Wiki Model S Delivery Update

[eipi10]

Nobody's been able to verify the "went out and bought all the USB cables" claim, and it's silly on its face: any cable used in a production car will have strict specification requirements, and it's unlikely that random consumer-level cabling from retail store would be suitable. But that's just the kind of stuff Elon says.

And sure, producing cars is hard. You know what's not hard? Letting your customers-- the people who have put down deposits, sold their existing cars, and trusted what you told them about production schedules to be true-- know what's going on. That's really simple.

He must be a genius, but it blows my mind how many stupid things he says. I'm also surprised nobody has criticized him for saying that building a car is more difficult than a war that involved (just on the U.S. side) 300,000 deaths of U.S. soldiers, the invasion of Normandy, and the development of the atomic bomb.

 

[Leojsayta]

I would like to remind everyone that this car has technically been delayed for a couple of years. They've been working on the new pack/cooling system since mid-2019 and the leaked reports for that, as well as the interior refresh were all around the same time.

So while we are only 1-2 months away from deliveries - bear in mind that Tesla officially managed to keep quiet for almost 2+ years. Elon screwed up in Q1, I still believe that he believed that it was ready to go and they were in fact getting ramped for production/deliveries (which is why they had the manufacturing team called back in). I also still believe something went wrong that they don't want to talk about publicly (though Elon pretty much told you on the earnings call).

With all of that said - I've gone from being extremely pissed to at peace (7 stages of Tesla grief) - but this is an emerging technology and none of us truly know just how unique the components are in these new vehicles, though it certainly sounds like a complete overhaul of internals. Because of this there are going to be hiccups and maybe an unexpected edge case that occurs.

I get everyone is pissed about communication and so was I but Elon addressed the delay head-on during the earnings call and already updated the timelines to "probably next month (May)" delivery slow start with a ramp in Q3. What more do you all want at this point?

I guess I’m still stuck at the “annoyed” stage. Probably because I have less faith that Elon was ignorant about delays going into January’s earnings call. I guess have to work on my trust issues.

 

[JustSaying]

I think th

I think the docs are from Kaiser Harbor Gateway in LA County. Still waiting on photos to confirm the sighting.

FWIW, The Tech ,when asked about the battery type, without a flinch said they were 4680.

???

 

[Hayseed_MS]

I guess I’m still stuck at the “annoyed” stage. Probably because I have less faith that Elon was ignorant about delays going into January’s earnings call. I guess have to work on my trust issues.

The car will be awesome once we get it. Will there be issues - does the pope poop in the woods - yes. But we will still love the car and Tesla will fix any issues. But I am still in that excited/annoyed phase and being cautiously optimistic that my SA knows anything. I too have trust issues with the company as a whole. But I forget things quickly and will move on soon to buy my 3rd, 4th, and 5th Tesla.

 

[jaguar36]

Nobody's been able to verify the "went out and bought all the USB cables" claim, and it's silly on its face: any cable used in a production car will have strict specification requirements, and it's unlikely that random consumer-level cabling from retail store would be suitable. But that's just the kind of stuff Elon says.

Tesla has a long history of using consumer rather than automotive grade components. Look at all the failures they've had over the years on the S, lots of them were due to the electronics not being rated for automotive use. Not to mention the documented cases of them installing corner trim from home depot to hold the condenser in place in model Ys.

 

[jsight]

Nobody's been able to verify the "went out and bought all the USB cables" claim, and it's silly on its face: any cable used in a production car will have strict specification requirements, and it's unlikely that random consumer-level cabling from retail store would be suitable. But that's just the kind of stuff Elon says.

And sure, producing cars is hard. You know what's not hard? Letting your customers-- the people who have put down deposits, sold their existing cars, and trusted what you told them about production schedules to be true-- know what's going on. That's really simple.

That story was told in much more detail years ago. Things were way more wild-west back then, and it was really much more plausible at the time. I'm sure someone can find the relevant YT, but I see no particular reason to doubt it. I'm not sure how it is relevant to this refresh, though, tbh.

 

[jsight]

Tesla has a long history of using consumer rather than automotive grade components. Look at all the failures they've had over the years on the S, lots of them were due to the electronics not being rated for automotive use. Not to mention the documented cases of them installing corner trim from home depot to hold the condenser in place in model Ys.

LOL, yeah... they literally ship off-the-shelf USB drives with some of their new cars now. I mean, they slap a T logo on them, but that's it.

 

[Ketorolac]

I would like to remind everyone that this car has technically been delayed for a couple of years. They've been working on the new pack/cooling system since mid-2019 and the leaked reports for that, as well as the interior refresh were all around the same time.


I get everyone is pissed about communication and so was I but Elon addressed the delay head-on during the earnings call and already updated the timelines to "probably next month (May)" delivery slow start with a ramp in Q3. What more do you all want at this point?

