Finally Ordered An X 75D

[JayDixonUK]

Hi everyone

After months of lurking, and learning much about Tesla in the UK, I have finally ordered one last Thursday.

I first started seriously looking in Summer 2017, and test drove an S then. Loved the car, but wasn’t quite sure about spending that much money on a car. It’s funny how the more you look at the cost of something, the more it seems to normalise! The spec changes over the last six months had also made the cars more appealing to me, as I was always looking at a 75, and they’ve added more and more to the spec of those cars.

I went for a second test drive on Thursday at Bluewater, Kent, and drove an X and an S. Loved them both, but decided that the X offered us more flexibility than the S. It’s everything we could ever want it to be. Discovering that the Destination & Doc Fee was going up from £350 to £850 from Friday 12th Jan, and that the free supercharging with a referral was ending on 31st Jan, I dedided we were at the right point to jump in!

I’ve ordered an X 75D 7 seater with PUP and AP in midnight silver with white and carbon interior on standard rims. They’ve advised that delivery is likely to be May or June, even though the website was advising April.

Just ‘the wait’ now then!

 

[Penfold]

Nice one and welcome. Nice colour combo too

 

[DJP31]

Congratulations and you won’t regret the decision. If you are a Facebook user there is a closed group that you could now join as you have a car on order Log into Facebook | Facebook

I’m not a Facebook fan at all and my only use is for the owners group. It is a very active place and it will help pass the time while you wait. On the subject of waiting, they were right to say delivery is more likely to be May/June as opposed to what the website says. They make the cars in batches and are very end of quarter focussed, you've no chance for end of March, so May/June looks right.

Plenty of time for further research on chargers, ceramic coatings, and anything else remotely Tesla related

 

[WannabeOwner]

with a referral

Worth asking the person you gave your referral to what they are going to do with it.

It varies, but if they don;'t need the Swag one option is a Tesla Branded Charging point, which they might "give you" ...


... OTOH if the other party is one referral short of a 100% discount on a Roadster-2 you are fresh-out-of-luck!

 

[JayDixonUK]

Nice one and welcome. Nice colour combo too

Thanks Penfold. It seems like a great community here, which is another thing that attracted me to the cars.

 

[JayDixonUK]

Congratulations and you won’t regret the decision. If you are a Facebook user there is a closed group that you could now join as you have a car on order Log into Facebook | Facebook

I’m not a Facebook fan at all and my only use is for the owners group. It is a very active place and it will help pass the time while you wait. On the subject of waiting, they were right to say delivery is more likely to be May/June as opposed to what the website says. They make the cars in batches and are very end of quarter focussed, you've no chance for end of March, so May/June looks right.

Plenty of time for further research on chargers, ceramic coatings, and anything else remotely Tesla related

Thanks DJP. I’d forgotten about the Facebook group - I’ve just applied to join.

I think I’ll go with the Tesla charger at home, but I’ve not done any research into where to source one from yet.

I’ve seen some videos about ceramic coating. Is that worth doing, or does the paint hold up OK as it is?

 

[DJP31]

Thanks DJP. I’d forgotten about the Facebook group - I’ve just applied to join.

I think I’ll go with the Tesla charger at home, but I’ve not done any research into where to source one from yet.

I’ve seen some videos about ceramic coating. Is that worth doing, or does the paint hold up OK as it is?

The charger you buy direct from Tesla and the have a number of recommended installers (I used one) but any qualified electrician should be competent enough to install it. My view (and certainly my wife’s) was that this was such a big step and we wanted the fewest potential sources of aggro, so a Tesla charger installed by a Tesla recommended company was the safest bet.

Ceramic coatings give modest protection to the paint but the value is in the ease of washing the car and keeping your new baby looking at its best. I paid £500 (which seems to be about the mid price) and am very pleased.

 

[Penfold]

I got the Tesla charger installed by a local electrician who had never seen once before, it’s such a simple install it doesn’t need one from the Tesla list, just read the manual and they will put the switches in the right place and job done. However, as I ended up putting mine in the outside cupboard i wish I had gone for a non-Tesla one now and got the government grant (not available with the Tesla charger) and as I hardly ever get the button on the thing to unlock it from the port I always unlock and open charge port via the key now but that’s just my view. Naturally it’s nice having a Tesla charger for the Tesla but unless it’s on view (as it is the best looking one) the I needn’t have bothered

I got the ceramic coating done by James Richardson in Woking. Did a great job and they pointed out a number of scratch paint swirls and overspray which they sorted and it defiantly looked batter after. It won’t necessarily protect from stone chips but defo makes washing a dream. Body wraps are better but also a lot more expensive.

 

[JayDixonUK]

Thanks for the detail on Tesla chargers and ceramic coating.

