We here at TotalHTPC are technology enthusiasts. And while this site is dedicated to reviewing entertainment technology and helping our readers cut the cord, we are, in the end, technology enthusiasts. As such, when we got our hands on probably the most talked about piece of technology during the past year, a spanking new, Jaguar racing green, 85KwkWh Tesla Model S, could you really expect us NOT to review it? We thought so, and so dear readers, here, you go….
Ordering and Delivery
Tesla espouses a ‘new way to buy a car’, and for the most part, that was certainly true. Ordering was a snap, online, and very easy. Select your battery (45KwkWh, 60KwkWh or 85KwkWh), your colors (exterior and interior), and your options, enter your credit card for the down payment and done. Ordering went off, for the most part, without a hitch. On the other hand, delivery was, well, in a word, a clusterf–k.
Two weeks prior to delivery, I received an email, cc’d on which was my assigned “Delivery Specialist”. Let’s call him Jim. I never heard from Jim. A week went by, and with a week to go until scheduled ‘delivery’, I was anxious. After placing numerous calls to the gentlemen who had handed me off to Jim, I received a call from a second Delivery Specialist, let’s call him ‘John’. John and I arranged for a time for the car to be delivered (pickup is only available in California, elsewhere, buyers are charged $900 for the car to be delivered via flatbed truck or some equivalent to any location with an hour or so of ‘training’ by the delivering specialist I was corrected by multiple readers that all buyers are charged this destination fee). One day before the car was to be delivered, I received a call from Delivery Specialist #3, let’s call him “Dan”. Dan informed me that John had been ‘reassigned’ to another delivery, and Dan would be delivering my car. A quick rewind. About a month prior to getting the car I called Tesla asking them how I should set up my garage to charge the car. Tesla informed me that the ‘high powered wall connector’, which enables the car, rated at a range of 270 miles under ‘normal’ conditions’, to be charged in 4 hours, were back ordered, and as such, install a ‘Nema 6-50’ plug which can easily and quickly be converted to support the high powered wall connector when its available. As such, I had my electrician install the Nema 6-50. Fast forward to Dan, who now, a day prior to the car being delivered, informs me that the Nema 6-50 adapter is not available, and as such, I will have to plug the car into a standard 110v outlet, which charges the car at a rate of 2-3 miles per hour. Uh Oh. No worries though says Dan, the car will be fully charged upon delivery, or will it….
Delivery Day
At 8am, I receive a call from Dan saying he’s running a bit late, and the 9am scheduled time will likely be 9:20am. Knowing Dan is driving from NJ to Westchester County NY, I figured traffic was inevitable. At 8:30am I text Dan a simple, “how’s traffic’. No response. Over the next 45 minutes, I text and call Dan to no avail, he’s not responding. Worried, (and pissed, more pissed than worried), I call John, Delivery Specialist #2 who picks up. Upset, I ask John why Dan isn’t responding. John doesn’t know, but promises to call Dan and find out. A few minutes later John calls back, telling me Dan is “5-10 minutes away”. At 9:50am, Dan finally drives the car up my driveway. I’m pretty hot at this point. “Why pick up the phone for John and not me?” No real good response. Moving on I notice the car has plates, which I specifically said wasn’t required as I was transferring plates from my old car. Minor hiccup, but then I notice there’s no inspection sticker on the car. “Where’s the inspection sticker?” I ask Dan. Dan informs me he was ‘pained’ this morning prior to leaving for my home when he noticed the lack of an inspection sticker. “Why didn’t you tell me that when we spoke this morning so I could schedule an inspection?” I furiously asked Dan, given that Dan knew I had turned in my leased car the day before, and the Model S was to be my sole car. Shrugs and apologies ensued. “Isn’t it illegal to sell a new car without an inspection?” I ask Dan, and then Dan’s colleague from Tesla, who Dan called and I spoke with asking the same question. “Yes”, is the response I get from the Tesla employee on the phone, “it is illegal to sell a new car without an inspection.” Getting in the car, I also notice the car is only 75% charged, “Why isn’t the car fully charged?” I ask Dan. Another shrug, another apology. Two hours later, after numerous phone calls, I find a local auto shop to conduct the inspection, for $10 given it’s an all electric car – no emissions tests required. Now in fairness, Tesla did have another, fourth Delivery Specialist physically drive up a Nema adapter that afternoon, but overall, given my experience, the delivery experience is broken. No one called days in advance to confirm anything. While I am sure there is some checklist Delivery Specialists are instructed to follow, none was in this case. Fortunately, the car makes up for it.
