Rather than pollute Richard's great long thread on his EV experience, I thought I'd start one that's Tesla-specific. I'll be test driving a Model S later today and have compiled a list of questions / things to check. If anyone has any others, feel free to add and I'll ask I've found the answers to many questions by reading reviews and watching video clips. However, they also create more questions too!

 

User profile:

• Radio favourites, Browsing favourites, ability to sync with online account?
• Telephone calendar / address book tied to user profile?
• Boot height
• Remote app: ability to switch profiles? "Find my car" feature?

Power:

• Which power connectors come with the mobile unit?
• Availability / cost of CHadEMO connector? UK HPWC availability/ cost?
• Depletion rate when not in use? How long can we leave unplugged (holiday with car at airport / friend with no power available).
• Any difference with the car “Power off” feature?

EU driving:

• HID light adjustment
• Web / Internet radio / 4G still available?

In Car Entertainement:

• Any voice training required? If so linked to profile?
• Test / ask phone contacts and type (home/office/mobile)
• Ability to connect to more than one phone? i.e. driver phone for calls, pass phone for music?
• Any video support? Media playback? Plug-in CD drive on USB?
• Ability to plan a route in advance?

Around the car:

• 12V feed in rear? Boot? Frunk?
• Any more USB sockets?
• Interior lighting: selectable individual reading light? Difference with package?

Security:

• Alarm. Thatcham approved cat1/2?
• Insurance group? Recommendations / discounts?
• Software upgrade path? Release notes available to not-yet-customers?

Differences between models to check with test drive:

• Ride on air / standard suspension
• Sound on HiFi / standard package
• Interior lighting package

Feature request:

• Ability to record front/rear cameras to USB – removes need for dashcams. Optionally add telemetry.
• Support for Flash / HTML5 videos on web browser

 

I'll have a friend or two coming along and will take some photos which I'll add to the thread.

I've driven a normal Tesla that belongs to a relative..

 

You'll forget any of that stuff on your list as soon as you put your foot down and the outside world turns to a blur!

I've driven a normal Tesla that belongs to a relative..

 

You'll forget any of that stuff on your list as soon as you put your foot down and the outside world turns to a blur!

Haha! That's why I have the list and I plan to go through it whilst in the show room and before I take one out for a drive

How do you find the touchscreen-for-everything interface? Do you find it distracting to have to look away to change climate/radio stuff?

Are you going for a 'jolly' or are you seriously considering signing on the dotted line?

Haha! That's why I have the list and I plan to go through it whilst in the show room and before I take one out for a drive

 

If you have an hour slot that'll be the shortest test drive in history.

Are you going for a 'jolly' or are you seriously considering signing on the dotted line?

999pooch,

Is this on your shortlist if the Lease figures make sense!? lol

Edited 6 January, 201610 yr by vrskeith

Still at Tesla. Will report later with pictures.

Richard, the actual drive was only about 20 minutes, but more on that later

Waiting!

I see also in this weeks Autocar that the that the 70D has been given all-wheel drive and a bigger battery with a range upto 275 miles.

Not as unhinged as some, but still 0-60 in 5.2sec.

Waiting!

I see also in this weeks Autocar that the that the 70D has been given all-wheel drive and a bigger battery with a range upto 275 miles.

Not as unhinged as some, but still 0-60 in 5.2sec.

That's the base model unless you deselect four wheel drive!

Right, I'm back home (in the Fabia!) I'll try to make a mini-review and this will be quite a photo-heavy post to illustrate things

 

I met up with some friends I have worked with who were at Sky before having a quick lunch with them and then wandered over to the Tesla store in West Drayton.

 

I was kindly greeted by a reception girl who then called for Alex who was the chap that I had spoken to on the phone earlier.

 

We walked to the car and settled off with him driving for a few minutes. Car was a P85D non ludicrous.

 

Round the back (to my insistance), we started with the standard "Sport" mode I think which does 0-60 in over 4 seconds. Planting the accelerator gave a lovely constant thurst that accrued velocity at a consummate speed. But all very controlled and calm. Just a nice pleasurable thrust, not dissimilar to a plane taking off (but with a bit more force).

 

Then switched to "Insane" mode. Tried again. Wow. Quite a difference. As Richard said: you could train your neck muscles trying to not rest on the headrest. It's (a) rather vicious and ( incredibly infectious and addictive. The noise is a nice electronic induction kind of noise. Like warp speed is being engaged on the Enterprise.

