Tech Package: Not so tech?

[spleen]

Also should add that I have Navigon on my iphone and it's great--lots of POI loaded, accurate, quick, reroutes around traffic. I love it and I'm happy to hear that the navigation on the S will be navigon!

+1. If the Navigon software is anything like the Navigon app on my iPhone, I'll be a very happy camper! No persistent Internet connection required.

 

[jerry33]

a) a significant safety feature as they light the roads far better then halogen lights and

No question there, the light is much better from HIDs.

b) require far less maintenance (I have had my current car for almost nine years now and not once up to now have my Xenon lights failed me. In the eight years I had my previous car, I had to replace the halogen lights several times - on both sides.)

The Xenon lights in Europe must be of far better quality than the ones sold over here then. I am on my second set in nine years and my neighbours are on their fourth set and have far fewer miles on them than I have on mine. The halogen bulbs appear to last at least twice as long as the HIDs (at least the ones I've had--and I've used halogens since the mid-1970s) and are only 10% the price*. ($10 vs $100 for the online HIDs. Go to a dealer and HIDs are $300+installation).

* Exception, the halogens on the VW TDI last no longer than a month.

 

[strider]

Exactly, that is why I put the ones you explicitly enumerated in the first list of "non-tech or should be included with any Model S"!

Who wants a car like the Model S without those features? Hertz Rent-A-Dent?

Well, Tesla is interested in fleet purchasers but at the end of the day, Tesla wanted to hit a specific base price point so they did what they had to do that. It's not different than any other manufacturer - how many base model MB's or BMW's are sold?

 

[pete8314]

...Tesla wanted to hit a specific base price point so they did what they had to do that. It's not different than any other manufacturer - how many base model MB's or BMW's are sold?

Exactly. The $50k (in the US) is a psychological price tag, my guess would be that only a tiny proportion of what they sell will be that specification.

In terms of the Xenons, in the UK every (luxury) car I bought I had to pay extra for the lights, so I'm not sure the same rules apply for all of Europe. ON the last car I bought before coming to the US, an SLK, I think the COMAND system was the equivalent of about $6k, and Xenons were another $3k. The Cupholder was a zero-cost option, but not a default, that would be a 'coin tray'. The Keyless go, as Merc call it, was another few thousand, but that was bundled with some other tech options, much the same as what Tesla have done.

For me, the Xenons make it with the cost other package on its own (both in terms of safety and aesthetics, and I also would not be without the keyless entry. My wife, who does not have it on her current Tiguan, will never buy another car without it, having now experienced it.

Every manufacturer bundles this 'stuff' up differently, but normally it's done in such a way that you really 'need' at least a couple of the features; I certainly don't think Tesla have done anything wrong here.

 

[goyogi]

I think the most important question is how many jars of Fluff we can buy with $3,750 :biggrin:

View attachment 8725

Fluff can be highlydesirable.
Fluffer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But I doubt Tesla would offer such fluff.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Surely there's a copy and paste function.

Well, it took the iPhone a couple of SDK iterations before that showed up! Just saying...

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

I would guess so too.

As we can clearly see from several discussions here, Americans seem to have very different priorities when it comes to features deemed necessary in a car.
Leather for example seems to be regarded as a necessity in the US whereas here it is not standard even in high-end models as most people here don't see it as necessary or desirable (myself included).
Here in Europe, Xenon lights like you said are seen as necessary because they are
a) a significant safety feature as they light the roads far better then halogen lights and
b) require far less maintenance (I have had my current car for almost nine years now and not once up to now have my Xenon lights failed me. In the eight years I had my previous car, I had to replace the halogen lights several times - on both sides.)

Then again, LED lights would be even better for lighting quality, efficiency and durability (again, the full LED rear lights in my current car have never needed a replacement in almost nine years now whereas the standard rear light bulbs in my former car had to be exchanged almost once every one or two years - which apart from the extra cost was fine in those days as you could exchange the bulbs by yourself. In current cars you can't do that anymore without taking the car to a service center - even if you still have standard lighting. Automakers nowadays love to build cars so that you can't repair them yourself anymore).