The Car
The car itself, in my opinion, is gorgeous. Sleek lines, tons of room, and mostly well thought through. Its also BIG, only a few inches shorter than a base BMW 750. Driving the car is an experience like no other car I’ve ever driven. Acceleration from a standing start is amazing but what really sets the car apart is passing power. From 40mph to 70mph feels like it happens instantaneously, like being on a roller coaster when you first take off. It happens so quickly you don’t realize how fast you are going – speeding tickets are a real concern when driving this car. The driver and passengers alike are thrust back into their seats, response is instant when you mash the gas peddle accelerator. In a word, its exhilarating. Cornering is amazingly precise, thanks to the cars natural, low center of gravity. The driver can also adjust the handling between comfort, standard and sport driving modes. The seats are generally comfortable (more on that later) and there is an absolute ton of room. Now let’s get to specifics.
The Good
Beyond the acceleration and handling, the basic functions of a car, the technology is ridiculous, and yet, as I write below, there is a surprising amount of standard tech available on today’s gas-powered luxury cars that is shockingly absent. The central control panel is in short, fantastic. Touch response is immediate, no visual pixels, easy to reach, its great. And as you can see in the video below, its customizable. Rather than write about all that’s good in this car, only a video will really do it justice.
Also great is the iPhone/Android app, that allows you to do everything but turn on the car, including warming it up to try to recapture some of that lost range as a result of sitting, unplugged, in the cold (more on that later). See the screenshots below. The location screen, not shown, brings up the iOS Map screen with a blue dot where you are, and a red arrow where the car is, and can provide directions to get from you to the car. Like everything in the car’s display’s, the iOS’ displays also match the color and wheels on your actual car.
The Bad
The first morning I went to drive the car after charging overnight the charging port wouldn’t release from the car. Two calls into the ‘Ownership Experience” line (the first call sent me to voicemail telling me I’d get a call back), and a gentleman kindly walked me through a ‘soft reset’ of both the main touch screen as well as the driver display. What Dan, my Delivery Specialist didn’t tell me is that one needs to press AND HOLD the button on the charging port, push in and then pull out. Simply pressing and releasing the button before removing the port can ‘confuse’ the car.
The headrests aren’t great. They look cool, but are too narrow, and don’t have enough forward padding. The result is if you lean your head back, you find your head ‘slipping’ from one side or another, and if you don’t lean back, I found that simply bringing the seat more upright didn’t yield a comfortable back position.
Unfortunately, Tesla takes a nod from strategic partner Mercedes, in that the steering column literally hides the cruise controls, and is too close to the left turn signal, on which is the windshield wiper functionality, which is somewhat hidden as a result of the very beefy steering wheel.
While the technology package is impressive, here’s a shocking list of absent tech commonly found in other, high end luxury cars: heated sideview mirrors, proximity/parking sensors, and blind spot assist. The car with the telematics package comes with 3G, but no 4G, and while the car has wifi hardware built in according to Tesla, the ‘software’ isn’t ready to handle it. Plus, given the connectivity, there is no ability to use the car as a hotspot. Additionally, while the bluetooth connectivity to my iPhone worked well, on the music side, there is currently no way to browse the music on the phone, only skip to the next song. Bummer. Also, when navigation is on the main center console, there is no way to orient the marker to always face up – that happens on the driver display – this is something Dan mentioned Tesla was working on as well. Additionally, using the heater and air conditioning (especially this) is a real battery drain, yet Dan and a Tesla rep on the Owners Experience line indicated the front seat warmers don’t use nearly as much power. If so, why didn’t Tesla make back seat heat warmers standard, as well as footwell warmers using the same electric coil method? Doesn’t solve the A/C use, but does address cold weather use and possibly the cold weather battery drain issue (more on that below). There is also no heated steering wheel, another oversight in my opinion.
