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Unhappy Canadian :( - Tesla's lack of information

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We have a reservation for the Model S (general production) and have been getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of information from Tesla, particularly trying to find out where we are in the reservation list. From the numbers I've seen in the forum posting 'Model S Tally', it's difficult to tell where anyone is on the list, but perhaps that is their intention. We were told from Tesla that were #1 on the Canada list, but can't seem to get any information about when Canadian approved Model S' will be produced; we are concerned that they may go through all the US production first and it could be some time before any for Canada are available.
Also, when we put in a reservation several years ago, we believed that for $50K, we would be getting a car that would go 300k; then they decided to make three levels so now the 330k car has been priced way out of our range.
To add insult to injury, I just found out about the Factory tour that was held for all reservation owners, however we didn't receive an invitation. Maybe it was an oversight but we were really disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to go, we would've been there in a heart beat.
We had an opportunity to test drive the roadster and were awed by it, so it's unfortunate that after waiting so long, we are thinking of pulling out. Anyone else had similar experiences?
 
You can't afford a $20,000 upgrade, but you don't have a problem spending a couple thousand for a literally 3-minute *ride* in a Model S?

My understanding is the Canadian cars are starting up in the first half of 2013.
 
We were told from Tesla that were #1 on the Canada list, but can't seem to get any information about when Canadian approved Model S' will be produced; we are concerned that they may go through all the US production first and it could be some time before any for Canada are available.
As I posted earlier (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/6649-Delivery-Sequence-Regular-U.S.-Model-S-before-European-Signature-Model-S ) we actually do have the same problem over here in Europe. Many peoples here think, that after the Signature cars for the U.S., there will be a huge number of general production cars including 230mi and 160mi cars manufactured before any signature Model S will be shipped abroad.

What we know for a fact is, that there are at least three different queues for cars intended for European market and several other separate queues for Canada, Asia and the rest of the world. Tesla has to my knowledge made no announcement so far in which order these queues will be processed.

This is a bit frustrating for people like me, who spent a rather large sum of 40k$ to get a Signature car as fast as possible. At least it would be nice, if they would be a bit more specific, about when they intend to start shipping Signature Cars to the respective markets.
 
Welcome to the forum, smczim. :smile: Did you just find us? Sounds like you were a bit out of the loop.

when we put in a reservation several years ago, we believed that for $50K, we would be getting a car that would go 300k; then they decided to make three levels so now the 330k car has been priced way out of our range.
Can you clarify here? By 300k you mean 300 km? The Tesla marketing statements were a bit misleading when they first showed the Model S back in 2009. Advertising a 300 mile range and a $50K price in the same sentence, etc. Most of us caught on to what was really meant, but it still confused a lot of people. I think Tesla is better now about the pricing for the three battery pack levels. Though the pricing and bundling of other options is still to be announced.

To add insult to injury, I just found out about the Factory tour that was held for all reservation owners, however we didn't receive an invitation. Maybe it was an oversight but we were really disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to go, we would've been there in a heart beat.
There were several here that hadn't gotten an invite but found out about the event through the forum and were able to gets things cleared up with an email. So I would count that as an unfortunate oversight. :/
 
We have a reservation for the Model S (general production) and have been getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of information from Tesla, particularly trying to find out where we are in the reservation list. From the numbers I've seen in the forum posting 'Model S Tally', it's difficult to tell where anyone is on the list, but perhaps that is their intention. We were told from Tesla that were #1 on the Canada list, but can't seem to get any information about when Canadian approved Model S' will be produced; we are concerned that they may go through all the US production first and it could be some time before any for Canada are available.
Also, when we put in a reservation several years ago, we believed that for $50K, we would be getting a car that would go 300k; then they decided to make three levels so now the 330k car has been priced way out of our range.
To add insult to injury, I just found out about the Factory tour that was held for all reservation owners, however we didn't receive an invitation. Maybe it was an oversight but we were really disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to go, we would've been there in a heart beat.
We had an opportunity to test drive the roadster and were awed by it, so it's unfortunate that after waiting so long, we are thinking of pulling out. Anyone else had similar experiences?

