Apart from a few 10-15 minute test drives in the past, I have had virtually no experience with older Teslas. That changed this week when my 2017 Model S went into the shop for an extended period of time - 4 days (and no ETA yet).
Thought I'd quickly document my observations from 4+ days in this older Model S they gave me as a loaner vs my regular ride. These are obviously my opinions only and for those that have older and newer Tesla's, your experiences will likely be different.
My Car - 2017 75D
May 2017 Model S 75KwH battery. Dual Motor/AWD. Refreshed front end. AWD. All glass roof. Premium Package. White "Vegan Leather" interior on Tesla Premium seats. Standard charger. Air Suspension. EAP 2.0. Standard Audio. 19" Slipsteam wheels. Pearl White. Alcantara on dash and headliner. Carbon fiber trim. 11K miles.
Loaner - 2014 85
March 2014. 85 KwH battery. RWD. Nosecone front end. Panoramic sun roof. Black leather on 1st gen seats. Dual chargers (80A). Spring/coil suspension. No AP features. Premium Audio. 19" base (5-spoke) wheels. Pearl White. Fabric headliner. Dark open pore wood trim. 36K miles.
Interior
So many differences. Yes, overall and at first glance they are similar. Giant screen in the middle. Similar steering wheels, dash boards and door panel design, etc. Probably the biggest obvious difference (besides interior color) is that my car has a full console while the loaner has the "yacht floor". Which console/floor is better? Hmmm...tough call. My wife likes the yacht floor as it's about the only car that has a good place to put her handbag that isn't a footwell. I'd give the slight edge to the console version...but barely because the Tesla console isn't that practical and has quite a bit of 'wasted' space.
Switchgear...huge difference (to me). 2014 switches like those controlling the power seats and even the switches on the steering wheel (like the next/previous track buttons) seem much lower quality. They feel just that bit cheaper and flimsier compared to the 2017 vintage. The shifter feels a bit odd too in the 2014. And looks a bit spindly as well. That said, I like the slightly more gratifying "click" the 2014 makes when you shift it. But apart from the more robust "click" of the shifter, the 2017 switchgear and buttons seem higher quality for sure.
Turn signal on the bottom (2014) vs the top (2017). I distincly remember when I took a test drive years ago that I didn't like the shifter on the bottom of the column. Seemed very odd and atypical. Was happy when I learned Tesla switched to the "normal" top position like 95% of all cars out there. Having driven the "bottom shifter" for some days now...I have to say, it's not really a big deal. After an hour or so I got used to it. I went from being a bottom shifter hater to proclaiming it a tie - overall not really better or worse. Just different.
I like the 2017 Alcantara strip on the dash. Compared to the all-plastic dash of the 2014, my car has a nicer look and feel (IMO). However, I don't have the same allegiance to the Alcantara on the headliner of my 2017. I find the fabric headliner on the 2014 (and now on the 2018s from what I understand? Back to the future!) perfectly adequate. Honestly I feel the Alcantara headliner is a bit distracting (to me) while the fabric headliner doesn't call attention to itself.
Seats...I do not like the "flat" first gen seats. They are not supportive at all. And very wide. But I can imagine that some people would prefer them. Amazingly the leather in this 4 year old Tesla looks great! No wrinkles like you often see on the older leather cars. But though the leather looks great, I give the nod to my "vegan leather" and "Tesla Premium" seats in both looks and comfort.
The open pore wood on the loaner is truly open pore! That wood is downright rough! But it is clearly real wood - not the highly varnished plasticized wood like on BMWs. I prefer the carbon fiber, but obviously that's completely subjective.
I was not aware until now that the binnacle display in the older Tesla's still had the same center readout with a digital version of an analog speedometer and an "energy tach" on the other side. With the rest of the UI the same as with the 2017, I find it odd that Tesla didn't upgrade the center speed graphic. To me it looks dated.
The 2014 is definitely a bit noisier. Not compared to an ICE of course, but louder than my 2017 for sure. More wind noise. More tire noise. And I can hear the motor more (despite the fact that the 2014 has only the rear one). So while it is still quiet, I can tell Tesla improved on the sound deadener (or something) over the years to cut down the noise.
My 2017 has rear cup holders and rear USB ports.
Finally, the loaner has the premium sound while my regular ride has the base sound system. To be perfectly honestly, I was expecting more of a difference. Maybe I have a tin ear. Maybe didn't play the "right" music yet. I think the premium sound in the 2014 sounded a little bit better though.
Driving
Quite different drives. RWD vs AWD...with some power in corners, I can make the RWD 2014 step out a bit if I want to. Sometimes that can be fun, I get it. But I like the way the AWD seems almost unflappable. Flat corning at speed and always confidence-inspiring. Coming from RWD BMWs (and others), the RWD Model S was familiar and also well composed. But compared to the 2017 AWD/Dual-motor, I'm going to say I prefer the handling of the AWD.
Another difference is my car has air suspension while the loaner has springs. Springs definitely seem sportier. I'd give the overall nod to the springs. I got air suspension because of my weird driveway...but if I had a normal driveway, I think I would have opted for coils/springs (I had the option at the time). Springs seem more fun and less "billowy" than the air suspension.