Another additional item I feel Tesla overlooked, especially given their partnership with Mercedes: no ability to fold down back seats from the trunk (which all Mercedes SUVs have). The Tesla has an amazing trunk (and frunk) space, but to get all that goodness, including the room when the back seats are folded down, one must do so from the back seat first. A small inconvenience, but one that could have been better thought through. Another small inconvenience, no hooks for clothing or laundry in the back seat ceiling…silly overlook in my opinion.
Finally, one comment on the Energy Consumption screen. As seen in the picture below, the left hand axis represents the watts/mi usage, while the line represents the remaining range based on driving at that instant (which is different than rated range). Problem is, naturally, if one sees a line go higher, the assumption is more range – not so, because higher watts/mi used on the left axis means less range. So users must get used to the fact that when the instant read is BELOW the solid horizontal range line, that means remaining range is HIGHER than rated range, and vica versa , and if the dotted horizontal average line (in this case your average expected remaining range based upon the last 15 miles), is ABOVE the solid horizontal rated range line, that means you expected to get LESS than the rated range reading on your driver display – an odd quirk, but one that can be overcome.
The Cold
The weather, cold weather in particular, could be the Achilles heal of this car, although I’m told Tesla is working on it. Rated range is calculated based not only on driving habits but also on the battery itself. If the battery is cold, and all batteries, in order to function ‘optimally’ must be kept within an ideal temperature range, the rated range is reduced by the amount of energy the car requires to heat up the battery to within ideal temperature range. The impact to the battery has been mixed. On a cold, 26-degree day, I saw the car lose as much as 7 miles/hour in rated range from just sitting there, unplugged, while on other, more recent days its only lost 1-2 miles/hour of rated range. One Tesla rep from the Owner Experience line answered upon my asking, that leaving the car at JFK Airport, during the cold season, for even up to 24 hours, going on a trip and returning could leave you with a dead car. Yes, there are ‘safety measures’ the car goes into when the battery gets low, but the rep ‘did not recommend’ leaving the car at the airport for even 48 hours during winter. He said the company is working on this, alluding to it being a calculation error rather than a functional one, but in the end, he didn’t recommend leaving the car outside, not plugged in, for any extended period of time. On another day, I called the Owner Experience line again, asking the same question. This time, a helpful woman who owned an S in Colorado said just the opposite, also based on her personal experience and noted how many Roadster customers have left their cars unplugged ‘for weeks at a time’ without issue, although I failed to clarify if this was in cold weather. I’ll certainly keep an eye on this and report back in an update.
Summary
The Model S is a blast to drive, and is far head of the pack in terms of overall technology. While range is more than adequate for a daily use car, and even some longer drives (plus the Supercharger network that is free of charge to all 85Kw and 60Kw owners who purchase the twin charger add-on, Correction, free supercharging is available to all owners with an 85 kWh battery and those 60 kWh battery owners that purchase the seperate supercharging upgrade), range anxiety is limited, although not completely removed because more planning for long trips is required than with a standard gas car. No question its a game changer. But its not perfect, and while the absent technology and other creature comforts are generally easy to incorporate going forward, the cold weather battery issue needs to be addressed, and quickly, if Tesla is going to conquer the gas powered market. I’ll report back in six months or so after I’ve had the chance to drive the car more, and update my impressions.
The available batteries for the Model S are 40kWh, 60kWh, and 85kWh.
yep, forgot the H at the end…corrected…
So the delivery experience is broken because the car didn’t come with a full tank and because the person delivering the car to your home didn’t immediately pick up your call while driving? You consider that enough to call the process “broken”??? Man, I thought I was picky, but I’m glad I’m not selling you anything.
Herby,
Thanks for the read. You apparently failed to miss all the other miscommunication in the process, including importantly the car not having been inspected, as well as the car not being registered properly. I am completely open to criticism of the review, but when doing so, let’s not conveniently leave out all the fact, shall we? Thanks.
My P85 was also delivered less full which I thought kind of odd.
