New MS, old Wife

[KArnold]

I'm expecting my MS in the next couple of weeks, my first EV. I have been on the M3 list since day 1 (and am still there) but a 24-hour test drive on the MS sold me. I took a decent day-trip with 3 of my sons.

My concern is my wife. For reasons I don't think I'll ever understand, she thinks a car is something used to get from Point A to Point B (I know, right? It's the JOURNEY). She casually walked by the 24-hour test drive car but did not ride in it. Her comments? "It's pretty.". <sigh>

I already am thinking that I want to create a profile for her that will have "low" regen on, to feel more like a regular car, at least to start. And with the SAS, set the "home" profile to "very high" to make it easy to get in/out. Maybe even create an "exit" profile. But she could care less about computers, gadgets, and so on. She has her own car (6-speed Outback) but I hope to make this our "trip car" - so she will have some seat miles.

Trading in the wife is not an option. After all, she lives with me and let me buy a MS! That's pretty darn rare.

Anything else I can do to help ease the transition? I want to make this as painless as possible - a custom "home screen" with my most-used options by user-profile would be nice!

Thanks in advance!

 

[BluestarE3]

Is she just indifferent to the Model S and all its technology or does she have some explicit objections about why she doesn't like the car?

 

[CLLACAB]

You could trade cars with her for a week....but then you run the risk of never seeing it again, except possibly on weekends.....

 

[GSP]

I would forward stories of customers to your wife and watch some you tube videos from Bjørn, Like Tesla, James Cooke, with her.

I think that helped with my wife, and she remarkably had no objections to buying a Model S after 3-4 years of such articles and videos.

GSP

 

[SMSMD]

You should show her this video..TESLA is the safest not only for humans but also pretty kittens
Kitten stuck in my Model X's rear bumper!

 

[bonnie]

I'm expecting my MS in the next couple of weeks, my first EV. I have been on the M3 list since day 1 (and am still there) but a 24-hour test drive on the MS sold me. I took a decent day-trip with 3 of my sons.

My concern is my wife. For reasons I don't think I'll ever understand, she thinks a car is something used to get from Point A to Point B (I know, right? It's the JOURNEY). She casually walked by the 24-hour test drive car but did not ride in it. Her comments? "It's pretty.". <sigh>

I already am thinking that I want to create a profile for her that will have "low" regen on, to feel more like a regular car, at least to start. And with the SAS, set the "home" profile to "very high" to make it easy to get in/out. Maybe even create an "exit" profile. But she could care less about computers, gadgets, and so on. She has her own car (6-speed Outback) but I hope to make this our "trip car" - so she will have some seat miles.

Trading in the wife is not an option. After all, she lives with me and let me buy a MS! That's pretty darn rare.

Anything else I can do to help ease the transition? I want to make this as painless as possible - a custom "home screen" with my most-used options by user-profile would be nice!

Thanks in advance!

Perhaps you could talk to her about her concerns, suggest you set up the car as you state above, get her input. But just deciding how the car should be set for her (without her input) seems a bit like treating her like a child ... I'm sure you don't mean it that way.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

I'll never understand people who couldn't care less about the car they drive. I once had a conversation about cars with another woman at work:

Me: "I love my car, but I can't wait to get my new one!"
Her: "I don't care about cars, although I did have one in college that I absolutely loved. I still miss that car"
Me: "Really? What kind was it?"
Her: "Oh! It was a RED one!"

I wish that was a joke, but that really happened exactly like that. I just stood there, blinking, and then wandered away shaking my head.

 

[sandpiper]

I'm expecting my MS in the next couple of weeks, my first EV. I have been on the M3 list since day 1 (and am still there) but a 24-hour test drive on the MS sold me. I took a decent day-trip with 3 of my sons.

My concern is my wife. For reasons I don't think I'll ever understand, she thinks a car is something used to get from Point A to Point B (I know, right? It's the JOURNEY). She casually walked by the 24-hour test drive car but did not ride in it. Her comments? "It's pretty.". <sigh>

I already am thinking that I want to create a profile for her that will have "low" regen on, to feel more like a regular car, at least to start. And with the SAS, set the "home" profile to "very high" to make it easy to get in/out. Maybe even create an "exit" profile. But she could care less about computers, gadgets, and so on. She has her own car (6-speed Outback) but I hope to make this our "trip car" - so she will have some seat miles.

Trading in the wife is not an option. After all, she lives with me and let me buy a MS! That's pretty darn rare.

Anything else I can do to help ease the transition? I want to make this as painless as possible - a custom "home screen" with my most-used options by user-profile would be nice!

Thanks in advance!

My wife is similar. She's a great lady and incredibly tolerant of my eccentricities. But she just doesn't care a lot about cars.

