Took receipt of a UK inventory car on Friday the 30th. (Obviously wanted it before the 25th - but Santa was not forthcoming). The Tesla smile is here!
I wanted the panorama roof (to fit roof bars) and version 2 Auto Pilot. The rest was largely irrelevant to me. (well at least less important).
What I got was a Black S 75 with most of the options - Air Suspension, Premium Sound, PUP, Winter Pack, Pano Roof and Version 2 Auto Pilot with Black cloth interior.
Why not so picky?.. well in the UK there's a lot happening in pricing and options
1. (Common to all countries) 1st Jan 2017 no more free Super charger for life.
2. Tesla snook in a 3% uplift (was this UK only?) in Oct/Nov
3. 1st Jan 2017 - Further 5% uplift for currency fluctuations (aka Brexit)
4. For cars registered after 31st March 2017 - £400 per year tax for all cars over £40K (aka All model S). Previously all BEV/Hybrids were subject to zero tax and ICEs subject to escalating tax dependent on pollution.
Given all of that I didn't want to take the risk on costs. Had I ordered custom now I might not get until April. I was offered a "dealer stock" car with those options at a pre-Oct price, Had I configured it I might have gone for different options - but this was pretty close and the cost of a custom car would have meant less options. So the Milkfloat is born. (Those in the UK of a certain age will get the name).
Initial impressions - Wow! I definitely have the grin! I had a 911 with the same 0-60 time - but this power is so much more usable - just squeeze the (not so) loud pedal and away you go any speed any condition... none of this changing down, or kick down in an Auto box.
So no autopilot yet - just basic cruise. Actually I'm enjoying just driving it - will be a great bonus present when the update downloads and adds loads more functionality, but getting used to manual driving without the aids is fun at present.
I'm coming from a 5 Series Estate... so partially used to the air suspension (estate / station wagon it on the rear). Tesla is a bit wider but generally the cars are similar in size and in rough handling.
BMW's are better in general interior build quality -esp carpets and interior light (am going to miss the gentle orange glow lights at night) - Tesla's have better wow factor by far - e.g. Door handles, the screen etc... time will tell how it wears.
I wanted the panorama roof (to fit roof bars) and version 2 Auto Pilot. The rest was largely irrelevant to me. (well at least less important).
What I got was a Black S 75 with most of the options - Air Suspension, Premium Sound, PUP, Winter Pack, Pano Roof and Version 2 Auto Pilot with Black cloth interior.
Why not so picky?.. well in the UK there's a lot happening in pricing and options
1. (Common to all countries) 1st Jan 2017 no more free Super charger for life.
2. Tesla snook in a 3% uplift (was this UK only?) in Oct/Nov
3. 1st Jan 2017 - Further 5% uplift for currency fluctuations (aka Brexit)
4. For cars registered after 31st March 2017 - £400 per year tax for all cars over £40K (aka All model S). Previously all BEV/Hybrids were subject to zero tax and ICEs subject to escalating tax dependent on pollution.
Given all of that I didn't want to take the risk on costs. Had I ordered custom now I might not get until April. I was offered a "dealer stock" car with those options at a pre-Oct price, Had I configured it I might have gone for different options - but this was pretty close and the cost of a custom car would have meant less options. So the Milkfloat is born. (Those in the UK of a certain age will get the name).
Initial impressions - Wow! I definitely have the grin! I had a 911 with the same 0-60 time - but this power is so much more usable - just squeeze the (not so) loud pedal and away you go any speed any condition... none of this changing down, or kick down in an Auto box.
So no autopilot yet - just basic cruise. Actually I'm enjoying just driving it - will be a great bonus present when the update downloads and adds loads more functionality, but getting used to manual driving without the aids is fun at present.
I'm coming from a 5 Series Estate... so partially used to the air suspension (estate / station wagon it on the rear). Tesla is a bit wider but generally the cars are similar in size and in rough handling.
BMW's are better in general interior build quality -esp carpets and interior light (am going to miss the gentle orange glow lights at night) - Tesla's have better wow factor by far - e.g. Door handles, the screen etc... time will tell how it wears.
