Tesla moments

[henderrj]

Today I was at an aviation trade show, with 40 kids that I help mentor. These kids build an airplane, an airplane! And one of the kids says to me "You know, if your Tesla was in here I think more people would look at it than would look at our airplane". I hope he was wrong! They've done great work. Still, pretty amazing

Oh yeah, we do plan to make an electric RV 12. If anybody wants to help us out with that let us know! We already have the fuselage and wings all done. TeenFlight.org

 

[HankLloydRight]

Thanks for bumping this thread. This sounds like it's not a Tesla Moment, but it really is.

Last week my wife and I were going to a show in a small town in New Jersey.. I normally would take the Model S, but since I didn't know the town or the parking situation, I decided to take my BMW M5 (my winter beater). It was low on fuel, so I thought, upon leaving, "and I can fill up with cheap gas in NJ!". Well, we went to dinner and the show with friends, and headed home. On the way back, my stomach started feeling really queasy (mexican food!)... so I looked for the next gas station convenience store to get some TUMS. So I pulled off, drove right past all the pumps, parked in the one parking spot in front of the convenience store, went in to get the TUMS, and then drove off.

Guess what I totally forgot to do at the NJ gas station.

 

[aesculus]

"You really need to try out one of these." Awesome!

You should think about it.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

Guess what I totally forgot to do at the NJ gas station.

Tip the pump attendant?

 

[RogerHScott]

"You really need to try out one of these."

"Naaah, I hear they're kinda slow."

 

[tpedwards]

A true, new type of Tesla moment: they announce the long-awaited arrival of the $35,000 Model 3. Great! While I’m trying to sell my 2013 P85 for $33,450. I can feel the price dropping as I myself contemplate what a buyer would think of my 6-year old Model S with no AutoPilot or a brand new Model 3 (albeit with no AutoPilot, but hardware on board) with fresh warranty and all it’s techie newness.

Apples and Oranges, but attention is clearly diverted away from the S’s.

 

[Electroman]

Apples and Oranges, but attention is clearly diverted away from the S’s.

In fact if you go to tesla.com you will see it directly gives you the button to order Model 3. For S & X you need to choose from the top menu.

 

[RogerHScott]

In fact if you go to tesla.com you will see it directly gives you the button to order Model 3. For S & X you need to choose from the top menu.

... and then you have to click the "Are you sure? Don't you want to order a Model 3? We went to an awful lot of trouble to make them available to you at this irresistible price. C'mon, buy one!" button.

 

[mbp11]

My story was a few months ago, I was charging in the Fremont California Walnut Avenue supercharger and I was next to an older model S owner who was also charging. We started to complain about the autopilot nag screen about maintaining some grip on the steering wheel, and he told me about the time before the nag screen when he drove to San Diego with his family for a vacation from the SF Bay Area. On the way back he was tired and told the family to not let him fall asleep at the wheel. Well, when he woke up, he was half-way through LA, the entire family was asleep in the car, and he had NO IDEA how long they had been asleep! The Model S took them through LA!

 

[wdolson]

I haven't had anybody make any comment about my car in over a year, but I had two in one day. First my SO is an attorney and dealing with selling a house for an estate. We've had a mad rush this weekend to get the house cleaned out because it took a while to get the tenant out and closing is in a week. Movers were hauling out a bunch of furniture left while I was there collecting the left behind food to put in my car. One of the movers commented on my car and was quite impressed how much I could get into it.

After dropping off the food at the food bank, I went to the store and while I was getting my shopping bags together out of the smuggler's hold a guy around 80 wearing a Porsche hat came up and started asking questions about the car.

I did get great Wh/Mi running errands. The house was at the top of a tall hill, so I went from home up the hill, loaded up with 200 pounds of food and then regened all down the hill.

 

[SMAlset]

So not about impressing/exciting others, but this time me instead. Headed out for coffee and while at a light at a T intersection (ok call it a Tesla intersection this time) saw a car go by that caught my eye. Two other cars passed before the light changed. Made my right turn and up head could see the Very Low profile of the car. Dawned on me it was likely a Roadster. I have never seen a Roadster driving on the road ever ... just parked once at a SvC and then at Tesla’s Seaside event one year ... and this one was driving in my neighborhood now.

Used my Model 3 accelleration to pass the two cars behind it that were up ahead in front of me after I turned and could see what looked to be 5 spaced out letters on the rear. Sure enough a gorgeous silver Roadster. Managed to grab this photo. Great start to the morning. I usually see anywhere from 2-6 Teslas during my morning run but today was special.

 

[wdolson]

My car has been the only Tesla in the immediate neighborhood since I bought it in 2016, but I saw what looked like a dark color Model S parked in a nieghbor's driveway a few months back. It was dark and raining, so I wasn't 100% sure it was, but I haven't seen it since so I thought maybe I hallucinated it. Then we were coming home just before dusk and driving past that house the garage door was just finishing opening and there was a blue Model S backed in and the lights came on just after we passed.