And I haven't even started about the satnav/poi whining going on. I must be getting old but when I plan a trip to a location I haven't been to before, I read the maps (paper mind you, some of the older folk might remember there used to be such a thing) beforehand, look up where I want to go and then get in my car and drive there, no fuss whatsoever. POI's? My POI is my destination. The nearest gas stations, restaurants etc. are signposted on any motorway, and I don't have time to visit a museum or other supposed POI en-route either (and those are usually signposted as well anyway). And fortunately I am still able to read road-signs, listen to the traffic-jam warnings on the radio and still manage to drive (and entertain a family of four) at the same time. Incredible it seems. Then again as I said I am also able to press a button (or in an emergency - like an empty fob battery, yikes! - even manage the excrutiating task of inserting the key in the door lock and open it!) to unlock my car! Crazy, I know... ;-)

Until about 8 years ago I traveled constantly for work, all over the U.S. (48 of 50 states) and Canada. I got so jaded by traveling that I would glance at the basic map provided by Avis (which shows hardly anything) and if it didn't show the town I was driving to I'd just ask which direction it was in. Then I'd just head in that direction and follow street and highway signs to get where I was going.

I'd rarely have any trouble at all finding the town, and almost always would end up driving directly to it. Towns are hard to miss as long as you know it's somewhere "North" of you. Highways are designed to take you to where you want to go, so just find the highway and read the signs. Hotels, big or small tend to be near the highways and airports and are well marked. If what you are looking for isn't right off the highway, you rarely go wrong by heading towards the bright lights and big buildings. Main commercial thoroughfares look a lot different than residential streets (bright lights, big buildings).

It was helpful that my worksites were newspapers, which almost always were located right downtown. But the specific location of the client site was the only thing I would need directions for and thats what a navigation system does. Finding stores, gas stations, hotels and restaurants is childs play, and in the case of hotels its almost never hard to find even your particular hotel. Being in the middle of nowhere makes it just that much easier, since there is less clutter.

 

[brianman]

As we can clearly see from several discussions here, Americans seem to ...

"And Germans seem to overgeneralize from a small sample of people that disagree with them."

 

[brianman]

Well, it took the iPhone a couple of SDK iterations before that showed up! Just saying...

Similar delay for the feature on Windows Phone.

"Surely saying a feature will surely be on a new product is folly."

 

[AustinPowers]

"And Germans seem to overgeneralize from a small sample of people that disagree with them."

Good point. Then again, you might have missed the sarcastic nature of my post ;-)

And about generalizations in general (no pun intended): I know that I can't know the preferences of every American, but at least my observations of and expericences with living specimens of the aformentioned nationality tell me on the whole I am not far off the point. :tongue:

 

[AustinPowers]

Reminds me of a funny joke:

Subject: 21st Century

I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law last night when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper.

'This is the 21st century, old man,' my son said. 'We don't waste money on newspapers. Here, you can borrow my iPad.'



I can tell you, that f*$&n fly never knew what hit it...

LOL, that's a good one I didn't know.

 

[Liz G]

After reading the posts on this thread it appears that the need (or not) for the tech package is a very personal thing and highly dependent on previous experience. For me, I don't currently have most of the options listed in the tech package. So by not getting it, I'm not giving up anything. The old you can't miss what you don't have. For others, though, who have become dependent/used to certain features, it is a must have. I like the fact that Tesla didn't roll all of these items into the base model. As it would have increased the cost and made it more difficult for those of us who have to stretch for this car to do it.

I do wish, however, that they had broken the package up into a couple of packages, say all the lights and keyless entry in one and the nav and home link in another. Or something like that. A few more options would have allowed us to customize our S to better meet our own standards/needs. And I probably would have forked out an extra $1500 for the lights and keyless entry. That keyless entry was one of the perks i was looking forward to. But i can't justify paying $3750 for that perk. And yes I know i get more than just keyless entry for that price but to me the rest of it is just extras that i don't care about so hard to include in the price justification. So, for me I'm going to forgo the tech package and use the savings there to help offset the extra cost of getting the 85kWh battery.

 

[contaygious]

I still think it has keyless entry, just not automatic right? Like you just push the door handle to unlock vs automatic you just walk up and the handlesp out.

