Dear Mr. Musk, Mr. Blankenship (GeorgeB), and all of Tesla,
I'm writing this as a new post with the knowledge that Tesla reads this forum, and in hopes that it doesn't get buried among the fray.
The vast majority of your early adopters, reservation holders, and existing customers love you. They love the customer service, they love the cars, and more importantly, they love that you are helping to transform the future of what 21st century transportation will look like. As Model S P1577, I'm not yet a Tesla customer. But I want to be one. And I want to convince many of my ICE-driving friends to become Tesla customers too--and to get off of oil forever. I am a big Tesla cheerleader--I've been to Tesla stores in all four corners of the U.S.--and I'm not even a customer yet. But...
This is plea for communication. As you're most likely seeing, reservation holders have...well...reservations...about the current design state of some areas of the Model S. I'm not going to complain about cupholders, console storage, or lights here. Every customer has their own priorities; some view some issues as deal-breakers, whereas others see them as completely unimportant. But every single reservation holder--and indeed most people on TeslaMotorsClub.com--have put substantial deposits down for the Model S. They have demonstrated faith in an emerging automotive company--undoubtedly in a high risk industry for startups--because they believe. Many of us have put large deposits down years before alphas even hit the streets. Many are stockholders as well.
Up until this point Tesla has been very open with its customers regarding Model S development relative to other auto manufacturers, and I think all of the early adopters appreciate that. It sets Tesla apart from the other car companies--and it's being noticed by your customers. But as you have surely seen, a lack in details so close to production has been causing a large amount of concern and anxiety among those of us who must lock in their orders soon (or have already locked them in). It looks as though several reservations have been cancelled recently. Every reservation holder wants Tesla to succeed, but there has been a lot of trepidation among even us die-hard Tesla customers.
I think I speak for many (all?) reservation holders that we need more information. A firehose. At this point, so close to production, information needs to be streaming to us. The manufacturing delays announced by Elon, while disappointing for those of us who are waiting to get our cars, are completely understandable. I can speak for most when I say that a reasonable delay in order to ensure high quality, fit, and finish is welcome. But there have been a lot of rumored or expected features and changes to the Model S, and there has been neither official confirmation nor official denial from Tesla. I think we deserve better than that.
My last car was a Saturn SL1. Barely over 100 HP. I bought it for $14,500 in 2000 when I was a sophomore in college, and I finally sold it after 12 years of use. I'm currently debating between the P85 and Performance S, but the reality is that in order to spend that kind of money on a car, I need to make an informed decision--not one cloaked in what-ifs and unknowns.
Many of us (myself included) are asking for (at least) tweaks to the interior...but probably what people want most is more communication about the car for which we have paid or are about to pay a lot of money.
You don't have to go far on this site to find the questions to which we're seeking official answers (preferably from an executive source):
-What's the status on the console redesign? What are the plans?
-Can you confirm choices about the rear/vanity lights?
-What about voice recognition (email dictation/voice control)?
-What about powered retractable side mirrors?
-Vehicle connectivity costs?
-Has the pano screen been scrapped? Nobody's seen it yet. (I think most think it's not necessary).
-What about the size of the plastic bar cover at the center of the pano roof?
-Cupholder decisions?
-Plans to support video playback (while parked)?
-Front license plate solution?
-What expected improvements will be offered as retrofits to early customers?
There are more--and again this site is probably the best to find our questions.
What we need are not short marketing quips or a brief phrase on the website that may or may not disappear or change in the future. We want to know:
-Where is the car now?
-Where is it going?
-When is it expected to get there?
Even if it's "we're exploring options and expect to have a solution within about a month", that will satisfy most of the concern. But lately the silence has honestly been deafening.
I offer these requests for increased communication with the greatest respect and admiration for what Tesla's done and is doing--but we need a firehose of information now. We're taking a chance on Tesla's success, and I respectfully offer the view that Tesla at least owes us that much.