Surprised to find that the 2014 doesn't have Hill control. I use Hill control all the time (virtually every single time I fully stop at a light/sign). Don't know if that was an option in 2014 that my loaner just didn't have or if it wasn't even an option? Seems like this is something that Tesla could have (maybe?) implemented as a software feature. But I definitely miss this feature.
No AutoPilot in the 2014. Obviously this was pre-AP1. I use it quite a lot, so I miss this. I don't think the 2014 has auto dimming headlights (didn't notice it anyhow). And not sure about rain sensing wipers - when it rained, I had to toggle the wipers myself. But maybe it had them and they just weren't set to the right position? Will check it out next time I use them if it rains again before I return the loaner.
Finally, acceleration. My 2017 is "uncorked" and definitely feels faster, especially at a full charge from a stop. But the 2014 still accelerates well. It just doesn't feel as "beast" as my uncorked 75D does. I was hoping my loaner would be a "P" car that would be a notch higher on the beast scale than my own...but unfortunately not this loaner. Maybe next time!
Other
Charging - the loaner has dual chargers and charging at home on the HPWC at 72AMPS (I have a 90A circuit) is kind of cool. I don't need it, but it's cool.
Haven't taken loaner on any long trips (though I may this weekend if I still have it), so I don't know about how a 4-year old 85KwH pack compares to my 75KwH pack in real world mileage. I get about 255 miles on a full charge in the 75D. Does the 85 get 260-270 miles? Not sure.
It was reinforced to me that I made a good decision not getting the panoramic roof. I opened it on the loaner and it worked fine. But I did it just to do it. I never (well, extremely rarely) used sunroofs in my previous cars that had them. And while the Model S sunroof is larger, I am pretty sure I would not use it, either. For those that love sunroofs, the Tesla's panoramic one is cool indeed. But not for me. I love the all-glass roof I got (even though I had to pay extra for it before it became standard /"free"a few weeks after I took delivery!).
I got the 2018.14, the new maps and the semi-usable web browser during the time I've had the loaner. Very cool to see a 4 year old car still getting new features! OTA updates rule!
Summary
Any Tesla is a great car. All are fun to drive. OTA software updates are a huge advantage to help keep older cars "fresh" with new features and capabilities.
There are so many small things that have been iteratively improved though through the years. Interior parts quality seem the most obvious to me. You can sense the suppliers are simply better now than they were 4 years ago. And Tesla's production is probably a lot more dialed in. I wish Tesla would reintroduce the coil suspension. Maybe even the "plus" suspension. At least as an option.
I like the loaner...but looking forward to getting my own car back! Now, if they had given me a P100D instead...
Thought I'd quickly document my observations from 4+ days in this older Model S they gave me as a loaner vs my regular ride. These are obviously my opinions only and for those that have older and newer Tesla's, your experiences will likely be different.
My Car - 2017 75D
May 2017 Model S 75KwH battery. Dual Motor/AWD. Refreshed front end. AWD. All glass roof. Premium Package. White "Vegan Leather" interior on Tesla Premium seats. Standard charger. Air Suspension. EAP 2.0. Standard Audio. 19" Slipsteam wheels. Pearl White. Alcantara on dash and headliner. Carbon fiber trim. 11K miles.
Loaner - 2014 85
March 2014. 85 KwH battery. RWD. Nosecone front end. Panoramic sun roof. Black leather on 1st gen seats. Dual chargers (80A). Spring/coil suspension. No AP features. Premium Audio. 19" base (5-spoke) wheels. Pearl White. Fabric headliner. Dark open pore wood trim. 36K miles.
Interior
So many differences. Yes, overall and at first glance they are similar. Giant screen in the middle. Similar steering wheels, dash boards and door panel design, etc. Probably the biggest obvious difference (besides interior color) is that my car has a full console while the loaner has the "yacht floor". Which console/floor is better? Hmmm...tough call. My wife likes the yacht floor as it's about the only car that has a good place to put her handbag that isn't a footwell. I'd give the slight edge to the console version...but barely because the Tesla console isn't that practical and has quite a bit of 'wasted' space.
Switchgear...huge difference (to me). 2014 switches like those controlling the power seats and even the switches on the steering wheel (like the next/previous track buttons) seem much lower quality. They feel just that bit cheaper and flimsier compared to the 2017 vintage. The shifter feels a bit odd too in the 2014. And looks a bit spindly as well. That said, I like the slightly more gratifying "click" the 2014 makes when you shift it. But apart from the more robust "click" of the shifter, the 2017 switchgear and buttons seem higher quality for sure.
Turn signal on the bottom (2014) vs the top (2017). I distincly remember when I took a test drive years ago that I didn't like the shifter on the bottom of the column. Seemed very odd and atypical. Was happy when I learned Tesla switched to the "normal" top position like 95% of all cars out there. Having driven the "bottom shifter" for some days now...I have to say, it's not really a big deal. After an hour or so I got used to it. I went from being a bottom shifter hater to proclaiming it a tie - overall not really better or worse. Just different.