Hi,

Based on information exchanged on the Tesla Motors forum, discussion suggest that there will be a short delay in getting to the Canadian Signatures, maybe three months. I believe there are minor government certifications that have to be accommodated. Personally, I believe that the 200 Canadian Signatures will be built shortly after the 1000 U.S. Signatures which would put your reservation in front of most U.S. reservations.


Tesla did have a problem with their email notifications regarding the invitations to the factory tour. Both Nigel and I did not get an invitation. However, since we were active on the forums we learned of the problem and were able to contact Tesla to resolve the matter.


I hope things work out for you.


Larry
 
From the website:

"When will a Canadian version of Model S become available?
Production of Canadian Model S vehicles will begin approximately three months after the US start of production."

This doesn't clarify when regular production starts, but even US pre-orders don't have an idea of when that is either.

I never once thought I could get a Model S with 300 miles of range for $57,400... Maybe it's because I frequent forums like these, or just read all the fine print.... Not sure. Anyways, I can understand your disappointment but 160 miles is still 60% more range than any other BEV either on the market or coming to market...

We have a reservation for the Model S (general production) and have been getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of information from Tesla, particularly trying to find out where we are in the reservation list. From the numbers I've seen in the forum posting 'Model S Tally', it's difficult to tell where anyone is on the list, but perhaps that is their intention. We were told from Tesla that were #1 on the Canada list, but can't seem to get any information about when Canadian approved Model S' will be produced; we are concerned that they may go through all the US production first and it could be some time before any for Canada are available.
Also, when we put in a reservation several years ago, we believed that for $50K, we would be getting a car that would go 300k; then they decided to make three levels so now the 330k car has been priced way out of our range.
To add insult to injury, I just found out about the Factory tour that was held for all reservation owners, however we didn't receive an invitation. Maybe it was an oversight but we were really disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to go, we would've been there in a heart beat.
We had an opportunity to test drive the roadster and were awed by it, so it's unfortunate that after waiting so long, we are thinking of pulling out. Anyone else had similar experiences?
 
smczim....I suggest contacting TM directly and spelling out your experience and the your concerns about a Canadian version of Model S. Someone should get back to you with information based on your situation and questions. I say don't walk away from the Model S.
 
Did you try contacting a Tesla rep? They probably can address your concerns better. Although forum members in the know will do their best to provide you with info they have found out through their own research.

As for the initial advertisement, Tesla was misleading by posting $57k and 300 miles in the same sentence; but if you look into the details (even back then), it does say the 300 mile pack is optional, with 160 mile as base and another 230 mile pack as an option. The media coverage also spelled that out. 160 miles for the base pack is still better than all the competition.
 
The sad thing is, Tesla calls for a premium to get one of the first cars. I ordered Model S in 2009, and to me it was clear that neither $40k would buy the car nor the signature would be $57,400. Right after ordering, a sales rep contacted me by phone and answered any remaining questions. Sorry to learn that things went wrong for you.
As to the different queues, my understanding is as follows:
- new GP and new signature reservations are added to the appropriate queue
- Tesla will start with production for the US market and a limited choice of options.
- as soon as Model S gets homologation for another market, Tesla will start to serve the appropriate queue. The order is listed in a blog post by George Blankenship.
- when it's your turn in the queue, you can place your order and chose from the options available for delivery in 3 months. If you want a feature that is on their road map, but not in production yet, you have a one-time right to deferral to a later spot in the queue (e.g different battery pack size or 4WD option).
 
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And if you are looking for a 300 km pack (not 300 mile = 480 km) then they can't give you an answer as to when your car will be ready since it sounds like they'll produce the 300 mile ones first; they won't know how many people are getting the 300 mile packs until they allow us to pick our options sometime next summer.
 
We have a reservation for the Model S (general production) and have been getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of information from Tesla, particularly trying to find out where we are in the reservation list. From the numbers I've seen in the forum posting 'Model S Tally', it's difficult to tell where anyone is on the list, but perhaps that is their intention. We were told from Tesla that were #1 on the Canada list, but can't seem to get any information about when Canadian approved Model S' will be produced; we are concerned that they may go through all the US production first and it could be some time before any for Canada are available.

