Tesla in Australia

[ixat]

Tesla have set up some sort of booth/display outside Myer inside Chadstone (Australia's/Southern Hemispheres largest shopping centre) apparently and are doing test drives around the area (probably on the M1 for a bit) Might check it out tomorrow as work will take me there for an hour or so.

 

[LGGD]

Tesla have set up some sort of booth/display outside Myer inside Chadstone (Australia's/Southern Hemispheres largest shopping centre) apparently and are doing test drives around the area (probably on the M1 for a bit) Might check it out tomorrow as work will take me there for an hour or so.

I saw a tweeted photo of 4 or 5 HPWCs set up on posts in a 'Tesla' painted section of the car park there so a pretty big commitment by Tesla.

 

[DITB]

Thanks all!! As you might expect, been doing quite a bit of driving. It IS AN AWESOME car to drive. However, it is a very large car, especially since I have been driving a B class Merc for 7 years, although I used to drive a Lexus 430. It is taking a little longer than I expected to get used to regen on standard than I expected, but am getting there. Judging lane keeping, especially in tight areas is also taking a while. Turns in shopping centre car parks is a major headache at present, but I will get there. Visibility out the rear window is minimal and the sills on side windows are quite high. Using the camera all the time and have spent extra time adjusting wing mirrors. Do set auto tilt. You are going to need it. Also there is annoying distortion at the base of the windscreen, known issue from the forums. Overall though, these are nits. There are other settings issues ( minor) that I am going in today to the SC to discuss. One of which is rdio. Another is wifi. Another is how to change the voice on the gps.
My car has been issued as a service loan vehicle not as a demonstrator. THEY DO NOT COVER INSURANCE ON LOAN VEHICLES which I discovered after I got home at midnight!!! So, an urgent call to my broker goes out this morning. Can't leave my garage today until that is sorted.
The traffic density prediction on the gps is accurate ( press the traffic light icon). Voice recognition for gps works well, even with my funny South African/ Australian combo. Beats typing in addresses. Routing is accurate, but no way to choose alternate routes or display/ add traffic speed cameras.
The turning circle is surprisingly wide given this is a rear wheel drive. I was expecting somewhat tighter. Means lots of manoeuvring especially in my tight driveway with the size of the car. That's all for now folks enjoy your cars when you get them. Hopefully some of the issues above, which I think are going to be universal will be sorted out for you, following my visit today to the centre.

Congrats on the car!

I hear you, wrt the visibility on the left side. In the tight Hong Kong streets and especially some parking garages, it's easy to get a scrape of the rims, or even side of the car. Both my rims are severed, and I have only done 3500 km so far. I have driven many different vehicles, also bigger than the Model S, although this is my first car in Hong Kong.

I am working on a DIY solution for a better view of what is next to my car. Many of you probably feel the same way: When you park you think you are OH so close to the car behind you, when you get out (or if you have sensors/camera), there is still a metre left to spare. With the side of the car, it seems opposite - when I think there is a foot or so, I am already touching said obstacle.

This is from my prototype #2. Prototype #1 was mounted on the mirror, but I quickly found I need to see both wheels, to ensure you don't turn too early curving around an obstacle.

The video above is from a dash cam with two cameras on cables (6 meter and 2 meter), less than 100 USD for off side view, front view AND accident recording. All in one installation. I know there are 360-degree solutions out there, costing 3000 USD or so. Pick one, or none, whatever your need and wallet dictates.

 

[Dborn]

That is fascinating! More details please! Where do you mount the various components? Did you do the install yourself? Which products did you use?

 

[voyxr6]

Cringe central on that vid!!! :crying:

 

[doctorwho]

Cringe central on that vid!!! :crying:

You bet! So scary to watch that I'll need to fit one!

 

[AussieModelS]

Thanks Higgy.

I will be doing the same thing in Canberra in about two weeks time. The details you have provided are pretty consistent with registering cars in the ACT. I have registered a number of rally car imports before, so the guys at rego are familiar with imports and the necessary paperwork.

We also used to have a problem of 8 or 9 digit Japanese chassis numbers and having to enter a bunch of zeros to fill in the 17 digit chassis number requirement on the rego system! So hopefully the Model S will be a walk in the park.

Cheers, Michael

 

[voyxr6]

Music 2 my ears! Hang in there Sparky! !!!

Hi Cain

We can absolutely deliver Sparky to Adelaide, and it will be free!

Yes, you still have the option of going through the walkthrough in either Sydney or Melbourne, we would just need to organise a date and time. It’ll be easier in Sydney because we have a lot more people up here, and we have the established service centre location here as well, but I’m sure it would be doable in Melbourne as well.

Sparky is at least in the vicinity of Australia, if it’s one of the cars that hasn’t been offloaded, it’s close, just in a queue of boats to be offloaded. That’s as fallout from the strike at the wharves. We’re hoping to get everything offloaded within the next couple of days though.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[Dborn]

Question for those who have taken delivery of autopilot equipped cars: have you mounted your e toll tag yet, and if so, is it working? Can you please post where you mounted it. I crossed the harbour bridge once in the loaner and merely held the e toll tag up to the windscreen, it failed to go off.

