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He has a "low number plate", which are highly sought-after in MA. There's an annual lottery, even. Back in the day, low number plates were assigned to government officials, and consequently were basically exempt from all but the most egregious traffic violation citations. While that perk is gone, the luster remains.
Norbert
TSLA will win
You should see more blue when the sun is shining on the side of the car, especially close to sunset. Unless it is actually black.
AndyM
Member
Me too, me too!
My delivery was on Dec 26, delayed by the 24/25 holiday. Mine was the first "drop shipped" Model S in the Portland area.
Tesla contracted UPS to deliver the car, who in turn subcontracted United Road Service.
Very much unlike the "Horseless Carriage" service above, my Model S was delivered on an open flatbed, with no protective cover. In fact, the truck driver was not even willing to drive the car off the flatbed himself. "I'm not good at these electric cars," he said, as I choked back a comment. My delivery specialist, Jared, was a trooper and did that step, and let me drive my new car into the garage.
My car was more completed than I expected! The only due bill items were the carbon fiber spoiler, cargo net, J1772 adapter, and rear-facing seats.
I easily upgraded to 4.1 after a short test drive. The upgrade was already pending, and the actual installation took less than 30 minutes.
State of charge on delivery was 157 miles.
Interesting notes after two days of driving:
- When stomping on the go pedal, there's a tell-tale whine, which doesn't bother me in the least. I like to hear something special when engaging the warp drive.
- Opening the sunroof with the right hand thumbwheel opens to vent first only, then has to be done again to reach any other setting. Sliding top-down the picture of the sunroof on the main display does the same thing. Only the slider bar on the display acts properly. This is already reported.
- I do notice a lot of fogging. This can be fixed fast using the Defrost button, but sets max temperature. I need to give the windows a thorough cleaning, and learn the proper settings for general cruising. This is well-covered on the Fogging thread.
- The on-screen visuals of the car show 19" wheels... perhaps planning for a due-bill of my 21"s. I will call to get that fixed, if it bothers me later.
- The TuneIn radio listing does not include all the same items as the car in the Portland store... My one desired station, Radio Paradise, is missing in my car.
- When another audio source is selected and playing, my paired iPhone still redirects its audio to the Model S, but is not mixed with that other audio source. I can't hear texts, alarms, etc while driving. Good for safety, sure - but I'd like to know they are there. I'll make a suggestion to Tesla to adjust that.
- When approaching or leaving the car, bluetooth connects and reconnects beautifully my iPhone, with exactly the timing I would expect! Nice job!
- Door handles are working perfectly!
The car does not feel as wide as I thought it would. That's a very good thing.
Passing is like teleportation. I hope this never gets old.
Our first road trip is from Portland to Eugene, about 100 miles away. A range charge will easily get me there and back; A kind soul has generously loaned me a J1772 adapter for the trip since mine is on due-billed so i can "exercise" the Model S for friends at the midpoint of the trip without worrying about finding a NEMA 14-50 or 110V outlet to get home.
My delivery was on Dec 26, delayed by the 24/25 holiday. Mine was the first "drop shipped" Model S in the Portland area.
Tesla contracted UPS to deliver the car, who in turn subcontracted United Road Service.
Very much unlike the "Horseless Carriage" service above, my Model S was delivered on an open flatbed, with no protective cover. In fact, the truck driver was not even willing to drive the car off the flatbed himself. "I'm not good at these electric cars," he said, as I choked back a comment. My delivery specialist, Jared, was a trooper and did that step, and let me drive my new car into the garage.
My car was more completed than I expected! The only due bill items were the carbon fiber spoiler, cargo net, J1772 adapter, and rear-facing seats.
I easily upgraded to 4.1 after a short test drive. The upgrade was already pending, and the actual installation took less than 30 minutes.
State of charge on delivery was 157 miles.
Interesting notes after two days of driving:
- When stomping on the go pedal, there's a tell-tale whine, which doesn't bother me in the least. I like to hear something special when engaging the warp drive.
