Tesla - Taking the Plunge

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

After a few months (probably longer) of driving my wife freaking bonkers, taking two test drives, and working through a few financial gymnastics with Tesla, I have plopped a down payment on a 2016 Model S P90D.

The car is scheduled for delivery in April. I am really excited about it but fully expect a delay so we will simply have to wait and see how far out things gets pushed.

My options:

I chose the standard 19 inch wheels as they ostensibly last four times longer than the performance wheels.

I chose the all-glass panoramic roof because (a) you get a few extra inches of headroom, (b) looking up and seeing only sky is very cool, and © the huge, opening sunroof.

I decided to take the autopilot option because (a) it is an amazing piece of technology I was immediately smitten with once I tried it, and (b) future upgrades will provide even more functionality.

I took the premium interior and lighting option primarily for the auto liftgate and the higher quality interior materials.

I also took the smart air suspension and weather packages.

Options I passed on are the premium sound system as I don’t listen to music in the car and the standard system is plenty good for my uncultured ears, and the rear-facing seats as we don’t have children so it would have been an absolute waste of money and space.

We have already spoken to an electrician to run power to the garage for the charging station, and have scoped out the nearest Tesla supercharging stations to our house of which there is one within 15 minutes going north and another within 25 minutes going south, not to mention there are also quite a few J1772 chargers and some CHAdeMO chargers close by.

I wasn’t really in love with any of the exterior color options but chose titanium metallic, although I am probably going to have the car dipped in anthracite grey with a satin finish after delivery. I would have chosen the standard black exterior but am concerned that there may be an issue with saturation and coverage when dipped with the anthracite gray; titanium metallic is closer to the dip color I want.

My impression on seeing the car in person for the first time is it is much bigger than I expected. I was concerned it wouldn’t fit in my garage; it will, but it will be somewhat snug, especially when comparing to my current car.

Could I have waited for the Model III? Yes, but I don’t know what the specs are going to be, or the price, and who knows when it will actually be available?

Did I check out the Model X? Yes. For me, it is basically a larger Model S with falcon wing doors and more storage, neither of which I need.

Why didn’t I take the Ludicrous Mode option? I tried it during my test drives and (a) I wasn’t in love with how it made me feel (as Elon Musk said “It’s so fast it’s wrong” and he is correct), (b) it is completely impractical, and © I cannot think of a conceivable scenario where I would use it.

I would love to hear about the experiences of anyone here who owns a Tesla. Also, although I don’t have mine yet, if you have any questions about the car, don’t hesitate to ask.

2

Congratulations! Its hard not to covet the Tesla. And I would like Tesla to be successful.

Looking forward to your experiences. You are the first Tesla owner I know.

3

I’ve had my Tesla P85+ for two years now. They’re great cars, you’ll love it. I lucked out in that my breaker box is in the garage, right where I park the Tesla. It had plenty of free slots so I installed a NEMA 14-50 plug right next to the box. It will do 250V, 40A continuously. That gives me 30 miles of driving per hour of charging. My work installed J1772 chargers that are free for employees so I do most of my charging at work. So far I’m the only Tesla at work, but I see a couple of Leafs, a BMW i3 and a Ford Fusion PHEV charge also.

You’re right the Model S is deceptively large. I like large cars so it fits me well, but sometimes parking can be a bit tight.

Be prepared that it is likely it will have a few issues early on. Tesla isn’t yet at the level of “non-trouble” of the major brands. But I haven’t had any serious issues and the service centers are very good at taking care of us. It makes a big difference in the attitude and level of service when it’s owned directly by Tesla instead of a for-profit dealer. Never any discussions or “can not reproduce”. They just fix it. I especially like the valet service where they come and pick my car up from my work parking lot and leave a loaner Tesla in my spot. When the car is fixed they swap it back.

Like I said, none of my issues have been serious. Squeaky brakes, groaning noise when turning, the lids of the sun visor mirrors broke. Small stuff like that, and all fixed right away by the service center.

Congratulations and enjoy. The time until delivery will be the longest 4 months of your life. :slight_smile:

4

Thanks!

After two years, you must have gone through a number of software updates. Any challenges downloading and installing updates?

What options do you have on your Tesla and which color combo?

5

Congrats on your purchase. The 19" wheels seem the prudent thing to do.

how is that different than the regular suspension? Is it a reactive shock system or an added level of suspension.

I don’t understand this? It’s arriving with one color and you’re changing it?

