My Tesla thoughts after driving one...
 

I have had the luxury of having the key fob to a brand new 2014 Tesla tossed at me and have been driving it every day for a week and a half now. I do have to give the car back in a little over ten days and will miss it sorely - until the next time I get to drive it....

It's the 85kW version and had roughly 1,650 miles on it when I took it and now has 1,890.

I love the car. #4,600lbs and it is a rocket. With 325 lb·ft at 0 RPM's, it's just totally amazing the power and speed that gets you to top speed (yes, only 120MPH, but who cares :D ). For someone that has grown up around the digital age, the car is just about completely intuitive. It's like a giant laptop on wheels. The amount of space in the trunk/frunk/and folding down the rear seats is astonishing. I've never been one to care for American cars, but this one is awesome - I have to keep reminding myself that it is made in America. Just a solid car. It looks and feels like a German car.

No real range anxiety issues either. The one problem I have, is that I can't charge it at my home, but since it is my mom's and I do work out of my dad's woodshop, I just plug it in after 8pm and let it charge for an hour or so.

Like any other car, it does have its quirks. The sun visors are lacking, especially if you are not tall. There isn't a lot of space for women to stash their stuff and while it's nice that you have floorspace where the tranny tunnel would be, Tesla did come out with an add-on storage box that fits in that area, allowing for more storage. The cup holders are in front of the arm rests for the front seats and if you have a drink in one, it can get in the way. I like the steering wheel, very racing like, but I think it's a bit too thick overall. There are some very minor trim issues that could be finished better, but I can't really explain it.

The handling is superb. I have not even changed the steering wheel feel to sport mode. It's set to standard and is plenty tight. It's very comfortable to drive overall.

The app for the iPhone rocks. Turn on the a/c, monitor or change the charge rate, find your Tesla when you lose it in the mall parking lot....

The regenerative braking is the bomb! Once you get the feel of how it works as you take your foot off the go pedal, it's amazing. Right hand turns on a green light are a breeze, foot never comes off the pedal. Traffic on the freeway, same thing. One worries that because it slows so quickly, that the car behind you might just become one with you. Nope! The brake lights come on when lifting off the pedal at a certain point - smooth.

I wish I could afford one. I really don't mind that it doesn't go "vroom, vroom".

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Haven't driven one yet but just sitting in one was nice.....I would consider one when I am in the market for a new ride.

"For someone that has grown up around the digital age, the car is just about completely intuitive. It's like a giant laptop on wheels."

I think that's great and I really, really hope gen X's or whatever get to have some vehicular experience that means something to them.
But:
Not only did I drive my Speedster and my 911 this weekend, but my buddy came around in his '63 Chevy - classic 4 speed, dual quad, Posi-traction, 409. It makes me kind of sad that the Tesla generation may never feel the ring of a pair of AFBs at full throttle or appreciate a Porsche flat four or six at full song.

Giddy up 409, indeed.

Electric power delivery is otherworldly, but they are always heavy.

There is no replacement for light weight.

To clarify: I am actually from the crossover generation. Early life was analog, but digital moved in.

If you have not been privy to the torque, you are missing out. It is scary how fast it takes off, off the line. It made my friends wife queasy and she's used to his 930.

I am actually not thrilled that I have to shuffle cars around tomorrow ad drag the 911 out to "rotate" the tires after a three week slumber.

If you miss the engine noises... Buy the BMW i8. :D It has a simulated soundtrack that plays engine noises in sync with the little 3 banger. :D

Considering that the Model S is #4,600 and has hit 0-60 times of 3.9 secs, that's very, very impressive.

Nice. That much moden technology would vapor lock my mom. You should have seen us kids trying to explain the new proximity key fobs.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

It certainly looks the business. Absolutely high tech and beautiful. :D

But I have to ask. What's it's real world range on a full charge?

My mom is doing pretty well with it. Overload when we picked it up and they got the intro tour. Dad is pretty good with the iPad and iPhone, so he's figuring things out. I think my dad goes over two or three items in the car when they drive it. Little bits of info. That said, the seats work like any other power seat, you just have a couple extra steps to set up the "driver info". Once it's set up, just tap the little person icon on the top of the screen and select the driver.

The downside at the moment to the key fob is that when in your own garage, the car locks itself and if you need to quickly grab something from the car, you have to get the fob. Tesla needs to build in a better "home" feature, where you can set the car not to lock the doors when at home if you choose. The way around it for the moment is to create a spare "driver" and in that profile, set the car not to lock itself. You just have to remember to select your profile when driving around town. I suppose you can set the seat way far back as a reminder.