- Opening the sunroof with the right hand thumbwheel opens to vent first only, then has to be done again to reach any other setting. Sliding top-down the picture of the sunroof on the main display does the same thing. Only the slider bar on the display acts properly. This is already reported.
- I do notice a lot of fogging. This can be fixed fast using the Defrost button, but sets max temperature. I need to give the windows a thorough cleaning, and learn the proper settings for general cruising. This is well-covered on the Fogging thread.
- The on-screen visuals of the car show 19" wheels... perhaps planning for a due-bill of my 21"s. I will call to get that fixed, if it bothers me later.
- The TuneIn radio listing does not include all the same items as the car in the Portland store... My one desired station, Radio Paradise, is missing in my car.
- When another audio source is selected and playing, my paired iPhone still redirects its audio to the Model S, but is not mixed with that other audio source. I can't hear texts, alarms, etc while driving. Good for safety, sure - but I'd like to know they are there. I'll make a suggestion to Tesla to adjust that.
- When approaching or leaving the car, bluetooth connects and reconnects beautifully my iPhone, with exactly the timing I would expect! Nice job!
- Door handles are working perfectly!
The car does not feel as wide as I thought it would. That's a very good thing.
Passing is like teleportation. I hope this never gets old.
Our first road trip is from Portland to Eugene, about 100 miles away. A range charge will easily get me there and back; A kind soul has generously loaned me a J1772 adapter for the trip since mine is on due-billed so i can "exercise" the Model S for friends at the midpoint of the trip without worrying about finding a NEMA 14-50 or 110V outlet to get home.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Beautiful, Andy! I was lucky enough to see the green in person today - gorgeous color. It was a cloudy day and on first glance, it looked almost black. I think the blue and the green are my favorites.
P1937, VIN 1919 Delivered!!!!!
Need to write up the story about taking it to Jiffy Lube for the inpection. The group of guys there were all over it taking pictures and video. You should've seen when I showed them the "engine" under the hood (frunk) then the rear engine (the hatch). They were quite surprised and impressed! The guy who drove it said he had only driven one other car as smooth and solid - a Rolls Royce Phantom!
The delivery was a complete mess with nothing but half-truths (and worse) for the last three weeks - culminating in a vehicle delivered with no (but promised) detail and 0 - zilch - nada miles on the batt. But oh the car! Super amazing! Put 20 miles on it so far and already it feels like "my car".
I was afraid it would be too big and maybe this or that, but it is spot on! Very well perportioned and an incredibel looker with great handling. The only problems so far are a few scratches on the roof and the acceleration is not correct. (maybe because of the low SOC?)
Blue P85 with gray, obeche matte, sunroof, tech, silver 21's. Oh and the wheels on the display are wrong and the update always fails. (shipped with 4.0 and says there is an update but it fails over and over)
Still need rear facing seats and parcel shelf.
One other thing I feel the lines on the rearview cam are super important. You can see so much in the rearview cam but you have little idea what is or isn't in your path or going to be hit/missed.
Need to write up the story about taking it to Jiffy Lube for the inpection. The group of guys there were all over it taking pictures and video. You should've seen when I showed them the "engine" under the hood (frunk) then the rear engine (the hatch). They were quite surprised and impressed! The guy who drove it said he had only driven one other car as smooth and solid - a Rolls Royce Phantom!
The delivery was a complete mess with nothing but half-truths (and worse) for the last three weeks - culminating in a vehicle delivered with no (but promised) detail and 0 - zilch - nada miles on the batt. But oh the car! Super amazing! Put 20 miles on it so far and already it feels like "my car".
I was afraid it would be too big and maybe this or that, but it is spot on! Very well perportioned and an incredibel looker with great handling. The only problems so far are a few scratches on the roof and the acceleration is not correct. (maybe because of the low SOC?)
