This is going to be a short account of (1) my decision to get a Tesla; and (2) the wait, pick up and impressions from the first weeks with her. I know that when I was deciding on whether to take the big purchase, I read as many owner accounts as I could, and when I was enduring the long wait for the actual car, I read through all of the reports on TMC of production and pick up as part of therapy. So this is my tiny way of giving back.
Why Tesla?
I already have a Nissan Leaf, so I am pretty committed to electric cars from here on out. The world's domestic addiction to gasoline, and the fact that there is so much of it right under a religious war zone, creates a lot of modern ills, and the only way out of it is to support the growth of an electric car infrastructure.
EV's are also quieter and, so far, have needed a lot less maintenance then my gas cars.
So I knew our next car was going to be an electric one. I was looking for one that would seat five comfortably and be able to make road trips.
I was willing to consider one with a backup gas engine, but the Volt had too low an electric range and definitely could not seat five, and the BMW i3 has some odd issue with the gas backup Mode being very underpowered.
Also, every electric vehicle I could find besides the Tesla models were the same width as my Leaf, and it is cramped in the back for three.
I was attracted to Tesla because:
- I hate car dealers and the dealership model, especially after the purchase. The non-Tesla makers all have dealers that don't know about or want to see EVs.
- Auto pilot. Bay area commute traffic is soul sucking.
- Both the model S and X are more than half a foot wider then the leaf.
Considering The Model X
So we first look at the Model X. I really wanted to like it. It is beautiful, and has six practical seats (I think that seven seat model is just too impractical to get around inside). I think the giant front windshield is stunning. And the falcon wing doors do make it a lot easier to get into the rear rows. It was a fun test drive.
But in the end I could not talk myself into it, because:
- Those doors just are too ostentatious, seem to be unreliable in their first run, and are somewhat impractical in the rain and in any low roof situation. If there were boring old sliding doors, I might be driving an X right now.
- That front windshield, while being much more heat resistant than I expected, just seeing too glare-ish with the low sun I drive against,
- You can't easily use the third row without half folding up the second row and even moving the first row around. Not a good fit with the chaotic boarding process of my family.
- Comparable builds seem to run $10,000 more for the X compared to the model S
- I wanted the option to use a roof rack, as a rear rack would block the rearview mirror.
- There still seem to be a lot of first run issues and complaints about fit, function and finish.
So, at that point, I had talked myself out of a Tesla entirely.
Considering the Model S
But my wife pointed out that we should check out the Model S, as there might be enough room in the back to handle our situation of moving five people around. So, we brought my oldest daughter on a test drive of the Model S, and they took turns sitting in the middle seat. That extra 8 inches makes a huge difference, and there's considerably more foot and leg room in the middle due to the lack of a hump. There is actually slightly more foot room in the middle seat, Because of the space under the console.
Emboldened, I started to look at our budget to see if we can actually afford this car which would cost more than all of our cars ever owned combined. Given the nearly free money of the current Alliant credit union rates, and forgoing the purchase of a solar home system, plus a small raise at work, we would actually be able to afford it.
Hesitations
I was uncomfortable with how expensive it was, and that it might be taken as excessively luxurious by friends and colleagues. But there isn't any other electric car out there that fits our requirements, and there's only so much of your life energy you can spend trying to appease other people.
I was also a little worried that I would buy the last car before Autopilot 2 launched. It's impossible to time these things of course. There were wild rumors that September 5 would be the cut off date. So it seemed like the alternative was to either just buy it right away and except it was, or to wait another year until the Autopilot 2 scenario became clearer. I ended up splitting the difference, and I did buy a car that was likely to be produced after September 5, And I bought a new car as opposed to an inventory car which had the exact same specs that I desired but which had been manufactured long before and so had a worse chance of being upgradable to AP2.
Our Build
- Model S 60. The base model has plenty of driving power for me, and with triple the battery of my Leaf, the range already feels vast.
- Solid Black Paint. This is a personal choice of course. I like the classic look of the black, though I also like the blue and red. Daughter lobbied hard for the midnight silver, but in the end I went with the cheapest of the close options.
- All Glass Panoramic Roof. I like the way it looks, I like for the light, I like how it makes the roof taller, and it keeps open the option of using a roof rack.
- 19" Slipstream Wheels. I don't need anything special with wheels beyond all season people with a 21" seem to go through wheels quite a lot faster.
- Black Next Generation Seats. I didn't actually try out the old generation, But I test drove the new generation and it felt good so why mess with it?
- Dark Ash Wood décor. I wasn't crazy about any of the other wood patterns.
- Black Headliner. Seemed like it would go better with the rest of the black interior.
- Supercharger Enabled. No choice, but certainly a draw as far as practical road trips go.
- Autopilot. This is one of the main reasons I got this car! I had read on TMC the small but vocal minority of people who had terrible experiences with autopilot. Yet on my test Drive, I got the hang of it right away and it worked way better than I expected.
