I didn't intend to hijack the OP's thread, so this will be my final response to posts directed at what I said. If you want to discuss further, feel free to message me. Perhaps you don't remember the P85D reveal event, but I placed my order after it and in reliance on what was shown and promised. Next Gen seats (which took months after payment to receive), functional autopilot features, most of which are still not functional, increased range that is actually decreased range...Go back to the reveal event and see what was promised. It's a lot more than just an extra motor up front and a sensor suite.
Again, back to the OP's post and if you want to argue with me, message me.
If you don't want to argue, that is fine, but this thread is public and I prefer to discuss everything in the open so that all forum members can see the arguments presented.
First, I acknowledged the range issue. Tesla screwed that up pretty badly by not having the torque sleep software ready when the P85D shipped. I criticized them pretty heavily for that.
I wasn't able to watch the 'D' event live, but I did follow on Twitter and blogs. I think Ars Technica had a pretty accurate article on the party:
http://arstechnica.com/cars/2014/10...-dual-motor-all-wheel-drive-model-s-variants/
The article says that Elon promised 275 miles of range for the P85D, and the final EPA rating now stands at 253 miles, although inexplicably, the P85D has noticeably higher MPGe ratings than the P85. The P85D is rated 89/98/
93 combined, while the P85 was rated 88/90/
89 combined. Note that Elon's statement of 275 miles for P85D is 3.8% higher than the 265 miles listed for the P85. The combined MPGe on the federal Monroney sticker is 4.5% higher on the P85D than the P85.
Second, no specific timetable was given for Autopilot features. Note that I
specifically stated in my post that the sensor suite would "enable
future driver assist capabilities". If I had been buying a car right after the 'D' event, I would have had no reasonable expectation for when these software updates would be delivered.
I acknowledge that I forgot about the
next-Generation seats and all the drama surrounding both the first and second row. Tesla messed this up and shouldn't get a pass on this either.
When it comes to the issue of
value, it was pretty clear to me from the night of the P85D event that the P85D was actually an obviously terrible value for the money, and that early adopters would be paying a massive price premium for the privilege (or curse) of being the first to receive (a) new powertrain tech that was largely untested in the real world and (b) No promised timetable on the autopilot software. This is why I have little sympathy for the value argument. If you wanted value you should have bought a Honda, or at least waited for the 85D, which doesn't carry a ridiculous price markup.
It's an unfortunate reality that early adopters sometimes get a bad deal, and there is plenty of historical precedent for it. 1st generation Apple products almost always fail to live up to the hype or outright suck. Japanese buyers of the newest Honda Fit hybrid got a nice surprise when the new DCT transmission had issues and required a recall. Intel's Pentium had the infamous FDIV bug. Tesla is in this regard no different than other tech or auto companies in that stuff almost always happens with 1st generation new tech. Basically, new stuff generally has poor value proposition. People don't buy the Apple Watch for "value" (very low utility right now, based on almost every review I've read). If someone bought an Apple Watch and complained to me about value, I'd tell them exactly what I wrote about the P85D.