There are actually several different lists:

P - General Production
R - Roadster Owners
S - Signature reservations
SS - Signature Special - Roadster Owners again.

SS owners get their cars first, followed by S, then R, then P. You're the first on the P list.

I wouldn't get too worried about being on the "last" list. There are not that many people on the R list; apparently less than 10% of Model S reservation holders own Roadsters. Also many if not most of them transferred to the SS list when the Signature was announced for Canada (originally there was no Canadian Signature list). Anyone who is on the S list is paying over $90k (I've heard $95k).

The Tesla web site states that Canadian deliveries will begin about three months after USA deliveries. The cars are being built to Canadian specifications from the get-go; they just have to do minor firmware modifications (such as force the daytime running lights always on). The delay is because the documentation has to be reformatted for submission to Canada (different "forms" as it were), and then the Canadian authorities have to review and authorize them.

There will be at most 200 Canadian Signature vehicles. Tesla is going to be building a lot more than 200 cars a month, even at the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadian General Production cars were only a month behind the Signatures.

Also, when we put in a reservation several years ago, we believed that for $50K, we would be getting a car that would go 300k; then they decided to make three levels so now the 330k car has been priced way out of our range.

Tesla has never claimed 300 miles for the base price. They've always said "up to 300 miles", and "starting at $57k". They they didn't word this very well in their early announcements, so you could easily have gotten confused and assumed both at the same time. That has never been the case. It's unfortunate that some people got that impression.

Personally, I'd recommend going for the 230 mile pack. The Roadster is 240 miles and it's more than plenty for 99% of driving.

To add insult to injury, I just found out about the Factory tour that was held for all reservation owners, however we didn't receive an invitation. Maybe it was an oversight but we were really disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to go, we would've been there in a heart beat.

Yeah, that's really unfortunate. You're not alone. When you send out thousands of emails inevitably some don't get to their destination. Email is not actually that reliable these days, in large measure due to spam and anti-spam filters. Bulk emails like that especially tend to get pulled. (A lot of ISPs do email filtering and their customers aren't even aware of it.) If you had found these forums earlier you would have heard about it.

On the other hand, no one has had the opportunity to test drive a car yet... that is still to come.

We had an opportunity to test drive the roadster and were awed by it, so it's unfortunate that after waiting so long, we are thinking of pulling out. Anyone else had similar experiences?

Yep, it's an awesome car. I made the "mistake" of test driving a Roadster, and ended up buying one. It's an absolute blast to drive!

Tesla is a young and rapidly growing company. They've got piles of work to do and are all scrambling to get things done. They've inevitably make some mistakes. But they've always bent over backwards to provide excellent service, and any time they've made a mistake they've always made good on it - and then some. Honestly despite the occasional bump I've never had such a good experience with a car company.

I've ridden in a Model S and it's also an awesome car. It's not quite as fast as the Roadster, but it's still pretty damned fast! It is also quieter than a Roadster, more comfortable, and incredibly stable in a corner. The touchscreen system is amazing. I had no hesitation whatsoever in putting in a reservation. If you stick with it, I'm certain you won't regret it.
 
Yes, what Doug said. Please do give Tesla a chance. They have assured many of us - at the factory tour and after - that they'll finalize the price packages/options/timelines this winter so, there's a lot to look forward to in the spring. My take on it is that they haven't yet scaled well to deal with the strong and diverse (in terms of geography) demand that they are seeing for the Model S; also, most of their customer-facing 'foot soldiers' themselves don't have the complete picture yet - the Tesla executives are keeping a few cards close to their chests for now (justifiably, in my opinion).
 
You can't afford a $20,000 upgrade, but you don't have a problem spending a couple thousand for a literally 3-minute *ride* in a Model S?

My understanding is the Canadian cars are starting up in the first half of 2013.

First of all, by my math, $20k and $2k is a big difference. Besides, we travel to California frequently for business so it would not have cost us anything personally to get there. We were told by Tesla that we should expect delivery by this time next year. We'll see