Blue P85 with gray, obeche matte, sunroof, tech, silver 21's. Oh and the wheels on the display are wrong and the update always fails. (shipped with 4.0 and says there is an update but it fails over and over)
Still need rear facing seats and parcel shelf.
One other thing I feel the lines on the rearview cam are super important. You can see so much in the rearview cam but you have little idea what is or isn't in your path or going to be hit/missed.
Well, on the plus side, you don't have video of a grumpy UPS driver pitching your Model S over the fence and into your yard... ;-)
teslasguy
MSP P#1117
I keep seeing people referring to a "due bill", but I never got one when my car was delivered.
But then again my car was dropped off by the driver when I wasn't home!
Good thing I have some nice neighbors that accepted it and put it in the garage for me.
Does anyone know of any "official" source for noting delivery and/or other issues that we are encountering?
I've mentioned them to my local service mgr., but he seems to be pretty much an observer.
For instance when I mentioned the sticking sunroof issue he said it sounds like a software issue that would probably be fixed in an update.
I've definitely seen and noted a few "anomalies", most of which only happened once.
I've never seen him actually note any of the issues I've raised in his system, or followup with me on any of the issues with the exception of how dirty the car was when I got it.
He's having a detailing company clean the car up for me on Monday.
My car is missing the spoiler and there were no owners manuals in the glove box as my DS said should be there.
However, so far I think I've received around 5-6 sets of the paperwork (CO, Delivery statement, etc) FedEx'd from Tesla.
The most recent set yesterday. I signed a bunch of them and returned them over a week ago.
My sunroof not only goes to the vent position and stops on first try, but last night it took three tries before it would open.
Also, when I was driving home last night I got the "ding ding" and a message appeared in the center dash that said "The battery is heating. Power will improve as you continue to drive".
I looked at the outside temp when it appeared and it was showing as 30f. I also noted that it took about 20-30 seconds for the big screen to light up when I first got into the car.
But then again my car was dropped off by the driver when I wasn't home!
Good thing I have some nice neighbors that accepted it and put it in the garage for me.
Does anyone know of any "official" source for noting delivery and/or other issues that we are encountering?
I've mentioned them to my local service mgr., but he seems to be pretty much an observer.
For instance when I mentioned the sticking sunroof issue he said it sounds like a software issue that would probably be fixed in an update.
I've definitely seen and noted a few "anomalies", most of which only happened once.
I've never seen him actually note any of the issues I've raised in his system, or followup with me on any of the issues with the exception of how dirty the car was when I got it.
He's having a detailing company clean the car up for me on Monday.
My car is missing the spoiler and there were no owners manuals in the glove box as my DS said should be there.
However, so far I think I've received around 5-6 sets of the paperwork (CO, Delivery statement, etc) FedEx'd from Tesla.
The most recent set yesterday. I signed a bunch of them and returned them over a week ago.
My sunroof not only goes to the vent position and stops on first try, but last night it took three tries before it would open.
Also, when I was driving home last night I got the "ding ding" and a message appeared in the center dash that said "The battery is heating. Power will improve as you continue to drive".
I looked at the outside temp when it appeared and it was showing as 30f. I also noted that it took about 20-30 seconds for the big screen to light up when I first got into the car.
You need to contact Tesla about that. Either your DS or the ownership experience team.
Tesla is working on a fix for this.
Typical in cold weather, assuming it occurred shortly after starting to drive.
This is how the sleep mode works. The displays have to boot, and it takes a varying amount of time, probably temperature dependent.
ModelS1079
Member
I love the Mike S delivery story, including doing wind sprints with his kids in the car.
I love the fact that, since the first day I posted on the Forum, Jerry33 knows EVERYTHING about this car. He is like Ben, but without video. Yet.
Jenga will find you in MA sometime soon.
Adding a snow drive update asap. Good experience today. Really positive, in a narley snowstorm.