I'm in your corner. I started waiting for this car when I was this close to buying a M5 in 2019 but the BMW dealers jerked me around (after owning a 550i and 3 M3's), plus I was hesitant on the gas guzzler M5 having a precipitous drop in value during ownership. Then I thought about electric, then drove a buddy's tesla and was hooked. I decided to wait for the S to have the same air vents as the model 3 (and charging speeds, etc) since I read about a possible refresh, and here we are two years later. I've waited longer for one M3 (euro delivery, early in production, etc) so i say to you all...

chill.... it's coming.

I do sympathize with those who traded in though.

 

[Pinal1]

Well, I’m conflicted. I originally came to Tesla from a 2014 MB E350 and took delivery of a 2020 M3 Dual Motor in December 2019. I loved everything about the 21st century technology of an electric car and never want another ICE vehicle, but I admittedly missed the MB quality and their mastery of the 20th century technology of actually building a physical car. I think we got lucky with our M3, since it seems to be one that was built pretty well, but I’ve been leery about buying another Tesla until they get their “house” in order.

Anyway, my wife snagged my M3 (she loves it, and I miss it), and I finally ordered a MS LR on 4/13. But I admit that I’m wondering if it’s too soon to buy another Tesla. With the lack of transparency, what’s going on? Sight unseen, what exactly are we buying? Will there be samples to drive before delivery, particularly since they’ve yanked the return privileges? How big is this refresh, and will we be buying refined, finished vehicles, or will early copies be early release candidates — without the depth of support that saw early MS buyers through the teething problems of past new models?

It’s probably time to stop reading this discussion, but I need my fix about ten times a day. My hat is off to all of you who have waited for months. My sense is that, if I wait, I’ll probably love what they deliver (in beautiful blue)! But with all the questions, and with the fact that I need a car soon (my Mom will only let me drive her Buick so long), I’m conflicted whether the smart play is to buy a nice used car, drive it for a couple of years, and wait for the competition to arrive and wait for Tesla to mature.

Anyway, thanks for all of the time that so many of you have spent to inform, speculate, and entertain us during the wait!

 

[Hayseed_MS]

I would like to remind everyone that this car has technically been delayed for a couple of years. They've been working on the new pack/cooling system since mid-2019 and the leaked reports for that, as well as the interior refresh were all around the same time.

So while we are only 1-2 months away from deliveries - bear in mind that Tesla officially managed to keep quiet for almost 2+ years. Elon screwed up in Q1, I still believe that he believed that it was ready to go and they were in fact getting ramped for production/deliveries (which is why they had the manufacturing team called back in). I also still believe something went wrong that they don't want to talk about publicly (though Elon pretty much told you on the earnings call).

With all of that said - I've gone from being extremely pissed to at peace (7 stages of Tesla grief) - but this is an emerging technology and none of us truly know just how unique the components are in these new vehicles, though it certainly sounds like a complete overhaul of internals. Because of this there are going to be hiccups and maybe an unexpected edge case that occurs.

I get everyone is pissed about communication and so was I but Elon addressed the delay head-on during the earnings call and already updated the timelines to "probably next month (May)" delivery slow start with a ramp in Q3. What more do you all want at this point?

@Tigers So does this mean you only refresh your Tesla account page 5 times per day instead of the usual 8 times?

 

[omarsultan]

Reducing pack size makes no sense when the competitors like Mercedes Benz and Lucid Air are releasing cars with 108 kWh and 113 kWh packs respectively. Even if Tesla is achieving higher efficiency than the competitors, it makes no sense to go backwards and reduce battery size when all of the new EV competition is coming out with larger packs.

Tesla has put a lot of effort over the years on efficiency of the drivetrain. I think they reasonably believed a highly efficient drivetrain would allow them to go with a smaller pack which would give them an advantage on pricing and/or profitability over the competition. I think maybe they were surprised by the range on the latest round of competitors and maybe had to revisit their decision on pack size.

Nobody's been able to verify the "went out and bought all the USB cables" claim, and it's silly on its face: any cable used in a production car will have strict specification requirements, and it's unlikely that random consumer-level cabling from retail store would be suitable. But that's just the kind of stuff Elon says.

Um...

 

[Hayseed_MS]

Tesla has put a lot of effort over the years on efficiency of the drivetrain. I think they reasonably believed a highly efficient drivetrain would allow them to go with a smaller pack which would give them an advantage on pricing and/or profitability over the competition. I think maybe they were surprised by the range on the latest round of competitors and maybe had to revisit their decision on pack size.


Um...

View attachment 659258

Would love to see the PPAP documents on those wood pieces...

 

[Drew-MS]

I guess I’m still stuck at the “annoyed” stage. Probably because I have less faith that Elon was ignorant about delays going into January’s earnings call. I guess have to work on my trust issues.

If Elon knew about the delays, I doubt he would have told analysts on the conf call that deliveries will start in February. He was overly optimistic for sure but I doubt he deliberately lied. The problems likely started in February around the time Elon sent a tweet hinting at delays when he said something about issues they were still sorting.

 

[Tigers]

So my car updated to red today and I now no longer have a reservation date or anything at all. Lol, oh well. I'm sure it's just a system issue - my reservation number did not change.

