Tesla in Australia

[WhiteStar]

Of course it could be something boring that we know about but hasn't been announced - like Driver Assist...

I think you're right myself. Let's see D...Elon said he was glad he didn't mention the other letter. In all likelihood an A.

But I don't agree that it's boring. These are excellent safety features and potentially opens the gateway to other radar based safety refinements via an OTA update. Which other marque can do that? Others will follow. I think it's a big deal worthy of fanfare.

 

[miimura]

Unless they change the power of two motors ( decreasing it) , both will be drawing current, and so increase load on the battery, draining it sooner and decreasing range. Of course, they might increase battery capacity or introduce increased power density of the cells to compensate, given the latest tweet from Elon, almost any of these are possible.

There was some statement from Tesla that the dual motor system in the Model X will not cause any efficiency loss in and of itself. I think they will do this by using a higher gear ratio (numerically lower than the rear's 9.71:1) for the front motor. Therefore, on the highway, the current will be directed to the front motor which will be turning slower and propelling the car with better efficiency. That can be enough to offset the additional mechanical losses from having two driven axles. Remember, each motor has its own inverter, so they can independently command positive or negative torque to each one.

 

[cynix]

I think you're right myself. Let's see D...Elon said he was glad he didn't mention the other letter. In all likelihood an A.

I thought the other letter would be a P, as in he's glad he didn't say "DP". Why would "DA" be an embarrassing thing to say?

 

[WhiteStar]

I thought the other letter would be a P, as in he's glad he didn't say "DP". Why would "DA" be an embarrassing thing to say?

From a corporate point of view, a red herring maybe? Don't think he actually said he was embarrassed more highly amused.

 

[MangroveMike]

I think you're right myself. Let's see D...Elon said he was glad he didn't mention the other letter. In all likelihood an A.

But I don't agree that it's boring. These are excellent safety features and potentially opens the gateway to other radar based safety refinements via an OTA update. Which other marque can do that? Others will follow. I think it's a big deal worthy of fanfare.

Nah, I think the second letter was U. I'm sure it's the announcement that cars are shipping Down Under ;-)
His Twitter profile also has '1 AU' in the description, an obvious reference to the Sig guys getting a personal visit in Australia.
... the photo also looks like it was taken using a garage door I've seen in the back streets of Artarmon.

 

[DavidRM]

Nah, I think the second letter was U. I'm sure it's the announcement that cars are shipping Down Under ;-)
His Twitter profile also has '1 AU' in the description, an obvious reference to the Sig guys getting a personal visit in Australia.
... the photo also looks like it was taken using a garage door I've seen in the back streets of Artarmon.

Lots of scenarios. They didn't show the roof, so maybe D is Delivery Van and P is Pickup Truck using the same MS chassis but different roofs and rear bodies. Pickup trucks are huge in the USA, expensive to run and need torque in many applications. Delivery Vans are an ideal application, stop and go with regen.

Nah, I don't believe it either.

 

[MangroveMike]

Lots of scenarios. They didn't show the roof, so maybe D is Delivery Van and P is Pickup Truck using the same MS chassis but different roofs and rear bodies. Pickup trucks are huge in the USA, expensive to run and need torque in many applications. Delivery Vans are an ideal application, stop and go with regen.

Nah, I don't believe it either.

Ha, the Ute is back! (Sorry Holden, Ford, ... Isuzu.)

 

[ixat]

Nah, I think the second letter was U. I'm sure it's the announcement that cars are shipping Down Under ;-)
His Twitter profile also has '1 AU' in the description, an obvious reference to the Sig guys getting a personal visit in Australia.
... the photo also looks like it was taken using a garage door I've seen in the back streets of Artarmon.

1AU is Earth, or rather, Earths orbit around the sun. Elon does run a rocket company
Astronomical unit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


---
Anyway, it looks like we have our Tesla Australia HQ.

