Questions regarding Model S

[Sir Guacamolaf]

I suspect Tesla will make a better interior before Mercedes makes a practical EV with a decent interior.
Also, you do need a place to charge it on a regular basis. If you have to hunt for a charger every night, it's nearly not as much fun to own a Tesla. At least not right now.

 

[BayArea_David]

If you can't charge at home, you may need to reconsider your decision of buying an EV.
If you can overcome this barrier, owning an EV is a wonderful thing. I have two.

 

[davidc18]

Charging at home makes the equation work.

 

[tomas]

If you are concerned about potholes do NOT get 21" wheels. The low profile tires are very susceptible to sidewalk blowouts from potholes.

 

[cgiGuy]

very susceptible to sidewalk blowouts

Dang.. how hard are you hitting those curbs that you blow out the sidewalk?!?

 

[Doug_G]

I changed the thread title slightly to more accurately represent the thread contents.

 

[croman]

If OP charges at work he might never need a surcharger or home charge.

 

[Burnt Toast]

So, Tesla's air suspension is not the same as BMW or Merc? In those brands a high setting softens the bumps and potholes and reduces noise. But the body roll is high during cornering. At low setting the opposite is true.

Well that's not true. Any of it. You are confusing shock absorbers with suspension and no suspension on the planet can deal with potholes.

 

[gowthamn]

Well that's not true. Any of it. You are confusing shock absorbers with suspension and no suspension on the planet can deal with potholes.

Ok. So air suspension is only to change height and not for smooth rides?

 

[tomas]

Dang.. how hard are you hitting those curbs that you blow out the sidewalk?!?

%#%*^ spellcheck

 

[GreenT]

For all these answers and more, feel free to use tesla.com

Can you spell rude?

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Ok. So air suspension is only to change height and not for smooth rides?

Supposedly the air suspension gives you a smoother ride. I can't tell the difference (19" wheels).
Air suspension does not have a setting like "less smooth to more smooth" - the only setting is ride height.
Also, 2x on the don't get 21" wheels if potholes bother you. Also 21's wear out quicker.

 

[Burnt Toast]

Ok. So air suspension is only to change height and not for smooth rides?

If there are differences in how smooth the ride is, it is only slight. There are tests on YouTube with accelerometers on a Model S showing the difference between the two in terms of smoothness air and coils are the same 99% of the time.

 

[Burnt Toast]

Can you spell rude?

There was nothing rude about that whatsoever. It was making a point that the OP should probably do a tiny bit of research before asking really simple and obvious questions.

 

[S100D]

Yes, no solid roof anymore. Tesla said the orders for it were low and they decided to just go with the more popular pano and all glass roofs to streamline production.

I am one of the few that did not and would have not purchased the all glass or pano roof.

• There are known issues with the pano and glass roofs being noisier.
• I have to believe that it takes more battery power to cool the car during the summer and heat the car during the winter.
• I would not want to be in an all glass roof car during a rollover accident.

 

[henderrj]

I don't have home charging (living in apartment). But can charge at work. So, I might use superchargers which will be built within cities by the end of the year for charging. Waiting 40 minutes for 80% charge for regular city driving will be a waste of time.

Unless you have a really long commute (say 150 or more miles) you will have no problem if you simply charge at work every day. It certainly won't take 8 hours! Probably 2 or 3 at the most.

I find the air suspension to solve our steep driveway with a distinct "peak" problem quite nicely. (When we come out of the garage the parking sensors go nuts with nothing but our driveway in front of us.) We have those speed bumps in our neighborhood and I can't tell a difference as to whether the suspension is raised or not. It's georeferenced now so always goes up anyway.

As to the quality of the S - I also owned an S Class and loved the Mercedes. I really miss soft close doors! But would I go back? No chance. Zero. The S is superior in so many ways there is simply no comparison. Imagine what Tesla will do to the market when their interior comes up to the quality of the rest of the car? I loved all three Mercedes I've owned but - wow - can't imagine them catching up.