Car has been skiing. It loved every minute. I put three kids, 8 pairs of skis, six pairs ski boots, four helmets, ten pairs of poles, and a small dufflebag in back. In the frunk, I put my drill case, a case for drill bits, backpack with laptop, my bag of clothes for five days, another ski helmut, winter coat and ski pants, a down vest (Marty McFly), and...DRUMROLL please..most important - my Taylor Guitar. And the kids had no luggage - at all - at their feet. SWEET.
Mot important:
I love the fact that, since the first day I posted on the Forum, Jerry33 knows EVERYTHING about this car. He is like Ben, but without video. Yet.
Jenga will find you in MA sometime soon.
Adding a snow drive update asap. Good experience today. Really positive, in a narley snowstorm.
Car has been skiing. It loved every minute. I put three kids, 8 pairs of skis, six pairs ski boots, four helmets, ten pairs of poles, and a small dufflebag in back. In the frunk, I put my drill case, a case for drill bits, backpack with laptop, my bag of clothes for five days, another ski helmut, winter coat and ski pants, a down vest (Marty McFly), and...DRUMROLL please..most important - my Taylor Guitar. And the kids had no luggage - at all - at their feet. SWEET.
Mot important:
Model S1079, congratulations on the 2012 delivery. Your blue Model S is gorgeous! I love my silver one, but I probably would have gotten the blue had it been available to Sig customers. I think my next Tesla (Model X?) will have to be blue! Wonderful pics. I wish I could figure out how to post some of mine. I seem to have tried just about everything with no luck.
PureAmps
Model S P85 (#2817)
I just wanted to share my first impressions after having driven 200 miles over my first few days with the car. This is basically a big +1 post, because most of this has been said before. But I thought I would share, as I enjoyed reading these summaries before my car arrived. Instead of attaching a pic, I just wrote a thousand words.
First, I have to say that I absolutely love the car. It is a joy to drive, has eye-catching styling, and can run on pure sunlight (solar panels not included). I have been looking to purchase a hybrid or EV for a while but didn't want to compromise on styling, performance, or range. The Tesla Model S was exactly the car I've been waiting for, and now I have it!
Driving Experience
After only my first couple of days of driving, I have come to love one pedal driving. It does take some getting used to and some finesse to make it a smooth experience for you (and your passengers). I drive with creep turned off, and it gives the car a driving dynamic very similar to a manual transmission. One feature request I have is to have the creep mode set with the driver's profile (my wife prefers the creep mode on). The acceleration is exhilarating and has left butterflies in my stomach on the few occasions where I've punched it (and the rear end broke loose briefly). The car handles very well and is quite responsive for such a heavy car. Even with the 21" wheels, the ride is quite smooth compared to other cars I've driven with low profile tires. Air and road noise are minimal but noticeable without music playing. With music playing, it is easy to push it to 90 mph and not even realize it. I will definitely have to keep an eye on the speedometer when I'm not traveling with traffic.
Touchscreen and Controls
The touchscreen is incredibly well done. Very responsive and easy to use (with a few exceptions noted below). I do not care for the placement of the Mercedes sourced blinker and cruise control stalks on the steering wheel, but it is something I will get used to. The steering wheel is quite comfortable and easy to find a good position for different driver's heights. I have had no problem that others have reported with simultaneously hitting the accelerator and brake pedals. The pedal placement seems perfectly fine to me.
My DS setup bluetooth on both of our phones at pickup, and have had no issues with bluetooth syncing with the phone when I enter the car. Bluetooth does occasionally cut out when playing music if I keep my phone (iPhone 5) in my left pocket while driving. If I take it out and place it in the cubby it seems to work just fine. I'm not sure if this is an iPhone or Tesla problem, but I lean towards Tesla, since I have a Jawbone Jambox that I frequently use with my iPhone in my pocket and it works great even 20 feet away.