 

We then swapped over - I took the driver's seat. After taking 30 seconds to adjust the seat and steering column, I was set, and off we went. First thing that struck me was the ease of driving. Everything is so planted and relaxed, it's an amazingly enjoyable and effortless driving experience. Of course, there are no gears to change, no clutch to manage just like any other auto, but there's an element of smoothness and class you just don't get with an auto - I think mainly down to the fact it's just one gear so no variation and lunging you can get with an auto box (maybe they're better now, it's been ages since I've driven an auto and it wasn't DSG or anything modern).

 

Arriving at some lights, I was able to try the "launch" capabilities. There was a fancy Audio along side me. Lights turn to green, I floor it, and about 3 seconds later, it's a spec in the rear view mirror. It's just simply awesome.

 

We head onto the M4. I wasn't able to get a 0-70 launch at the junction's lights unfortunately as there was another car in front. But even when travelling at speed, the instant torque makes acceleration literally a breeze. You're never short of power to get into a gap or avoid a potential collision. And yes, it's brutal and ridiculously addictive and above all, fun. To think you're doing this whilst (at that time) producing zero emissions is really quite surreal.

 

At speed, I notice how quiet and relaxed the cabin is. Everything is so calm. It's as if there's an invisible shield which reduces the stress and aggression of other drivers, particularly with effortless power combined with no engine noise.

 

We then engage the Autopilot feature. I was amazed how quickly I felt at ease. Sure it's wierd thinking you can let go of the steering wheel and the car will drive for you, but I felt so reassured and safe that my sense of security and trust in the feature took the better of me and I had no problem with it. I don't think I'd use the auto lane changing thing, I still like to do that myself, but it certainly takes pressure and tiredness out of driving, particularly on a long drive. Of course, I wouldn't condone letting it do everything unmonitored and start doing my emails on the phone whilst travelling at 70mph, but I could see how de-stressing it can make in traffic where the car stop / starts for you on its own, particularly taking the stress and fatigue of using a manual clutch (which is a little stiff on my Fabia).

 

We hop along a few junctions then turn around and come back. In the end, I only drove about 20 minutes. Sure, I could have driven longer but I already had a feeling, a convinced feeling that this is all I could ever hope from a car. I really found it that good. My only regret is I didn't get a chance to try any twisties above 30-40mph, only going round roundabouts a little brisky, and that's so easy to do quickly: you don't have to worry about what gear you need to be in, just put your foot down when ready to accelerate out and it goes like stink.

 

In a funny way, it's not dissimilar to driving the Fabia when it's in its torque bracket, it's a surprisingly "point and squirt" driving experience, but with added gravitas and completely void of frenzy whilst still be very deceptively quick (and no doubt quicker than I could ever manage with the Fabia).

 

The car didn't have air suspension and was on the standard 19" wheels. I didn't drive one with air suspension. I asked Alex and he said that he can't really feel that much difference between them, the air version is probably slightly more damped. People who buy them buy them more because they have a high curb to get up or a deep track drive and need the extra clearance.

 

Back at the showroom, I eventually get through my list of questions:

 

User profile:

• Radio favourites, Browsing favourites, ability to sync with online account? No / Not yet.
• Telephone calendar / address book tied to user profile? No, it's tied to the phone you pair it with. Car can keep track and records of 12 different mobiles.
• Boot height. Not linked to profile. Powered boot only on tech package option.
• Remote app: ability to switch profiles? "Find my car" feature? Online app has find my car (shows on a map, ability to honk horn, flash lights, etc). I'm sure you can find screenshots of this online and someone must have done a walkthrough.

Power:

• Which power connectors come with the mobile unit? 16A blue IEC 60309-2 single phase 230V plug and a normal 13A UK mains plug. Extra sockets (3-phase red IEC) are available. £70 each.
• Availability / cost of CHadEMO connector? UK HPWC availability/ cost? CHadEMO adapter available. £350. No HPWC available yet.
• Depletion rate when not in use? How long can we leave unplugged (holiday with car at airport / friend with no power available). Not a real concern. Alex said he's known people to leave their car for like 2 months. As long as it's charged when you leave it, it's OK.
• Any difference with the car “Power off” feature? Yes, it saves more power, but disables things like 3G connectivity so lose ability to have remote connection with phone.

EU driving:

• HID light adjustment. Interestingly, Alex didn't know, but said he's not aware of having to do anything and no one who's crossed the channel has commented. Maybe it's very clever and auto adjusts based on GPS / country / side of the road you drive on?
• Web / Internet radio / 4G still available? Yes. 4 year unlimited data roaming included "free". No indication yet of what cost will be afterwards.

