Figure I'd start a thread. Saw this USA today article. Is this the Service Elon spoke of? USA TODAY - Model S loaner fleet - Loaner delivery so you don't need to go to the service center - Credit goes to Lexus for the "white glove" treatment
someone else beat ya to it http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/15710-P85-Loaner-Cars!-Sweet!! , probably should merge threads
That's again a super smart move: After highlighting that the residual value is linked to a Mercedes S Class, this announcement is linking the brand to Lexus. Nicely done.
Agreed. And it's more than linkage, it's praise. Tesla is breaking new ground on many fronts (vehicle tech, sales approach, ranger service, etc.) and in doing so they are highlighting the owner benefits while complimenting other brands on behalf of owners rather than diminishing them for their mistakes directly. Put another way they "criticize and improve upon" the market broadly and "identify and praise" specific aspects of individual brands. (A negative spin would be: "All ___ party members suck, but you... you're the exception because ___.") There have been some (IMO) slip-ups with bad-mouthering other brands, but those are the exception rather than the rule.
So any more details on the pick up/delivery feature? I assume it's some radius from a service center but does it require ranger service or is is standard service? This could push me over the edge of paying for a service contract just for the convenience factor.
Agree re: alpha photo. I have noticed that the press is repeatedly behind, moderately informed, and their photo stock is ancient, in Tesla-time. Let's try a morph of all the partial understandings printed: "Elon Blankenship's two-seater Tesla Model S can go 238 miles on a full Broder charge and for can recharge with either a battery swap or AC Mega-Charge, paying a fee for life".
I have to say, given how many of us have said "After driving an electric car, we never want to go back to driving an ICE", offering loaner Model S is actually an extremely sensible thing to do.
Actually I think it was one of the non-driving body models from the very early days. Maybe even made of clay.
Interesting article in Seeking Alpha speculating on upcoming announcements, especially his guess on service (a collab with Lexus): The 3 Tesla Secrets - Seeking Alpha
If Tesla use any dealership, their argument that they don't have any dealers goes right down the drain and they will then be forced to use a dealer network and its associated 30% penalty and problems.
for a lot of us, $70-$100k is already a stretch of our budgets, or at least the further we could go comfortably. If Tesla has to go through a dealer network with 30% markup, e.g. P85=$102k+30%=~$132k, plus tax if you live in a state that taxes EVs (lucky for me, not NJ), so $132k+~6%=$140k. Seriously unafforadable at that level. I would not have bought a Tesla Model S if we had to go through dealer markups.