I think even Tesla would admit they are working to improve the delivery process, and communication could certainly improve. We all want that. But you ordered a popular car, Tesla is understaffed, and they are working flat out to get people cars. Complaining that your car was 50 minutes late and was only charged 75% of the way sounds a bit whiny to me. Certainly far from the “clusterf–k” you describe. I know Delivery Specialists that are living away from home for weeks on end and sites that have pushed out 12 cars in a day. Even with your communication issues, I’d still wager the overall ordering and delivery process was better than 95% of the typical dealer interactions people have.
Further, I don’t live in New York, but I would be surprised if it were illegal there to sell a car that wasn’t inspected. Otherwise it would be impossible to buy kit cars and non-working project cars. Most new car dealers inspect the cars. In Texas where I live dealers can even provide 2 year inspections for new vehicles. However, because Tesla isn’t a dealer in Texas, they aren’t even legally ALLOWED to inspect the cars, and the inspection is on the buyer. Inspection is no big deal for electric cars, as you found out. Not sure why it took you two hours to find a place–they are on every other corner where I live–but when you did, I’m guessing it took you 10 minutes and $10? And you are fortunate Tesla can register the car for you in New York–we have to do that ourselves as well.
Tesla is a small company learning to deal with 50 different State regulations plus DC, and even county by county differences by State. Add 10 Provinces. Add European regulations. You can imagine how difficult it has been. They are clearly still in ramp up mode and will no doubt get better over time.
Last, you ordered a non-standard NEMA 6-50 adapter. You should have received it, no question, but since it isn’t on the standard list of adapters you are supposed to get with the car, I can see how someone in a hurry might have forgotten to bring one. Even so, I think you saw a bit of that Tesla customer service first hand when a guy drove you out the adapter you needed. A lesser company might have said “hey, we’ll overnight it to you, and you can charge at 110v for the day until then.” But they didn’t do that, they drove to you and made it right.
Glad you like the car!
Stephen. Thanks for the read. Couple things:
1) interesting how you say you don’t live in New York yet say you’d be surprised if its illegal to deliver a car without proper registration or inspection. Fact is it is illegal, and tesla reps admitted as such. You also left those two things out when referring to my non clusterf delivery. Kit and project cars fall under a different regulations and can be sold in New York State without being pre registered or inspected.
2) do you own the car? If you do, you would know that a) nema 6-50 is actually a standard plug and 2) given the high powered wall connector isnt yet available its the plug both Tesla and Solar City ADVISE clients (and told me both over phone and email – which I still have- and by email) to install.
Look people I’m completely open to criticism of the review, i posted it publicly after all, however please review ALL my quibbles as my review is on the experience in its ENTIRETY and also make sure you have all the info okay? Tha la :).
Yes, I own the car, and have had mine since last October. I didn’t say the NEMA 6-50 isn’t a standard plug (obviously the number quoted is the standard), only that the NEMA 6-50 doesn’t come standard with the Model S. The standard adapters that come in the Model S pack is the NEMA 14-50 (which most owners used to charge), the J1772, and the 110v.
I’m well aware of the Tesla suggestion for using the NEMA 6-50 as a temporarily solution if you ordered the HPWC. As I said, you should have gotten it if you ordered it, but you seemed to ignore that part of my comment, and at any rate Tesla came through for you by delivering it later that day.
Regarding inspection before registration, my point is, it makes no sense. Which wouldn’t be the first government regulation to not make sense, but it would make it difficult to register a non-working car. And a Tesla delivery specialist is not a lawyer, and might also be in “the customer is always right” mode, so I don’t doubt they might agree with you. But I quickly read through the New York State vehicle inspection web site and of the items they ask you to bring, proof of current inspection does not appear to be one of them:
http://www.dmv.ny.gov/register.htm
You live there, so you could certainly be right, but that isn’t evident from the New York DMV web site.
Ah Stephen…this will be my last response to you here, and at the Tesla Forums:
1. You said I ‘ordered’ a non-standard connector, I did no such thing. I called Tesla a month before delivery, and asked, ‘What should I install?” They said, “A nema 6-50”. I have the emails to back that up if you like. I didn’t order anything, I simply did what I was told to do, and according to the email I have, the Nema 6-50 adapter was supposed to come with my car. As such I didn’t ignore anything in your response, your response was a mischaracterization of the truth.
