P85D Ludicrous Pre-Order Upgrade Available 9/25/15

[P85DPB]

Just ordered! Can't wait....thanks for the info

 

[NorCalSJ]

I have the 4G coming next week and now the Ludicrous upgrade in 4Q....it gets better and better!!

 

[brianman]

steve,
People like us that want a very fast car will pay the up charge for it. The same logic does apply in the secondary market where there will be buyers looking for L only cars. The place we get killed is not having the 90 which is well worth a 2.5K premium when you consider resale. That said, there is no why I would give up my suspension for a PDL even if I could swap out today for just a $10K upgrade.

I wonder what my P85DL badge is worth on EBay

The range upgrade is $3,000. So the premium is $5,500 ($3,000 + $10,000 - $7,500) for P85D w/Ludicrous to P90D w/Ludicrous. Right?

 

[lolachampcar]

sorry
I thought the $10K took you to P90DL. My PD had been delivered so I've not looked into P90 pricing.

 

[Andyw2100]

That is why this whole motor power, battery draw, etc. discussion drives me nuts. My butt tells me there is a lot more going on which makes sense given Tesla is obviously controlling battery draw with software. I have no inside info but I would guess they tried Ludicrous on the PD only to find that the contractors took a dump when they pulled 1500 amps for longer than they were pulling 1300 amps in Insane. They probably lost a fuse or two but the contactor was likely the weakest link. What they thought would be an over the air (for free) software upgrade became the $7500 Ludicrous.

I'm ok with it because the PD Tesla delivered met my expectations for performance (as set by the announcement event and my knowledge of MS battery usage).
I also understand how the original hardware could not have supported more which explains the hardware change and associated costs.

I won't bring the whole debate into this thread, but you did open the door, so all I'm going to say is that I'm sure you can agree that telling customers you're going to be giving them something at no charge and then saying, "Whoops--we made a mistake--we can give you that, but only if you pay us $7500" is not the kind of sound business strategy a company of Tesla's caliber should be employing. And while I don't fall into this category, what would you tell those customers who bought while that promise that never materialized was on the website? They purchased with the promise of a free high-speed performance increase coming, and then are being asked to pay $7500 for it. Does this seem right to you? (I'm purposely not bringing up the other aspects of this, or the ones that apply to the early adopters.)

 

[sillydriver]

I won't bring the whole debate into this thread, but you did open the door, so all I'm going to say is that I'm sure you can agree that telling customers you're going to be giving them something at no charge and then saying, "Whoops--we made a mistake--we can give you that, but only if you pay us $7500" is not the kind of sound business strategy a company of Tesla's caliber should be employing. And while I don't fall into this category, what would you tell those customers who bought while that promise that never materialized was on the website? They purchased with the promise of a free high-speed performance increase coming, and then are being asked to pay $7500 for it. Does this seem right to you? (I'm purposely not bringing up the other aspects of this, or the ones that apply to the early adopters.)

What it seems like is that I bought last year's Porsche Turbo, and the company offers to upgrade my car to this year's Turbo S for 7500 bucks, new badging included. Of all the car companies there are, only Tesla offers a hardware upgrade to their latest, most powerful engine (okay .. contractors, fuses, etc.). Definitely seems right to me.

- - - Updated - - -

What it seems like is that I bought last year's Porsche Turbo, and the company offers to upgrade my car to this year's Turbo S for 7500 bucks, new badging included. Of all the car companies there are, only Tesla offers a hardware upgrade to their latest, most powerful engine (okay .. contractors, fuses, etc.). Definitely seems right to me.

Alternatively, it's like Apple making an offer for you to take your iPhone 6 to the store, where they'll upgrade it to a 6s for $35 (roughly the same proportion of the original price).

 

[Andyw2100]

What it seems like is that I bought last year's Porsche Turbo, and the company offers to upgrade my car to this year's Turbo S for 7500 bucks, new badging included. Of all the car companies there are, only Tesla offers a hardware upgrade to their latest, most powerful engine (okay .. contractors, fuses, etc.). Definitely seems right to me.

