I just did my service and was handed an early 2018 S75D for the day. Here are my opinions comparing it to my mid 2016 S90D. Hopefully it will help current owners and probably future CPO owners too.
1) Build Quality:
S75D - Definitely better, but not a lot better. My car was mid 2016 which means it was the last of the old facisa. I hear model S 2015 or older had build quality issues. Having driven a 2012 model s, I can say that rumor is true. The new S75D didn't have ticks and rattle noise. Mine did and had to get it serviced a few times to finally get rid of the noises. But other than that, there was very little build quality issues with my car.
Winner: 2018 S75D
2) Sound System:
I am not sure if my hearing is off, but the new S75D with standard sound (I know because it did not have high def sound options for streaming or SRS option in the sound settings) is comparable to my simple harmonic after market sound system. There are definitely improvements in the standard sound department. My old sound system was pretty shitty to say the least. After the upgrade to the simple harmonic system, it was bearable.
Winner: 2018 S75D
3) Driving noise:
The new car seems more insulated from wind noise compared to my S90D. Not by much but I can tell the slight difference with both cars windows up and radio off. Road noise is trickier to gauge because we have different tires and tread life on each.
Winner: 2018 S75D
4) Air suspension:
One thing I notice is the new Air suspension was faster response. My 2016 S90D takes a while to go from normal to high and to very high. It was relatively fast on the new S75D. Also the noise is a lot better. I noticed mine made more noise (still very quite) when it raised or lowered. Another thing to note is this new car raised higher than mine. Not a lot, but more so in the very high settings. I am not sure if this is attributed to new air suspension or what not.
Winner: 2018 S75D
5) Seats:
The S75D had the textile standard seats. The seats felts more firm and higher than my Next Gen Seats. Mine is leather, but I like the feel of the textile seats. I don't have a big behind so people with bigger behind will probably want the old seats, but the new seats suits me better. Also the new S75D had headrest adjust which my car did not have.
Winner: 2018 S75D
6) Interior updates:
As a driver, I could not tell the difference between my car and the S75D. The rear center seats raised a bit so it makes it more comfortable as a 2 rear passengers car. But my car is more comfortable as a 3 rear passengers car because the rear seats is flat across. So it's a toss up. One thing I did notice is the rear cup holders and USB charging ports. The ports are nice, but not really necessary because I usually have battery USB pack should my passengers need them. The cup holder are only useful for 2 passengers rear as it takes up leg room for the center passenger. So if you drive 3 people in the back, the rear cup holders are probably useless.
Winner: Tie (maybe slight favor for the 2018 S75D)
7) MCU (touchscreen computer):
The new one was definitely much faster and more responsive compared to mine. In mine, the navigation is unusable as it was very laggy after the latest update. The traffic would not update unless I zoom in and out to force it to refresh. Large Navigation routing would crash the system requiring a reboot on my car.
Winner: 2018 S75D
8) Acceleration:
Definitely similar to my S90D. I have driven in an older S75D without the acceleration upgrade and this one has the same punch as my 90D. Though I feel it trails just a bit in higher end acceleration compared to my S90D. This might be due to the lower voltage battery pack.
Winner: Tie
9) Throttle mapping:
I had to bring this one out. The new S75D was weird in the throttle mapping. For some reason the throttle was all the way back close to the floor. I didn't have much to play with in terms of how much movement I had on the throttle. It was pretty much either all out acceleration or not. The older S75D I driven didn't have this issue. It was more difficult to drive for sure.
Winner: 2016 S90D
10) Efficiency:
People have said the S75D is more efficient, but base on the numbers, it looks like it is worst. I was averaging around 350Wh/mi. On my S90D it was closer to 320Wh/mi using similar driving conditions. It could be many factor, but even the other older S75D I driven had similar consumption. I think it has to do with lower voltage battery pack.
Winner: 2016 S90D (really any car with higher voltage pack probably benefits more)
11) AC performance:
I am not sure if the summer heat and color of the car had something to do with it, but the S75D (Black with Black interior) had difficulty cooling. I turned range mode off and set the air direction to my face and it was definitely not as cool as my car (White with Black Interior) in similar situation. Even at night it performed worst compared to my 2016 S90D.
Winner: 2016 S90D
12) SuperCharging speed is still slow:
Supercharging is still slow compared to my S90D. Yes I have the dreaded S90D with its supercharging speed degradation. The only thing I didn't like is the ramp down. I was waiting for 90% and it was charging at around 20KW or less at that point. My S90D would maintain around 30KW at the same 90%. To make matters worst, this was only around 225 miles of range. If you are waiting to get enough to make it to the next supercharging station, it is definitely a drag. This is definitely attributed to the higher voltage battery. Overall, I am use to the higher voltage battery pack supercharging speed and going to the S75D is hard if you plan to road trip a lot.