 

[JRMW]

Caution about work charging.

My hospital had 2 free charging spots.

For years they were empty.

Starting 6 months ago they are now filled nonstop
I have left notes on the Teslas to leave the spot for the Leafs and i3
(I drive a Tesla of course)

The lesson,
Don't rely only on work charging. Times are changing
Especially as the 3 debuts

 

[SMAlset]

I am one of the few that did not and would have not purchased the all glass or pano roof.

• There are known issues with the pano and glass roofs being noisier.
• I have to believe that it takes more battery power to cool the car during the summer and heat the car during the winter.
• I would not want to be in an all glass roof car during a rollover accident.

Initially when we were looking for our Tesla I kind of had some of the same concerns about the roof. Can't speak to the all glass but we have the pano roof and don't find it noisy. We sat in a solid roof car and honestly we're not tall people but there was so much more head room in the pano and glass roof versions especially for guests in the second row, we couldn't see ordering the solid. I can't say I've read any posts of people complaining about the pano recently. The car has been through some decent rain already and no leaks. I know a few years ago some people were having some issues but thinking maybe those were worked out.

We live inland valley and probably have some similar temp ranges as you in Austin. I've been pretty impressed by the IR and tinting on the pano roof. The only time I really notice heat on my head is when the pano is open and the sun is entering from there. I think the majority of the heat in the car comes from the side body windows including the rear. Given the IR works so well on the pano I wish they would have included it everywhere else however the pano is a pretty small glass area so guess it comes down to cost. There is window film that provides IR protection too. Haven't owned the car through the winter yet but have had some 90F days already and we find the AC and our ventilated seats keep us very comfortable. Our 75D has a decent range for our heavier weekend driving and we have a 14-50 in our garage for overnight charging so the AC eating into our range isn't a big concern for us.

The pano roof does really well in crush tests from what I read (even broke a testing machine that was trying to crush it supposedly) and if you haven't seen whttiger25's recent thread on his trek down a steep slope where his car flipped over and landed on his pano roof then check out his thread: Model S saved my life (photos throughout the thread). Made me believe in the structural integrity of my pano roof.

 

[Sawyer8888]

Did Tesla delete the painted roof? When I get on the Tesla website, all I see is the glass roof and pano roof.

As of mid-April the painted roof was discontinued.

We had a loaner with the pano roof, likely no tint. On a 4-hr road trip on a sunny day the cabin heated up to an uncomfortable temperature - partly because of the car's settings that shut down certain features such as the AC in order to conserve energy (I toggled this setting multiple times). Although the higher temperature was mostly due to the glass roof. The sunburn I got on my forehead was not very pleasant either.

Using a decibel app, the pano roof with 21s was about 10 dBs louder in the cabin than our painted roof with 19s.

Now that the new cars only have glass roofs, you will absolutely need to have a decent tint installed. Or you could just wear a hat and apply some sunscreen. And turn up the radio a bit to help drown out the extra road/wind noise; I'd imagine the 21s are mostly to blame for the added noise, but they do look pretty cool.

 

[gowthamn]

As of mid-April the painted roof was discontinued.

We had a loaner with the pano roof, likely no tint. On a 4-hr road trip on a sunny day the cabin heated up to an uncomfortable temperature - partly because of the car's settings that shut down certain features such as the AC in order to conserve energy (I toggled this setting multiple times). Although the higher tempetemperature was mostly due to the glass roof. The sunburn I got on my forehead was not very pleasant either.

Using a decibel app, the pano roof with 21s was about 10 dBs louder in the cabin than our painted roof with 19s.

Now that the new cars only have glass roofs, you will absolutely need to have a decent tint installed. Or you could just wear a hat and apply some sunscreen. And turn up the radio a bit to help drown out the extra road/wind noise; I'd imagine the 21s are mostly to blame for the added noise, but they do look pretty cool.

10 DB is a lot !