They had to bundle things together to keep it simpler probably. I'm just glad they don't have separate pricey packages like other companies which have tech and convenience packages to buy for a lot more!

Even my Infiniti was 5k for tech package and about 1500 for convinience. Rear cam is at least standard on s with an hd option. I feel that tesla is very reasonably pricing their options so far.

 

[jerry33]

I still think it has keyless entry, just not automatic right? Like you just push the door handle to unlock vs automatic you just walk up and the handlesp out.

That's correct. It's the automatic entry that I am looking for. Keyless entry isn't all that much more convenient. Automatic entry is a must-have for me.

 

[dsm363]

After reading the posts on this thread it appears that the need (or not) for the tech package is a very personal thing and highly dependent on previous experience. For me, I don't currently have most of the options listed in the tech package. So by not getting it, I'm not giving up anything. The old you can't miss what you don't have. For others, though, who have become dependent/used to certain features, it is a must have. I like the fact that Tesla didn't roll all of these items into the base model. As it would have increased the cost and made it more difficult for those of us who have to stretch for this car to do it.

I do wish, however, that they had broken the package up into a couple of packages, say all the lights and keyless entry in one and the nav and home link in another. Or something like that. A few more options would have allowed us to customize our S to better meet our own standards/needs. And I probably would have forked out an extra $1500 for the lights and keyless entry. That keyless entry was one of the perks i was looking forward to. But i can't justify paying $3750 for that perk. And yes I know i get more than just keyless entry for that price but to me the rest of it is just extras that i don't care about so hard to include in the price justification. So, for me I'm going to forgo the tech package and use the savings there to help offset the extra cost of getting the 85kWh battery.

I think the tech package is worth it, especially on a car this expensive. The xenon headlights and the added visibility are worth it.

 

[contaygious]

People who don't need xenon must not be driving outside of cities much. Makes a huge difference.

 

[efusco]

People who don't need xenon must not be driving outside of cities much. Makes a huge difference.

I'm sure they're quite nice, but some of us grew up with flash lights duct taped to the side mirrors and managed with those! I'm sure I'll be glad to have the Xenon, but let's not get too carried away with over emphasising their importance. And I've lived in rural areas 90% of my life.

 

[AndyM]

I'm sure they're quite nice, but some of us grew up with flash lights duct taped to the side mirrors and managed with those! I'm sure I'll be glad to have the Xenon, but let's not get too carried away with over emphasising their importance. And I've lived in rural areas 90% of my life.

Did you have to drive uphill, both ways, in the snow, too? (just kidding!)

This choice is mostly artistic, rather than practical.

 

[contaygious]

I dunno I've had xenon since 2003 and can't go back personally. Vision is much wider and farther ahead. Not purely artistic.

 

[sp4rk]

After reading the posts on this thread it appears that the need (or not) for the tech package is a very personal thing and highly dependent on previous experience. For me, I don't currently have most of the options listed in the tech package. So by not getting it, I'm not giving up anything. The old you can't miss what you don't have. For others, though, who have become dependent/used to certain features, it is a must have. I like the fact that Tesla didn't roll all of these items into the base model. As it would have increased the cost and made it more difficult for those of us who have to stretch for this car to do it.

I do wish, however, that they had broken the package up into a couple of packages, say all the lights and keyless entry in one and the nav and home link in another. Or something like that. A few more options would have allowed us to customize our S to better meet our own standards/needs. And I probably would have forked out an extra $1500 for the lights and keyless entry. That keyless entry was one of the perks i was looking forward to. But i can't justify paying $3750 for that perk. And yes I know i get more than just keyless entry for that price but to me the rest of it is just extras that i don't care about so hard to include in the price justification. So, for me I'm going to forgo the tech package and use the savings there to help offset the extra cost of getting the 85kWh battery.

Agree 100%!

I got keyless entry on my Leaf for the first time and would never want to revert.

To pay for convenience lights ... that's insulting.

I think, seriously, that the more these "gimmicks" unfold over the next year, MANY reservation holders will walk.

One thing that has me on the fence is this "ever so important" announcement that we've all been waiting for ... for how long ... about "it will all make sense" ... the presumed proprietary public charging infrastructure.

And with the recent fighting in these forums, it's getting less and less appealing.