After more then two years, the wait for my Tesla Model 3 finally ended on June 15 2018. With a solid week of driving behind me, here is my take on the delivery experience, life as an electric car owner, and the road that led to here.
Background:
My introduction to Tesla as a car maker came via an internet news article about the then newly introduced Tesla Roadster back in 2008. While thoroughly impressed with the Roadster's style, speed, range, and proposed environmental impact, news of the upcoming work-in-progress on a family sedan version was too infrequent to maintain any longterm interests, especially as I was living overseas at the time. It wasn't until August of 2015 that I would unintentionally stumble upon a Tesla showroom and the Model S in Santa Monica while on vacation there. I can still remember my son pointing out the Tesla sign with surprised interest, and inviting me to check it out with him. And check it out we did! After playing with a fancy animated presentation, where we could adjust temperatures and our local cost of fuel/energy to estimate yearly savings, a respectfully attractive showroom attendant introduced us to the Model S and all its features before finally seating us in a comfortable and well appointed cockpit. First impressions were so pronounced, that it could easily have left one wondering wether it was the colour of lipstick an attractive women wears, or could this car really be that sexy?
Within a week from the return flight back to Canada, I booked myself for a test flight in the Model S. Ludicrous and insane were no longer frivolous dictionary terms, but were for me now transformed into modes of driving pleasure. I grew up with a love for American pony cars and the quarter-mile. By the time I was introduced to the Model S, I had blossomed into the more refined but demanding driving habits that come with BMW ownership. The Model S was certainly something new, and I found it hard to escape the appeal of its potential. I wanted one.
Delivery:
Although I had received a delivery date more then a week prior to, the delivery would only be confirmed the day before after much frustration and multiple calls with numerous people in both the USA and Canada, as my car was still listed as being in transit. I arrived about 30 minutes early, as instructed, for my scheduled delivery appointment at 18:00 to organize paper work and the pickup of my Tesla wall-charger. While the parts and service department of the Montreal centre looked as if it was meant to be organized with row after row of shelving units, stacks of opened shipping cartons piled one on top of the other like traffic pylons for the constant stream of human traffic that passed to and fro, gave it a more hectic and inundated with work sort of feeling. No time for small chat was the message being sent. Even though, the parts department personnel, including the sales representative that introduced us, actually seemed genuinely interested in meeting me, and above all, they seemed to also have a genuine interest in being helpful. With the Tesla wall charger purchase complete, I was taken to a reception area where I was offered an assortment of cold beverages and gourmet coffees while being entertained by a large screen display of the global reduction in the billions of gallons of gasoline made possible by using Tesla cars. There were quite a few small groups of people milling around the showroom that looked like they were either waiting for delivery, or shopping for a car. I waited for 2 Model X's, 1 Model S, and 3 Model 3's to pass before it was finally my turn. The delivery itself took no more then 15 minutes, and after setting up my phone as a key and glancing over the interior functions of the car, the delivery specialist asked if I had any other questions in a polite, but I have work to do sort of way, before sending me on my way. It wasn't more then 10 minutes down the road that I realized the radio wasn't working when I circled back to enquire at the sales reception. After an additional 10 demonstration of the car that started with a quick software reboot, I was back on the road and heading home in my new Model 3. No real complaints so far.
The car:
OMG the car! In terms of panel gaps, paint, fit and finish,... the car was flawless. Tesla has definitely delivered on promises made. I was so pleased with the car inside and out, and unless you are coming from a BMW M3, the base version of the Model 3 is still a whole lot of fun to drive down a straight, or in a curve. The software is so intuitive there is literally nothing to say... it just makes sense while at the same time, it just works. The seats are comfortable enough to do a full days worth of driving, several days in a row, and the ergonomic layout of the cabin is finely tuned for both the driver and passengers. The glass roof is simply gorgeous, although the car does heat up with black interior in direct sunlight. Recommend some type of UV protection. The sound system delivers a very good dynamic range, and the touch screen compliments this with a nice selection of streamed music. The only real negative that I can offer so far is that there is a little bit more road noise finding its way into the cabin, but this is so trivial that it is almost not even worth mentioning. Overall, I am very happy to report that while buying a car sight unseen over the internet was somewhat of a nerve racking experience, it has turned out to be a great experience as I have no regrets. To Elon, I would like to say thank you for sharing such vision and to Tesla for seeing it through. To BMW, I would like to say for fcuk saits, what is taking you so long? An important segment of the 3-series community is waiting for an all electric M3 that can turn 0-to-60 in 3 seconds with a range of 400 miles.