Winner: 2016 S90D (really any car with higher voltage pack probably benefits more)
13) New Facisa:
This one is a toss up. I like the front of the new Facisa more on normal or lower height. On high or very high suspension settings, it made the car look ugly. However my old facisa looks fits better on high/ very high suspension settings. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Winner: Tie
14) LED high Headlights:
There are more light spread with the LED highlights. All in all, the LED lights should last longer on paper, but in daily uses, I think it should be the same.
Winner: 2018 S75D
15) Auto Pilot:
This car did not have autopilot enabled. But from what I tested with the other S75D with Autopilot 2.0, I can say the new autopilot 2.0 is slightly better than the old Autopilot 1.0 in my car. Though I have to say it took them 2 years before they were on par and just recently slightly better than Autopilot 1.0. So if I had gotten the late 2016 Model S, the first with Autopilot 2.0 hardware, I would've to wait until recently before I can really enjoy Autopilot.
Winner: 2018 S75D
Conclusion:
In my opinion, if you have the older Model S and itching to upgrade to the new model S, I think financially it's a better choice to wait for an interior refresh. IMO, tesla didn't think it through the layout of the first model S to make it useful. An examples would be the squeaking of the Next Gen Seats due to rubbing against the arm rest. Another would be the useless cup holders in the back when you have 3 rear passengers. Another would be the cup holders on the arm rest which made the arm rest useless. Note to mention the cup holders on the arm rest did not really do a good job of holding drinks either. Another would be the center console slot holder which should be push slot because everything falls out during hard accelerations. Another would be lack of cup holders in on the doors and no storage behind the front seats. I think my point is the first interior was ill-thought out and they did it because it had to. The new interior refresh should make the car much more useful. The incremental upgrades people have been talking about is not really worth the financial hit of getting a new car. If you are in the market for a new car and can afford the new car, I would definitely get the new car. Otherwise, pick something up 2015 CPO or newer.
Summary:
1) Currently Own a Model S? Stick with it until new model S interior refresh before buying new if you are itching to upgrade.
2) Looking a CPO? I recommend get 2016 or later for better build quality. Or get Model 3 if you can live with a slightly smaller but much more thoughtful and useful car.
3) Don't own one and looking to get a Model S? I recommend the 100D for best value and usefulness. P100D is a ripoff and the S75D doesn't really compare well against the AWD long range model 3.
1) Build Quality:
S75D - Definitely better, but not a lot better. My car was mid 2016 which means it was the last of the old facisa. I hear model S 2015 or older had build quality issues. Having driven a 2012 model s, I can say that rumor is true. The new S75D didn't have ticks and rattle noise. Mine did and had to get it serviced a few times to finally get rid of the noises. But other than that, there was very little build quality issues with my car.
Winner: 2018 S75D
2) Sound System:
I am not sure if my hearing is off, but the new S75D with standard sound (I know because it did not have high def sound options for streaming or SRS option in the sound settings) is comparable to my simple harmonic after market sound system. There are definitely improvements in the standard sound department. My old sound system was pretty shitty to say the least. After the upgrade to the simple harmonic system, it was bearable.
Winner: 2018 S75D
3) Driving noise:
The new car seems more insulated from wind noise compared to my S90D. Not by much but I can tell the slight difference with both cars windows up and radio off. Road noise is trickier to gauge because we have different tires and tread life on each.
Winner: 2018 S75D
4) Air suspension:
One thing I notice is the new Air suspension was faster response. My 2016 S90D takes a while to go from normal to high and to very high. It was relatively fast on the new S75D. Also the noise is a lot better. I noticed mine made more noise (still very quite) when it raised or lowered. Another thing to note is this new car raised higher than mine. Not a lot, but more so in the very high settings. I am not sure if this is attributed to new air suspension or what not.
Winner: 2018 S75D
5) Seats:
The S75D had the textile standard seats. The seats felts more firm and higher than my Next Gen Seats. Mine is leather, but I like the feel of the textile seats. I don't have a big behind so people with bigger behind will probably want the old seats, but the new seats suits me better. Also the new S75D had headrest adjust which my car did not have.
Winner: 2018 S75D
6) Interior updates:
As a driver, I could not tell the difference between my car and the S75D. The rear center seats raised a bit so it makes it more comfortable as a 2 rear passengers car. But my car is more comfortable as a 3 rear passengers car because the rear seats is flat across. So it's a toss up. One thing I did notice is the rear cup holders and USB charging ports. The ports are nice, but not really necessary because I usually have battery USB pack should my passengers need them. The cup holder are only useful for 2 passengers rear as it takes up leg room for the center passenger. So if you drive 3 people in the back, the rear cup holders are probably useless.
