What's your Tesla (origin) story?

[meavydev]

I had an i3 ReX as an introduction to EVs. Liked it so much I decided to replace the 430D and was going to get a Polestar 3 in 2019 (even sitting in one at Google I/O having never been in a Model 3). However the Model 3 was announced in the UK to arrive before the Polestar... plus more gadget factor with the FSD presentation by Elon (of course we know how well the FSD timescale has lived up to this )

 

[bainsy]

My story might be different to some.

Heard of Tesla a long time ago (I remember the Top Gear episode) I always thought Electric cars were a bit of a gimmic and itll never catch on.
Anyway, around 2015 I started reading up on Battery tech (I work in IT, so started to chat around the office)

Its only until then I recognized Tesla's name and started doing some more digging and I thought the cars were fantastic.

Always were a fan of Tesla, but it was one of those where I had to win the lottery to even afford one at the time, I had my wedding in 2018 and I always wanted to have a flashy wedding car.
Well turns out, the car I had originally rented (Bentley Bentega) had got into an accident a few weeks before and the rental company offered me a Tesla Model X...

From then, I was convinced my next car would be a Tesla... I even extended the rental for another 3-4 days to the point where now my brother in law and 2 of my friends now have Tesla's... (They took the Model X for a spin back in 2018)

We were just shocked by the technology in the car at the time. It was fantastic.

 

[RossClark1]

Mate had a model 3 in 2018 .. was never into cars but this thing was different - more like a computer on wheels .. as a gadgets enthusiast it was immediately a draw .. wanted one ever since but couldn't have ever nearly afforded one .. this year my company brought in Arval Salary Sacrifice scheme and now I'm picking up a MYLR in 4 weeks .. dream come true

 

[Drew57]

I have never really had much interest in cars, just something to get from A-B but have always been interested in new technology.

My American son-in-law is a car nut and on arriving at their local airport for a visit in 2017 I asked my Daughter where he was. "Driving back from Portland Oregon with our new car" was the reply but no mention of what it was.

Next morning this shiny white electric 7 seater with something called FSD was on the drive and its party trick was gull wing rear doors which meant that either of the rear two rows of seats could be accessed fully standing up. That got my wife's attention immediately!

It also had a huge iPad, portrait style in the centre of the dash with moving pictures of little cars, cones and bins and those early models also allowed the screen to be configured with variations of map, data, media in various places and sizes, The cream leather interior was very stylish, luxurious & futuristic.

Unfortunately the next day the sensors on one rear side misbehaved and the door hit the car port pillar so somebody called 'Ranger' was summoned (it turns out that those early rear doors used subcontracted components which sometimes failed but after repair the car performed faultlessly for the three years the family owned it before exchanging for another).

Mr Ranger arrived down from Oregon a couple of days later in a black sedan P90D, took away the white car and left the other one with us while it was repaired. That took a week but as compensation he then said to hang onto the other car for the remainder of our 4 week visit. That then became 'my' car and it was a ludicrous thing to drive (literally once my son-in-law showed me the trick).

I really liked both cars, did a lot of internet research, watched the live launch of the Model 3 on a Friday during that visit, thought about it for a day & then placed a pre-order on the Sunday using the family referral code. This was unplanned and uncharacteristically reckless of me.

Then in 2018, long before UK availability I was able to see and drive one of the very first Model 3s at a Tesla meet up in their local town. I must admit it looked pretty ugly with the fish face plateless (US) front and that flat sweep of fake wood dash has never appealed much either. However it actually felt much more fun to drive than the others, very nimble & reminded me a bit of an electric go-cart I has once driven in a corporate event. I was happy with my decision.

Finally, having family experience of Tesla 'service' and having met several other US owners, I approached my own purchase with a fair amount of trepidation, fully expecting poor communication, quality issues and an overall bad experience.

In the event Tesla Stockport could not have performed better and the car itself has been basically faultless. The software has annoyances for sure and this is compounded by Teslas' corporate arrogance but for now the enjoyment of driving their cars remains the brands' main redeeming feature.

 

[interbear]

I’ve always changed my car every 3 or 4 years but in 2019, only 18 months into my latest Audi A4 Avant (S-Line, a lovely car actually) I decided to pop into the Tesla retail store in Cribbs, Bristol. More out of curiosity than anything else. They had a left hand drive Model 3. I decided there and then that it was my next car and I wasn’t going to wait for a few years. Got home, researched online and placed an order that day for a Model 3 in red. Why? 3 main reasons - (1) It was new, innovative and I like tech, (2) The boot was much bigger than I expected and (3) The environmental and financial benefits appealed. No test drive was required. My Model 3 arrived in Sept 2019, I loved it, despite the fact it didn’t have the same quality feel as the Audi it replaced. Fast forward to this year, and the Model 3 was replaced by a Model Y, for one main reason, it’s much more practical as a dog carrier. And, the build quality of my 2022 Model Y is significantly improved over the 2019 Model 3, it’s a great car

 

[Mr K O’Watt]

For many years, I had no particular interest in electric cars, what with all the talk of their limited range, slow charging capability etc. Then one day, whilst in London and waiting for my wife to finish shopping in M&S at Marble Arch, I spied the Tesla showroom (then in Oxford Street) and wandered in to have a look at the Model S on display. I’d seen pictures of the car and thought it looked really stylish, although I wasn’t really sure I liked the huge portrait screen taking up most of the dashboard, but that visit changed everything…..

I knew there was no way I could afford the Model S, but the experience piqued my interest in researching more into electric cars in general, and Tesla in particular. Soon after the “affordable” Model 3 was announced, despite my initial reservations about its looks (still couldn’t quite get my head around a car with no front grille!) I put down my £1000 refundable deposit, and the long wait started.

The Model 3 went on sale in 2019 but I didn’t pull the trigger on my order straightaway. To be honest, I was put off by the tales of vehicles not being screwed together properly and the infamous panel gaps of course, so resolved to wait a while until all the initial production bugs were sorted out. I’d had three Mazda cars in the household over a period of years, all of which had given me trouble-free motoring - why give up all of that for a car that might be constantly be in the workshops for servicing and repairs?

So fast forward to 2022. My eight year old Mazda is still as reliable as ever, but I’m not getting any younger and if I don’t scratch that Tesla itch soon I’ll be too old to enjoy driving one. I’ve test driven the Model 3 (twice - once on an extended trip to see if it would get on to my drive without incident) and other EVs too: the Polestar 2, the Kia EV6, even the Vauxhall Mokka-E, but I keep on coming back to the Model 3. It’s airy, light, minimalist, spacious and the Shanghai-built vehicles seem that much better screwed together than the early Fremont models. Also, Tesla still seem to be ahead of the competition when it comes to drivetrain and battery technology. Yes, the price has gone up, the grants are no longer available, I’m paying than I would have done if I’d bitten the bullet back in 2019, but in February this year I finally ordered one. Hopefully it’ll arrive in time for Christmas!

 

[M1tch]

Such an interesting read this thread. So many different reasons behind the transition