I have an electrician that I normally use, so I think I’ll get him to do it if there’s nothing out of the ordinary about them.

 

[Supertaff]

Thanks for the detail on Tesla chargers and ceramic coating.

I have an electrician that I normally use, so I think I’ll get him to do it if there’s nothing out of the ordinary about them.

If you have solar on your property. look into the Zappii charger, it's what I'm going to have installed as it works as a normal charger i.e. from the mains power, or will take the excess that you are feeding back to the grid and put it into the car, it's intelligent and works out what to feed at what point.

there's some videos on it on the fully charged youtube channel as well where robbery llywellen has it installed along with the tesla Powerwall 2

 

[JayDixonUK]

If you have solar on your property. look into the Zappii charger, it's what I'm going to have installed as it works as a normal charger i.e. from the mains power, or will take the excess that you are feeding back to the grid and put it into the car, it's intelligent and works out what to feed at what point.

there's some videos on it on the fully charged youtube channel as well where robbery llywellen has it installed along with the tesla Powerwall 2

Hi Supertaff

I’m planning to install solar and battery storage (probably a Powerwall 2), so I’ll have a loook at that charger. If you have battery storage, I thought any charger should take power from the PV/battery first before then pulling from the grid. I guess there must be more to it than this?

 

[WannabeOwner]

I’ve seen some videos about ceramic coating. Is that worth doing, or does the paint hold up OK as it is?

I have full-wrap. Um'd and Ah'd 'coz it was about £4,000 (less thank half to do front-facing surfaces only), but figured we haven't spent this sort of money on a car before and would probably be annoyed to have stone chips etc. - although a full respray every year might be cheaper!! Felt poor when I when to have it done, all the other cars there had at least one more Nought on the price ...

The car was side-swiped by a Range Rover on a roundabout, looked horrendous although only a couple of minor dents, but after a wash it was really hard to tell there was any damage, and certainly no paint damage, so I'm now sold on Wrap. For example, if I had to snuggle-up against a countryside hedge, or someone squeezing between the cars wearing Jeans-with-studs then the car would be fine.

i wish I had gone for a non-Tesla one now and got the government grant

Might not be the case for you, but in case ti makes you feel better! you might not have paid much less ... the install costs of Grant-Approved seem to be very high. I've got one [Tesla charger not available back then] at both home and office and both have had some minor problem, more than once, that needed a Sparky to visit ... and I don't have the charge-port-open-button (I use key long-press on boot too)

look into the Zappii charger

Forgotten about that, was still in Development Phase when I last saw it.Robert Llewellyn had a YoutTube on it on his Fully Charged channel

Tesla charger

Might be worth considering putting in a Commando-socket too - for other visiting EVs, and on occasion when I've had trouble with the normal charger I've use that (a Loaner I had would not worh with my charger for some reason, but was fine with Commando). I also have an external 13AMP socket there too - to Hoover the car etc.

Might be worth considering getting Economy-7 meter too perhaps? (Particularly if you have / will have PV as E7 day-rate is higher, but that's when you will have Solar most of the year, plus you could load-up your PowerWall at night [although I think that time-of-use stuff is planned but not rolled out in the software as yet])

 

[JayDixonUK]

I hadn't realised that wrap was that hard wearing - enough to resist hedge scrapes or zip scuffs. I'm not normally one who obsesses about the paintwork on my cars, but with Tesla's costing what they do, it does make me consider some form of protection for the first time. Something to mull over during 'the wait' I guess.

The charger decision is a lot more complex than I was thinking! I watched the Fully Charged video about the Zappi this morning. I can see how it would work very nicely with PV power that only has the choice to be used or exported to the grid. It mentioned in the video that the Powerwall complicated things a bit, and they had to do a firmware upgrade. I think some more research is in order here.

I did start to think about Economy-7, as I will be out all day and charging the car overnight. The Powerwall 2 can hold 13.5kWh, so even a fully charged battery would only make a dent in the capacity of the MX 75D that I have on order. It would always be pulling something off the grid I guess, so Economy-7 might make sense. I think I might need to stay as I am for the first year and see what my usage is. I'm moving from an ICE (VW Touareg) to the MX, so it's all a new adventure for me!

 

[WannabeOwner]

I collected the car from Heathrow, so chose Topaz Detailing on that basis. Very happy with the work they did.

It would always be pulling something off the grid I guess, so Economy-7 might make sense

Worth checking the price of E7 - it may well be close to 50% discount.

But ... you will spend a lot less on Electricity compared to Petrol etc. so my "fuel cost" now is at a price where I don't care if I charge at "expensive rate" some of the time.

I can charge at work (no benefit-in-kind tax on Electricity) so maybe you have that opportunity too?

