Model S Tech Talk – Seattle Tuesday, June 25, 2013

[Francis Lau]

Anybody going to this? Is this for owners or more a sales pitch?

Model S Tech Talk – Seattle Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Model S Tech Talk – Seattle | Events | Tesla Motors

 

[Discoducky]

Seems like it would be a '101' class for n00bs, but I'm planning on attending the Belle Square one anyways after TESLIVE.

 

[DouglasR]

Lots of trouble connecting to this site tonight.

I'll be going. Someone reported on a Tech Talk back east, and it sounds like lots of good info was shared, including some new stuff. Good Q&A.

 

[aayala]

I thought I was going to until I saw the time. Have a daily meeting that ends at noon. Even though I work just on the other side of the lake, I still couldn't make it on time. I do plan on attending the Belle Square one.

 

[Geoff]

I won't be able to make it either. If you are able to make it and you learn anything interesting, please let us all know!

Thanks!

Geoff

 

[brianman]

Yah, noon means "out" for me.

 

[onesixeight]

I'm picking my car up at 11am in Bellevue that day, so I might drop by after.

 

[andyrebele]

Does anyone know who the tech expert answering questions will be?

I'll be there, since it's only about three blocks from where I'll be working that day.

 

[almostFitToEat]

The Bellevue day/time is more convenient. See ya there! (Oh, and by then we'll already have our MS, ETA 6/28)

 

[Puyallup Bill]

For the Seattle event - what is the parking situation? I am not familiar with the area. Thanks.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

For the Seattle event - what is the parking situation? I am not familiar with the area. Thanks.

Tesla has a couple of free and Tesla reserved parking spots next to the service center, but probably only about 10 at most. There is a pay parking lot behind the service center that is pretty large, but I'm not sure how full it is during the day. As long as it's not a huge turnout, I think you will be able to find parking with in a 3 or 4 block radius of the location.

I'm hoping to go if my work schedule permits it!

 

[olanmills]

I couldn't make it either. I would love to hear if anything interesting came up.

 

[Puyallup Bill]

I had planned on attending, but it didn't work out.

I know it is a bother, but a quick recap would be appreciated - perhaps help me decide if I want to make the Bellevue show.

 

[ChadS]

I had a meeting nearby this morning, so I went to the tech talk in Seattle. I recognized a couple of other forum members. Lance from the Bellevue store was the speaker, he will probably be doing the one at Bellevue Square next month too.

Lance is a great guy, and the talk was nice - but as i think most of us expected, it was not aimed at expanding the knowledge of forum junkies. Which is probably a good thing, as most of the attendees were not owners. He walked through a slide deck talking about the history of Tesla, their secret mission, how the Roadster was built, the factory, how the Model S was designed ground-up as an EV, charging options, Supercharger network, etc. Great and useful information for potential customers, but no news for us.

It was good to be around afterwards to help answer questions; potential buyers love to hear from owners. So if you have any interest, it is still worth showing up for the upcoming talk in Bellevue.

 

[goneskiian]

I was able to make it too.

It was interesting, but as ChadS says, nothing new for a Tesla forum junkie. Yes, I admit that I am. Maybe we need to start a Teslaholic's Anonymous!

Most interesting part for me was seeing more of the history laid out. I had only followed the company sporadically before last fall. I also enjoyed hearing more about the traction and stability controls. Very impressive what they can do with traction control with it being an electric motor.

I walked by after having lunch up the street and they had the bay doors of the Service Center open and there's a used battery sitting on a palate with a lift attached. Should have taken a picture. I wonder who's it was and why it was replaced?

I also talked to one of the service techs after traversing their area to get to the restroom. I asked how he liked working on the cars. He said it was great as they are designed so well and overall pretty easy to work on. I don't know his background obviously but it was cool to hear.

I also saw a couple techs remove the pano roof from the showroom model to trade it for another one. With it open it took the removal of just four screws and they lifted it off.

Anyway, it was great to meet you and your wife and chat with you for a bit ChadS.

Cheers!

 

[Puyallup Bill]

Thanks ChadS and goneskiian; appreciate the rundown. I'll probably pass on Bellevue Square - not my favorite place at 7 PM.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

Thanks ChadS and goneskiian; appreciate the rundown. I'll probably pass on Bellevue Square - not my favorite place at 7 PM.

It was an enjoyable presentation and it was good to see some owners there. Sorry I couldn't stick around to chat, but I had to get back to the office. Lance said that the Bellevue Square tech talk is going to be much more crowded (I suspect they have received many more RSVP's already for it), so I think it will be a standing room only type setup at the mall. If you don't like crowds, probably better for you to pass.

 

[DouglasR]

I was there also, and yes, it was geared to newcomers. I did hear a few things I hadn't heard before. The battery pack is pressurized, and if there is a breach that causes the pressure to drop, the pack is immediately shut off. The bumper is boron steel. Stuff like that. But mostly it was a review of things I already knew. Still, it was nice to hear it all put together. It just reinforces the view that this is a company that knows where it is going.

I asked about the swap stations, and particularly whether someone would be able to swap a 60 kWh battery for an 85 kWh on a temporary basis. Lance did not answer that. But he did express the view that we would not be seeing swap stations in the northwest for a long time, if at all. He said he viewed the swapping demo as more of a "proof of concept" sort of thing, to prove that it could be done. That view corresponds with my own, so it is possible I am reading into what he said, but I got the distinct impression that he did not expect swapping to be the direction TM would be going in the future.

 

[goneskiian]

Thanks for the reminder on that battery pack info Douglas. I thought that was interesting too. He also said that in any collision that triggers the airbags the battery pack power is cut off. All in the name of safety of course.

Another item that I thought was new, maybe not for others, was the confirmation that there will indeed be a CHADeMo adapter produced. No confirmation on when exactly but that the US would indeed get one.

Blurry - Were you sitting behind DouglasR, with a young woman and an older gentleman?

I was a couple rows behind Douglas.

Cheers!

P.S. One last question for you owners. I was sitting in the display S and decided to check out the seat heaters. Do the seat bottoms actually heat up? It felt like only the backs warmed up in the couple of minutes I had them on. I even tried both front seats. Thanks!

 

[olanmills]

The seat bottoms definitely heat up. I'm not sure, but either those seats or your butt were defective!

Thanks for the info everyone. Based on the rundown, I'm guessing I probably won't go to the Bellevue either, especially considering I'll fresh off of TESLIVE.