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Model S Buyer Demographics: Gender

What is your gender, and the gender of the primary driver of the Model S?

  • I'm male and will also be the primary driver

    Votes: 129 71.3%
  • I'm male, and my partner will be the primary driver

    Votes: 20 11.0%
  • I'm male, and it's complicated.

    Votes: 21 11.6%
  • I'm female and will also be the primary driver

    Votes: 8 4.4%
  • I'm female, and my partner will be the primary driver

    Votes: 2 1.1%
  • I'm female, and it's complicated.

    Votes: 1 0.6%

  • Total voters
    181
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In theory at least, the Model S reservation is for me and the Model X reservation is for my wife. She's going to have to get around her initial shock at seeing the falcon wing doors. If they really only need 7'2" to open then it'll fit in our garage no problem but she's going to have to get around her preference for understated styling (she currently drives an LR3, aka box-on-wheels, and had a Pilot before that, aka milk toast).

I have a suspicion that, once the Model S arrives, she's going to do a lot of the "I have a lot of errands to run around town today and it would make a lot of sense for me to drive the S so I don't burn all that gas in my Land Rover." The thing is... I'm going to let her because she'll have a really good point. There's no reason for the Model S to sit at my office all day while she runs around town at 14 mpg in her car.
 
Right now my partner has no interest in electric vehicles, and really hates all things Tesla because I talk about it more than she would like. ...

I'm pretty much in that camp and my partner adds one more reason (besides talking about Tesla too much): "I hate old men who drive sports cars." Thereby deeply insulting me twice. First by suggesting that I'm old (jeez we barely qualify for AARP insurance!*). Second, by knocking my Roadster, the only car I've ever really loved...

Having said that, she's coming around to the S. She doesn't think it will attract as much attention as my Roadster. The last time she drove it she got her picture taken 3 different times. When she complains about old men and sports cars, it's tempting to say something about old women who drive gassers. I didn't say that, and God help me if I ever do:wink:



*you have to be over 50
 
Another anomaly here. It has amazed me how male-dominated this board and the one on the TM website is. I guess it goes with the automotive territory and I can't exactly say that I've ever posted on another car forum before. But then again, I've never been nearly this excited about a car! I asked for a deposit on a Model S for Christmas last year (2010) and then gave myself an upgrade to a Sig for Christmas this year. Actually, I didn't give the other deposit up - we're holding two (Sig 731 and Prod 2790) in case my husband gets jealous and wants one too. I'm going to the X reveal on Thursday with my husband (a new car reveal is a first for us - what fun!) so there may be some horse trading down the road if the X appeals to us!

I think the Model S is going to be a fantastic car for women and have to believe that women will make up a significant percentage of purchasers. No one likes pumping gas, but I think that women probably dislike it more than men. Just smelly, dirty and nasty. I'm going to be thrilled to never go to another gas station again! The jump seats for kids in the back make it attractive for moms with little kids. I find the lines beautiful and not too masculine. I currently drive a Prius (and a Land Rover when we go to the mountains, or have to haul something big or a lot of kids around) and I am SO sick of it. It's very boring and it doesn't help that about every third car on the road where I live seems to be a Prius. Can't wait for my Model S!

I know this forum thread is outdated but I'll revive it.

I am a woman, am buying the Model S myself, and will be the primary driver when it arrives hopefully in late February 2014. While I'm not a gear head, I've always loved learning about cars and going to car shows. I've always ogled cars on the road and wished I drove a nicer or cooler car (I drive a Prius V now, and my hubby has a Prius, and we have a minivan that we use if all 6 of us — we and our 4 kids — have to go somewhere together).

My husband has zero interest in cars. Never has. He isn't surprised that I'm getting a MS knowing that I'm the early adopter between the two of us, but he is a bit skeptical about the future of Tesla and isn't convinced that the supercharger network will be built to the extent that it's supposed to be. He told me that I need to be prepared to never be able to take my MS on a road trip should the network not pan out. He was duly impressed by the loaner we were able to keep for a weekend, though, and admitted it was an awesome car.

I owned a new 2013 loaded Volvo XC60 last year for a short 4 months before trading it in for a Prius V because it only got 15 mpg. That was the most expensive car I had ever owned and I loved it, but I was spending $70/week on gas, which was insane. I absolutely love getting decent gas mileage in my Prius, but as @StephRob wrote, the Prius is about as boring and utilitarian as a car can get. It has zero fun or cool factor. But I don't mind pumping gas at all.