In Car Entertainement:

• Any voice training required? If so linked to profile? No training.
• Test / ask phone contacts and type (home/office/mobile). Yes. When you get to the contact, if several numbers for one exist, you can then scroll with wheel on steering to select number to dial.
• Ability to connect to more than one phone? i.e. driver phone for calls, pass phone for music? No. Only one phone can be connected at a time via bluetooth.
• Any video support? Media playback? Plug-in CD drive on USB? No / not yet.
• Ability to plan a route in advance? No / not yet. Also, you cannot set a preferred route or drag a checkpoint to divery like you do with google maps on a computer. This is in current development with Google.

Around the car:

• 12V feed in rear? Boot? Frunk? No. But it's been requested a lot, so might be relatively high up on the "to do" for future car builds.
• Any more USB sockets? No.
• Interior lighting: selectable individual reading light? Difference with package? Yes. All lights on / off from touchscreen, but you can push the light itself to toggle on/off.

Security:

• Alarm. Thatcham approved cat1/2? No (!)
• Insurance group? Recommendations / discounts? A couple were recommended: "Home & Legacy" for good coverage, but not cheap (they normally do luxury yatchs, etc!). Also NFU Mutual were recommended. Admiral quoted me around £700.
• Software upgrade path? Release notes available to not-yet-customers? Maybe, they don't need / try to hide them, so must be able to find info on the web.

Differences between models to check with test drive:

• Ride on air / standard suspension. Only tried standard suspension car.
• Sound on HiFi / standard package. After testing both, I would go for the higher audio setup. Added sub and speakers give more presence and controlled power. No "flappy" bass.
• Interior lighting package.

 

Right, I'll now go through and post some photos. TBC

As for the whole "not P", "P" or "ludicrous P", it's really down to personal preference. The standard AWD ("D") version is still nippy enough at over 4 seconds. The 3.2 second "Insane" is rather vicious. Didn't get to try the 2.8 second ludicrous. It's true it's an awful lot of money to add the insane and ludicrous options. Money that, like Richard has done, could be spent on other upgrades. It's a nice show-off gimmick and I could really see myself using it for fun. But do I need it? No. Is it worth spending an extra £20k+ to get it, in all honesty, not really!

 

...But I'd still love to have it!

 

Photos to come.

Some photos. Click for larger versions.

 

What gets saved with the driver profile:

 

Beige Alcantara head lining with reading light

 

"Premium interior / lighting" level trim door card. Looks very nice although I'm not that impressed with the top part. A faux leather / vinyl feels cheap for a car of this luxury. Maybe it's done as it's harder wearing if if gets wet when raining and door open?

 

Alcantara dash. Feels a lot nicer than the vinyl one you get standard which feels rather flimsy.

 

Panoramic glass roof (front bit is a sunroof that opens)

 

Large central storage area that's flat. Large enough for many things, but almost too large which means things fly all over the place under hard acceleration!

 

Passenger door card

 

Base aluminium chassis with battery pack.

 

An electric motor. This is the rear axle one. It only provides 400+ HP !!

 

Air suspension strut

 

Software features in 7.0 release

 

Car details. The photo matches colour / options of the actual car which is a nice touch.

 

Sun visor. Same on driver's and passenger's side. Alcantara covered, but no lighting and a slightly flimsy cheap-feeling flap. Come on Tesla, a little LED light surround and a dampened / spring loaded flap wouldn't be too much to ask for!

 

 

"A" pillar with curtain airbag. Alcantara finish

 

Open sunroof. Small rectangular cover is removable to expose roof rack connection points. You HAVE to have the panoramic roof + sunroof to have mountings for roof rack. Solid roof does NOT allow roof bars!

 

Turn this thing to chose direction of travel. Wheel is chunky, but nice soft leather covering. Doesn't feel too big in my small hands. Very comfortable to hold. Music control on left, menu control on right.

 

Planned a route to go and see my mum in South West France. It selects Supercharger points and shows where you have to stop and for how long to reach next SC point. It's very nice, but still limited in that you can't select a preferred route and you cannot diverty / change things. No doubt that will progress as integration and development of Google platform evolves.

More photos:

One of the first cars where rear 1/3 / 2/3 split is with 1/3 on right hand side (driver's side for UK cars). Every other car has the split down the other way for LHD vehicles. So this is a bonus for me if carrying long loads.

Rear seats. Comfortable, but non adjustable. Middle seat is relatively wide and comfy too. Perfect for 5-up travelling. This car also has the extra 2 rear-facing fold-down seats in the boot.

Dashboard

Showroom car doesn't have upgraded interior / lighting. No where near as nice IMO.

Dash. No alcantara. Vinyl which flexes a bit. Feels cheap

Electric seat controls

Advanced "Next Gen" seats. These are really comfy and adjustable. An option I would go for.