2 Herbert St, Artarmon, Sydney
Corner of Herbert and Frederick Streets.

Former North Shore Autogroup. Tesla have updated their jobs website and the locations are now more specific with a service location called 'APAC-AU-NSW-Artarmon_Frederick St.' Plus two more in NSW called 'APAC-AU-Sydney-Retail' & 'APAC-AU-Sydney-Banksmeadow, probably a small office for port receiving and freight and storing cars before they are moved to Sydney or Melbourne.
Other locations are 'APAC-AU-Melbourne+' & 'APAC-AU-Melbourne-Retail'


Large showroom and offices facing Herbert Street with large service centre at rear of site facing Frederick St, lots on onsite parking for cars waiting for delivery, even if they only lease the showroom half of the site it is raised above an open basement carpark.


~500-600 meters from St. Leonards Railway station, close to the Gore Hill Freeway for test drives between two exits and around the local streets.


The showroom is labeled 'Supercar Investments' on google street view as of November 2013 while the service centre out back is Northshore Autogroup, who serviced Daewoo, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Skoda and Great Wall etc.

Showroom front:
Google Maps
Showroom rear:
Google Maps

Service centre:
Google Maps


Part of the service centre is already painted red, ready for the Tesla signage. :biggrin:

 

[ixat]

His Twitter profile also has '1 AU' in the description, an obvious reference to the Sig guys getting a personal visit in Australia.
... the photo also looks like it was taken using a garage door I've seen in the back streets of Artarmon.

1 AU is 150million Kilometers. The (rough) distance from the Earth to the Sun: Astronomical unit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elon does run a rocket company after all. :tongue:

---
Anyway, it looks like we have our Tesla Australia HQ.

2 Herbert St, Artarmon, Sydney
Corner of Herbert and Frederick Streets.

Former North Shore Autogroup. Tesla have updated their jobs website and the locations are now more specific with a service location called 'APAC-AU-NSW-Artarmon_Frederick St.' Plus two more in NSW called 'APAC-AU-Sydney-Retail' & 'APAC-AU-Sydney-Banksmeadow', probably a small office for port and freight receiving and storing cars before they are moved to the Sydney or Melbourne service centres.
Other locations are 'APAC-AU-Melbourne+' & 'APAC-AU-Melbourne-Retail'


Large showroom and offices facing Herbert Street with large service centre at rear of site facing Frederick St, lots on onsite parking for cars waiting for delivery, even if they only lease the showroom half of the site it is raised above an open basement carpark.

~500-600 meters from St. Leonards Railway station, close to the Gore Hill Freeway for test drives between two exits and around the local streets.

The showroom is labeled 'Supercar Investments' on google street view as of November 2013 while the service centre out back is Northshore Autogroup, who serviced Daewoo, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Skoda and Great Wall etc.

Showroom front:
Google Maps
Showroom side/rear:
Google Maps
Service centre entry:
Google Maps


And as a bonus part of the service centre is already painted red, ready for the Tesla signage.

 

[WhiteStar]

It would appear that I was wrong or maybe half wrong/right. D must be for Dual. But probably Driver Assist as well. But which will be the star of the show? Maybe the P85D…but in reality it probably should be Driver Assist. The promise of ever improving safety features leading towards Autopilot wins in my mind.


So the question is, what will be the real value of dual motors in the P85D? More traction to get you to 100 a fraction quicker than 4 seconds??? Better handling in the wet, on snow & loose surfaces? That’s a much better reason. What else?


If given the opportunity to change to a P85D, I wonder how many would consider it? No doubt depends on how expensive it’ll be. My guess…very. No prize for getting that one right.

 

[Dborn]

Zero interest in AWD at any price. Would accept it if it were included as standard.

 

[mhh]

AWD is an important option in parts of the US and Europe - because of snow and ice - but less important here. I'd only be interested if a dual motor version had more power and performance. Even then, I'd think twice. The Model S is a luxury car first and foremost, more than a hard-bitten sports sedan (though it goes like one).

