Hi,
I took a test drive last week in a 85KWh... I probably don't need to tell you how great a car it is, you already know!
I was contemplating spending somewhere around £40-45K on a BMW 435i Gran Coupe for delivery later in the year until I tested the Tesla Model S. I was totally smitten with the S and ready to place my order when I left but, while I haven't made my mind up completely after the initial excitement the Tesla has its downsides... it is much bigger than I need, in some regards it's quite poorly specced (e.g. no DAB as standard) and there are a quite few unknowns (I won't list them all, but perhaps the biggest is the longer term success of Tesla in the UK). However, if I can work my head around these points, when it comes down to it, the cost is the biggest factor.
So, realistically, I'm looking at a P60. By the time I've given it a coat of metallic paint, the tech pack and enabled supercharger charging (all essential items imo), I'm looking at about £56K... around £11K over my original top end budget.
That, in itself, is not the biggest concern though... my biggest concern is that in buying the 60KWh model, it'll be worth significantly less in a couple of years when I come to sell it... i.e. I'll see greater depreciation compared to a similar spec 85KWh car. I only really read talk of the 85KWh variants, and I read somewhere that the supercharger network in the states is effectively designed to suit 85KWh range, and if you've get a 60KWh battery, you won't get from one supercharger to the next.
So, has anyone ordered a 60KWh car in the UK? If so, what do you make of these points? I can see how if you're retired, have no intention of driving further than say 150 miles in a day, and have every intention of keeping the car indefinitely, the 60KWh makes sense. Also, in that case, why bother with enabling supercharger?
I see from the small print on the designer page that enabling supercharger charging is apparently done in software (something about temporarily enabling supercharger for collection from a service centre). If so, £1800 seems a bit steep to flip a bit in the settings somewhere. I guess you're paying for the lifetime free charging, but some middle ground would not seem unreasonable for those of us who travel long distances fairly infrequently.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Adam.
I took a test drive last week in a 85KWh... I probably don't need to tell you how great a car it is, you already know!
I was contemplating spending somewhere around £40-45K on a BMW 435i Gran Coupe for delivery later in the year until I tested the Tesla Model S. I was totally smitten with the S and ready to place my order when I left but, while I haven't made my mind up completely after the initial excitement the Tesla has its downsides... it is much bigger than I need, in some regards it's quite poorly specced (e.g. no DAB as standard) and there are a quite few unknowns (I won't list them all, but perhaps the biggest is the longer term success of Tesla in the UK). However, if I can work my head around these points, when it comes down to it, the cost is the biggest factor.
So, realistically, I'm looking at a P60. By the time I've given it a coat of metallic paint, the tech pack and enabled supercharger charging (all essential items imo), I'm looking at about £56K... around £11K over my original top end budget.
That, in itself, is not the biggest concern though... my biggest concern is that in buying the 60KWh model, it'll be worth significantly less in a couple of years when I come to sell it... i.e. I'll see greater depreciation compared to a similar spec 85KWh car. I only really read talk of the 85KWh variants, and I read somewhere that the supercharger network in the states is effectively designed to suit 85KWh range, and if you've get a 60KWh battery, you won't get from one supercharger to the next.
So, has anyone ordered a 60KWh car in the UK? If so, what do you make of these points? I can see how if you're retired, have no intention of driving further than say 150 miles in a day, and have every intention of keeping the car indefinitely, the 60KWh makes sense. Also, in that case, why bother with enabling supercharger?
I see from the small print on the designer page that enabling supercharger charging is apparently done in software (something about temporarily enabling supercharger for collection from a service centre). If so, £1800 seems a bit steep to flip a bit in the settings somewhere. I guess you're paying for the lifetime free charging, but some middle ground would not seem unreasonable for those of us who travel long distances fairly infrequently.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Adam.