Tesla Model S Owner Sneak Preview

I'm planning on attending the sneak preview in Princeton on Friday, July 22. Do you have any questions that I should ask? If you attended one of these events, what can I expect?

The 2009 prototype will be present but I'm sure we won't be able to get close enough to touch it.

The Open House is Saturday & Sunday 10-5 at D&R Greenway Land Trust.

 

Friday's event was held during our heatwave. It was 100F, a touch higher than it has been this last week. I arrived "Very early" and was able to get a number of "behind the scenes" pix and an appreciation of what needs to be done to host the event.

Tesla brought three cars. A green 2010 Roadster 2.5 (#1038) with the carbon fiber option and a black 2010 Roadster 2.5 (#991) were available for close inspection. The green one sported CA Manufacturer plates while the black one had CA Dealer plates. A few people, either serious buyers or current owners were able to drive the green one. Private owners brought the following earlier Roadsters to round out the display: 2 red from NJ, 1 silver from NJ and 1 blue from PA (THE Roadster in PA). Another silver with a temp tag was parked between other attendees.

The star of the show was the prototype Model S painted red. It is built on a Mercedes chassis & has a bit of a home-built feel to it. For example, the weather stripping on the driver's door isn't quite in place and the wiring to open the hatch is exposed & runs along the left hinge.

It was said that the Model S cost $2.5 million so there had to be over $3.25 million dollars worth of Teslas in one place.

The number of reservations are confidential. There will be 1000 Signature and 5000 production. The Signature is close to being closed. I got the impression that Production is about halfway there.

Battery upgrade paths have not been determined. However, swapping your pack for another was ruled out. The battery pack is a structural part of the car and can be swapped out in 5 minutes at a facility. The three different packs share the same form factor.

Model S Beta units are in production. Retail production & delivery is on schedule for Summer 2012. The SUV Crossover (Model X) built on the Model S chasis is expected in 2013.

Reservation holders will be given the opportunity to test drive a Beta unit before placing an order. Options & pricing will be finalized 3 months before the first orders are placed. Delivery is expected 2 months after ordering. The car can be picked up at the store or delivered.

The Signature Series will have components not available to Production units. Two additional paint colors and a 4G hotspot were mentioned.

The Signature Series was advertized as "fully loaded" or "well stocked" as R would say. Apparantly there will be the ability to "defeature" the car. The panoramic sunroof & jump seats were mentioned.

The 21" tires will probably be an option. The tires will be run flats with no spare. Some attendees did not like the idea of no spare & thought one should be available, even as an option.

We were told the rear deck is flush and the back seats fold flat. There is additional storage capacity (the trunk) under the hood.

A number of us want a Tesla store in the Philadelphia area. I pointed out that South Jersey (Maple Shade/Mt. Laurel/Cherry Hill) should also be considered as part of the "Philadelphia area".

My thanks to Christy Pineda from the NY store for organizing & hosting this fantastic event.

I'm going to have to drastically resize my images so pix will have to wait.

 

AFAIK the battery options at purchase are the only priced options. Each 70 mile increase costs $10,000 so the base car has the 160 mile pack. Add $10000 to get up to 230 miles. Another $10000 gets 300 miles.

The car isn't being built & priced in a vacuum. Those who can afford the car will have enough money to buy "stuff". I wouldn't be surprised if a fully loaded production car ends up costing $100,000-$110,000.

I am more concerned about the practical aspects, particularly the recharging. It's good that there will be backward compatibility with existing Tesla infrastructure. However, if I'm going to need/want electricity away from home how do I get it? Can it plug into an RV Park? Can it plug in at a truck stop? If it can plug in at a Nissan dealer at a fair price that would generate some goodwill at least. Are these different connectors & how much more will they cost?

IMO everyone should STOP netting Federal income tax credits with the selling price of EVs. It's not going to reduce the cash outlay at the time of purchase and there is no guarantee that the buyer is going to qualify for the tax credit. Let's not forget the sour grapes over the hybrid tax credit.

 

Here's a few pix. There was a V12 parked between the two Prius next to "Roadster 7". You can see the differences in the grill & headlights on the green Roadster compared to the blue & red. The close-up is of the extended handle on the front right door of the Model S. It retracts flush with the door.

 

Here's the remainder. A few notes: the charger cable can be seen on the deck. There was a V12 parked between 2 Prius & the silver Roadster. The Model S sunroof is partially open & when in the open lot the car is being driven. The fit & finish on the Model S was still better than on my production Intrigue. The wiring in the trunk on my car & a coworker's was worse than on the Model S. I was able to figure out that the trunk light was affixed to the trunk by clear packing tape. So, even though the Model S prototype is a bit rough around the edges it is bettter built than some production cars.

Those who attended the public viewing:

Was the Model S displayed with the hatch open? Christy said it is displayed closed & that she was going to close it, but didn't.

Did anyone get a picture of the car from the rear? Does it carry a CA Manufacturer plate? (I didn't even think to get a shot from this angle.)

Were any other details revealed or slip out?