Who is buying a LHD Refresh M S/X?

[Durzel]

Still makes me chuckle to think that Tesla provided LHD S/X owners with one of those grabber tools for when they inevitably come across a ticket machine or drive through etc that they can't handle.

Luv 2 lean across to try and press ticket machine buttons and grab the tickets with my plastic grabber tool in my £100k+ car.

(Yes I know that's a phenomenon with any LHD car, but you don't typically pay inflated UK prices for them as well, all because the manufacturer couldn't be bothered to design the car in the first place to be able to be engineered to be RHD, because they don't give enough of a crap)

 

[FastLaneJB]

Hands up who’s seen a 24 plate S/X on the road? Me neither.

Just hope they come back with 48V, steer-by-wire and RHD some day.

This is my hope, they do yet another refresh of the S/X and bring over some of the Cybertruck tech, especially steer-by-wire as that will hopefully make it pretty easy to then make a RHD. The only thing making me think it won't happen is the lack of sales these cars get but even then, Tesla do seem to keep refreshing them a bit here and there in LHD.

 

[The_Kilt]

They could do a u-turn, similar in the way Volvo have with their estates. How do you relly know the market "need" for a type of vehicle if you arent supplying them. Volvo seem to have come to a conclusion that there is a need for estates now, whats changed in the 2 years since they made the decision i dont know, but i am sure Tesla would actually sell more Model S/X if they were right hand drive, how to quantify it is difficult. Short of putting out custoemr questionnaires to millions of people.

but also dont forget, the UK isnt the only RHD country which Tesla will be loosing out from...

 

[12Pack]

With only 10k miles on my Raven, and 4 year drive train warranty remaining, I’m in no hurry to deal with all the issues on the Palladium models. I’ve recently had my MS’ suspension tweaked (latest rev of shocks and springs) and am very happy with the comfortable and controlled ride.

Let’s hope any replacement comes properly set up, not just with latest tech.

With the disappointment that the Eletre is (lipstick on a pig)- I’m not hoping for much from Lotus either.

 

[James-R10]

With only 10k miles on my Raven, and 4 year drive train warranty remaining, I’m in no hurry to deal with all the issues on the Palladium models. I’ve recently had my MS’ suspension tweaked (latest rev of shocks and springs) and am very happy with the comfortable and controlled ride.

Let’s hope any replacement comes properly set up, not just with latest tech.

With the disappointment that the Eletre is (lipstick on a pig)- I’m not hoping for much from Lotus either.

How is the lotus disappointing lol?

 

[12Pack]

How is the lotus disappointing lol?

The (in)efficiency. I fully agree with this assessment below. And there was someone on this forum who also had a similarly disappointing experience. In case you are not familiar, Harry Metcalfe is one of the most respected high end reviewers, and has positively reviewed the Model 3.

For reference my MS does 350 miles in the winter, almost 410 in the summer with EAP set to 70 mph.

 

[James-R10]

The (in)efficiency. I fully agree with this assessment below. And there was someone on this forum who also had a similarly disappointing experience. In case you are not familiar, Harry Metcalfe is one of the most respected high end reviewers, and has positively reviewed the Model 3.

For reference my MS does 350 miles in the winter, almost 410 in the summer with EAP set to 70 mph.

I know of the video. I also own one so better placed to know about it. I’ve also had 4 Tesla’s.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from perfect (just like Tesla) , but not I’d hardly call it disappointing.

 

[FastLaneJB]

They could do a u-turn, similar in the way Volvo have with their estates. How do you relly know the market "need" for a type of vehicle if you arent supplying them. Volvo seem to have come to a conclusion that there is a need for estates now, whats changed in the 2 years since they made the decision i dont know, but i am sure Tesla would actually sell more Model S/X if they were right hand drive, how to quantify it is difficult. Short of putting out custoemr questionnaires to millions of people.

but also dont forget, the UK isnt the only RHD country which Tesla will be loosing out from...

The issue I think with RHD markets is not many of them will buy an expensive EV. Japan stick mostly to their own cars and aren't big on EV's at the moment. You're countries like India but isn't going to be a big EV market at the moment I believe either.

It's only us and Australia probably for the most part where you could sell these. However if they could shift the wheel with minimal cost overall then the reasons to not do it become a lot lower.

I'm still lost though how they had this problem solved and then seemed to unsolved it when they refreshed the cars.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I'm still lost though how they had this problem solved and then seemed to unsolved it when they refreshed the cars.

I think it boils down to the difference between a car company and a tech company. Tesla, not wanting to be the former, adopt iterative development, minium viable product, kanban boards of future stuff down the line and whatever the latest words are, so probably redesigned the front with the new motor, suspension etc for LHD and thought we'll worry about RHD later and gave it no further consideration until after the LHD was in production.. and then when they came to do RHD, couldn't.

Either that, or they can, they just can;t be bothered as the market is so small which would be pretty sad.

I guess thats also why traditional car companies take so long, they cover everything before they commit, but what they do produce geenrally does what they say it will do, although their aspirations were set some years before..

 

[FastLaneJB]

I think it boils down to the difference between a car company and a tech company. Tesla, not wanting to be the former, adopt iterative development, minium viable product, kanban boards of future stuff down the line and whatever the latest words are, so probably redesigned the front with the new motor, suspension etc for LHD and thought we'll worry about RHD later and gave it no further consideration until after the LHD was in production.. and then when they came to do RHD, couldn't.

