My wife and I went for test drive of an X this week in Leeds with a surprising end conclusion. We became converted to Tesla after meeting a couple on vacation 2 years ago who were exceptionally positive after using their S for some months around Europe. With that in mind we went for a drive fully expecting to order one as a direct result.
The initial experience of trying to park our own vehicle was not good as there were literally no places to park except by ignoring the marked areas.. The forecourt was full of client/stock/demo vehicles and there were no reserved places for visitors to park.
The test drive was very professionally handled by the Tesla staff member and embraced a good cross section of roads. We both had some misgivings about the handling when compared with our existing LR Discovery. We both found the autopilot to be something we did not want at this stage for our typical motoring requirements. We also noticed that the there was a distinct roll back of the vehicle on a slight up hill slope upon releasing the foot brake at a road junction which would not happen with our present vehicle.
We then returned to the centre to discuss our ideal specification. At this point the dialogue became quite negative from our viewpoint as our desired colour was now discontinued and the colours available are very limited. The option to have the subzero features cannot be specified as a separate item and now forms part of the 'Premium Upgrade Package' at £ 5700 where we are not at all interested in the rest of the package. Then we looked at the seating options expecting to have a real leather option but found that only synthetic material is offered in a fixed range of colour combinations at quite a high figure when compared with other makers' real leather options.
Our conclusion was that the Tesla marketing is not in any way similar to anything else in the premium car ranges where one can normally tailor a vehicle to precisely match the requirements. It was almost as though we were considering a bottom end mass produced vehicle with a 'take it or leave it' attitude and very few options. I can fully appreciate that the objective of this policy is to minimise the options to ease production schedules but then as a professional engineer I thought that fully automated production lines can cope with any build combination being fed into the computer based production schedule. We did finally opt for a specification in order to produce a build sheet and price.
In climbing back into our own car I did not expect to feel far more comfortable in driving around the same area as the test drive, even allowing for the fact that the test vehicle had the larger wheels. I accept that one is used to one's own vehicle but then again we are well used to driving a wide range of hire and family owned vehicles when visiting our family down under each year.
In reflecting overnight we concluded that the package as offered did not actually meet our requirements but was the package which Tesla wished to build to suit their requirements. So we have backed off from the X range and are contemplating buying a used dual motor S with leather upholstery, our desired colour, zero road tax etc, accepting that this will not offer the raised driving position or foul weather capability of our existing vehicle. The further option would be to hold off to see how the market develops.
The reason for writing this long submission is to seek views from others who have tread the same path - particularly those converting from LR Discovery/Range Rover.
A question for seasoned users is how fast does the screen clear when arriving back late on a freezing cold night to a station or airport car park where the vehicle is frozen solid?
The initial experience of trying to park our own vehicle was not good as there were literally no places to park except by ignoring the marked areas.. The forecourt was full of client/stock/demo vehicles and there were no reserved places for visitors to park.
The test drive was very professionally handled by the Tesla staff member and embraced a good cross section of roads. We both had some misgivings about the handling when compared with our existing LR Discovery. We both found the autopilot to be something we did not want at this stage for our typical motoring requirements. We also noticed that the there was a distinct roll back of the vehicle on a slight up hill slope upon releasing the foot brake at a road junction which would not happen with our present vehicle.
We then returned to the centre to discuss our ideal specification. At this point the dialogue became quite negative from our viewpoint as our desired colour was now discontinued and the colours available are very limited. The option to have the subzero features cannot be specified as a separate item and now forms part of the 'Premium Upgrade Package' at £ 5700 where we are not at all interested in the rest of the package. Then we looked at the seating options expecting to have a real leather option but found that only synthetic material is offered in a fixed range of colour combinations at quite a high figure when compared with other makers' real leather options.
Our conclusion was that the Tesla marketing is not in any way similar to anything else in the premium car ranges where one can normally tailor a vehicle to precisely match the requirements. It was almost as though we were considering a bottom end mass produced vehicle with a 'take it or leave it' attitude and very few options. I can fully appreciate that the objective of this policy is to minimise the options to ease production schedules but then as a professional engineer I thought that fully automated production lines can cope with any build combination being fed into the computer based production schedule. We did finally opt for a specification in order to produce a build sheet and price.
In climbing back into our own car I did not expect to feel far more comfortable in driving around the same area as the test drive, even allowing for the fact that the test vehicle had the larger wheels. I accept that one is used to one's own vehicle but then again we are well used to driving a wide range of hire and family owned vehicles when visiting our family down under each year.
In reflecting overnight we concluded that the package as offered did not actually meet our requirements but was the package which Tesla wished to build to suit their requirements. So we have backed off from the X range and are contemplating buying a used dual motor S with leather upholstery, our desired colour, zero road tax etc, accepting that this will not offer the raised driving position or foul weather capability of our existing vehicle. The further option would be to hold off to see how the market develops.
The reason for writing this long submission is to seek views from others who have tread the same path - particularly those converting from LR Discovery/Range Rover.
A question for seasoned users is how fast does the screen clear when arriving back late on a freezing cold night to a station or airport car park where the vehicle is frozen solid?
