Loving My Tesla Model S

[Simon Mac]

Woke up this morning, and it is now even better than it was yesterday!

 

I now have "hill start assist"!!  The car downloaded a patch overnight, so now it continues to apply the brake for a second whilst you are on a steep hill so you don't roll back slightly as you move your foot off the accelerator onto the brake pedal. Touching the accelerator automatically releases the brake immediately. This is really useful because the car doesn't have a handbrake as such, and though it can simulate creep from an auto gearbox, this is a much better all round solution.

 

Also announced yesterday Tesla are retrospectively applying an unlimited mileage, 8 year, drive train warranty

 

It truly is an awesome car. Sooooo quiet, properly rapid, and for it's weight (>2100kg) not bad round bends. I have knocked the steering back to "Standard" from "Sport", which as far as I can tell just makes the steering less linear. (Feels a bit like VAG steering where the first bit of movement artificially feels like it has a very fast rack, only to then leave additional input feeling like it doesn't do anything.)

 

I only have the base one which should on paper should only do 0-60 in 5.4, I suspect it's a tad quicker than that in reality, but the figures don't tell the story. From 30-80 it is immense, the instant torque means it's always on the boil. 

 

Every day I wake up and it has a full "tank", which cost pennies on Economy 7. Mine does 165 rated miles on a regular charge (you can set it for a range charge which is 205 miles, but constantly doing this would degrade the battery).  I'm actually beating the rating on my commute however, so really I could do 200+ miles of commuting for £4 in electricity!! (If I was really tight I could park it at the park and ride and charge it for free once a week!!)

 

The interior just oozes cool, and for something built in America the fit and finish is definitely up there with a German manufacturer. The only thing missing against say a Merc, is the millions of buttons and switches littering the dash which have all been subsumed into the giant touch screen.  It is lacking cabin storage (cupholders/doorbins), but the boot is massive, and of course it has a second boot upfront too!

 

Google maps has been tweaked so it runs the turn by turn in the dash with a satellite view on the big screen including traffic overlay, and works miles better than anytime I've tried to use Google maps for navigation from a phone.  The always on 3G radio is fantastic, I was skeptical about signal coverage, but the 3G signal is miles stronger than any phone I've owned, and it pre-caches a few songs ahead anyway.

 

It never will be a drivers car like an Elise/Exige (what is?), but it certainly feels like I'm driving the future. 

 

 

[un1eash]

I've seen a white one of these around Leicester.

Hill assist is a cool little feature my Z4 had it.

[Dennis]

I think these cars a great, they could do with a range extending engine and they would be a perfect and cause jag some real concern

[DanP]

Hopefully they will be upgrading them at the same rate they upgrade iPhones, and people with the old ones will want to sell the second hand :-)

[Simon Mac]

I think these cars a great, they could do with a range extending engine and they would be a perfect and cause jag some real concern

 

Yep, to be a fully rounded car where you could blast up and down the motorway visiting clients, or contemplate driving to Scotland for a weekend away, an internal combustion engine still wins.

 

For me neither of these are likely, so dragging round a range extender would be a bit pointless. 

 

I'm actually beating the official "MPG" or in electric terms "Wh/mi". Mine should be using 330Wh per mile according to the official figures.  Buy my average over the last 30 miles, which included driving a mixture of A/B roads, village traffic and commuting I got 295Wh/mi.  This translates into an extra 30 miles per charge, giving a standard charge a range of just under 200miles, and a extended trip charge of nearly 250. 

[Steve G]

Hi,

 

Was it yours that was going into Reflections Detailing tonight?

 

I was picking up my Jaguar from being detailed and Richard was talking about a Tesla being dropped off in a few minutes. We got talking and came to the conclusion there can't be too many grey Teslas in the area!

 

Can't recommend Richard enough. My first time there, but definitely not my last. His work has been faultless.

 

What are you having done - his 'new car' protection?

 

Steve.

[Simon Mac]

Not mine I'm afraid.. I've gone for a black with cream leather. (The best colour combo, even if it's a pig to keep clean, Though I did fancy the white with gun metal alloys, and black with red piping interior, but at something like 7k more for that option I just went with classy over trendy)

 

Took it to watch the Formula-E event at Donington today. Lots of people looking at me as I drove through the car park unsurprisingly

 

Have to say it was poor the charge points were unavailable for general use, despite being free .... though I still had tons of range left