I find that odd, but then I think back to the number of times that I've glazed over and somehow completely missed 30 minutes of one sided discussion about house decor, during which I'd apparently agreed to many thousands of dollars of... stuff....

 

[sandpiper]

Perhaps you could talk to her about her concerns, suggest you set up the car as you state above, get her input. But just deciding how the car should be set for her (without her input) seems a bit like treating her like a child ... I'm sure you don't mean it that way.

Unless she genuinely doesn't care. My wife is an engineer, and a brilliant lady. But when it comes to the car, she simply does not care. And if I wanted to discuss it with her, I would get the same response as she would get when she asks me about.... well... anything in the house that doesn't require power and/or an internet connection.

 

[bonnie]

Unless she genuinely doesn't care. My wife is an engineer, and a brilliant lady. But when it comes to the car, she simply does not care. And if I wanted to discuss it with her, I would get the same response as she would get when she asks me about.... well... anything in the house that doesn't require power and/or an internet connection.

Your relationship, obviously. But even if my partner thought I didn't care about something, I'd still appreciate being asked if I cared and not have someone decide what was best for me without my input. But ymmv.

 

[KArnold]

Is she just indifferent to the Model S and all its technology

No objection, just really not impressed with tech. She will want to be shown what she needs to know to get to work and turn on the tunes. My previous ride was a C5 Corvette. In our one road trip, the only time she drove, her comment was "it handles corners really well". Yes, it does. But even if the circumstances presented themselves, she would avoid taking that car at all costs. I don't want that. Part of it might be concern about doing something to "my baby" but honestly that's the least of my concerns - I am very laid back.

You should show her this video..TESLA is the safest not

Great idea!

, suggest you set up the car as you state above, get her input

Of course. I didn't mean to sound otherwise. I mean, her "email" goes to my account and I print it for her. She does have an iPhone and IPad - she will call, text, Google, and on a good day YouTube. I'm not being critical - it's the way she is.

I'm just looking for suggestions on how to make this easier for someone that will use tech but prefers not to. The YouTube's are also a great idea.

 

[KArnold]

I find that odd, but then I think back to the number of times that I've glazed over and somehow completely missed 30 minutes of one sided discussion about house decor, during which I'd apparently agreed to many thousands of dollars of... stuff....

EXACTLY! Thank you.

 

[SMAlset]

I totally get where your wife may be coming from. I'm kind of that wife but you may have noticed since I joined the forum, I love our car. I guess my first reaction was "how much does this cost?" Ok maybe I asked that a few times. Second reaction I think was "It's a very sexy car, really beautiful" and the third was after my husband said it's a luxury car was "It's a sport car and getting in and out of it feels like one". He wanted me to enjoy being in it (I really hate to leave it when we get home), wanted me to find the seats comfortable (I do, plus love our ventilated seats, still have to duck my head tho), wanted to buy a car with good air filters for me (I have allergies and asthma). He insisted we go to the show room to look over the options before the order was finalized and let me change whatever I wanted saying that if he gets a new one at some point I'll get this one so wants me to like it. He did his best with a sales pitch to me! I kind of fell in love with the car in the showroom and couldn't wait until it got delivered. Best car we've ever owned.

He also wants me to have fun driving it although I still don't drive it much. I want him to have fun with it cause he deserves a nice car and something of his own. Also have to admit, maybe like your wife, I'm concerned about not wrecking it. He says it's just a car and he did set up a profile for me with more "ICE" car settings to start off with so I'll feel more comfortable. We have SAS so that's always set for very high at our house. It drives great, looks fabulous. I kind of think you already thought of doing everything he did. I will say that what helped sell me on it was being in it at night on the highway, just the two of us, with some light jazz music . Can't explain it but that was an emotional connection I made. So maybe plan some kind of romantic time together in the car and see how that goes.

I now kind of feel annoyed when my ICE car needs gas and I do appreciate the lack of exhaust fumes. Nice to know on hot days like today, 107F, I'm not contributing to the poor air quality. I'm not a fan of plugging in everything in my life but I can get behind it with the car. Kind of like the experience during Supercharging of plugging the gasoline-free nozzle into the car, and I find the time sitting there together during charging rather nice. Our days are so busy it's a great way to catch up and just talk and or relax and listen to music. We are thinking of planning our first trip in it soon and I will admit running out of electrons even running around during the day doing errands concerns me. Still have to get comfortable with that. Curious to see how the trip goes. Apart from wrecking the car or parking it and coming out and finding someone dented a door, and having to tell him that it got damaged (I would feel so bad), the range anxiety would be up there as to my concerns. Not sure how to alleviate those, just give it time I guess.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

