First Tesla Model S test drive with Elon Musk (video)

Elon Musk unveils the new Tesla Sedan at the SpaceX rocket factory. Steve Jurvetson was fortunate to take the first test drive, and he let the video run for the whole ride.

First Tesla Model S Sedan Test Drive Peak Oil Garage

I could not watch the whole video. Who put that annoying music on it??? The car is very quiet, but I wanted to hear just how quiet it really is, and I cannot, because of that stinking music. Are we such a brain-dead society that even a video documenting a new car has to have music overlaid onto it like a goddamned Hollywood movie?

Too bad he didn't leave the music off for at least part of the time. (And I am not impressed by his choice! I'd have put on New Orleans jazz. King Oliver would go well in that car.)

You're going to have a long few years, waiting and anticipating. Waiting is hell. The two-month wait for my Prius was hard, and I'm at my wit's end after waiting 9 months for my electric Porsche. But everyone here is going to be so damn envious of you, having a low number when the waiting list is a few thousand, and later driving that car. (Though if my Porsche ever does come I won't be too terribly envious: I like the looks of the Porsche better. You'll have a more practical car cheaper, but if the Porsche deal does not fall completely through, I ought to be driving it a lot sooner.)

I will console myself waiting for the Model S by driving my Tesla Roadster Sport.

Two comments:

1. Putting everything on the touch screen means that if the touch screen quits, nothing in the car works. I prefer buttons. Sometimes the desire to seem "futuristic" is inconsistent with being practical!

2. I intensely dislike the way they do re-gen: taking your foot off the accelerator activates regen braking. As the fellow comments in the video, there should be a switch to turn that off. My Xebra free-wheels when I take my foot off the pedal, and I like that much better. As we all know, the Prius emulates an automatic transmission by applying regenerative braking when you let off the accelerator, so that drivers will feel like it's a "normal" car, and I think we'd all prefer to free-wheel, and keep the re-gen braking in the brake pedal. I want my car to slow down when I step on the brake, not when I let off the accelerator.

I'd still buy this car. I just think these two items should have been done differently.

That center screen is way too bright when you are out of town....
also, being no buttons you have to look at it to use it (so you don't look at the road.... ).
Not sure this is a good ergonomic point....

If they can bring this car to market as stated at 50K, I wonder what that does to the expected 40K plus Volt? My wife and I had reserved Tesla Roadster number 137 (which we might have finally had by now) but pulled our reservation a year or so ago when our first child arrived as the Roadster no longer made sense to us. We have been waiting even since for this car. We currently have a Volvo XC70 wagon and a Hymotion Prius. The Model S, in an AWD mode, could eliminate our need for the Volvo altogether and combined with the Prius would be all the car we would need. If the Better Place model takes hold (which I suspect Tesla is in process of partnering with), then Musk may be right that a Model S is all the car you need.

If either quick charge stations or battery swapping stations exist by the time the Model S is released, it truly could be the car that changes everthing.

I still say that the huge touchscreen is the result of "look what we can do" instead of "how should this best be done.' I love the car, I do NOT love the huge touchscreen. Shades of HVAC control in the Prius!

I need to stop you right there. You may intensely dislike the *idea* but I can't imagine how you could possibly dislike the process - without having at least experienced it. I know you've ridden in a roadster, but you have not driven with the ACP controller, have you? Yes it is different. Yes it is something new to learn. And yes you absolutely can coast (and yes, I still think it should be defeatable - as it is in the roadster and I see no reason to expect otherwise in the S). This method of driving is *FANTASTIC* to those of us who have used it - and in fact I've found nobody who owns an ACP-controlled car that wished it operated any other way.

Hating the idea that you haven't yet experienced is like gas-car drivers hating EVs because of all the new scary stuff that they have not experienced.

As a resident Better Place fanboy, I'd be curious to know why you suspect Tesla and Better Place are talking. Is it just the Tesla S's swappable battery or do you have more juicy bits to share...?

[And I wonder which manufacturer ZENN is finalizing a deal with...]

What mpgs are you pulling with your hymotion?

Tesla is NOT selling the car for $50,000, it is $57,000. If people or Toyota published that they were selling the Prius for $22000 after the Federal credit how long would it take before "deceptive advertizing" was called?

Let's see, $40k for a car that can go 40 miles or $57k for a car that can go 160? Hmmm, guess which one doesn't get built. "Tesla Kills Volt", take that Alessandro.

AC Propulsion. The guys behind the Tzero who built the drive system for the Tesla, the Mini-E and others. They're the ones who created this "lift to slow" regeneration being talked about. The only other folks who have done it are the makers of the Vectrix. Their twist throttle is very similar in design, with the added benefit of twisting it BACKwards - you actually go backwards. Neat.

Yeah, I'm not sure I like where all this is headed. For example, I was expecting a certain tax credit on my Rav4EV of (I think) $4,000 back when I bough it. My credit ended up being $700 after all was said and done. The cost of the car and the credit are two different animals, and will likely NOT be the same for everybody.