So it's now day 3 and 500kms with my Model S in Hong Kong and here are some thoughts for those searching this forum to see if they should buy a Tesla.
Quick answer: YES. There's really a Model S for any budget from the 70 to P90D. I think some people go "wah" when they go to the showroom and see the P85D's price tag and go "but I thought the media were saying you can get one for under 800k???".
Interesting/critical things for my experience so far:
- Coming from a Japanese car with the signal control on the right stalk, I've already accidentally shifted the car into neutral 4 times when I was trying to make a right turn signal... the gear selector reacts fast enough so that I put it back into D as soon as I realized I wasn't signaling. A bit unnerving but I can't blame the car for that; it's me who has to adjust to the layout I guess. So if you're coming from a Japanese or car with right stalk as turn signal controls, just mentally adjust yourself as much as possible before driving.
- Power; everything the youtube videos demonstrated are true. Any suspicion that I had those were paid actors by Tesla was laid to rest when I put it into Insane and secured my son in his Recaro child seat. My wife is starting to get pissed off at me for doing it without telling her from every stop light, every toll booth LOL
- All that power means the tires gets chewed up. The funny thing is when I washed it, I noticed the dust on the wheels weren't the usual brake dust but they were tire dust! Same thing on the back of my car; I have the Pearl White and the tire dust really shows....
- About brakes, the regen braking takes a day or so to get used to for me. But I'm loving the economy of almost never using the brakes until he last few feet at the traffic lights. Also means the wheels are relatively clean from brake dust as mentioned in the last point.
- Charging; what every potential owner like me was wondering. So far I have visited:
- Science Park: Friday 3pm (no line up), Saturday 10pm (I took the last spot and there was 1 Tesla behind me who had to wait 5 minutes for someone to leave), Monday 6:45am (no line up)
- Cyberport: Friday 8pm (I was next in line with another Tesla behind me, I waited 3 minutes before heading off to Repulse Bay The Pulse; I suspect a spot would have opened up within 10minutes)
- The Pulse Repulse Bay: Friday 8:30pm (no line up), Sunday 8:15am (no line up)
Mind you I always had at least 200km of range (I know I know, not good for charging etiquette but there wasn't any line ups), and there's always the government/private EV chargers at other parking lots. So really charging, is NOT an issue for me at all.
- The A pillars on the car is really thick... I've leaned into the car twice and hit my head twice already LOL
- The sun can get pretty hot from the big front windscreen and windows. I will be doing tinting on it soon.
- Remote app is interesting; the AC control is nice and I bet would be nicer if the weather was hotter
- 21" staggered wheels; completely unexpected in how well it rides! If it was just comfort alone, I wouldn't imagine I would NEED to change out to 20 or 19" with higher profile tires.
Quick answer: YES. There's really a Model S for any budget from the 70 to P90D. I think some people go "wah" when they go to the showroom and see the P85D's price tag and go "but I thought the media were saying you can get one for under 800k???".
Interesting/critical things for my experience so far:
- Coming from a Japanese car with the signal control on the right stalk, I've already accidentally shifted the car into neutral 4 times when I was trying to make a right turn signal... the gear selector reacts fast enough so that I put it back into D as soon as I realized I wasn't signaling. A bit unnerving but I can't blame the car for that; it's me who has to adjust to the layout I guess. So if you're coming from a Japanese or car with right stalk as turn signal controls, just mentally adjust yourself as much as possible before driving.
- Power; everything the youtube videos demonstrated are true. Any suspicion that I had those were paid actors by Tesla was laid to rest when I put it into Insane and secured my son in his Recaro child seat. My wife is starting to get pissed off at me for doing it without telling her from every stop light, every toll booth LOL
- All that power means the tires gets chewed up. The funny thing is when I washed it, I noticed the dust on the wheels weren't the usual brake dust but they were tire dust! Same thing on the back of my car; I have the Pearl White and the tire dust really shows....
- About brakes, the regen braking takes a day or so to get used to for me. But I'm loving the economy of almost never using the brakes until he last few feet at the traffic lights. Also means the wheels are relatively clean from brake dust as mentioned in the last point.
- Charging; what every potential owner like me was wondering. So far I have visited:
- Science Park: Friday 3pm (no line up), Saturday 10pm (I took the last spot and there was 1 Tesla behind me who had to wait 5 minutes for someone to leave), Monday 6:45am (no line up)
- Cyberport: Friday 8pm (I was next in line with another Tesla behind me, I waited 3 minutes before heading off to Repulse Bay The Pulse; I suspect a spot would have opened up within 10minutes)
- The Pulse Repulse Bay: Friday 8:30pm (no line up), Sunday 8:15am (no line up)
Mind you I always had at least 200km of range (I know I know, not good for charging etiquette but there wasn't any line ups), and there's always the government/private EV chargers at other parking lots. So really charging, is NOT an issue for me at all.
- The A pillars on the car is really thick... I've leaned into the car twice and hit my head twice already LOL
- The sun can get pretty hot from the big front windscreen and windows. I will be doing tinting on it soon.
- Remote app is interesting; the AC control is nice and I bet would be nicer if the weather was hotter
- 21" staggered wheels; completely unexpected in how well it rides! If it was just comfort alone, I wouldn't imagine I would NEED to change out to 20 or 19" with higher profile tires.