 

[Babu_18]

So my car updated to red today and I now no longer have a reservation date or anything at all. Lol, oh well. I'm sure it's just a system issue - my reservation number did not change.

New to this forum but not for Tesla. Owned 2020 MS (Raven hardware) but someone rear ended my MS and insurance decided total loss. If not for driving Tesla, I'm not sure what would have happened to my back. Placed order for refreshed S on 4/2 - MS LR, Red, Black interior, 21". RN11473xxxx. Delivery: 10-14 weeks from order date.

My past experience with 2020 delivery (Dec'2019) was fine. 2-3 weeks when placed order and got the vehicle delivered at the end of 2nd week. Arranged for a loaner ICE while waiting for refreshed S delivery. Seems like most of us are going to wait till June/Jul for actual deliveries to start. For guys waiting on their first Tesla delivery, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the car. It's an awesome car. You will love the experience of driving it.

 

[DLCT]

I’m with Tigers about being at peace with it, my general philosophy is not to worry about what you can’t control. If I don’t like it I’ll vote with my feet, which I’m not going to do as I think the end product is going to pretty damn good. I do appreciate the delivery slip is inconveniencing many. When I look at my Est Delivery I now see Junlygustember (managing my own expectations) rather than July (ordered 2/5, LR, MSM on black, Arachnids, RN 1144). I’m new to Tesla so find the communication and lack of transparency on the weak side, but hell what do I know. I had two friends order Ys after I told them about how impressed I was with these cars, they ordered the same specs, the guy that ordered later has a VIN and delivery next week, the other who ordered 8 days earlier has a moving target for delivery that spans end of month through mid June. My hopes were raised when the flyover a month or two back showed 100+ S’s at Fremont but since then close to nothing, even mule sightings in the wild seem to have slowed down. Like the banter on this site, I’m now just checking every few days for my own sanity. Really looking forward to the first of this community to report a VIN and an actual delivery. Good luck, let’s get some of these S’s in our garages to keep the wall connectors company.

 

[Leojsayta]

If Elon knew about the delays, I doubt he would have told analysts on the conf call that deliveries will start in February. He was overly optimistic for sure but I doubt he deliberately lied. The problems likely started in February around the time Elon sent a tweet hinting at delays when he said something about issues they were still sorting.

I don’t think he intentionally lied so much as said what he wanted to be true which he seems to make a habit of. Like FSD will be piloting robotaxis in 2020, Berlin factory open in July, etc, etc. He is a victim of his own optimism, and unfortunately so are the people who believe him when he mentions timelines.

 

[Danlbrau]

I strongly believe that Tesla has decided to be more conservative on the range estimates. When you compare the estimates of all the new German competitors to Tesla you will quickly discover that Tesla uses a methodology that is much more optimistic than real world results. To be more accurate and in accordance with the new competition, it makes sense for them to start using a more conservative EPA estimate.

Reducing pack size makes no sense when the competitors like Mercedes Benz and Lucid Air are releasing cars with 108 kWh and 113 kWh packs respectively. Even if Tesla is achieving higher efficiency than the competitors, it makes no sense to go backwards and reduce battery size when all of the new EV competition is coming out with larger packs. Who wants a 90 kWh pack when Lucid has 113 kWh? That reminds me of going back to my 2016 P90D which sounds like a giant step backwards. No one wants to pay more for less. That would just be a terrible business move while Tesla is starting to face the first real competition in their short history.

It’s true it sounds like a step back to reduce the size of the battery, but if the range is correct it’s irrelevant. Most of us will be paying less for more. I paid $125k for my 2015 P85D and my 2021 LR is $90k, with 160 miles more range and faster than my P85D. That’s not to mention 2021 dollars aren’t as valuable as 2015 dollars were. Oh, and pockets in the door.

And I would prefer a 85 KwH battery to a 110 KwH or more battery. If they can get 412 miles range in the real world, less money spent on charging

 

[Hayseed_MS]

It’s true it sounds like a step back to reduce the size of the battery, but if the range is correct it’s irrelevant. Most of us will be paying less for more. I paid $125k for my 2015 P85D and my 2021 LR is $90k, with 160 miles more range and faster than my P85D. That’s not to mention 2021 dollars aren’t as valuable as 2015 dollars were. Oh, and pockets in the door.

And I would prefer a 85 KwH battery to a 110 KwH or more battery. If they can get 412 miles range in the real world, less money spent on charging

On one hand I could not care less if it were two 9-volt batteries getting 400+ range but they could have left the battery the same size and changed the chemistry to get 500+ range, then I am not excited with that decision.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Don't believe delays like this are just a Tesla thing. Most dealerships cannot guarantee precise deliveries of most any high demand vehicle. The computer chip shortage, combined with transportation and slow downs at the ports has caused shortages and delays for lots of items. The Chevy Corvette is a comparible issue. They have been back ordered for over a year, and tons of customers have been waiting all that time...and still one delay after another.

I understand most people want to be in total control of their orders, but reality is that there are lots of issues outside the control of anybody.