- - - Updated - - -



Alternatively, it's like Apple making an offer for you to take your iPhone 6 to the store, where they'll upgrade it to a 6s for $35 (roughly the same proportion of the original price).

Both of your examples don't take into account what I actually wrote. Your examples start in the present, and don't take into account Tesla's past actions. My concerns involve the promises not delivered on, which your examples ignore.

Edit: To clarify, using one of your examples, it would be much more like Apple saying if you buy the 6s, they will upgrade it to the 7 for free when the 7 is available, but then when the 7 is available they say, "Sorry--We can't do that for free, but if you pay us $35 we'll do the upgrade for you."

I'm making no comment on the value of the upgrade itself. My comment is on the broken promise.

 

[sillydriver]

There is no question that what you say is factually correct. My purpose is to evaluate that broken promise in the context of what is ultimately delivered (I hope), which compares very favorably with the standard of both the auto industry and other industries. For my own part, I will judge them on what they are actually doing for me.

 

[Andyw2100]

There is no question that what you say is factually correct. My purpose is to evaluate that broken promise in the context of what is ultimately delivered (I hope), which compares very favorably with the standard of both the auto industry and other industries. For my own part, I will judge them on what they are actually doing for me.

And as I said, I wasn't trying to comment on the value of the upgrade. Doing so now, I expect it may be a good value for some people, and I actually haven't decided yet if I'll be getting it or not. (I'm waiting to see what others think of it, and where I'd have to go to get it.)

My initial post on this was simply about the fact that Tesla should be much more careful about not making promises they can't deliver on.

 

[Kevin Michaluk]

Just ordered mine!! Picked Eden Prairie Minneapolis location (will make the ride down from Winnipeg). Will be faster ride back!

 

[KyP85D]

749 rose hurst way
Lexington, ky 40515v

 

[tstafford]

Just ordered mine!! Picked Eden Prairie Minneapolis location (will make the ride down from Winnipeg). Will be faster ride back!

My reading of it is that only certain SC's are going to be able to do the work. I'm hoping I don't have to go too far. Atlanta seems like a good bet for me.

 

[LetsGoFast]

It is interesting. When the announcement was made, I tried to order the upgrade in Fairfax, VA. A week or so ago, I got an email from Raleigh, NC saying that they still didn't know any details. I never spoke to anyone in Raleigh to indicate my interest. Perhaps that means Raleigh is going to be an upgrade center and Fairfax isn't.

 

[andrewket]

It is interesting. When the announcement was made, I tried to order the upgrade in Fairfax, VA. A week or so ago, I got an email from Raleigh, NC saying that they still didn't know any details. I never spoke to anyone in Raleigh to indicate my interest. Perhaps that means Raleigh is going to be an upgrade center and Fairfax isn't.

I'm 99% sure Rockville will be the location for the DC metro area. They do battery work today.

 

[Andyw2100]

My reading of it is that only certain SC's are going to be able to do the work. I'm hoping I don't have to go too far.

This is just a minor criticism, but it strikes me as poor form on Tesla's part to require a non-refundable deposit for an item that is going to require serious installation time when they can't say where the installations may take place. In the very least they should have included a clause that allowed for a refund of the deposit if there was not a center that could provide the installation within x miles. Better yet would have been to include the list of installation centers at the same time they opened up the sign up page.

 

[andrewket]

This is just a minor criticism, but it strikes me as poor form on Tesla's part to require a non-refundable deposit for an item that is going to require serious installation time when they can't say where the installations may take place. In the very least they should have included a clause that allowed for a refund of the deposit if there was not a center that could provide the installation within x miles. Better yet would have been to include the list of installation centers at the same time they opened up the sign up page.

Fair enough. I suspect that if someone is hundreds of miles away from the nearest SC that can do the work that Tesla would refund the deposit. By collecting $500 upfront Tesla will have a far more accurate count of interested customers.

 

[Super_Popular]

I don't understand why only original owners can buy this upgrade.

 

[Andyw2100]

I don't understand why only original owners can buy this upgrade.

Right now it's discounted $5000, supposedly. Presumably after the discount period ends, it would be available to anyone.

