Tesla Model S test drive

Just ran across this!

The dash of the Tesla Model S. [VIDEO]

 

Nice find!
There are a number of owner reviews/stories at Owners delivery stories, photos and first impressions.

Love the comment when first viewing the display in the Tesla, "Dear Mr. Fisker... Checkmate"

 

I rode in one today. My friend test drove and I sat in the back. It's much more impressive than the Prius, I'll certainly say that.

The value-leader is their base model; these guys charge a heck of a lot for accessories such as the sport package and the larger batteries. The acceleration was impressive, and the car has a very luxurious interior. Fit and finish was pretty good -- there are a ton of luxury details on the car, inside and out. I could knock off lots of tiny not-picky things, but they got so much right in this car that it really amazes me. Tesla really deserves to succeed.

Their maintenance is every year or 12,000 miles and costs $600. That surprised me. I think they're losing money on each car, and nickle-and-dining everything they can. The nearest service center is at the factory, which is pretty cool.

Their salesperson was amazing. She knew absolutely everything about the car. I asked her about charging and amperages, and she had every answer cold. Very knowledgeable, no BS. I really liked that.

 

This is the norm for most luxury brands. Just check out Volvo or some other brand. When I checked their site a few years ago, red, black, and white were the only colors without an extra charge. The others were $300 to $400. Not far off the pearl and metallic charges on 'lesser' brands, but there was an upgrade fee to get access to those color options. The fee also was required to access other optional features, like cruise control.

 

Maybe. They basically try to bump you by $20 or $40K, though.

 

The Mercedes SLK250 starts at $42,900. Selecting the pricest options, no dealer installed accessories, and 5 year prepaid maintenance to balance Tesla's service contract, brings the price up to $64,909.

That includes $1500 for a paint color and a $250 clock.

I don't have the time to check Tesla's pricing at the moment, but a big chunk of price increases appears to be tied up in larger battery packs. I'm sure there are things like $250 clocks on the option list, but the S was always going to be an high end luxury car. The more modest sedan is planned for after they expanded production and ironed out the wrinkles there with building the S.

 

For example, the Model S with the 84 kWh battery costs an additional $20,000: $69,900

The Sport version, which requires the 84 kWh battery, costs $84,900. That's a $15,000 "Sport" package: Faster motor, 21" wheels, nicer upholstery, better suspension. I suppose it's their right to charge whatever they want, I'm just saying that it seems like a very expensive package.

If you want the 21" wheels instead of the standard wheels -- $3,500

It is a sweet car, though. Really beautiful details.
Model S Options and Pricing | Tesla Motors

 

I think a lot of people forgot Tesla's business plan. Basically, it's to charge more for their current car to support the development of the next cheaper car. They are counting on early adopters with expendable income to overpay and support the next phase. Eventually, they will build a car that most people can afford!

 

I think looking at the different battery pack sizes as 'options' is backwards. They are basically different models.
At the very least, it would be similar to an ICE being offered with a 6 cylinder, v8 and v12.

And yes, the vehicle with more options costs more, is that surprising?

 

Disagree, that was never part of their business plan and is not what they are doing, in my opinion.
The Models S has the best drive experience of any car I have ever been in. Head to head with similar price cars the Model S wins.

 

I think you're arguing without data. Of course more options add cost, and of course there's no comparison of the 84 kWh battery, since there's nothing else like it.

All I said was that all of the options are very expensive. They try to move you from $55K to $8K0 or $100K. Their options are all very expensive.

That's all I'm saying. I rode in one, checked it out, asked lots of questions. If you disagree, you should at least present some facts, like the cost of 21" wheels on other cars.

 

This may not be your opinion, but it is reality! See wikipedia link below

Tesla Motors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, has said he envisions Tesla as an independent automaker,[5] aimed at eventually mass producing fully electric cars at a price affordable to the average consumer.

Tesla's goal is to sell EVs to mainstream consumers at more affordable prices—but Tesla purposely aimed its first production vehicle at "early adopters" so that the company could optimize the technology before cascading it down to less expensive vehicles.[29]

The company then plans to launch a US$30,000 vehicle, codenamed BlueStar.[32]

 

It isn't selling in the same class as a Camry though. It's selling to the BMW crowd. A 535 BMW has a base price of $53,100. Without going all out, I easily got the price over $70,ooo. I don't think included as big an improvement the Tesla sport gives in vehicle performance. Want an automatic in the BMW, it's $500 plus $2900 for a required package. Their 21 inch wheels are $5700 to $6000.

The S was never intended as the everyman car model from Tesla. It is a luxury sedan that can be sold with higher margins to help keep the company going until they could offer their EV answer to the Camry. So, it and its options are priced accordingly.

 

Then we agree that the options are expensive.

 

Outrageously so.

But we aren't the target market of the segment those cars are in. Guess those people liked paying extra, or talking at how much they spent. At least, the S gives more functionality with their options. The sport package does increase performance. The other brands mostly seem to be just appearance upgrades.

 

The business plan isn't what I was disagreeing with. I apologize for not being clear. Your use of the term "overpay" was what I was disagreeing with.
"Overpay" was never a stated part of their business plan. In addition, I don't feel as though I had overpaid one bit

 

I may have gotten the wrong impression, if so I apologize.
This is not unusual in that level of car though. BMW has wheel options that add 5-6 thousand dollars.
And where you termed 'batteries' an accesory, I consider that the core of the car. I got a sense of belittling their significance. If this was not your intent, I again appologize.

The larger batteries don't just give you more range, they increase the available horsepower, torque and thus acceleration. When you go from a 60kwh battery pack to the 85kwh battery pack you are essentially going up a class of car (say a BMW 535i to 550i).

We won't know the full details on the smaller packs for a few weeks yet. But the 0-60 times are posted at Tesla's site (6.5s, 5.9s, 5.6s and 4.4s). We should have the hp and torque very soon though.

So yes, I agree that these are expensive upgrades. I don't feel they are unreasonable upgrades not very different from other luxury sedan manufacturers.

 

I'm glad that you feel that you got your money's worth. You sound like a satisfied customer! I hope everyone feels that way. I can't wait until Tesla builds a whole range of cars.

 

The efficiency (FE) of the larger packs also decreases from 4 miles/kWh for the base battery, 3.83m/kWh for the middle & 3.53m for the large one based on Tesla's own numbers. The decrease isn't unexpected as the mass of the car is increased.

It will be interesting to see how Tesla brings the selling price down as they increase their product line. Economies of scale? Smaller packs? Cheaper materials?

 

You got a Tesla? You're the man!!