I've been on these boards for a few months now and have had my Model S for 2 months. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have enjoyed reading about people's experience with "Tesla Time" where they will have complete strangers come up and have long discussions about the car.
Personally, I've only experienced this once or twice in my daily travels.
Yesterday, we completed a week long road trip down the coast to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, out to Pasadena and then spent three days in Las Vegas. Coming back we stayed in Palm Springs and Santa Monica.
What I discovered, once I was out of the Silicon Valley vicinity, was that "Tesla Time" is a real thing! At every hotel we stayed at, the bell staff and customers would marvel at the amount of luggage that my party of five would pull out of the back and the frunk. I had one guy come up saying that he thought I was having car trouble until he saw me pulling luggage out of the hood! When we were checking out, the porters would confess that their initial reaction was "Where am I going to put all this stuff" until I popped the frunk open.
No where was this more apparent that at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. In Sin City, amidst all of the glitz, I gave tours of the Model S to two front desk staff and a lot of the valets. When I checked in, I mentioned that I needed to use the charging station at Mandalay Shops and the front desk girl exclaimed "A Tesla!". The young man at the front desk was reciting the mantra "Zero Emissions!". Guests were stopping by and asking me how I liked it and what it had replaced (a 7 series). I couldn't believe that I was the first Model S that had pulled into the Four Seasons. The valets said that if I wanted to park there after getting my charge, they would keep my car out in front of the hotel. The head valet told me that he had spoken with the GM about installing a charging station after I mentioned that the primary reason I was staying there instead of the Wynn, my usual Vegas home, was the proximity of the charging stations. While I was staying there, the announcement came out that Vegas was getting 100 Model S cars in some sort of zipcar like car sharing arrangement.
In Palm Springs, as we were getting ready to drive away, an elderly woman knocked on my window and pelted me with questions. She said she was getting ready to purchase a Bentley but was considering getting a model S instead. Everywhere we went, my wife would comment "Why is that guy looking at us?" until she remembered we were riding in my Model S.
We are so jaded out here in the Bay Area. Do yourself a favor and take a road trip. The Tesla Time will be amazing!
Personally, I've only experienced this once or twice in my daily travels.
Yesterday, we completed a week long road trip down the coast to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, out to Pasadena and then spent three days in Las Vegas. Coming back we stayed in Palm Springs and Santa Monica.
What I discovered, once I was out of the Silicon Valley vicinity, was that "Tesla Time" is a real thing! At every hotel we stayed at, the bell staff and customers would marvel at the amount of luggage that my party of five would pull out of the back and the frunk. I had one guy come up saying that he thought I was having car trouble until he saw me pulling luggage out of the hood! When we were checking out, the porters would confess that their initial reaction was "Where am I going to put all this stuff" until I popped the frunk open.
No where was this more apparent that at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. In Sin City, amidst all of the glitz, I gave tours of the Model S to two front desk staff and a lot of the valets. When I checked in, I mentioned that I needed to use the charging station at Mandalay Shops and the front desk girl exclaimed "A Tesla!". The young man at the front desk was reciting the mantra "Zero Emissions!". Guests were stopping by and asking me how I liked it and what it had replaced (a 7 series). I couldn't believe that I was the first Model S that had pulled into the Four Seasons. The valets said that if I wanted to park there after getting my charge, they would keep my car out in front of the hotel. The head valet told me that he had spoken with the GM about installing a charging station after I mentioned that the primary reason I was staying there instead of the Wynn, my usual Vegas home, was the proximity of the charging stations. While I was staying there, the announcement came out that Vegas was getting 100 Model S cars in some sort of zipcar like car sharing arrangement.
In Palm Springs, as we were getting ready to drive away, an elderly woman knocked on my window and pelted me with questions. She said she was getting ready to purchase a Bentley but was considering getting a model S instead. Everywhere we went, my wife would comment "Why is that guy looking at us?" until she remembered we were riding in my Model S.
We are so jaded out here in the Bay Area. Do yourself a favor and take a road trip. The Tesla Time will be amazing!
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