Background:
My introduction to Tesla as a car maker came via an internet news article about the then newly introduced Tesla Roadster back in 2008. While thoroughly impressed with the Roadster's style, speed, range, and proposed environmental impact, news of the upcoming work-in-progress on a family sedan version was too infrequent to maintain any longterm interests, especially as I was living overseas at the time. It wasn't until August of 2015 that I would unintentionally stumble upon a Tesla showroom and the Model S in Santa Monica while on vacation there. I can still remember my son pointing out the Tesla sign with surprised interest, and inviting me to check it out with him. And check it out we did! After playing with a fancy animated presentation, where we could adjust temperatures and our local cost of fuel/energy to estimate yearly savings, a respectfully attractive showroom attendant introduced us to the Model S and all its features before finally seating us in a comfortable and well appointed cockpit. First impressions were so pronounced, that it could easily have left one wondering wether it was the colour of lipstick an attractive women wears, or could this car really be that sexy?
Within a week from the return flight back to Canada, I booked myself for a test flight in the Model S. Ludicrous and insane were no longer frivolous dictionary terms, but were for me now transformed into modes of driving pleasure. I grew up with a love for American pony cars and the quarter-mile. By the time I was introduced to the Model S, I had blossomed into the more refined but demanding driving habits that come with BMW ownership. The Model S was certainly something new, and I found it hard to escape the appeal of its potential. I wanted one.
Delivery:
Although I had received a delivery date more then a week prior to, the delivery would only be confirmed the day before after much frustration and multiple calls with numerous people in both the USA and Canada, as my car was still listed as being in transit. I arrived about 30 minutes early, as instructed, for my scheduled delivery appointment at 18:00 to organize paper work and the pickup of my Tesla wall-charger. While the parts and service department of the Montreal centre looked as if it was meant to be organized with row after row of shelving units, stacks of opened shipping cartons piled one on top of the other like traffic pylons for the constant stream of human traffic that passed to and fro, gave it a more hectic and inundated with work sort of feeling. No time for small chat was the message being sent. Even though, the parts department personnel, including the sales representative that introduced us, actually seemed genuinely interested in meeting me, and above all, they seemed to also have a genuine interest in being helpful. With the Tesla wall charger purchase complete, I was taken to a reception area where I was offered an assortment of cold beverages and gourmet coffees while being entertained by a large screen display of the global reduction in the billions of gallons of gasoline made possible by using Tesla cars. There were quite a few small groups of people milling around the showroom that looked like they were either waiting for delivery, or shopping for a car. I waited for 2 Model X's, 1 Model S, and 3 Model 3's to pass before it was finally my turn. The delivery itself took no more then 15 minutes, and after setting up my phone as a key and glancing over the interior functions of the car, the delivery specialist asked if I had any other questions in a polite, but I have work to do sort of way, before sending me on my way. It wasn't more then 10 minutes down the road that I realized the radio wasn't working when I circled back to enquire at the sales reception. After an additional 10 demonstration of the car that started with a quick software reboot, I was back on the road and heading home in my new Model 3. No real complaints so far.
The car:
OMG the car! In terms of panel gaps, paint, fit and finish,... the car was flawless. Tesla has definitely delivered on promises made. I was so pleased with the car inside and out, and unless you are coming from a BMW M3, the base version of the Model 3 is still a whole lot of fun to drive down a straight, or in a curve. The software is so intuitive there is literally nothing to say... it just makes sense while at the same time, it just works. The seats are comfortable enough to do a full days worth of driving, several days in a row, and the ergonomic layout of the cabin is finely tuned for both the driver and passengers. The glass roof is simply gorgeous, although the car does heat up with black interior in direct sunlight. Recommend some type of UV protection. The sound system delivers a very good dynamic range, and the touch screen compliments this with a nice selection of streamed music. The only real negative that I can offer so far is that there is a little bit more road noise finding its way into the cabin, but this is so trivial that it is almost not even worth mentioning. Overall, I am very happy to report that while buying a car sight unseen over the internet was somewhat of a nerve racking experience, it has turned out to be a great experience as I have no regrets. To Elon, I would like to say thank you for sharing such vision and to Tesla for seeing it through. To BMW, I would like to say for fcuk saits, what is taking you so long? An important segment of the 3-series community is waiting for an all electric M3 that can turn 0-to-60 in 3 seconds with a range of 400 miles.