I totally get where your wife may be coming from. I'm kind of that wife but you may have noticed since I joined the forum, I love our car. I guess my first reaction was "how much does this cost?" Ok maybe I asked that a few times. Second reaction I think was "It's a very sexy car, really beautiful" and the third was after my husband said it's a luxury car was "It's a sport car and getting in and out of it feels like one". He wanted me to enjoy being in it (I really hate to leave it when we get home), wanted me to find the seats comfortable (I do, plus love our ventilated seats, still have to duck my head tho), wanted to buy a car with good air filters for me (I have allergies and asthma). He insisted we go to the show room to look over the options before the order was finalized and let me change whatever I wanted saying that if he gets a new one at some point I'll get this one so wants me to like it. He did his best with a sales pitch to me! I kind of fell in love with the car in the showroom and couldn't wait until it got delivered. Best car we've ever owned.

He also wants me to have fun driving it although I still don't drive it much. I want him to have fun with it cause he deserves a nice car and something of his own. Also have to admit, maybe like your wife, I'm concerned about not wrecking it. He says it's just a car and he did set up a profile for me with more "ICE" car settings to start off with so I'll feel more comfortable. We have SAS so that's always set for very high at our house. It drives great, looks fabulous. I kind of think you already thought of doing everything he did. I will say that what helped sell me on it was being in it at night on the highway, just the two of us, with some light jazz music . Can't explain it but that was an emotional connection I made. So maybe plan some kind of romantic time together in the car and see how that goes.

I now kind of feel annoyed when my ICE car needs gas and I do appreciate the lack of exhaust fumes. Nice to know on hot days like today, 107F, I'm not contributing to the poor air quality. I'm not a fan of plugging in everything in my life but I can get behind it with the car. Kind of like the experience during Supercharging of plugging the gasoline-free nozzle into the car, and I find the time sitting there together during charging rather nice. Our days are so busy it's a great way to catch up and just talk and or relax and listen to music. We are thinking of planning our first trip in it soon and I will admit running out of electrons even running around during the day doing errands concerns me. Still have to get comfortable with that. Curious to see how the trip goes. Apart from wrecking the car or parking it and coming out and finding someone dented a door, and having to tell him that it got damaged (I would feel so bad), the range anxiety would be up there as to my concerns. Not sure how to alleviate those, just give it time I guess.

Range anxiety should go away with your first road trip...

I think she hit the nail on the head with the "emotional connection" part. If you can establish that early you should be good. I think once she drives it, though, she'll see that this isn't "just a car".

 

[mbhforum]

My wife hated the car during the test drive, sales process and our first few weeks of ownership. She would get nauseous, thought it was overpriced and didn't see the big deal. 6 months later, she loves the car, and takes it when I am home with the kids and she needs to run out. I enjoy the fact she enjoys it, saving her gas and most importantly, I was RIGHT!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

It'll just take seat time to adjust.

Many, many people treat cars as appliances that they just want to be safe, comfortable and reliable.
That's fine.*
Don't expect your wife to get excited.

But also don't be surprised if she prefers your appliance to her appliance and borrows it.

* I really don't want a Tesla for performance. In fact I was hoping that they'd offer a basic non-performance model. As good to drive as a Gen 1 Volt would be fine by me.**
** As good as a Prius would be fine by me, but not by my wife.

 

[KArnold]

Great write-up SMAlset, thank you!

 

[KArnold]

and most importantly, I was RIGHT!

HA! I would not admit that. I want her to LOVE this car as much as I do.

Range anxiety should go away with your first road trip...

Actually I need to work up to this too. It is a 100D, but she has historically been the "we need good time, this is a 5-minute gas stop" kind of driver. We have talked about how this is a different kind of experience that will be different, especially at first. Not bad, just different. We regularly take 300 to 400 mile trips historically with one stop. Now that will likely be at least two stops that are a bit longer.

In the ICE, she will want gas before hitting 1/4 tank. Now she (and me) now need to think in terms of remaining percentage/miles. So we'll start conservatively - the GPS with knowing exactly where the next supercharger will help there but this will take some adjustment time too. To me it is one more computer app that has a few variables. To her, she will keep the Rand McNally book within reach!

 

[Piney999]

I understand. My wife was not that interested until I showed her the safety videos, then the light went on and she wanted one. Just try and point out various great features of the Tesla, but don't overwhelm her with it. And don't ever, EVER have the car be unavailable when needed because of a software update. I have seen that be a Tesla killer for others.

 

[KArnold]

And don't ever, EVER have the car be unavailable when needed because of a software update

I've nor heard of this. Are you saying if you are actively installing an update, you cannot drive? I asume you get an option to defer to a convenient time, like overnight? How long do they take?

Thx.