 

[Paul8810]

That is why this whole motor power, battery draw, etc. discussion drives me nuts. My butt tells me there is a lot more going on which makes sense given Tesla is obviously controlling battery draw with software. I have no inside info but I would guess they tried Ludicrous on the PD only to find that the contractors took a dump when they pulled 1500 amps for longer than they were pulling 1300 amps in Insane. They probably lost a fuse or two but the contactor was likely the weakest link.

Exactly. I remember specifically one of the first users that took delivery of his (wife's?) P85D had the main fuse / contractor blow one or two days after taking delivery while doing an insane launch. Perhaps a subsequent software update limited the amperage on other P85D's to avoid reoccurrence and the fix is this ludicrous upgrade.

 

[Andyw2100]

Exactly. I remember specifically one of the first users that took delivery of his (wife's?) P85D had the main fuse / contractor blow one or two days after taking delivery while doing an insane launch. Perhaps a subsequent software update limited the amperage on other P85D's to avoid reoccurrence and the fix is this ludicrous upgrade.

You remember specifically wrong, then.

The person you're talking about did, apparently, wind up working something out with Tesla that involved Tesla accepting his wife's car back, but he never provided the details, almost certainly due to an NDA. He never said anything about doing an insane launch, and I believe he actually said he hadn't been driving hard at all. The car died in an intersection, and he and his son had to push it through the intersection, as I recall. He also wasn't close to one of the first P85D owners. If memory serves, he took delivery on Christmas or New Year's Day.

We also never heard officially, I don't believe, that it was the main fuse / contactor, though that part is probably correct.

I'm going to look for the thread, and come back and edit this post if I find it.

Edit: This is the thread--http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/40527-My-2-day-old-P85D-suddenly-died-in-the-middle-of-an-intersection

Oh, and he took delivery December 27: Tracking P85D delivery thread - Page 366

Here are a few relevant excerpts from the thread in question, including the first post. (I added the bolding.):

Well ... my short range brand new P85D with 191km (120mi) died suddenly in the middle of an intersection (completely stopped moving) on -12C weather. Even the heater stopped working. My 10 year old son and I had to get out and push it to the side. Called my DS who called roadside assistance who put him on hold for 30 minutes and then told me that it will be an hour before a tow truck arrives. My son and I were freezing with no heater so I made my 80 year old dad come and pick us up. Needless to say ... I am NOT impressed. I knew I was buy bleeding edge but a COMPLETE breakdown 2 days and 140km after leaving the showroom? Really?

This was my wife's car that broke down. I just happened to be driving it to pick up our son from swimming because my P85D was charging. I am just REALLY glad that it happened to me and not her. She was extremely skeptical about buying a Tesla and I twisted her arm. If she was driving the car when this happened, I can guarantee you we would have one less Tesla in the house tomorrow morning.

Hard acceleration no ... more like spirited acceleration. May be 50% of the pedal travel. The car was in sport mode.
Yes. I heard a clunk that seemed to come from the front somewhere immediately before the car died.
The music is Slacker "Today's hits". I guess my wife picked when she last drove the car.

Any thoughts on what happened?

i don't know what is wrong with my wife's car. Nobody from the SC called me yet.

It it is a moot point now. My wife is adamant that she does not want to drive a Tesla after yesterday's incident.

***** UPDATE *****

Thanks to everyone who's contributed and for some of feelings of concern. I thought I'd give everyone an update and straighten out some of the facts that may have gotten twisted in the thread.

Timeline:

<Stuff Omitted>

Wednesday 6:00pm

1. PWA calls me and says that they still don't know what happened. I told him that my wife is unwilling to drive a Tesla again. He was very sympathetic and asked for some time to sort things out.

Thursday 2:00pm

1. I call SC to see if they know what's wrong. They said:

- "Unknown" fault caused the contactors to open
- Event happened so fast that they were not recorded properly by the car systems
- After contactors were reset they can find anything wrong with the car
- After two test drives the car seems to working properly
- They will increase the frequency of recording on the car

2. Not a comforting answer IMHO.

Thursday 6:00pm

1. PWA calls me and lays out a solution that is acceptable to me. Please don't ask about the details because I will not share them out of respect for Tesla.

Friday 6:00am

I am writing this post.