originally didn't go with when I laid down my deposit, then changed my mind. I read a forum post where someone bottomed out going into their driveway and regretted not having the air suspension, while another said that they had coil with a loaner and preferred their air suspension. My rationale is that if I have the air suspension and never noticeably feel the upgrade I can live with that, but if I bottom out somewhere just once I will rue getting an expensive car and deciding not to pony up an extra $2500 for the air.

I didn't go with the ultra high fidelity sound, even though it has almost universally rave reviews, because I also read if I really want one badly enough I can get a better system put in aftermarket for less price. No subzero weather package because I live in South Florida, and no rear-facing seats because I can't think of a single instance where I will be hauling two or three extra eight-year-olds.

I hope somebody can give me pointers on how to control my anxiety over waiting two months for this! As we approach the final week I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to sleep soundly.

Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself. In the week or so of intense research, I used this site very heavily, so I thank you guys for making this such a great forum.

Thanks guys. Yes, I am contacting an electrician tomorrow to get set up with a NEMA 14-50. Since permits are involved, that's something I definitely don't want to dawdle on.

Even though I had read this already, I was still astounded at the range of quotes I got from each electrician. My lowest was $450 with permits, but others went up to $1500 with permits! These were all the ones on Tesla's list. I could probably find someone cheaper but I feel like I'm playing with fire if I do that.

Yep, I'm 33467 as well, in one of the neighborhoods at Hypoluxo and 441. I got quotes from most everybody on Tesla's list and the cheapest one I found was Angelocci Electric, who quoted me $450 (installation + permits). My NEMA 14-50 outlet would be about a foot from the breaker box. The guy I worked with was named Kenny and was very nice and professional; he even showed up 10 minutes EARLY (a rarity in South Florida!). He did a load test and found my capacity with the circuit to be right at 198 Amps (I have a 200A circuit coming in) so he's going to submit for a permit but I might have to increase the power coming into my house (which will probably cost me about $1000 or so). If he has to increase, i'll try to increase up to about 300A so I can future-proof myself with another NEMA 14-50 or a higher power circuit at some point.

Car finished production for me just today, too. But the delivery date they quoted was Sep 17 - Sep 24. I have been wondering if they are going with train or car since we're hitting end of quarter. Check your delivery estimate online in a few days and see if that date tightens up any; perhaps they weren't sure if yours would be on train or car, hence the large range?

What car did you get? I got an S85, not the lowest but definitely not a P85D either. My understanding was that they were prioritizing the higher end cars. If you got a 70 or maybe a 70D it might explain it. If you have higher, then I'm perplexed!

Taxman said:

I went all the way (my wife kept saying "You need that!") so I've got a P90D on the way. I did say "no" to the winter package and the Ludicrous mode.

If you get yours that much earlier than mine, I might have to buy you a couple of drinks so I can sit in yours while you show me how everything works!

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That doesn't make sense that your super P90D is after our relatively puny S70 and S85! Sounds like a plan on demo. I'm hoping my NEMA 14-50 will get installed in time; permit was just filed, so just trying to get installation set up.