Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Test drive experience

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Just got back from Oakville, and overall I think it was a good experience for a test drive. But there are two things that I think they could improve on. One easily fixable, the other not so much.

I really wanted to try and 'punch it' since this was a RWD, and I'm used to a volt and a bolt, which are both on spec slower. But the guy I was with didn't really seem like that would have been cool....but I can understand that .they don't want people going 100km/h on a 60 zone. That being said, that's what Tesla's are known for so not having a place where you can let it rip is not a good idea IMO....

But the bigger thing which I was very disappointed in was the 'auto pilot demo'. We literally got on the highway, I enabled it, drove for about 500m, then he says to signal and do an auto lane change and exit the highway....wtf? This is a $6600 feature I wanted to try and see if it was worth adding to my order (I explicitly said this on the beginning of the drive), and yet I got to experience it for all of 2 minutes....not cool to me.

I know they have a lot of test drives booked (you get about 30 min), but at Oakville for sure they really need a better route.

To be fair, I only thought about this on the way home. Maybe if I pressed him he would have let me go back for another kick at the highway...but they really should let you drive at least 5-10km on autopilot and experience a bit of winding roads and some stop and go traffic.

I don't feel like EAP is worth it based off of that experience, but I know so many people say it is worth it so I may get it anyway...just wish my experience tonight made it more clear rather than more cloudy :(
 
Just got back from Oakville, and overall I think it was a good experience for a test drive. But there are two things that I think they could improve on. One easily fixable, the other not so much.

I really wanted to try and 'punch it' since this was a RWD, and I'm used to a volt and a bolt, which are both on spec slower. But the guy I was with didn't really seem like that would have been cool....but I can understand that .they don't want people going 100km/h on a 60 zone. That being said, that's what Tesla's are known for so not having a place where you can let it rip is not a good idea IMO....

But the bigger thing which I was very disappointed in was the 'auto pilot demo'. We literally got on the highway, I enabled it, drove for about 500m, then he says to signal and do an auto lane change and exit the highway....wtf? This is a $6600 feature I wanted to try and see if it was worth adding to my order (I explicitly said this on the beginning of the drive), and yet I got to experience it for all of 2 minutes....not cool to me.

I know they have a lot of test drives booked (you get about 30 min), but at Oakville for sure they really need a better route.

To be fair, I only thought about this on the way home. Maybe if I pressed him he would have let me go back for another kick at the highway...but they really should let you drive at least 5-10km on autopilot and experience a bit of winding roads and some stop and go traffic.

I don't feel like EAP is worth it based off of that experience, but I know so many people say it is worth it so I may get it anyway...just wish my experience tonight made it more clear rather than more cloudy :(

Why did you ask him lol? What did you think he'd say? Just punch it! Sorry always works if he cries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pilot7478
Im never shy about test drives. You have to drive the moment and tell him/her what you would like to see. I would have punched the crap out of it and missed the exit and said Im really interested in see the autopilot features. Dont be so shy next time - drive the situation and own it.
 

I spent about $200 bucks/day and rented a Tesla from Turo. You get the car for 24 hours and no babysitter so you can get whatever experience you need out of it.

If you are investing 60-80k, I figure $200 is a small insurance price. I rented a few times, over a weekend and did a road trip with the family to make sure it fit my needs.
 
I spent about $200 bucks/day and rented a Tesla from Turo. You get the car for 24 hours and no babysitter so you can get whatever experience you need out of it.

If you are investing 60-80k, I figure $200 is a small insurance price. I rented a few times, over a weekend and did a road trip with the family to make sure it fit my needs.

That's a good idea....but I think I got a better deal: @5_+JqckQttqck came by my work yesterday at lunch and let me take his RWD w/EAP for a spin....total cost to me was the price of lunch :)

Thanks again Jack! You should get the commission for EAP which I'll add to my order when the DA gets in touch with me ;)
 
But the bigger thing which I was very disappointed in was the 'auto pilot demo'. We literally got on the highway, I enabled it, drove for about 500m, then he says to signal and do an auto lane change and exit the highway....wtf? This is a $6600 feature I wanted to try and see if it was worth adding to my order (I explicitly said this on the beginning of the drive), and yet I got to experience it for all of 2 minutes....not cool to me.

I completely agree with Hugh Mannity. I have been on several road trips using AP2 (total of over 12,000 km), and if you regularly expect to drive on highways, it is absolutely worth it.

Never before in any other car did I feel rested after driving for 6-8 hours (with obligatory pit stops for the kids & charging). It is no gimmick.

My 2 cents.
 
So how was the drive?? I’d like to hear your thoughts.

It was great. Got to feel the acceleration, which was strong. I would actually say the first little bit of pull felt similar to my wife's Bolt, and definitely stronger than my Volt. But, the power stayed much longer than both cars at higher speeds. I have an AWD order, so I expect it to be a bit faster, though not nearly as fast as a PAWD, which would be similar to a performance model S (which I did drive a few years back at an EV meetup). AWD will have more than enough pep for me based off of what I experienced with the RWD.

EAP did glitch out a few times changing lanes, but I think that was me holding the turn signal down and letting it go halfway through the lane change....after some further research I should have 'clicked' the indicator and not held it in place, so user error there. It also tried to exit when a lane split to a continuing lane and an offramp, but that should be fixed in an update apparently. The stop and go was cool to experience, though I still had my foot on the brake ready to press it because it was a little un nerving....but overall it gave me what I needed to experience to decide to add it to my order :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ludatik