Tesla S - any chance?

[Kayani_1]

I think you can follow your own advice and get lost with your wanna be rich self entitled attitude.

Originally Posted by F32

Dude. You live in TX. Get lost.

You dont know anyone with a Tesla nor are you surrounded by them. Your problem is thinking Tesla owners cross-shop with those cars. They don't. The Tesla is bought in addition to the Viper, Porsche, Mas, Ferrari, etc. already in the garage.

[DieGrüneHölle]

Originally Posted by F32

Dude. You live in TX. Get lost.

You dont know anyone with a Tesla nor are you surrounded by them. Your problem is thinking Tesla owners cross-shop with those cars. They don't. The Tesla is bought in addition to the Viper, Porsche, Mas, Ferrari, etc. already in the garage.

I just got back from an event at COTA in Austin, TX. I saw quite a number of Telsa's actually. I live in orange county, see them daily as well.

[Jamesons Viggen]

There was actually a Tesla store at the mall. I stopped in with my wife who is intrigued by the idea, I began explaining a couple things, sales guy overheard, asked us a couple questions and it was enough to score a test drive(wearing a blazer helps, I swear lol).

I had only played with on while static at the Detroit auto show. So we have an appointment in a couple weeks, he said we could drive the car for as long as we want, not some 5 minute loop.

I am a bit on the fence, I feel like it's still a bit early as reliability, re-sale value and charging infrastructure is still a bit of an unknown. It's cool to be an early adopter, but I like those questions answered.

[asus389]

I don't have 80-100k to spend on car, but if I did I'd almost certainly get one. In fact, I might get their 3rd gen smaller sedan that comes out next. Everyone I've spoken to who has driven one raves about it. The range thing is not an issue for me, as I never drive more than 200 miles.

They are making more efficient ICE cars, but at the cost of more complexity. Which will only drive up the long term maintenance and repair costs. Due to their simpler design, electric cars should be easier and cheaper to maintain.

[secretsquirrel]

Originally Posted by F32

For the record, only poor people take road trips. Take a look at the Forbes link posted above. It's the most common car in the wealthiest areas of the county.

I shouldn't feed the troll, but a lot of people take road trips. We take road trips with our kids to expose them to sites and culture on the way to our destination.

I don't know many people who have flown into Yellowstone, Yosemite or Grand Canyon International Airport.

[MikeyV]

Originally Posted by speedaddictM3

How many soccer moms have $130k to drop on a car though?

Which is about the price of a nicely specified 520D in Norway, it's now wonder they are walking out the door in droves over here. If they offered a station wagon I'm sure it would easily become the most popular executive car in Norway. BTW Norway is so far the only country in Europe with supercharging stations.

[asus389]

Originally Posted by secretsquirrel

I shouldn't feed the troll, but a lot of people take road trips. We take road trips with our kids to expose them to sites and culture on the way to our destination.

I don't know many people who have flown into Yellowstone, Yosemite or Grand Canyon International Airport.

I know the previous poster was rather forward with his statement about road trips, but I suspect he is correct. Thousands of people fly into the national park areas every year and rent cars to tour around. I have done so several times in my life.

I'm all for driving across the country once or twice to check things out, but on a day to day basis pretty much the only people doing it en masse are long haul truckers. (I drove from MI to Alaska with friends one summer when I was 16).

Tesla doesn't have to get everyone in their first pass. There is a big business to be had selling really awesome electric cars to people within a couple hundred miles of major metro areas. That is, after all, where the majority of people live. And certainly the largest density of people with money to spend on upper tier cars (at least at this point). And its the most miles driven on a day to day basis, and the easiest to deploy to due to the proximity to the power grid.

I figure I spend about 3k a year on gas for my e90. (~1 tank a week @ $60 * 52 weeks). That can buy a few airplane tickets.

[Soorena]

Originally Posted by son_of_siggy

Did you have an opportunity to really hammer it? Was it the 90 P model (P being performance)? If not, take the opportunity to try one of those if you get to. The acceleration is pretty substantial. The sensation feels slower because you're not getting that nice ICE growl, but I found myself reaching speeds way quicker than I thought I was, probably due to the quiet nature of the acceleration.

I think it was the highest HP model. I don't know for sure though, i didn't even know these cars come in different model so i didn't ask. The acceleration was great. As i said it has a good amount of effort-less power, kind of like the AMG 65 engines. If it indeed was not a performance model, i'm curious now to see how that model feels. It's a shame that these engines can't be mated to multi speed transmissions for now, the 200 km/h top speed is weak sauce.