I like the 2017 Alcantara strip on the dash. Compared to the all-plastic dash of the 2014, my car has a nicer look and feel (IMO). However, I don't have the same allegiance to the Alcantara on the headliner of my 2017. I find the fabric headliner on the 2014 (and now on the 2018s from what I understand? Back to the future!) perfectly adequate. Honestly I feel the Alcantara headliner is a bit distracting (to me) while the fabric headliner doesn't call attention to itself.
Seats...I do not like the "flat" first gen seats. They are not supportive at all. And very wide. But I can imagine that some people would prefer them. Amazingly the leather in this 4 year old Tesla looks great! No wrinkles like you often see on the older leather cars. But though the leather looks great, I give the nod to my "vegan leather" and "Tesla Premium" seats in both looks and comfort.
The open pore wood on the loaner is truly open pore! That wood is downright rough! But it is clearly real wood - not the highly varnished plasticized wood like on BMWs. I prefer the carbon fiber, but obviously that's completely subjective.
I was not aware until now that the binnacle display in the older Tesla's still had the same center readout with a digital version of an analog speedometer and an "energy tach" on the other side. With the rest of the UI the same as with the 2017, I find it odd that Tesla didn't upgrade the center speed graphic. To me it looks dated.
The 2014 is definitely a bit noisier. Not compared to an ICE of course, but louder than my 2017 for sure. More wind noise. More tire noise. And I can hear the motor more (despite the fact that the 2014 has only the rear one). So while it is still quiet, I can tell Tesla improved on the sound deadener (or something) over the years to cut down the noise.
My 2017 has rear cup holders and rear USB ports.
Finally, the loaner has the premium sound while my regular ride has the base sound system. To be perfectly honestly, I was expecting more of a difference. Maybe I have a tin ear. Maybe didn't play the "right" music yet. I think the premium sound in the 2014 sounded a little bit better though.
Driving
Quite different drives. RWD vs AWD...with some power in corners, I can make the RWD 2014 step out a bit if I want to. Sometimes that can be fun, I get it. But I like the way the AWD seems almost unflappable. Flat corning at speed and always confidence-inspiring. Coming from RWD BMWs (and others), the RWD Model S was familiar and also well composed. But compared to the 2017 AWD/Dual-motor, I'm going to say I prefer the handling of the AWD.
Another difference is my car has air suspension while the loaner has springs. Springs definitely seem sportier. I'd give the overall nod to the springs. I got air suspension because of my weird driveway...but if I had a normal driveway, I think I would have opted for coils/springs (I had the option at the time). Springs seem more fun and less "billowy" than the air suspension.
Surprised to find that the 2014 doesn't have Hill control. I use Hill control all the time (virtually every single time I fully stop at a light/sign). Don't know if that was an option in 2014 that my loaner just didn't have or if it wasn't even an option? Seems like this is something that Tesla could have (maybe?) implemented as a software feature. But I definitely miss this feature.
No AutoPilot in the 2014. Obviously this was pre-AP1. I use it quite a lot, so I miss this. I don't think the 2014 has auto dimming headlights (didn't notice it anyhow). And not sure about rain sensing wipers - when it rained, I had to toggle the wipers myself. But maybe it had them and they just weren't set to the right position? Will check it out next time I use them if it rains again before I return the loaner.
Finally, acceleration. My 2017 is "uncorked" and definitely feels faster, especially at a full charge from a stop. But the 2014 still accelerates well. It just doesn't feel as "beast" as my uncorked 75D does. I was hoping my loaner would be a "P" car that would be a notch higher on the beast scale than my own...but unfortunately not this loaner. Maybe next time!
Other
Charging - the loaner has dual chargers and charging at home on the HPWC at 72AMPS (I have a 90A circuit) is kind of cool. I don't need it, but it's cool.
Haven't taken loaner on any long trips (though I may this weekend if I still have it), so I don't know about how a 4-year old 85KwH pack compares to my 75KwH pack in real world mileage. I get about 255 miles on a full charge in the 75D. Does the 85 get 260-270 miles? Not sure.
It was reinforced to me that I made a good decision not getting the panoramic roof. I opened it on the loaner and it worked fine. But I did it just to do it. I never (well, extremely rarely) used sunroofs in my previous cars that had them. And while the Model S sunroof is larger, I am pretty sure I would not use it, either. For those that love sunroofs, the Tesla's panoramic one is cool indeed. But not for me. I love the all-glass roof I got (even though I had to pay extra for it before it became standard /"free"a few weeks after I took delivery!).
I got the 2018.14, the new maps and the semi-usable web browser during the time I've had the loaner. Very cool to see a 4 year old car still getting new features! OTA updates rule!
Summary
Any Tesla is a great car. All are fun to drive. OTA software updates are a huge advantage to help keep older cars "fresh" with new features and capabilities.
There are so many small things that have been iteratively improved though through the years. Interior parts quality seem the most obvious to me. You can sense the suppliers are simply better now than they were 4 years ago. And Tesla's production is probably a lot more dialed in. I wish Tesla would reintroduce the coil suspension. Maybe even the "plus" suspension. At least as an option.
I like the loaner...but looking forward to getting my own car back! Now, if they had given me a P100D instead...
