My friend bought a Tesla

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:07 pm

He's been on the waiting list for what seems like forever. Finally got it delivered the other day. The car is amazing. It has luxury features I've never seen even on high-end luxury vehicles.

The door handles electrically recess into the doors, for instance, until you touch the doors or get near the car with the security fob. Makes for a very aerodynamic looking vehicle when the handles are retracted.

The central part of the dash is what looks to be about a 19" touch screen in portrait orientation. There are two separate dash computers - one controls the instrumentation cluster (speedo, etc) and the other controls the big 19" screen. Both can be individually rebooted which is how I know they're run by two separate computers.

The center dash is a full blown touch screen PC with 3G, what looks like a Chrome-based web browser, Google maps, a very fancy entertainment system that can of course interface with your phone/iPod/whatever. Just impressive as hell. These photos don't do it justice.

Only took a short spin with him because I was running late for a service call, but the thing has some serious power.

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:14 pm

Very nice but I have to assume you're near Tesla charging stations?

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:17 pm

sweet ride only time I'll get to even ride in one Im guessing is in a auto show or if a friend happens to buy a used one years down the road.
if I stay here in michigan im betting those odds will really drop due to are cold weather.
Even the chevy volt in 6 month other then my nephews and the dealer lots .I have only maybe seen 1 or 2 on the road . the last one I seen just happen to be last weekend.

Err · Post by **Err** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:22 pm

I'd love to have that for my 160 mile round trip commute but if I could afford to buy that car, I probably wouldn't have to make the commute in the first place.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:19 pm

No Tesla charging stations, but it has a 275 mile range (300 if you super charge which is not recommended unless necessary because it overheats the battery). That's enough to drive from here (1 hour north of Orlando) to Miami (250 miles), and there's a Tesla repair center along the way in Deerfield Beach where you can charge for free, and one in Miami for that matter.

Also they give you an adapter cable to use charging stations designed for Ford and Chevy electric vehicles.

This is actually an ideal area for a Tesla. No one around here drives farther than 30 miles on average. Even me, doing service calls, the farthest I've ever driven in one day (and I can be certain because I keep a mileage log for business) is 80 miles.

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:05 am

I only drive over 30 miles in a day probably once a year. It would be perfect for me.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:53 am

very nice ride. speaking of Tesla, did anything come out of that NYT journalist and his "failure" road trip? last i heard, the Tesla CEO responded with lots of data to prove him wrong.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:57 am

CNN made the same trip a week later with no problem, although it wasn't as cold.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:17 pm

i saw that one...funny how the journalist (or should i say "journalist") crawls away and hides. i was thinking there would be some sort of statement from the NYT or something, but i didn't find anything. i'd take one of those cars.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Fri May 10, 2013 4:00 pm

Consumer Reports is calling the Tesla Model S the best car it has ever tested. The Model S, an all-electric plug-in car, earned a score of 99 out of a possible 100 in the magazine's tests:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/09/autos/t ... ?hpt=hp_t5