Top 10 tips for showing your model s in public

[joefee]

I showed my Sig Performance at the Earth Day Event this past weekend. Lessons Learned:

1. You can never have enough water & sun screen
Bad case of sun burn and heat exhaustion after 7 bottles of water

2. People just can't keep their hands off the car
I had the car roped off and still had to keep adults from trying to enter the car. Spent most of my time wiping finger prints off the door handles.

3. You will hear "WOW" almost every time someone approaches the car....never gets old!

4. I opened/closed the doors/rear hatch and had the touch screen/rear camera on the whole day (7am 530pm) and lost only about 20mi of range...do as much demo as you want!

5. Print out the TM web site....there will be hundreds of questions

6. Buy TSLA stock since you will sell a half dozen cars or so...might as well get paid!

7. Kids LOVE the jump seats...just leave the rear hatch open

8. Nobody will believe the S can beat an M5 ... you need to show them the youtube clip!

9. Prepare to be embarrassed as everyone will ask "how much does it cost?"

10. Where a T-shirt that says "I don't work for TESLA... this is my personal car."

 

[FalconNinetyD]

11. Put suspension in Low!

 

[jerry33]

1. You can never have enough water & sun screen
Bad case of sun burn and heat exhaustion after 7 bottles of water

Besides the water and sunscreen, I purchased a hat with the biggest brim I could find--worked well.

2. People just can't keep their hands off the car
I had the car roped off and still had to keep adults from trying to enter the car. Spent most of my time wiping finger prints off the door handles.

I opened the door for the adults so they could sit in it and here the music. I had a couple of folks say that they never wanted to leave.

3. You will hear "WOW" almost every time someone approaches the car....never gets old!

That's certainly true.

4. I opened/closed the doors/rear hatch and had the touch screen/rear camera on the whole day (7am 530pm) and lost only about 20mi of range...do as much demo as you want!

Yes, lots of range left.

5. Print out the TM web site....there will be hundreds of questions

I used Artsci's "The Future is here" cards and Dhrivnak's "American jobs" signs.

6. Buy TSLA stock since you will sell a half dozen cars or so...might as well get paid!

I could get either the car or stock, but not both :-(

9. Prepare to be embarrassed as everyone will ask "how much does it cost?"

For serious folks, I just showed the window sticker. The most common comment was "Oh, is that all, I thought it would be much higher".

10. Where a T-shirt that says "I don't work for TESLA... this is my personal car."

I got a kick of the expressions of folks when they found they had just sat in my car

The one thing I would have liked is a "demo mode" for the display. One where you could go to the various screens, but not actually do anything. I spent a lot of time resetting the sound system and other settings as people would change them.

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11. Put suspension in Low!

Any particular reason?

 

[FalconNinetyD]

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Any particular reason?

Just for looks...

 

[FredTMC]

Just for looks...

Wait a minute... It doesn't go into "low". Not user selectable, right? Only goes ino low above 50mph I thought.

BTW. I agree. Looks super going down the freeway in low

 

[dsm363]

Wait a minute... It doesn't go into "low". Not user selectable, right? Only goes ino low above 50mph I thought.

BTW. I agree. Looks super going down the freeway in low

It will go into low when parked. You just can't drive in it until it auto lowers above 50mph.

Definitely agree on the hat and sunscreen.

 

[Soflason]

6. Buy TSLA stock since you will sell a half dozen cars or so...

On it, agreed - along with all the other solid reasons to buy in to TSLA, I just can't believe the word-of-mouth buzz that occurs with the Model S, reminds me of when the iPhone came out and everyone wanted to see/demo it... I bought the apple stock way back then and had a pretty nice surge, and, I did the same with TSLA a ways back and pretty happy I did so far!

 

[Hogfighter]

I keep several pamphlets that I got from the showroom in my glove box. Whenever anyone stops me and starts asking questions, I just hand them one. Have sold 3 cars already (that I know of).

 

[huntjo]

I also showed my car at an Earth Day event with the Drive Electric Colorado organization. I just left the frunk and trunk open and let people climb in and out and play with the touchscreen. I did ask one lady to keep her beer outside the car but I tried to just ignore the scores and scores of fingerprints. Hat was a must have, and we had plenty of bottled water. I do wish I had beeen smart enough to sunscreen...