I setup Homelink myself and it worked after the first try. This was actually a first for me, as Homelink is always a pain to setup on every vehicle I have ever owned, and it seems to always take more effort than it should. However, I do have a few problems with the operation of Homelink on the Model S. It seems to have limited range or directionality compared to other cars I own. My driveway approaches my garage at 45 degree angle, before turning into the garage. With other cars, I can open the garage as soon as the car enters the driveway, with the Model S I have to wait until I turn the angle and then open the garage. The bigger issue I have is with the user interface. There is a "HomeLink Settings" button at the bottom of the list of your configured openers. About 2 out of 3 times I hit the "Home Link Settings" button instead of my "Home" button when pulling into my driveway. It is bad UI design to put a button I use multiple times per day a short distance from a button I will only use a handful to times for the life of the car.
Music controls works great, and after a little tweaking with the controls, was happy with the sound quality. No problem with AM/FM radio reception (solid body roof).
Navigation
This is only the third car I've owned with built-in navigation. There are two things that drive me crazy in my other vehicles, and Tesla addresses both. The first is being able to search for places quickly and get accurate results. Since it uses google maps for searching, it is always up to date, very quick, and seems to be pretty accurate. The voice controls work great! The second issue is being able to use the navigation system while driving. My wife's Lexus disables half the functionality of the navigation (e.g. searching) while driving, even when a front passenger is present. It basically renders her navigation system useless, and we resort to using our phones. Yes, the Telsa nav is missing some very basic functionality like a "Home" button, list of favorites, multi-point routing, etc. But I'm going to assume these will all be added in short order.
Automagic Everything
Everything on the car is "automagic" and that takes some getting used to. I still find it strange to open the door, and have the climate control and radio turn on. Or likewise, that I can just exit the car and everything will turn off. Even after driving a few days, I still go out and check to make sure everything is off after a few minutes. I have turned on the walk away auto-lock feature, and I'm still not sure I'll ever get used to it. It is so strange to open your door with music playing, heating on, close the door, walk away, and just assume everything will turn off and the doors will lock. It works every time, but I have to look back until I see the lights flash.
I've seen a few glitches with the door handles, where the doors opened after the handle extended, or after the door was closed. This has been seen by others, and seems like something Tesla can correct. I'll find out at my first service appointment.
Children
As others have noted, it is not easy to buckle a child's booster in the rear seats. It can be done, but not easily by the child herself. I've also noticed when buckling my daughter, that the rear seat belts tend to snag when being pulled out and forward at the same time (this has been noted before). I've ordered seat belt extenders, which will hopefully allow my daughter to buckle herself again.
On the positive side, the kids love the car, especially, the door handles, touch screen, and frunk (not sure why). They call it the "Tesla roller coaster".
Fit and Finish
Overall, I'm satisfied with the fit and finish, but there is some room for improvement on the exterior as I noted in another thread (Body Panel Gap and Alignment Issues). The interior is well done (I opted for tan/obeche gloss) and the seats seem comfortable and easy to find a good driving position. The factory floor mats are cheaply made and will need to be replaced.
Interior Design
As has been discussed, the car needs more interior storage, both front and rear.
The cup holders are less usable than I originally thought. I can't easily fit two grande Starbucks coffee cups in the cup holders without the risk of them spilling. A few times while backing out in reverse, I have put my right arm on the back of the arm rest and caused it to slide forward and crush whatever was in the cup holder. So far I have been lucky that it was a steel container or a water bottle with the cap on. If it was a paper coffee cup it would have been a disaster.
My wife wants bigger visors with lighted vanity mirrors.
What's that Noise?
The car makes all kinds of unfamiliar noises, even when parked. There is a high-pitched electronic hum when the battery is charging, other noises that seem to come and go from time to time (battery heating?). There is the hum/vibration of the climate control system when parked. When driving, the car is so quiet, that other noises are more pronounced like the electronic steering when turning the wheel fast when parking. I'm usually pretty in tune with sounds my car makes, but I haven't got this one figured out yet. I think Tesla needs to publish some kind of "noise guide", so new owners know what's normal and what to expect. BTW, nothing I'm talking about are particularly annoying noises, just different from other cars I've owned.
