Tesla - has anyone driven one?

[Mark3000]

I'm so excited Tesla has come to Australia, although it seems we will have to wait a while longer in Brisbane. I'd love to hear if anyone in Sydney or Melbourne has bought one or heard stories from someone who has. The Model S looks amazing!

 

[JohnM]

Story on it in the current issue of Wheels.

 

[aaronjames000]

We got a ride in one from Amsterdam airport into the city. It was amazing!

It had a ridiculous amount of torque, we were flying along the highway in no time! It was also super quiet, super smooth, and appeared to be very well built.

 

[Homer]

I test drove a model S on Tuesday at the dealership at St Leonards. I'm keen on the dual-motor version, the P85D, but the closest thing they have in Australia at the moment is a demo chassis. So I had to be content with test driving the regular S. And it's plenty fast enough over a short distance (apparently it drops back to "safe mode" if you go too fast for too long, so all the videos online where it beats the Italian stallions are deliberately short distance drag races).

While the nerd in me wants one, the car is not without issues. It doesn't exactly have killer looks from the outside and it's also pretty basic inside, save for the massive touchscreen. So I'm wrestling with the decision.

 

[Mark3000]

Thanks Homer, very interesting. I've fallen in love with it from afar. When the time comes I will definitely be seriously considering the P85D version. By the time you add a few options though it's close to 200 K.
I haven't seen one in the flesh yet though so very sad to hear the inside was disappointing.
The way I drive just 5 km to work and back I'm thinking I could just connect it home on the weekend when the sun is shining and charge from the rooftop solar.
I like the outside, I like that it's not too ostentatious, reminds me of a Jaguar, conservative and classy.

Only trouble is until they setup a service centre in Brisbane it's probably not practical

 

[Homer]

I think there are about 8 supercharger stations in Sydney, split between the dealership and the carpark at The Star (where Tesla owners get free parking while they are charging). They claim they will have superchargers between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne this year with Sydney to Brisbane to follow next year.

Obviously people take different approaches to car styling. I don't know how I'd describe the outside. I can't really work out their design direction and perhaps that's the problem. To me it kind of looks like a minimum viable product (MVP) as we say in software; it all works pretty well but it needs a designer to make version 2 look really fancy. My issue with inside was the switchgear that they have acquired from Mercedes looked out-of-date/out-of-place beside the glorious touch screen and it just doesn't feel luxurious inside which, for the price, I think it should. It even comes with "fake leather" seats of all things unless you upgrade to "executive" (read: actual) leather. I know that's how Toyota does it, but their cars don't start at $100K and quickly move up beyond $200K...

 

[Warks]

Was in Santa Monica a few months ago and visited their 'shop' in the main drag. Just up from the busiest Apple store I've ever seen.

Vancouver has street recharging stations. Well I saw one of them anyway.

 

[JMFK]

Saw one on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne the other day...had NSW plates though haha.

I reckon they look sexy.

I want.

 

[knasty]

Saw one outside work on Friday. Very very nice.

 

[burrco]

Like aaronjames000 I've been used one as a cab in Amsterdam. Very impressive, wouldn't spend six figures for one though.

 

[drron]

Saw one on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne the other day...had NSW plates though haha.

I reckon they look sexy.

I want.

Probably know the driver.I will try and find out how it goes.Probably not until March though.

 

[Ghostdunks]

I test-drove one in November last year. Mate of mine had arranged a test-drive and I just went along for the ride. Halfway through, we swapped places and I drove it around for awhile. I've always been intrigued by the Tesla ever since I saw the Megafactories episode on the Tesla S(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvh_brqMJgU). The demonstrator came around to our docklands office during lunch-time and we took off.

The car itself, I was quite impressed with. The acceleration was ridiculous, as to be expected. We were on the freeway and to demonstrate the acceleration, the guy told us to pull over to the right hand shoulder, come to a complete stop, and then punch the accelerator to see how fast it would go. I wasn't too sure about this as I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get back up to traffic speed on the fast lane of the freeway and cause issues, but soon as the accelerator was stamped on, off we went and quick! I liked the massive screen that served as the control center of the whole car and I didn't mind the interior finishing. I also thought that it was quite spacious inside, although my normal car is a relatively smaller SLK so anything would probably seem spacious compared to that. Several times during the test-drive, I had to be conscious of the speed I was at, as it was really easy to speed in that car and not know it. Thought I may have been caught by the speed cameras on the Westgate during one of those times, but so far haven't got any speeding tickets.

Range of the car is perfect for me, I only really do inner-city driving, with a trip to the outer suburbs once every couple of weeks, so the quoted range of the car would probably last me a month or just under on one charge. Definitely considering it for my next car, if I can afford it. I'm no eco-warrior so its not because of that. I just like the car I also like the idea of practically no annual maintenance(ie. no oil changes, etc...) so thats a bonus for me.

 

[UP4014]

Talking of range

UK appeals court dismissed Tesla's BBC Top Gear lawsuit

Top Gear Responds to Tesla's Lawsuit | WIRED


A gadget that presently has a high price.

Matt
PS, waiting on the new MX5 and Mustang to come out, hmmm, 4 pot or v8.

 

[Warks]

Story in NoNews:
Tesla Model S: The car blowing everyone away

Don't you love all the Apple references thrown in?

 

[JohnM]

I had seen them in LOTFAP but a few days ago saw my first one in PER.