I did spend a ton of time answering questions and just kind of left the fob in the cupholder so the screen would stay "on" for people. When an 8 yr old got in the driver seat I did have to point out to his parents that the car could be driven as is so we supervised him a bit more closely.

I wish I printed off some reading material for people, but I'm sure plenty were doing Internet searches as soon as they got home.

 

[bonnie]

A number of tips can also be found here: Earth Day 2013 . Also explore the PlugIn America website for more information. Plug In America | We Drive Change

This year, after three Earth Day events of non-stop talking and another yet to go, I stopped at the local office supply store and picked up poster board. I made one board with information about how the battery (how it worked, photos, diagrams, and a single cell battery), another the brochure information and other info - and then in a 3-ring binder, in plastic sheets, I had printouts of all the local charging stations and other local municipalities (helps with the 'but where do I charge, there is no infrastructure'), information on the Model X for those that were interested, and lots of other articles and reviews. I left that on the back of the car.

What we noticed is that people lingered longer when no one was walking up to them to answer questions. There was an assumption (we think) that the person walking up is going to try to sell them the car. The poster boards seemed to serve two purposes: 1) People got information without feeling like someone was going to sell a car, and 2) because these were handmade, it was clearly NOT a dealership selling the car. When I did walk up to people who looked like they wanted to talk more, I had a much diff reception.

 

[FlasherZ]

It will go into low when parked. You just can't drive in it until it auto lowers above 50mph.

Definitely agree on the hat and sunscreen.

I've found the car requires all doors to be closed and the car to be powered up before it will lower (presumably to keep the car from lowering the door onto a curb.

 

[FredTMC]

I've found the car requires all doors to be closed and the car to be powered up before it will lower (presumably to keep the car from lowering the door onto a curb.

Thanks for this factoid, guys. I set it to low in park and it worked just fine. Cool...

 

[DriverOne]

I think the car looks good at standard height. Maybe it's just me but the low settings seems like trying to appeal to ricers, but not mainstream. Most people don't want some low slung sports car; the people I met during my Earth Day were firstly impressed by its immense practicality.

 

[LMB]

@Bonnie How about some pictures of your posters? I had imagined doing the same thing for the same kind of events, but I don't know what questions people will want answered (delivery still fifteen long days away). Seeing your posters would really help, if you can.

 

[ChadS]

When I am showing the model s with another owner, what I like to do is close up the cleanest car and set it to low so people can see the beautiful lines the best.

Meanwhile, the dirtier car gets everything opened up, and the suspension set to high so it is easier to see everything inside.

 

[Kipernicus]

10. Where a T-shirt that says "I don't work for TESLA... this is my personal car."

That would have been great. I showed my car at our company's earth day event, and despite having
1. company shirt on
2. employee badge
3. company parking sticker in rear window
4. custom plates on car
many people still thought I worked for Tesla. Maybe it was because I had a huge stack of brochures that I got from Menlo in the trunk for people to take.

 

[Liz G]

Random thoughts:

I actually laminated my window sticker. Though I end up having to explain that MPGe does not mean she takes gas.

My favorite question while showing was "Is this a concept car?"

I remember one guy at the St Louis Auto show who grilled me with questions for 15 minutes straight. Thank goodness I'd had 2 1/2 years to study for the quiz.

People can't help touching this vehicle, this is where paint armor comes in handy.

Another favorite... Who makes this?... Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Bently Wrong but good company

 

[FlasherZ]

Another favorite... Who makes this?... Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Bently Wrong but good company

Came back from a business trip to the airport bus driver, "oh that's YOUR Maserati."

 

[bonnie]

@Bonnie How about some pictures of your posters? I had imagined doing the same thing for the same kind of events, but I don't know what questions people will want answered (delivery still fifteen long days away). Seeing your posters would really help, if you can.

I'll take some pics tomorrow morning. After doing events, you start to anticipate what kind of questions you'll get. I suspect I'll be updating the posters as time goes forward. I may have some pics from the event showing the posters ... just need to download. The SacEV organization has decided to do similar posters and 3-ring binders for all the cars, because of the change in behavior. More lingering, better questions, more curiosity.

 

[contaygious]

I don't even get second looks here in sf haha