The last weeks were frustrating, but there really wasn't much to be done about it and now the wait is finally over!
Two years ago the Deepwater Horizon oil spill galvanized us to put solar on our roof and something just persuaded me to start checking out why there wasn't a decent electric car out there. I stumbled across the Tesla Roadster and Graham Carroll (I mention this because Graham is now coincidentally Store Manager in Florida) responded to my e-mail by calling me from California and persuading me to take a test drive at the St Petersburg Festival of Speed. That test drive was an hour long but tempted as I was I made the excuse that my wife would have to check out the car. Will Nicholas (now Regional Manager in the NE) brought a Roadster over to our house 2 days later but arrived just as my wife was leaving on the school run, lightening fast he just told her "Take the Roadster to pick your daughter up..." and gave her the keys. About 15 mins later as he and I were drinking a coffee my phone buzzed with a one-word text from my wife, it read "Orgasmic!". I signed the papers and we ordered a Roadster. It didn't take very long living with a Tesla (and I'd discovered TMC by then!) that we knew we needed an electric family car and so we signed up for Model S and later a visit to Fremont last October saw me hand a check to George and JB to upgrade to a Sig Special.
Fast forward a year and my car was expected in early October; I signed the documents and handed over my money. Then things started to go wrong; problems in QC, parts on order, waiting, waiting, waiting. The people at Tesla were doing their best and it finally got sorted, followed by another wait on QC and then logistics and the car was on a truck heading east. I got the GPS tracker for the truck and experienced the exquisite pain of seeing it get closer and closer while stopping to drop off other cars in various States.
At 11.00am today, Sarasota experienced it's very first delivery of a Tesla Model S. Ben Bird (TMC member, but he's not allowed to post here anymore!) pulled up with our car abut 5 minutes early; he's been doing a great job trying to keep us updated and as I knew Ben from his days as Sustainability Manager in Bradenton it was a pleasure to see him again. Larry and his wife were due to come over but although they only lives a few miles away he managed to get lost (blamed it on his GPS! Huh!) so we took the first pics ourselves.
Car unloading:
It was a beautiful day. Sun shining, light breeze and 69F:
Ridiculously silent, she backed down the ramp. I think my Roadster was jealous as she had turned her back on us:
The dog came to try figuring out why this big thing was moving with no noise:
Happy wife, happy life...:
Larry showed up and brought champagne, so we forgave him for being late:
(Tesla management reading this: please note that Ben refused to drink even a sip of champagne as he was driving. He took coffee instead)
Thanks to Mrs. Larry for being photographer!
Sig Red looks great against a green background:
First drive was to Mote Marine Laboratory for a meeting with some VIP's, kinda appropriate considering Mote's key role in the aftermath of the oil spill. :smile:
First music with pano roof open and windows down was Oxygene (live version) from Jean-Michel Jarre.
First drive hit 96mph before running out of road (it was a private road so nothing illegal!). :biggrin:
Due bill:
1. HPWC
2. Parcel shelf (it's being redesigned)
3. Vehicle Guides (hard copy)
4. Connector bag.
Two minor issues that Ben brought to my attention: there's a small bubble in the paint armor behind the rear door and the mirror auto tilt isn't working.
I do have the screen chin cubby. Not good pics, but someone asked so here it is:
Car came with the latest version of firmware (I.15.8 is that the latest?) already installed.
Someone asked if it's possible for the driver to leave the car with music and a/c continuing working for passengers; the answer is yes. Apply the brake with the touch screen and you can exit the car with key and entertainment continues..
Pairing with my phone was a breeze. Call quality is excellent.
Homelink was also a breeze and took about 20 seconds to complete.
Music sound quality from my phone (iPhone 4S), from radio and from slacker was first class.
Software controls for the phone app is there so I anticipate the app itself coming soon.
Driving the Roadster is to be really in touch with the road; it's a sports car and you can throw it around and really have fun. Driving Model S is like riding in a very fast hovercraft; less pure fun than the Roadster but almost feels like a spacecraft, very special. Took a number of S curves and hardly felt any roll, even at speed. Seats are comfortable and saving driver profiles was very easy. Visibility out the back window sucks, but it's better than the Roadster so I don't care too much. The HD reversing camera is phenomenal.
Experienced a few people pointing with outstretched arms as I went through town and a truck driver who stopped beside me at a light and proclaimed "That is one cool car, man!" :biggrin:
Picked up my daughter from riding and she showed all her friends the key; they thought it was super cool. Everyone loves the car. :biggrin:
My daughter had the idea that we now should buy an X so that my wife and I can drive the S and the X and she can have the Roadster when she's 16! Yeah right! (She's 9!!) :biggrin:
My wife announced it to be "the perfect car". I found out this afternoon that tomorrows work has been cancelled due to windy weather so we're going to take a drive to Tampa and lunch at The Capitol Grille. :biggrin:
Oh, did I include enough :biggrin:'s in this post? Here's a few more:
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:!