Charging and Energy Use
It's no big deal to plug the car in every night. The kids seem to enjoy doing it (for now). It's great to start each day with a full charge. I think it will take some time to learn to drive optimally for maximum range. I'm still having too much fun with the accelerator pedal, but hope to get a handle on my energy use and estimating range before I take a road trip.
I tried the Super Charger in Gilroy, CA today and it worked as advertised. At one point there were 5 cars there, 4 charging and 1 waiting. It looked like 2 Tesla-owned vehicles with manufacturer's plates and 3 new vehicles including mine. If that becomes a regular occurrence, Tesla may have to install 8-bay super chargers. I'm very much looking forward to my first road trip to So Cal in early 2013.
TL;DR
Best car I've owned. Some minor improvements still needed.
First, I have to say that I absolutely love the car. It is a joy to drive, has eye-catching styling, and can run on pure sunlight (solar panels not included
). I have been looking to purchase a hybrid or EV for a while but didn't want to compromise on styling, performance, or range. The Tesla Model S was exactly the car I've been waiting for, and now I have it! Driving Experience
After only my first couple of days of driving, I have come to love one pedal driving. It does take some getting used to and some finesse to make it a smooth experience for you (and your passengers). I drive with creep turned off, and it gives the car a driving dynamic very similar to a manual transmission. One feature request I have is to have the creep mode set with the driver's profile (my wife prefers the creep mode on). The acceleration is exhilarating and has left butterflies in my stomach on the few occasions where I've punched it (and the rear end broke loose briefly). The car handles very well and is quite responsive for such a heavy car. Even with the 21" wheels, the ride is quite smooth compared to other cars I've driven with low profile tires. Air and road noise are minimal but noticeable without music playing. With music playing, it is easy to push it to 90 mph and not even realize it. I will definitely have to keep an eye on the speedometer when I'm not traveling with traffic.
Touchscreen and Controls
The touchscreen is incredibly well done. Very responsive and easy to use (with a few exceptions noted below). I do not care for the placement of the Mercedes sourced blinker and cruise control stalks on the steering wheel, but it is something I will get used to. The steering wheel is quite comfortable and easy to find a good position for different driver's heights. I have had no problem that others have reported with simultaneously hitting the accelerator and brake pedals. The pedal placement seems perfectly fine to me.
My DS setup bluetooth on both of our phones at pickup, and have had no issues with bluetooth syncing with the phone when I enter the car. Bluetooth does occasionally cut out when playing music if I keep my phone (iPhone 5) in my left pocket while driving. If I take it out and place it in the cubby it seems to work just fine. I'm not sure if this is an iPhone or Tesla problem, but I lean towards Tesla, since I have a Jawbone Jambox that I frequently use with my iPhone in my pocket and it works great even 20 feet away.
I setup Homelink myself and it worked after the first try. This was actually a first for me, as Homelink is always a pain to setup on every vehicle I have ever owned, and it seems to always take more effort than it should. However, I do have a few problems with the operation of Homelink on the Model S. It seems to have limited range or directionality compared to other cars I own. My driveway approaches my garage at 45 degree angle, before turning into the garage. With other cars, I can open the garage as soon as the car enters the driveway, with the Model S I have to wait until I turn the angle and then open the garage. The bigger issue I have is with the user interface. There is a "HomeLink Settings" button at the bottom of the list of your configured openers. About 2 out of 3 times I hit the "Home Link Settings" button instead of my "Home" button when pulling into my driveway. It is bad UI design to put a button I use multiple times per day a short distance from a button I will only use a handful to times for the life of the car.
Music controls works great, and after a little tweaking with the controls, was happy with the sound quality. No problem with AM/FM radio reception (solid body roof).