The "Frunk". Horribly American abbreviation of front trunk. This is the smalle version as it's the AWD with motor at the front. In RWD models, you have more space at the back (behind the Tesla bag).

21" rims in anthracite. I'd stick to 19". If you go 21", the rear wheels are wider (265/35/21) and rubber costs a fortune and you're more limited in case of puncture.

Side of standard finish interior.

And a few of the car:

I have a short video on YouTube:

 
Alternatively, you can see it here, along with all the photos: http://photos.xavimages.co.uk/Other/Car-related/Tesla/n-nmksnC/

Edited 6 January, 201610 yr by Xavier

Very nice, have seen loads of the up and down the motorways,

How long was the extra journey time down to your mums including charging to what you could do in the Fabia? Would it make it a 2 day trip or could you do it still in a day? We normally do Nice to Calais in around 12 hours, just wondered how much longer it would take if you had to stop and charge, that would be the only time I could see a downside to me our once yearly trip down south. So not a problem really, compared to the cost of buying one!

So are you ordering?

Edited 6 January, 201610 yr by mdk1

Nice write up.

You can probably see now why I saved money with a 90D to get maximum range and added the better seats, interior, sunroof etc...

For info Tech package is no longer an option.

Recent change as many showroom staff miss this. Some features are now stock and the rest come as part of the premium interior upgrade, like the powered tailgate.

Edited 6 January, 201610 yr by BossFox

Funny that, as I was driving back, guess what was behind me! Never really noticed one before

 

If I were to drive down to my mum's, I wouldn't be going via Calais, I'd take an overnight ferry to St Malo which means you're already pretty much level with Paris. There are SC in Rennes, Nantes, Saintes, Bordeaux, etc, so no shortage.

 

The general idea is that you charge just what you need to get to the next SC station. Doing it that way means you're charging between say 10% and 70% which is the fastest charging range so the least amount of time you need to take at a SC station.

 

So once on the French side, I'd probably do two or more likely three stops that way you drive 2-3 hours, take a 30 minute break for a bite to eat, stretch legs, etc whilst car is charging up.

 

I'd probably get it done in a day, but not if going through Calais. In the olden days, I did it door to door (including stops, queueing, channel tunnel) in 12 hours flat. But you wouldn't do that today if you wanted to keep your licence

 

Also, in France, you don't get any discount on the silly expensive motorways with an EV. There's pressure to offer a discount, but not yet. So part of the savings are still spent paying tolls (around £100 I think for a Calais to Spain). Taking the national roads takes a little longer, but it's more efficient (you're doing 60mph instead of 85mph) and you can enjoy the scenery.

 

If, or more likely when ( ) I get one, it's one of my ambitions to take a week leisurely cruising around Europe at pretty much nil "fuel" cost

Sounds good topping up, that would work for us as such as we tend to do 3 hr stints and stop for 20 mins or so, comfort break and change of drives so would probably only add about 90 min to overall journey, depending on how busy the charging stations are.

Nice write up.

You can probably see now why I saved money with a 90D to get maximum range and added the better seats, interior, sunroof etc...

For info Tech package is no longer an option.

Recent change as many showroom staff miss this. Some features are now stock and the rest come as part of the premium interior upgrade, like the powered tailgate.

 

Yeah, they were up to speed.

 

I have to say I was very impressed with how laid back and how they just let you play with stuff to your heart's content. No pressure selling, there in the background to answer questions, but no time constraints at all.

When I dropped my mates back at Sky, I then went back to the Tesla showroom to take more photos and play around with the touchscreen. As I wanted to compare the different sound systems, I asked Alex if he had a car outside with the standard one (the one in the showroom had the better one) and he said "yeah. Here's a key for it". I said jokingly "aren't you worried that I'd just drive away with it?" And he said, "nah, they all have factory fitted trackers

 

Also, they're more than happy to let you take as many photos / videos as you want. As they don't do any real marketing, they rely on word of mouth of existing customers and say "bring your mates along for the test drive" as a very effective tool. I spent a good hour taking photos opening doors, closing doors, fiddling with buttons, folding the rear seats down, etc. And they just let me get on with it.

 

Such a refreshing experience, not feeling constantly spied upon or looked at making you think you're getting in their way. A really nice and friendly bunch of people.

 

Talking about purchasing options, again, very clear and matter of fact. I'd need to check, but I think he said it's something like 5.5% interest on a hire purchase and you can put down as little as 10% and as much as 90 or so in deposit and pay the remaining over a selectable period (2 to 5 years I think). If you want the buy-back after three years, it's more limited (I think 60% is the max deposit).