 

[ggr]

Question for those who have taken delivery of autopilot equipped cars: have you mounted your e toll tag yet, and if so, is it working? Can you please post where you mounted it. I crossed the harbour bridge once in the loaner and merely held the e toll tag up to the windscreen, it failed to go off.

Here in the US, you need to mount the toll tags just behind (to the right of) the mirror, on the darkened part of the windscreen. Anywhere else doesn't work very well. I assume for Oz you would put it just to the left of the mirror. Some people have actually mounted them behind the nose cone, but then you can't hear them go off or adjust them. (In CA, there are some toll roads that require you to set a switch to say whether you qualify as a car pool or not at that particular instant; I'm not aware of anything like that in Oz, so maybe no adjustment is ever needed.)

 

[TesAus]

Question for those who have taken delivery of autopilot equipped cars: have you mounted your e toll tag yet, and if so, is it working? Can you please post where you mounted it. I crossed the harbour bridge once in the loaner and merely held the e toll tag up to the windscreen, it failed to go off.

I mounted mine on the passenger side of the rear view mirror and seems to have worked OK - I suppose I'll know for sure if I start getting toll notices in the post in a few weeks!

 

[JOH]

Welcome! White is popular in QLD. Almost same as my configuration, only I've got 21" wheels.

 

[Higgy]

Thanks Higgy.

I will be doing the same thing in Canberra in about two weeks time. The details you have provided are pretty consistent with registering cars in the ACT. I have registered a number of rally car imports before, so the guys at rego are familiar with imports and the necessary paperwork.

We also used to have a problem of 8 or 9 digit Japanese chassis numbers and having to enter a bunch of zeros to fill in the 17 digit chassis number requirement on the rego system! So hopefully the Model S will be a walk in the park.

Cheers, Michael

I assume you have your charger installed? It will be interesting to see if you have to register the Tesla as a one cylinder car!

You don't seem to be on Timpoo's spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...4s1RrsB36osBMglgZMQWpGsKA/edit#gid=1639906180 If you post your config details Tim will update the SS.

Cheers
David

 

[Dylanpete]

Thanks voyxr6, LGGD, MangroveMike and JOH for welcoming me to the club!

Welcome! White is popular in QLD. Almost same as my configuration, only I've got 21" wheels.

 

[AussieModelS]

I assume you have your charger installed? It will be interesting to see if you have to register the Tesla as a one cylinder car!

You don't seem to be on Timpoo's spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...4s1RrsB36osBMglgZMQWpGsKA/edit#gid=1639906180 If you post your config details Tim will update the SS.

Cheers
David

Wall charger installed about a month ago. Connected to off-peak, as ACT has introduced a new rate at $.10 per kWH for electric cars. Our Volt has been charging off-peak for the last three months. So in two weeks we will have 2 electric cars both running on off-peak power, using our surplus power from what we feed in to the grid from our solar array. I will update the spreadsheet. I put a deposit down in August 2010, so it has been a long wait.

Regards,

Michael

 

[Dborn]

Welcome to all the new posters!!
Today checked my iPhone app, and the message has changed!! Previously it was saying " connecting to the car" ( unsuccessfully), but today it came up with " remote access has been turned off". So, that means to me, that The car is now in Teslas possession here, since I understand service turns it off to avoid people honking the horn or otherwise startling the mechanics.

I still cannot get etag to work when crossing the bridge. Anyone?

 

[LGGD]

Did you get mobile app access to your temporary car Dborn?

With regards to e-tags, my understanding is that there is no 'tag location' on the windscreens of the cars currently being delivered to Australia.

I contacted my tolling provider (Queensland Motorways) and applied for exemption from video matching fees and therefore don't need to use an e-tag at all.

 

[LGGD]

Doing a bit of trawling through the Whirlpool forums on issues like this it seems that Queensland Motorways will issue an account to addresses outside Queensland. So you can apply for a Queensland Motorways Account then apply for exemption from video matching fees which Queensland Motorways seem to be fair and reasonable with regards to granting.

 

[wpapua]

I saw a tweeted photo of 4 or 5 HPWCs set up on posts in a 'Tesla' painted section of the car park there so a pretty big commitment by Tesla.

Saw them (HPWC's) today near the bottom level Myer Car Park Entrance + their display 'skateboard' & car. in front of the Myers store inside. They indicated that the Service Centre in Richmond should be operational within a week. Great news for Victorian owners.

 

[Mark E]

Question for those who have taken delivery of autopilot equipped cars: have you mounted your e toll tag yet, and if so, is it working? Can you please post where you mounted it. I crossed the harbour bridge once in the loaner and merely held the e toll tag up to the windscreen, it failed to go off.

I assigned the rego to my etoll account & ordered another tag. I'll have a chat to the guys at Tesla since the windscreens on our cars are different - having the camera in all of them & no obvious place for he tag.