2. You start your first comment by characterizing me as ‘whiny’, yet there are numerous posts on the Tesla forums about similar delivery results. The fact is I paid a great deal for a car, and by Tesla was led to believe the sales and delivery process would be smooth and efficient. It clearly wasn’t.
3. In regards to inspection, oh Stephen, (and i use this sarcasm purely as a result of you feeling the need to characterize me as ‘whiny’), a little more searching, actually about 10 seconds in my case would have brought you here, http://www.dmv.ny.gov/vehsafe.htm, where in the very first question, the answer contains the following:
“If you buy a vehicle from a NYS dealer, the dealer must have the vehicle inspected. The inspection must occur within 30 days of the date of sale and prior to delivery.” Tesla Motors is a registered NYS dealer. So no, the very kind Tesla rep wasn’t just playing ‘customer is always right’, its legal requirement, as I correctly, and factually stated’. Anything else?
I stand corrected about the inspection issue. I read that, but was unaware Tesla was considered a Dealer in New York State because they were unable to achieve that in Texas and a number of other states. That should make Tesla ownership in New York a lot easier. Tesla didn’t do this in your case, but if they had called me and said “we are sorry but didn’t have a chance to inspect the car yet, would you still want it today, or do you want to postpone delivery until we can?” I would have still taken it.
I stand by my point about the connectors as I was just trying to explain to you why they might have forgotten it (since it isn’t one of the three adapters that comes in the standard pack with the car). As I said, you should have gotten one as part of the HPWC process, but was only explaining why they might have forgotten it. At any rate, Tesla immediately made it right.
I also apologize for calling you whiny–I was reacting to you calling the current process a ‘clusterf–k’ and to me, your overall experience as described does not rise to that. On the forum @tsx_5 used the word “melodramatic” and that is a lot closer to how I feel about it. I also had a few issues, but I primarily worked through Tesla Ownership to address them rather than the forums or blogs (more my style), but I support your right to complain how you want. Regardless, my experience is that any delivery related issues will fade rapidly as you continue to enjoy the car.
One small caveat about the inspection requirement:
While Tesla Motors may have a NY State dealer’s license, when you reserve your Model S on-line as is typical with Tesla Motors, the transaction is actually taking place in California and the “dealer” you are purchasing from is the Tesla “dealership” in California. So Tesla Motors is technically not obligated to have the car inspected prior to delivering it to you, because they are an out of state “dealer.” This is also true, by the way, if you reserve the car inside one of the Telsa Showrooms and “Galleries” – the reservation “paperwork” is done online, and the transaction is technically done through the “dealership” in California. I know a number of States and local counties have taken issue with this side-stepping of the rules, but I don’t believe NY State is one of them.
Here is a link to the article that explains better than I how this is done:
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/tesla-plans-short-circuit-car-dealers-194619627.html
“Shoppers who walk into a Tesla store to buy a car are escorted to the company’s website to fill out forms, a task Blankenship estimates a prepared buyer can accomplish in half an hour. Once the factory builds their car, Tesla will deliver the car to their home, or they can pick it up at the factory in Fremont, Calif. By communicating with the factory, the transaction legally takes place in California — letting Tesla avoid the purview of other state’s restrictions.”
I live in NYC and bought my Chevy Volt in June 2012 from Englewood, NJ just over the George Washington Bridge. I was told I had 2 weeks to get the car inspected, which I did a day or two after a drove it off the lot.
CMM3,
Thank you for the detailed response, unfortunately, you are wholly incorrect, and I have the paperwork to prove it (you can also call Tesla and they will tell you that in fact, your response is incorrect).
In NY, this clause apparently did not hold up, and further more, my paperwork says that I purchased the car from “Tesla Motor New York LLC, White Plains NY”.
Thanks for the read.
The reason you you 2 weeks is because you did not purchase the car in the state in which you live, and the seller did not sell to the car to a person living in state, had you bought the car in NY, it would have had to have been inspected prior to purchase.
Oh, and technically you only had 10 days, not two weeks to get the inspection, as per the answer to the first question on the same link I provided to Stephen above: http://www.dmv.ny.gov/vehsafe.htm
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