Since the car is 3G enabled, you can tune Internet radio stations from around the world. I've been listening to a station out of Bremen, Germany for the past couple of days.

The climate controls are 99% intuitive and pretty much look (without actual knobs) and feel (layout) like any other high end car's climate system. The only thing I can't figure out, is how to set it to recirculate.

That's a bit tricky. Since the car regenerates electricity, even though the cruise range may say 150 miles, you may be able to go 165 miles. You also lose a bit of range at night, since the batteries have to power all the lights (most are LED). The rated range is 265 miles and that is pretty accurate. Tesla says 300 miles. Going up and down hills really changes things. So does flooring it all the time. :D Actually flooring it really reduces the range.

About charging. The car comes with it set to stop charging at 85%. Most of the time people will be putting city miles on it and there is no need to fully charge it. It's also been shown that but not charging to 100% all the time, the batteries last a lot longer. Even those that do road trips, may not set it to 100%, depending on the frequency of the superchargers and where they are going.

265 miles is decent... I travel for work and that would do me for nearly 3 days!

My parents put a time-of-use electric meter on the whole house for the car. The day time rates are not great, so charging has to be done after 8pm, M-F. That's a bit of a problem for me, since I have to sit at their house while it charges and had driven it enough two days this past week, where it really needed a charge. Saturday and Sunday you get the cheap rate all day, so I think tomorrow I'll bump up the charge range a bit - it's about 147 miles right now. I'm also heading to Pelican Parts early this coming week and am planning to stop at the Tesla headquaters down here and plug into the supercharger - I'll probably kick it back up to 85% for that charge. That should keep me going for a number of days.

Thanks Dave. It's REALLY interesting. The way of the future and I can live with it.

Thanks for the write-up.

...and I thought my VDO electronic speedometer was high-tech

I drive a car with no AC (yet), no radio, points, carbs, 14" wheels and halogen headlights. I think I'm behind the times.

Nothing to do with the topic at hand, but interesting to us LA car guys, anyway. The car is a lot of fun to drive. I can see how things could get out of hand very quickly in it.

Tesla crash bolsters safety claims after car splits in half | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

You're welcome. :)

I'll give a last write up/final thoughts after I sadly hand the fob over, though I don't expect my above opinions to change, probably will just have fallen deeper in love with it.

I'll also be happy to share info down the road. Since it's in the family, I'll know of issues, plus I be stealing it every chance I can get. :D

I read this earlier, just didn't want to post it here.

I actually read that the driver did die, but the paramedics revived him... I guess he wasn't that dead.

And to put it writing, since some don't read the links carefully....

The car was going around 100MPH at the time of impact into cars and two poles. Trees and poles have a pretty good track record splitting cars in two.

FACT: You can stack 4 Model S' on top of a 5th and the the roof of that one will not cave in.

Nice!

I didn't really care either way, and then I drove one.

I too think its a pretty amazing car! I also think (as confirmed often here on PP) that most people who poo-poo it haven't driven one.

Interesting to read your impressions. In the PNW I seem to be seeing more of these machines all the time. Although undoubtedly a technological marvel, the subsidies surrounding an $80k car seem kind of cheeky. At this point I'm not so sure of their real world practicality. You have all that acceleration at your disposal but if you actually use it, your range is very much limited. Also, in a very temperate climate that isn't too hot and doesn't get too cold the argument is quite solid for an electric car. In hotter and/or colder climates throw on the A/C or heat and/or lighting into the power demand, and you've got very limited range. In my mind the laptop analogy is quite apt....IMHO in a few years the cars complexity (and therefore it's cost to repair) and the fact that it will not be state of the art any longer, will likely limit it's resale value. (4-6 year service life..like a laptop?) Cheers

A great driving experience, sure. Paying 100k for one? Yeah, I would rather have... so many other things. Airplane?

Some may see all the tech as a value-add. I don't. My Cayenne is bad enough, on the electro-techno scale. So please don't poo-poo those who see the value/risk differently, for a govt subsidized battery-powered car. And, Of course, Car decisions are not based on driving experience alone. Some cars are like boats - great fun to take out and about. SO much better when they are owned by someone else. :)

PS, the Tesla is much more fun with the traction control 'off.' Else the full power waits 'til your pointed straight. Nanny systems abound...