Thank you,
Todd Burch
P1577
I'm writing this as a new post with the knowledge that Tesla reads this forum, and in hopes that it doesn't get buried among the fray.
The vast majority of your early adopters, reservation holders, and existing customers love you. They love the customer service, they love the cars, and more importantly, they love that you are helping to transform the future of what 21st century transportation will look like. As Model S P1577, I'm not yet a Tesla customer. But I want to be one. And I want to convince many of my ICE-driving friends to become Tesla customers too--and to get off of oil forever. I am a big Tesla cheerleader--I've been to Tesla stores in all four corners of the U.S.--and I'm not even a customer yet. But...
This is plea for communication. As you're most likely seeing, reservation holders have...well...reservations...about the current design state of some areas of the Model S. I'm not going to complain about cupholders, console storage, or lights here. Every customer has their own priorities; some view some issues as deal-breakers, whereas others see them as completely unimportant. But every single reservation holder--and indeed most people on TeslaMotorsClub.com--have put substantial deposits down for the Model S. They have demonstrated faith in an emerging automotive company--undoubtedly in a high risk industry for startups--because they believe. Many of us have put large deposits down years before alphas even hit the streets. Many are stockholders as well.
Up until this point Tesla has been very open with its customers regarding Model S development relative to other auto manufacturers, and I think all of the early adopters appreciate that. It sets Tesla apart from the other car companies--and it's being noticed by your customers. But as you have surely seen, a lack in details so close to production has been causing a large amount of concern and anxiety among those of us who must lock in their orders soon (or have already locked them in). It looks as though several reservations have been cancelled recently. Every reservation holder wants Tesla to succeed, but there has been a lot of trepidation among even us die-hard Tesla customers.
I think I speak for many (all?) reservation holders that we need more information. A firehose. At this point, so close to production, information needs to be streaming to us. The manufacturing delays announced by Elon, while disappointing for those of us who are waiting to get our cars, are completely understandable. I can speak for most when I say that a reasonable delay in order to ensure high quality, fit, and finish is welcome. But there have been a lot of rumored or expected features and changes to the Model S, and there has been neither official confirmation nor official denial from Tesla. I think we deserve better than that.
My last car was a Saturn SL1. Barely over 100 HP. I bought it for $14,500 in 2000 when I was a sophomore in college, and I finally sold it after 12 years of use. I'm currently debating between the P85 and Performance S, but the reality is that in order to spend that kind of money on a car, I need to make an informed decision--not one cloaked in what-ifs and unknowns.
Many of us (myself included) are asking for (at least) tweaks to the interior...but probably what people want most is more communication about the car for which we have paid or are about to pay a lot of money.
You don't have to go far on this site to find the questions to which we're seeking official answers (preferably from an executive source):
-What's the status on the console redesign? What are the plans?
-Can you confirm choices about the rear/vanity lights?
-What about voice recognition (email dictation/voice control)?
-What about powered retractable side mirrors?
-Vehicle connectivity costs?
-Has the pano screen been scrapped? Nobody's seen it yet. (I think most think it's not necessary).
-What about the size of the plastic bar cover at the center of the pano roof?
-Cupholder decisions?
-Plans to support video playback (while parked)?
-Front license plate solution?
-What expected improvements will be offered as retrofits to early customers?
There are more--and again this site is probably the best to find our questions.
What we need are not short marketing quips or a brief phrase on the website that may or may not disappear or change in the future. We want to know:
-Where is the car now?
-Where is it going?
-When is it expected to get there?
Even if it's "we're exploring options and expect to have a solution within about a month", that will satisfy most of the concern. But lately the silence has honestly been deafening.
I offer these requests for increased communication with the greatest respect and admiration for what Tesla's done and is doing--but we need a firehose of information now. We're taking a chance on Tesla's success, and I respectfully offer the view that Tesla at least owes us that much.
Thank you,
Todd Burch
P1577