Either that, or they can, they just can;t be bothered as the market is so small which would be pretty sad.

I guess thats also why traditional car companies take so long, they cover everything before they commit, but what they do produce geenrally does what they say it will do, although their aspirations were set some years before..

Pretty sure it’s just a lack of enough demand to be worth the effort. Same reasons why we might get a Rivian R2 but never get the R1. We ain’t going to get the special, high end limited number cars from new EV companies.

 

[James-R10]

Pretty sure it’s just a lack of enough demand to be worth the effort. Same reasons why we might get a Rivian R2 but never get the R1. We ain’t going to get the special, high end limited number cars from new EV companies.

Which is annoying. especially since they are easier in most cases to cater to both markets.

I guess because not enough people in the big and/or high end ev cars

 

[FastLaneJB]

Which is annoying. especially since they are easier in most cases to cater to both markets.

I guess because not enough people in the big and/or high end ev cars

Not enough I guess for Tesla to think it worth while which is a shame because frankly the Model S Plaid is a bargain for the power it has. I think they could have shifted a lot and I’d have one in a heartbeat.

 

[WllXM]

When I think about it, given we're just a couple hours away from the continent with the Chunnel, doesn't it make sense to have a LHD S/X and access a much larger resale/second hand market afterwards? Even buying it there would lead to substantial savings given current UK market pricing. The only inconvenience is ticket operated car parks when there's no one in the passenger seat, and quite frankly it's something I can live with...

 

[The_Kilt]

I have seen a few BMW I7's around, and at £100k up to £150k for the M70e, there must be a market for them. However BMW have a much larger fan base of followers. The Mercedes EQS, Audi's equivalent, they all have RHD decent large saloon cars. Then theres the rolls royce Spectre at £450k plus which is in a whole different league then all of these.

However when you compare Tesla to the above cars, the quality i dont feel is anywhere close, so maybe thats the reason. They know with the high level of European manufacturers who can produce quality cars, putting the S at this price point you only have the 1 trick pony quick acceleration to sell. But buyers want more now and with more competition at this level, Tesla are being left behind.

 

[FastLaneJB]

I have seen a few BMW I7's around, and at £100k up to £150k for the M70e, there must be a market for them. However BMW have a much larger fan base of followers. The Mercedes EQS, Audi's equivalent, they all have RHD decent large saloon cars. Then theres the rolls royce Spectre at £450k plus which is in a whole different league then all of these.

However when you compare Tesla to the above cars, the quality i dont feel is anywhere close, so maybe thats the reason. They know with the high level of European manufacturers who can produce quality cars, putting the S at this price point you only have the 1 trick pony quick acceleration to sell. But buyers want more now and with more competition at this level, Tesla are being left behind.

Tesla was somewhat cheaper and amazing acceleration while still being very efficient. It’s not a luxury car though so wouldn’t really compete with the cars you mention even if price might be in similar ballpark to an i7.

People would buy it just because it would be the fastest production car on sale in the UK. Still seems not enough to justify the effort of making it RHD.

 

[FastLaneJB]

When I think about it, given we're just a couple hours away from the continent with the Chunnel, doesn't it make sense to have a LHD S/X and access a much larger resale/second hand market afterwards? Even buying it there would lead to substantial savings given current UK market pricing. The only inconvenience is ticket operated car parks when there's no one in the passenger seat, and quite frankly it's something I can live with...

You should have brought one when they were selling them LHD here. Seems they’ve stopped now.

 

[WllXM]

You should have brought one when they were selling them LHD here. Seems they’ve stopped now.

As usual I kept thinking for too long. Financing is also an issue unless buying outright.
However I believe there are still a couple LHD in showrooms, will they ship those back to Europe or attempt a sale here, will see...

 

[Durzel]

When I think about it, given we're just a couple hours away from the continent with the Chunnel, doesn't it make sense to have a LHD S/X and access a much larger resale/second hand market afterwards? Even buying it there would lead to substantial savings given current UK market pricing. The only inconvenience is ticket operated car parks when there's no one in the passenger seat, and quite frankly it's something I can live with...

Why would you have access to a much larger resale market when the cars are probably cheaper new (and thus used) in Europe, than UK ones?

 

[WllXM]

Why would you have access to a much larger resale market when the cars are probably cheaper new (and thus used) in Europe, than UK ones?

Tbf in my post I mentioned buying them there as well. But on this thread people were mostly afraid there would be no resale market for a LHD in the UK.
I simply pointed out that instead of addressing a market of 50M prospective buyers here, you have access to a potential of 400M on the continent instead...

 

[Durzel]

Tbf in my post I mentioned buying them there as well. But on this thread people were mostly afraid there would be no resale market for a LHD in the UK.
I simply pointed out that instead of addressing a market of 50M prospective buyers here, you have access to a potential of 400M on the continent instead...

Ah right, yeah, if you were buying it in Europe (no brainer when its LHD either way) then you have that market to sell back to.

To be honest, as a UK customer, the fact Tesla keeps pulling it from sale would not fill me with any confidence at all about the long term plans for the car - i.e. support. Also Tesla being Tesla I wouldn't trust them not to abruptly release a RHD "facelift", you can't rely on anything a service centre tech tells you one way or the other.