Winner: Tie (maybe slight favor for the 2018 S75D)
7) MCU (touchscreen computer):
The new one was definitely much faster and more responsive compared to mine. In mine, the navigation is unusable as it was very laggy after the latest update. The traffic would not update unless I zoom in and out to force it to refresh. Large Navigation routing would crash the system requiring a reboot on my car.
Winner: 2018 S75D
8) Acceleration:
Definitely similar to my S90D. I have driven in an older S75D without the acceleration upgrade and this one has the same punch as my 90D. Though I feel it trails just a bit in higher end acceleration compared to my S90D. This might be due to the lower voltage battery pack.
Winner: Tie
9) Throttle mapping:
I had to bring this one out. The new S75D was weird in the throttle mapping. For some reason the throttle was all the way back close to the floor. I didn't have much to play with in terms of how much movement I had on the throttle. It was pretty much either all out acceleration or not. The older S75D I driven didn't have this issue. It was more difficult to drive for sure.
Winner: 2016 S90D
10) Efficiency:
People have said the S75D is more efficient, but base on the numbers, it looks like it is worst. I was averaging around 350Wh/mi. On my S90D it was closer to 320Wh/mi using similar driving conditions. It could be many factor, but even the other older S75D I driven had similar consumption. I think it has to do with lower voltage battery pack.
Winner: 2016 S90D (really any car with higher voltage pack probably benefits more)
11) AC performance:
I am not sure if the summer heat and color of the car had something to do with it, but the S75D (Black with Black interior) had difficulty cooling. I turned range mode off and set the air direction to my face and it was definitely not as cool as my car (White with Black Interior) in similar situation. Even at night it performed worst compared to my 2016 S90D.
Winner: 2016 S90D
12) SuperCharging speed is still slow:
Supercharging is still slow compared to my S90D. Yes I have the dreaded S90D with its supercharging speed degradation. The only thing I didn't like is the ramp down. I was waiting for 90% and it was charging at around 20KW or less at that point. My S90D would maintain around 30KW at the same 90%. To make matters worst, this was only around 225 miles of range. If you are waiting to get enough to make it to the next supercharging station, it is definitely a drag. This is definitely attributed to the higher voltage battery. Overall, I am use to the higher voltage battery pack supercharging speed and going to the S75D is hard if you plan to road trip a lot.
Winner: 2016 S90D (really any car with higher voltage pack probably benefits more)
13) New Facisa:
This one is a toss up. I like the front of the new Facisa more on normal or lower height. On high or very high suspension settings, it made the car look ugly. However my old facisa looks fits better on high/ very high suspension settings. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Winner: Tie
14) LED high Headlights:
There are more light spread with the LED highlights. All in all, the LED lights should last longer on paper, but in daily uses, I think it should be the same.
Winner: 2018 S75D
15) Auto Pilot:
This car did not have autopilot enabled. But from what I tested with the other S75D with Autopilot 2.0, I can say the new autopilot 2.0 is slightly better than the old Autopilot 1.0 in my car. Though I have to say it took them 2 years before they were on par and just recently slightly better than Autopilot 1.0. So if I had gotten the late 2016 Model S, the first with Autopilot 2.0 hardware, I would've to wait until recently before I can really enjoy Autopilot.
Winner: 2018 S75D
Conclusion:
In my opinion, if you have the older Model S and itching to upgrade to the new model S, I think financially it's a better choice to wait for an interior refresh. IMO, tesla didn't think it through the layout of the first model S to make it useful. An examples would be the squeaking of the Next Gen Seats due to rubbing against the arm rest. Another would be the useless cup holders in the back when you have 3 rear passengers. Another would be the cup holders on the arm rest which made the arm rest useless. Note to mention the cup holders on the arm rest did not really do a good job of holding drinks either. Another would be the center console slot holder which should be push slot because everything falls out during hard accelerations. Another would be lack of cup holders in on the doors and no storage behind the front seats. I think my point is the first interior was ill-thought out and they did it because it had to. The new interior refresh should make the car much more useful. The incremental upgrades people have been talking about is not really worth the financial hit of getting a new car. If you are in the market for a new car and can afford the new car, I would definitely get the new car. Otherwise, pick something up 2015 CPO or newer.
Summary:
1) Currently Own a Model S? Stick with it until new model S interior refresh before buying new if you are itching to upgrade.
2) Looking a CPO? I recommend get 2016 or later for better build quality. Or get Model 3 if you can live with a slightly smaller but much more thoughtful and useful car.
3) Don't own one and looking to get a Model S? I recommend the 100D for best value and usefulness. P100D is a ripoff and the S75D doesn't really compare well against the AWD long range model 3.