Adding driver assist features is only a minor event from a marketing point of view. DA is found on much cheaper cars (admittedly as extra cost options) so this is catch-up technology only. My daughter's $30K Golf has ACC, auto braking, auto parking and speed limit warning for example. Great to have, but not something you'd call a press conference for.

 

[WhiteStar]

AWD is an important option in parts of the US and Europe - because of snow and ice - but less important here. I'd only be interested if a dual motor version had more power and performance. Even then, I'd think twice. The Model S is a luxury car first and foremost, more than a hard-bitten sports sedan (though it goes like one).

Adding driver assist features is only a minor event from a marketing point of view. DA is found on much cheaper cars (admittedly as extra cost options) so this is catch-up technology only. My daughter's $30K Golf has ACC, auto braking, auto parking and speed limit warning for example. Great to have, but not something you'd call a press conference for.

It’ll be able to get more power down through superior traction. Is that the only reason why you’d consider it?


Driver Assist may be catchup in terms of features already in other cars. But what if it goes beyond what others have already? That seems to be likely given Elon’s recent comments about being out in front of others on this…and if they’re not, then “shame on them”.

 

[mhh]

It’ll be able to get more power down through superior traction. Is that the only reason why you’d consider it?


Driver Assist may be catchup in terms of features already in other cars. But what if it goes beyond what others have already? That seems to be likely given Elon’s recent comments about being out in front of others on this…and if they’re not, then “shame on them”.

From what I've seen and read, the Model S has the best traction of any high powered luxury rear drive car already. I don't drive in snow and ice often, so AWD isn't worth it for me. Unless Tesla increases the power, adding front drive won't make enough performance difference to justify a dual engine for me. It's worth noting that the AWD version of the Porsche 911 AWD accelerates more slowly than its RWD equivalent, due to added weight and mechanical drag.

 

[miimura]

From what I've seen and read, the Model S has the best traction of any high powered luxury rear drive car already. I don't drive in snow and ice often, so AWD isn't worth it for me. Unless Tesla increases the power, adding front drive won't make enough performance difference to justify a dual engine for me. It's worth noting that the AWD version of the Porsche 911 AWD accelerates more slowly than its RWD equivalent, due to added weight and mechanical drag.

Adding a front motor to the Model S will add HP and available torque on top of the existing rear motor. Porsche did not add power to the front of the car, it merely redirected some of it there. There is a large section in the middle of the power-speed curve where the Model S is limited by how much power the battery pack can deliver, but at low and high speeds, the front motor will be significantly additive to the total usable power.

 

[mhh]

Adding a front motor to the Model S will add HP and available torque on top of the existing rear motor. Porsche did not add power to the front of the car, it merely redirected some of it there. There is a large section in the middle of the power-speed curve where the Model S is limited by how much power the battery pack can deliver, but at low and high speeds, the front motor will be significantly additive to the total usable power.

You are right of course. Too much ICE in my brain! Any thoughts on what an additional motor will do to range? I wouldn't want more acceleration if it meant reduced range.

 

[Ainkara]

Not sure if this was the thread that people were speculating about the location of the service centre... But just wondering if anyone had seen this? Frederick St in Artarmon?

 

[ggr]

You are right of course. Too much ICE in my brain! Any thoughts on what an additional motor will do to range? I wouldn't want more acceleration if it meant reduced range.

Elon said somewhere that it wouldn't affect the range at all, if driven equivalently. Of course as anyone with a P85 knows, it's occasionally not going to be driven equivalently...

 

[mhh]

Elon said somewhere that it wouldn't affect the range at all, if driven equivalently. Of course as anyone with a P85 knows, it's occasionally not going to be driven equivalently...

Do you ever find yourself wishing your P85 had a little more? I've got a current M5 (a pretty quick car you'd agree I'm sure) and I found the P85 I drove to be startlingly responsive. It's hard to imagine wanting more in a sedan.

 

[brianman]

Elon said somewhere that it wouldn't affect the range at all, if driven equivalently.

I've had trouble believing this in the strictest sense - zero overhead.