They had some problems with the motors so I’m wondering if the option is responsible for this. Can it be retrofitted if you or the next owner wants it?

6

Yeah, I didn’t even consider the performance wheels. Having to change them approximately every 18 thousand miles made absolutely no sense to me.

I think of it as a kind of memory suspension in that it remembers the suspension the driver sets at a specific geographic location and applies it when the driver goes through that area again. It also allows the owner to manually lower and raise the car a few inches when necessary.

Yeah, it’s a vanity thing. I want a specific color Tesla doesn’t offer. Plasti Dip allows me to have the exact color and finish I want for just $800.

That’s a good question. I think so, but I am not sure. I can ask my contact at Tesla.

7

No problems at all. A message pops up on the center display announcing a new version is available. It gives the option to install immediately, at a specific time, or to delay. The update takes 20-40 minutes (depending on how much they update).

The SW updates are really great as they are not bug fixes, but rather whole new features. Examples: Guide lines in the rearview camera display. Didn’t exist when I got the car, now I have them. Hill hold assist (brakes stay applied until I press the accelerator when stopped on an incline) is another one. Torque sleep (motor de-energizes completely when stopped to save battery) came in the latest update. They’ve also changed the heater and AC algorithms a few times so they heat and cool faster now.

Pretty much all options available at the time except 3rd row seats. I have the 21" wheels. Rear tires last about 7K miles, fronts 16K. Heavy car, lots of torque. :slight_smile:

I have the dark silver metallic with tan interior. Good move on the pano roof, btw. It really is worth the extra money.

8

Ludicrous mode is not connected to any drive train issues, afaik, They’ve had some issues with drive train noises, and Tesla engineering wants those entire drive trains for post-mortems so the service center just swaps the whole thing out when there’s a noise complaint (under warranty).

9

Good that there are charging stations near you OP. How far away is a service center?

10

The one thing I know I am going to miss when I get my Tesla is manual transmission. Every car I have ever owned has had manual transmission. In fact, I am trading in both my Porsche and my Honda, both of which have manual transmissions, for my new Tesla.

11

18 Minutes (15.1 miles) away.

12

In your two years of ownership, how many times has the vehicle required service necessitating transport to the service center?

13

So does anyone have experience with a Tesla or another electric car during a cold, snowy winter? One of the nice things about a car with an ICE engine is that there is plenty of heat, so I can be comfortable in shirtsleeves even when it’s twenty below zero out. Presumably in an electric car, you need supplemental heat to be comfortable.

14

Can you point me to where you read this information? I am genuinely interested.

As far as I am aware, the vehicle is able to keep the cabin at the temperature the owner sets. This is solely based on videos I have watched of owners in cold climates (e.g., Norway) spending the night comfortably in their cars sleeping.

Another feature I like is the ability to warm up the car remotely with the mobile app, allowing the owner to leave their warm house on an icy morning and go directly to a warm car.

15

I assume that an electric car would need supplemental heat because it doesn’t have a free source of heat as does an ICE engine.

16

zwede, can you address Dewey Finn’s question?

17

It’s not free. Heat generation is part of the inefficiency of gas engines. It’s convenient that it can be channeled elsewhere and be made less wasteful, but you’re certainly paying for it.

18

Tesla has a very capable heater. There’s no problem maintaining a comfortable cabin temp no matter how cold it is outside. It’s also the first car I owned with seat heaters and I never knew what I was missing!

Running the heater will, of course, eat away at the range that the car can go on a charge. But with the large battery of a Tesla that isn’t a concern unless road tripping. The superchargers (Tesla’s fast chargers) are placed 120-150 miles apart to cover this worst-case scenario.

As a side note; running the AC has a surprisingly small impact on range. Even in 100F summer heat my energy consumption is only up 10%, and that’s going short distances to work so the AC runs at max for much of the time.

19

There’s only one time it was really needed. That was to retrofit the titanium shield for the battery. Besides that I’ve taken it in maybe 3 times the first 6 months. It’s been a year since I took it in, and that was for new tires which doesn’t really count.

I’m planning to take it in come spring for a few things: Upgrade 3G link to LTE (I will have to pay for this), do the seat belt recall check, and ask them to check a dash rattle that comes and goes.

20

Speaking of heater/AC, the remote HVAC controls are a killer feature! I can turn on HVAC via the phone app, so I don’t have to get into a hot or cold car. Another nice feature is that the phone app has a map showing the car and the location of the phone. Makes finding the car in a big parking lot really easy!