Navigation
This is only the third car I've owned with built-in navigation. There are two things that drive me crazy in my other vehicles, and Tesla addresses both. The first is being able to search for places quickly and get accurate results. Since it uses google maps for searching, it is always up to date, very quick, and seems to be pretty accurate. The voice controls work great! The second issue is being able to use the navigation system while driving. My wife's Lexus disables half the functionality of the navigation (e.g. searching) while driving, even when a front passenger is present. It basically renders her navigation system useless, and we resort to using our phones. Yes, the Telsa nav is missing some very basic functionality like a "Home" button, list of favorites, multi-point routing, etc. But I'm going to assume these will all be added in short order.
Automagic Everything
Everything on the car is "automagic" and that takes some getting used to. I still find it strange to open the door, and have the climate control and radio turn on. Or likewise, that I can just exit the car and everything will turn off. Even after driving a few days, I still go out and check to make sure everything is off after a few minutes. I have turned on the walk away auto-lock feature, and I'm still not sure I'll ever get used to it. It is so strange to open your door with music playing, heating on, close the door, walk away, and just assume everything will turn off and the doors will lock. It works every time, but I have to look back until I see the lights flash.
I've seen a few glitches with the door handles, where the doors opened after the handle extended, or after the door was closed. This has been seen by others, and seems like something Tesla can correct. I'll find out at my first service appointment.
Children
As others have noted, it is not easy to buckle a child's booster in the rear seats. It can be done, but not easily by the child herself. I've also noticed when buckling my daughter, that the rear seat belts tend to snag when being pulled out and forward at the same time (this has been noted before). I've ordered seat belt extenders, which will hopefully allow my daughter to buckle herself again.
On the positive side, the kids love the car, especially, the door handles, touch screen, and frunk (not sure why). They call it the "Tesla roller coaster".
Fit and Finish
Overall, I'm satisfied with the fit and finish, but there is some room for improvement on the exterior as I noted in another thread (Body Panel Gap and Alignment Issues). The interior is well done (I opted for tan/obeche gloss) and the seats seem comfortable and easy to find a good driving position. The factory floor mats are cheaply made and will need to be replaced.
Interior Design
As has been discussed, the car needs more interior storage, both front and rear.
The cup holders are less usable than I originally thought. I can't easily fit two grande Starbucks coffee cups in the cup holders without the risk of them spilling. A few times while backing out in reverse, I have put my right arm on the back of the arm rest and caused it to slide forward and crush whatever was in the cup holder. So far I have been lucky that it was a steel container or a water bottle with the cap on. If it was a paper coffee cup it would have been a disaster.
My wife wants bigger visors with lighted vanity mirrors.
What's that Noise?
The car makes all kinds of unfamiliar noises, even when parked. There is a high-pitched electronic hum when the battery is charging, other noises that seem to come and go from time to time (battery heating?). There is the hum/vibration of the climate control system when parked. When driving, the car is so quiet, that other noises are more pronounced like the electronic steering when turning the wheel fast when parking. I'm usually pretty in tune with sounds my car makes, but I haven't got this one figured out yet. I think Tesla needs to publish some kind of "noise guide", so new owners know what's normal and what to expect. BTW, nothing I'm talking about are particularly annoying noises, just different from other cars I've owned.
Charging and Energy Use
It's no big deal to plug the car in every night. The kids seem to enjoy doing it (for now). It's great to start each day with a full charge. I think it will take some time to learn to drive optimally for maximum range. I'm still having too much fun with the accelerator pedal, but hope to get a handle on my energy use and estimating range before I take a road trip.
I tried the Super Charger in Gilroy, CA today and it worked as advertised. At one point there were 5 cars there, 4 charging and 1 waiting. It looked like 2 Tesla-owned vehicles with manufacturer's plates and 3 new vehicles including mine. If that becomes a regular occurrence, Tesla may have to install 8-bay super chargers.
I'm very much looking forward to my first road trip to So Cal in early 2013.TL;DR
Best car I've owned. Some minor improvements still needed.
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