- Premium Interior Package. Our family has a lot of allergies, and the HEPA filter was a big draw.
So, I put in the order, and began the looong wait. Part 2 to follow soon...
Why Tesla?
I already have a Nissan Leaf, so I am pretty committed to electric cars from here on out. The world's domestic addiction to gasoline, and the fact that there is so much of it right under a religious war zone, creates a lot of modern ills, and the only way out of it is to support the growth of an electric car infrastructure.
EV's are also quieter and, so far, have needed a lot less maintenance then my gas cars.
So I knew our next car was going to be an electric one. I was looking for one that would seat five comfortably and be able to make road trips.
I was willing to consider one with a backup gas engine, but the Volt had too low an electric range and definitely could not seat five, and the BMW i3 has some odd issue with the gas backup Mode being very underpowered.
Also, every electric vehicle I could find besides the Tesla models were the same width as my Leaf, and it is cramped in the back for three.
I was attracted to Tesla because:
- I hate car dealers and the dealership model, especially after the purchase. The non-Tesla makers all have dealers that don't know about or want to see EVs.
- Auto pilot. Bay area commute traffic is soul sucking.
- Both the model S and X are more than half a foot wider then the leaf.
Considering The Model X
So we first look at the Model X. I really wanted to like it. It is beautiful, and has six practical seats (I think that seven seat model is just too impractical to get around inside). I think the giant front windshield is stunning. And the falcon wing doors do make it a lot easier to get into the rear rows. It was a fun test drive.
But in the end I could not talk myself into it, because:
- Those doors just are too ostentatious, seem to be unreliable in their first run, and are somewhat impractical in the rain and in any low roof situation. If there were boring old sliding doors, I might be driving an X right now.
- That front windshield, while being much more heat resistant than I expected, just seeing too glare-ish with the low sun I drive against,
- You can't easily use the third row without half folding up the second row and even moving the first row around. Not a good fit with the chaotic boarding process of my family.
- Comparable builds seem to run $10,000 more for the X compared to the model S
- I wanted the option to use a roof rack, as a rear rack would block the rearview mirror.
- There still seem to be a lot of first run issues and complaints about fit, function and finish.
So, at that point, I had talked myself out of a Tesla entirely.
Considering the Model S
But my wife pointed out that we should check out the Model S, as there might be enough room in the back to handle our situation of moving five people around. So, we brought my oldest daughter on a test drive of the Model S, and they took turns sitting in the middle seat. That extra 8 inches makes a huge difference, and there's considerably more foot and leg room in the middle due to the lack of a hump. There is actually slightly more foot room in the middle seat, Because of the space under the console.
Emboldened, I started to look at our budget to see if we can actually afford this car which would cost more than all of our cars ever owned combined. Given the nearly free money of the current Alliant credit union rates, and forgoing the purchase of a solar home system, plus a small raise at work, we would actually be able to afford it.
Hesitations
I was uncomfortable with how expensive it was, and that it might be taken as excessively luxurious by friends and colleagues. But there isn't any other electric car out there that fits our requirements, and there's only so much of your life energy you can spend trying to appease other people.
I was also a little worried that I would buy the last car before Autopilot 2 launched. It's impossible to time these things of course. There were wild rumors that September 5 would be the cut off date. So it seemed like the alternative was to either just buy it right away and except it was, or to wait another year until the Autopilot 2 scenario became clearer. I ended up splitting the difference, and I did buy a car that was likely to be produced after September 5, And I bought a new car as opposed to an inventory car which had the exact same specs that I desired but which had been manufactured long before and so had a worse chance of being upgradable to AP2.
Our Build
- Model S 60. The base model has plenty of driving power for me, and with triple the battery of my Leaf, the range already feels vast.
- Solid Black Paint. This is a personal choice of course. I like the classic look of the black, though I also like the blue and red. Daughter lobbied hard for the midnight silver, but in the end I went with the cheapest of the close options.
- All Glass Panoramic Roof. I like the way it looks, I like for the light, I like how it makes the roof taller, and it keeps open the option of using a roof rack.
- 19" Slipstream Wheels. I don't need anything special with wheels beyond all season people with a 21" seem to go through wheels quite a lot faster.
- Black Next Generation Seats. I didn't actually try out the old generation, But I test drove the new generation and it felt good so why mess with it?
- Dark Ash Wood décor. I wasn't crazy about any of the other wood patterns.
- Black Headliner. Seemed like it would go better with the rest of the black interior.
- Supercharger Enabled. No choice, but certainly a draw as far as practical road trips go.
- Autopilot. This is one of the main reasons I got this car! I had read on TMC the small but vocal minority of people who had terrible experiences with autopilot. Yet on my test Drive, I got the hang of it right away and it worked way better than I expected.
- Premium Interior Package. Our family has a lot of allergies, and the HEPA filter was a big draw.
So, I put in the order, and began the looong wait. Part 2 to follow soon...