My car is no longer alone!

 

[SMAlset]

We went to the movie theater tonight (to see Apollo 11) and parked next to a twin of my Model 3. About 4 cars down was our triplet. White seems very popular around here. Probably saw over half-dozen Tesla's just in the two parking lot rows we drove down to park. MS/MX and Model 3s. Nice representation.

@wdolson, it's a great feeling to see fellow Tesla's in your neighborhood. There's a blue Model 3 that I saw this morning on a nearby street and I did the wave thinking oh why not. And they waved back! Almost no one ever seems to wave so it made me smile. The day I saw the Roadster, I was driving home and notice a Tesla mobile service vehicle at a corner house we knew had a Tesla. Rolled down the window as I passed and said hi. Same mobie service tech who dropped off my license plate holder for me shortly after I bought the car. He remembered me and we briefly chatted. Nice guy and good to see back in our area. Our nearest service center is maybe half an hour away so mobile is a nice service to have for minor things.

 

[Skipdd]

Just returned from vacation in Prague and Budapest. Transit from hotel in Budapest to airport was MS 85. Was fun to get driver’s perspective on the car/experience. Saw one other MS (yellow taxi) at the airport. Great trip.

 

[tpedwards]

I took my P85D in for service and had to get an Enterprise rental car. I have been going to the Brentwood, TN Service Center for nearly two and a half years and this is the first time I did not get a Tesla loaner. They did not scrape the bottom of the barrel - a Cadillac. Oh what an experience.
My head started spinning - the buttons, look at all the buttons!!!
The Enterprise associate left it running for me, now how to get it in gear? Oh, center console mounted gear shifter.
Pull out into traffic, floor it, wait for it... there it is squeal... really where is the traction control?
Oh the interstate is backed up, I see an icon on the tiny touchscreen - what? SD card invalid for navigation? You mean navigation is not a central function of the car?
Heavy start and stop traffic on the interstate, constant back and forth - foot on the pedal on the right, then switch to the left, then right...
The gears!!! The constant up and down-shifting attempting to optimize the narrow peak power band of this internal combustion engine...
Made it to the office, almost forgot to turn it off. Walked away, almost forgot to lock it.
- after work -
Now how do I start this thing? Oh, a button. So many buttons.
Very heavy traffic, worse than this morning, still no navigation system.
Punch it, wait, go, slow down, wait, when you set cruise control and you are going down hill, it will go faster than the speed you set for cruise control? Why do they call it cruise control if it doesn't control how fast you are cruising? Even my old P85 would control speed from going too slow or too fast!
My P85D was only in the shop for the day.
I have never been so glad to see my Tesla...
...except when I crashed my P85, was in the shop and I had to drive a Nissan Versa for 10 weeks.

 

[israndy]

They have given up keeping their own loaner cars, Enterprise stepped up and bought a mess of the bottom of the line cars new, so the old top of the line loaners are mostly gone. They kept a few Model Xs for people who have an X and can't fit their family into a smaller loaner car.

You still don't pay for the electricity or miles while you are driving a loaner, that's a nice change from every other Enterprise rental. If they have all the Teslas rented they seem to have decided to move some of their fancy cars to their new Tesla Service operations, I got a Jaguar most recently and a Mercedes previously. It is SERIOUSLY disconcerting. But the bottom line Model Ss that they use don't have AutoPilot so it's a little odd driving them as well.

-Randy

 

[bmah]

But the bottom line Model Ss that they use don't have AutoPilot so it's a little odd driving them as well.

Unless you happen to be lucky enough to catch an EAP trial offer. The loaner I had for a week had EAP enabled for the first two days (because someone before me had hit the button to do the EAP trial), so for the first time ever, I got to experience AP 2.5, including the first NoA release. But it all went away on the third day. :-(

Bruce.

 

[israndy]

Tesla's are such weird cars to rent out.

O:"If you are Supercharging you have to move it within a few minutes of the charge completing"
R:"Can I sign the car into my phone so I'll know the charge level and all the other great features?"
O:"No, it's locked to my account, but here's the key"

-Randy

 

[Gwgan]

:"Can I sign the car into my phone so I'll know the charge level and all the other great

TesLender.com | Easily lend out your vehicle.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Had a nightmare last night. I had a dream that my car unexpectedly ran out of charge on a two-lane bridge. I had to leave it and go for help. In the meantime, the car was towed to the local docks and instead of dropping it off on the dock, they dropped it into the water and it sank about 20 feet below sea level. When I got there, they were able to retrieve the car to a dry dock, and were unapologetic about the mishap. Anyway, I was left with a 2014 P85D+ in perfect physical/body condition, other than being submerged for about a day in salt water.

I immediately began thinking of who would be interested in buying such a car (or course Rich Rebuilds came to mind), but more importantly (and happily), I realized I could begin the search for another P85D+ to replace it, but this time hold out for a rare Ludicrous-enabled P85D+ version.

Then I woke up.