 

Oh and I forgot, maintenance is recommended at every 12k or yearly intervals. But Tesla won't invalidate your warranty if you don't respect that. Each service is circa £550 all inclusive. You can buy a pack of 4 services for £1800 (so £450/service) but you then have to stick to the yearly intervals. As the actual wearable items are low (brake pads / discs and eventually bearings), it seems a little expensive, but then again, that's probably very cheap for a luxury car. If you don't drive like a loon and use regeneration a lot, pads can last to 40-50k miles.

 

With the very reasonable and flexible finance options, it is very compelling to sign on the line Just one small issue: need to sort house out first realistically!

Agreed, best dealership I've been to by some margin.

But then they are there to show you the car and aren't allowed to "sell" you one.  Which is a refreshing change.

Agreed, best dealership I've been to by some margin.

But then they are there to show you the car and aren't allowed to "sell" you one.  Which is a refreshing change.

Do you mean the West Drayton one or Tesla in general?

 

I was asked what was stopping me from ordering one now, but had the impression that was more to determine what they could do to help rather than pressure me. The whole "come as often as you like for photos and a cup of coffee" thing is really nice and can only help their marketing

Tesla in general, I went to the showroom at Gatwick.

I've been thinking a bit more about it (and now suffering from PTTDD), particularly the interior and touchscreen interface.

 

Yes, we all talk about how amazing the electric motor performance is, but as far as I'm concerned, it's only part of the altogether package. What also really makes for it is the touchscreen interface which has allowed Tesla to remove physical buttons and switches, apart from those on the steering column and hardware buttons for the windows in the door cards.

 

I really think this contributes to provide an overall "zen" driving experience. The lack of engine noise and the totally clean, minimalist, uncluttered dash and interior only add to the calmness and relaxing aspect of driving around in one of these. Some people say it's too simple, minimalist and therefore is of lower quality. I disagree: for me, it's one of those "less is more".

 

When I look at the cabin of another car, make it even a luxury car, I now go "eww - all those buttons". It's almost migraine inducing, like a kind of permanent "visual pollution" with all those lights and physical button contours that ultimately distract you from looking at the road ahead.

 

Yes, the touchscreen is big, but I didn't find it distracting in the slightest, and the fact it's flat means it sort of disappears when you're driving.

 

Yes, the all-electric of the Tesla is what makes it great, but I'd love to see a Tesla-like cabin in other mainstream ICE vehicles. It wouldn't give you the silence of the electric motor, but would be visually less distracting.

 

I probably come across as a loony guy saying this, but it's amazing how the simple elegance and zen-ness of the cabin and controls are in fact subliminally powerful to your overall driving experience.

 

I don't think Tesla plan to make their touchscreen / software design and technology available to third parties, unlike their battery and motor tech which I understand is now being shared to really push and promote EVs, but putting aside the electric motor engine performance, I still can't get over how beautiful the driving experience was.

 

I can't wait to see what they bring with the Model III even if it's realistically at least a year away from hitting UK shores...

Thinking a little more about the touchscreen and lack of physical buttons... Some people have commented how physical buttons are nice as you can "feel" for them without taking your eyes off the road which wouldn't be possible with a TS interface.

 

And I agree - I often fiddle around with the fan speed and air outlet direction (windscreen, feet, front, etc) on the Fabia even when driving.

 

However, climate control for example, isn't something I think you need to worry about with the Tesla: it's clever and sets itself. The majority of the time I fiddle is when the car is steamed up so you blast it for a few minutes until it clears then you turn it down. That function can be automated with the preconditioning feature of the Tesla. You say when you're going to need the car (or just go by the appointments in your calendar - scary smart stuff) and it will be ready when you turn up to drive away.

 

The functions you're more likely to use whilst driving are sunroof / windows / music / phone usage. All of those are available from the buttons on the steering wheel or voice control, so no need to take your eyes off the road.

 

They're now rolling out version 7.1 of the software. It's hit the Netherlands in Europe and I think possibly France. UK should be imminent. That will add the free spotify premium streaming, supercharger updates and better logic in the sat nav (although there's still a lot of progress to be made in that dept) along with other bugs and small fixes.

 

My only big reservation at the moment is the Xenon HID lights - and the whole driving on the continent: changing the deflection beam pattern so it veers up on the right instead of the left. Richard, I don't know if you know much more about this? I started a thread on TMC and the responses haven't been that reassuring yet. I appreciate the UK/Continental EU is probably the only case in the world where you might need to do this, but it looks like it's a hardware rather than software adjustment and no one seems quite sure...