[gonzo]

So the "poor" own or lease vehicles and can afford road trips?
Belittling a bit?

[Ca$hOnly]

Originally Posted by F32

For the record, only poor people take road trips. Take a look at the Forbes link posted above. It's the most common car in the wealthiest areas of the county.

No one who lives where we do has any reason to drive through corn fieilds in Podunk, USA. We don't care that the Tesla can't make it to Wally World in one shot. If we were forced to to drive cross-country for some bizarre reason, there's always the Range Rover or S-Class. Or flying.

Only poor people take road trips? LMAO

You are such a douche.

[DrivingPassion]

Before I begin, all BMW & Porsche bigots (like myself) should schedule a test-drive with Tesla and actually drive one before you make a fool of yourself by saying things which are not true. Go with an open-mind.

Here are the things I liked:

1. Acceleration: This feature where the electric motor dumps a ton of usable torque (independent of car speed or RPM) is not a myth. I thought the fat-ladden car magazine reviewers are paid to tell us lies but I was wrong. During the test-drive, I tried to coax the torque out at low speed and freeway speed. It's almost instant. Even at freeway speed, a small tap took the car from 50MPH to 85MPH in under 2 secs.
2. Suspensions: I was pretty leary about a 4750 lb car being able to skip the hoops like a 3-series. I cannot encourage the car to lean or squat in the tight curves we tested. But, the suspension wasn't harsh either. At high freeway speeds 85MPH, the car felt like a BMW. There was no floatiness at all.
3. Sales-person: the company has a non-pushy policy and the entire test-drive developed a relationship almost like an adoption agency. They care about their cars and do not push the car to you. They answer questions intelligently when you asked and there was not a single drop of bad attitude or sales tactic that I can detect. When they don't know the answer, they admit it and followed up with emails about what they have found. I appreciate the low-stress experience: it felt ... nice. I certainly did not get that at a BMW dealership.
4. Sales tax: $zero for my State
5. Fed incentive: $7,500 tax write-off
6. Service: Year 1-4 $600 per visit (usually once per year) and all parts and labor are inclusive; whether it is regular service item or repairs. You can extend this type of service for an additional 4 years.

What I do not like:

1. $500 fog light !!!
2. door slam : sounds a little hollow. They need to find out how to build a door that sounds like a Mercedes.
3. $2700 sun-roof: way too much!
4. Noise barriers: either they are not experienced enough with noise-barrier technologies or they are trying to reduce the weight of the car, I can clearly hear the tire noise penetrating the cabin. But, minus the fact that there is zero engine noise, it's OK but can be improved.
5. No track record of what the car is like after 5-6 years. Do the smaller number of moving parts mean anything over the long haul? How would the electric motor fair when the car is used for interstate traveling?

Summary:
In short, the performance features (torque, nimbleness) are not myths. Accessories are too overpriced.

Yanking your chain:
Now, the hard part ... 85kWh would exceed the performance of a 335i but a P85 would most certainly feel even better.

If they can bring the price line down, there will be a massive adoption.

One has to also take into consideration that we spend around $16,000 or more in gasoline every five years for a BMW 335i, YMMV.

[gonzo]

Tesla will not be able to make the model X fast enough to keep pace with demand.
Not a prediction lol.

[secretsquirrel]

Tesla is looking to get into producing its own batteries. Panasonic currently creates their batteries.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/6/50...-factory-plans

[gonzo]

Tesla S fire in Tennessee.

[Sedoy]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Tesla S fire in Tennessee.

yup, a third one...

[DieselDiner]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Tesla S fire in Tennessee.

Supposedly Tesla chose to "single wrap" their battery pack, which leaves it more prone to intrusion/failure in accidents. Other companies, for example GM with the Volt, triple wrap their battery pack to protect against what is happening with the Tesla.

[Maan]

I would stay away. They still have a lot of problems. My buddy had a Tesla and got rid of it after numerous break downs. There are tons of reliable cars around that price range. They are basically being built like Kia in 1990's when it comes to reliability.

[joey5622]

I'm actually looking into moving from my f10 535 to possibly a model s. Monthly payments in Canada would be roughly the same and I'm able to "sell" it back to tesla after 3 years with a price guarantee. So it becomes roughly the same as a lease and I can claim depreciation expense rather than monthly payments on my books which benefits me more.