Two years ago the Deepwater Horizon oil spill galvanized us to put solar on our roof and something just persuaded me to start checking out why there wasn't a decent electric car out there. I stumbled across the Tesla Roadster and Graham Carroll (I mention this because Graham is now coincidentally Store Manager in Florida) responded to my e-mail by calling me from California and persuading me to take a test drive at the St Petersburg Festival of Speed. That test drive was an hour long but tempted as I was I made the excuse that my wife would have to check out the car. Will Nicholas (now Regional Manager in the NE) brought a Roadster over to our house 2 days later but arrived just as my wife was leaving on the school run, lightening fast he just told her "Take the Roadster to pick your daughter up..." and gave her the keys. About 15 mins later as he and I were drinking a coffee my phone buzzed with a one-word text from my wife, it read "Orgasmic!". I signed the papers and we ordered a Roadster. It didn't take very long living with a Tesla (and I'd discovered TMC by then!) that we knew we needed an electric family car and so we signed up for Model S and later a visit to Fremont last October saw me hand a check to George and JB to upgrade to a Sig Special.
Fast forward a year and my car was expected in early October; I signed the documents and handed over my money. Then things started to go wrong; problems in QC, parts on order, waiting, waiting, waiting. The people at Tesla were doing their best and it finally got sorted, followed by another wait on QC and then logistics and the car was on a truck heading east. I got the GPS tracker for the truck and experienced the exquisite pain of seeing it get closer and closer while stopping to drop off other cars in various States.
At 11.00am today, Sarasota experienced it's very first delivery of a Tesla Model S. Ben Bird (TMC member, but he's not allowed to post here anymore!) pulled up with our car abut 5 minutes early; he's been doing a great job trying to keep us updated and as I knew Ben from his days as Sustainability Manager in Bradenton it was a pleasure to see him again. Larry and his wife were due to come over but although they only lives a few miles away he managed to get lost (blamed it on his GPS! Huh!) so we took the first pics ourselves.
Car unloading:
It was a beautiful day. Sun shining, light breeze and 69F:
Ridiculously silent, she backed down the ramp. I think my Roadster was jealous as she had turned her back on us:
The dog came to try figuring out why this big thing was moving with no noise:
Happy wife, happy life...:
Larry showed up and brought champagne, so we forgave him for being late:
(Tesla management reading this: please note that Ben refused to drink even a sip of champagne as he was driving. He took coffee instead)
Thanks to Mrs. Larry for being photographer!
Sig Red looks great against a green background:
First drive was to Mote Marine Laboratory for a meeting with some VIP's, kinda appropriate considering Mote's key role in the aftermath of the oil spill. :smile:
First music with pano roof open and windows down was Oxygene (live version) from Jean-Michel Jarre.
First drive hit 96mph before running out of road (it was a private road so nothing illegal!). :biggrin:
Due bill:
1. HPWC
2. Parcel shelf (it's being redesigned)
3. Vehicle Guides (hard copy)
4. Connector bag.
Two minor issues that Ben brought to my attention: there's a small bubble in the paint armor behind the rear door and the mirror auto tilt isn't working.
I do have the screen chin cubby. Not good pics, but someone asked so here it is:
Car came with the latest version of firmware (I.15.8 is that the latest?) already installed.
Someone asked if it's possible for the driver to leave the car with music and a/c continuing working for passengers; the answer is yes. Apply the brake with the touch screen and you can exit the car with key and entertainment continues..
Pairing with my phone was a breeze. Call quality is excellent.
Homelink was also a breeze and took about 20 seconds to complete.
Music sound quality from my phone (iPhone 4S), from radio and from slacker was first class.
Software controls for the phone app is there so I anticipate the app itself coming soon.
Driving the Roadster is to be really in touch with the road; it's a sports car and you can throw it around and really have fun. Driving Model S is like riding in a very fast hovercraft; less pure fun than the Roadster but almost feels like a spacecraft, very special. Took a number of S curves and hardly felt any roll, even at speed. Seats are comfortable and saving driver profiles was very easy. Visibility out the back window sucks, but it's better than the Roadster so I don't care too much. The HD reversing camera is phenomenal.
Experienced a few people pointing with outstretched arms as I went through town and a truck driver who stopped beside me at a light and proclaimed "That is one cool car, man!" :biggrin:
Picked up my daughter from riding and she showed all her friends the key; they thought it was super cool. Everyone loves the car. :biggrin:
My daughter had the idea that we now should buy an X so that my wife and I can drive the S and the X and she can have the Roadster when she's 16! Yeah right! (She's 9!!) :biggrin:
My wife announced it to be "the perfect car". I found out this afternoon that tomorrows work has been cancelled due to windy weather so we're going to take a drive to Tampa and lunch at The Capitol Grille. :biggrin:
Oh, did I include enough :biggrin:'s in this post? Here's a few more:
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:!
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