If you assume 3-miles-per-unit (of electricity) and compare that to your current MPG * Fuel Price, and Miles-per-year, you'll get a reasonable comparison. Apologies if this is Granny+Eggs ...

The Powerwall 2 can hold

Its all splitting-hairs, but there are losses into-and-back-out-of Powerwall, so PV direct to car would be better, particularly if a Zappi can do all that for you. Unless you work from home you won't be at home during PV hours much ...

If you have E7 then you can, also, charge the PowerWall overnight, particularly in Winter. Then the extra Day-Rate for E7 is moot

 

[DJP31]

My fuel costs have dropped by approx 90%. In my ICE I was getting about 35 mpg which is around 20p a mile, and I am on E7 at a cost of 6.5p per kWh it's costing a tad over 2p a mile

That's also ignoring the benefit of free Supercharging - 450 miles on Thursday/Friday alone.

I like to focus on this element of Tesla ownership as it satisfies the man maths requirement. .

 

[JayDixonUK]

I've been working on the same kind of figure. My Touareg (3.0 V6 Diesel) gives about 30 mpg. I always use premium diesel, so it's costing me at least the same, if not more per mile - 20p. I was expecting electric to be about 10% of the cost. I've ordered my Tesla just in time to still qualify for free Supercharging, which will be an added bonus.

The other aspect that helped the man maths for me was the BIK, as I'm buying it through my company to have as a company car. The next two years need to be glossed over slightly (2018/19 13% / 2019/20 16%) but from April 2020 the BIK will be 2%!

 

[Supertaff]

Hi Supertaff

I’m planning to install solar and battery storage (probably a Powerwall 2), so I’ll have a loook at that charger. If you have battery storage, I thought any charger should take power from the PV/battery first before then pulling from the grid. I guess there must be more to it than this?

Hi Jay,

Yes, you would be correct in terms of if you are drawing power to the car as you are not generating enough to fill it.

The thing with the zappi is that it will divert excess power to the car rather than too the grid, i.e. better to use your generated power for yourself as you need it rather than import power from the grid. difference between export cost and import cost.

It's much better explained in the video from Fully Charged on how it works and the benefits rather than my bad explanation above.

Taff

 

[Supertaff]

I've been working on the same kind of figure. My Touareg (3.0 V6 Diesel) gives about 30 mpg. I always use premium diesel, so it's costing me at least the same, if not more per mile - 20p. I was expecting electric to be about 10% of the cost. I've ordered my Tesla just in time to still qualify for free Supercharging, which will be an added bonus.

The other aspect that helped the man maths for me was the BIK, as I'm buying it through my company to have as a company car. The next two years need to be glossed over slightly (2018/19 13% / 2019/20 16%) but from April 2020 the BIK will be 2%!

I've got a 911 and currently get about 15mpg normal to 20mpg gentle driving. Also have to put premium unleaded in which is more expensive than standard.

Based on the above and presumed milage, the maths added up easily.

Sounds like you are doing similar to me as I'm buying my S through my limited company. I presume you are aware of the tax benefit of buying it through a LTD in that you can off-set it against tax at 100% of list price?

BIK is a pain for the next two year, but will be good after that when they get rid of the false EV's that only do 30 miles or less on electric and allow true electric to get a low BIK and penalise the rest.

Taff

 

[WannabeOwner]

I presume you are aware of the tax benefit of buying it through a LTD in that you can off-set it against tax at 100% of list price?

Two schools of thought on this. The first I call the Accounts View, is that you have to pay-back tax on the sale price, so the 100% tax relief is only on the difference between Purchase and Sale, and that view can then suggest that straight-line depreciation is better.

Then there is what I call the Entrepreneurs view which is "What can I do with a chunk of money for that period of time" (which I can't do with the minuscule amounts from straight-line)

Heck ... just buy Tesla stock with it, eh?

 

[JayDixonUK]

Sounds like you are doing similar to me as I'm buying my S through my limited company. I presume you are aware of the tax benefit of buying it through a LTD in that you can off-set it against tax at 100% of list price?

BIK is a pain for the next two year, but will be good after that when they get rid of the false EV's that only do 30 miles or less on electric and allow true electric to get a low BIK and penalise the rest.

Taff

Yes - I’m buying through my LTD as well. I’ve got profits to use this year, so the 100% first year allowance is handy. Annoyingly, my understanding is that you can only claim half the VAT back unless it is used exclusively for business.

Even though the BIK doesn’t come good for another couple of years, I’m taking the longer term view and going for it now. I expect to keep the car for at least 5 years (I’ve had the Touareg for 4 on a personal PCP). I’ve been watching the specs for 6-9 months now, and I think it’s as good a time as ever to jump in (I hope those words don’t come back to haunt me when they do something like an interior refresh just before I take delivery!)