So even though I wanted a nice luxury car again, I couldn't justify buying one that got worse mileage than my Prius. Enter the Model S. Problem solved. The MS cost double what my Volvo cost, and much more than I would ever have considered spending on any car. But I'll call it my pre-mid-life crisis purchase.
 
My husband has zero interest in cars. Never has. He isn't surprised that I'm getting a MS knowing that I'm the early adopter between the two of us, but he is a bit skeptical about the future of Tesla and isn't convinced that the supercharger network will be built to the extent that it's supposed to be. He told me that I need to be prepared to never be able to take my MS on a road trip should the network not pan out.

There is much more to Tesla than meets the eye. Tesla will definitely complete the supercharger network for many reasons, all to their benefit.


  1. free advertising/marketing = more talking about Tesla -> more cars sold. The car sells itself. Tesla has yet to do any actual "real" adverstising through commercials or those types of channels. As they build out their supercharger network, it translates to more cars sold.
  2. to be the first established nation-wide fast charging network. once completed, it will remain free for Tesla owners for life. But the potential is there to lease the technology out to other manufacturers. There is no other standard out (SAE/CHaDEMO) that can charge as fast as the Tesla chargers. If other manufacturers want to branch out with minimal up front investment, they may just lease the technology from Tesla since its already established. It'll provide a source of income to Tesla. For example, Mercedes EV's with Tesla powertrains might be able to use the Tesla chargers too, but they will probably have to pay for it.
  3. Grid storage business as they start installing solar arrays at these locations with battery storage systems. Won't go into much detail here, but the gist of it is that during the day the solar arrays feed power into the grid and Tesla gets paid $$, and at night Tesla buys it back at a cheaper rate into the storage systems, thus providing another revenue source. When cars charge, they pull the power from the storage systems. In addition, and this may be the biggest source of revenue, has to deal with grid power distribution and these battery backup systems may be used as a 'buffer' to store and retrieve energy. This is a complicated subject (one I admit I don'y fully understand), but basically power distributors may "rent" these systems during the day to help distribute (store/retrieve) power on the grid.
  4. Battery swapping upgrades. With the first confirmed 60->85kW battery upgrading being done over the last week, if/when Tesla starts installing battery swapping stations at these locations, this provides yet another source of revenue for Tesla. In it's simplest form, if you don't want to wait 20 minutes for the supercharging, you could swap batteries in 90 seconds for an immediate 100% charge for a small fee and pick up your original battery on the return trip. Also, this might provide permanent upgrades for a cost, or some people may simply want a "newer battery". Thus, instead of buying a new car, can owner can just permanently swap their 60-85kW battery, or 85->120kW battery (when those are out), etc etc. Sure it'll cost several thousand, but hey now your car could go 265 miles instead of 200, or 375 miles instead of 265, etc etc. These cars, given their upgradeable nature, may be kept for 10-15 years instead of 3-7, lasting much longer and really reducing the cost of ownership even further.

  5. A fully established SC network itself is going to translate to more sales too since this will give 'peace of mind' to many people still on the fence, knowing that now they can take long road trips more easily.

There are probably other reasons to complete this SC network too that I'm forgetting about. But there's no doubt in my mind that's its going to be completed.
 
Congrats... did your store let you test drive the MS over the weekend, or how did you get to keep a loaner that long?

I originally test drove a MS at the King of Prussia Mall (outside of Philly), and when I was done the rep said that if my husband wanted to also try it out too, I could borrow one for a weekend. So I did. I did have to pay the $2500 refundable deposit, however, before they'd loan it to me for the weekend. Two Tesla guys dropped it off at our house on a Friday and came back on Tuesday because there was a snow storm on Monday and they couldn't make it out to my house (though they tried and turned around after 2 hours of being stuck in traffic).

Letting serious potential customers test drive the car for a weekend is probably the smartest move Tesla can make. Sure it was awesome to drive the car for 20 minutes during the test drive at the mall, but that does not give you a sense of how you'd really use the car. And after 2 days, my 8- and 11-yo boys instinctively said, "can we take the Tesla?" whenever we left the house. When they came home the afternoon after the reps took the car back, they were seriously bummed it wasn't in our driveway. They half-expected it to be there because they—we—had gotten so used to it. Test driving it made me want one, but being able to drive it for 3 days sealed the deal.

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We bought the Model S for my wife but she's only driven it 134 miles since picking it up after Thanksgiving. She keeps driving her old Mercedes E350 :-/ I think I've driven it more than her.

Are you KIDDING??? How is that possible????? WHY is she still driving her other car?