Introducing the Tesla Model S

I don't know, I think the Teslas and the Karma are head turners. Who cares if people think your green or not. Tesla's are sexy looking and that's the whole reason behind driving a luxury or sports car. I personally think electric cars like the Teslas are cool if only for the technology. Like it or not, cars like the Tesla are probably be a lot more common in the near future. Especially, with Toyota partnering with Tesla on Tesla's next car.
 
Well, luxury and status. Face it, if you buy a luxury car and it isn't making people think you're way more important than they are, you bought the wrong one.
 
White & Nerdy
Well, luxury and status. Face it, if you buy a luxury car and it isn't making people think you're way more important than they are, you bought the wrong one.

Highly debatable. What if I, god forbid, want to have a comfortable and relaxing journey?
 
Well, luxury and status. Face it, if you buy a luxury car and it isn't making people think you're way more important than they are, you bought the wrong one.

Or maybe you just wanted a beautiful car that performs well and is comfortable?
 
Can someone please explain...

...The extra 2 seats.
...What is under the bonnet.

The extra 2 seats or third row is so you can carry two extra small passengers or for kids.
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Under the bonnet or hood is for storage .
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Thanks for those pics, despite doing what I do I've never actually seen interior shots of the boot or under the hood.

Key line from the video above was the Model S's designer saying that Tesla's aim is actually to make the best sedan in the world - not just the best electric sedan, but best full stop. Will be interesting to see if they manage. I can't say I'd be totally surprised if they do end up making one of the best out there.
 
The extra 2 seats or third row is so you can carry two extra small passengers or for kids.
*snip*
Under the bonnet or hood is for storage .
*snip*
Exactly what I hadn't been able to find myself! Thank you very much.

I think I'd be quite worried about putting the boot hatch down with the kids heads seemingly close to the rear hatch.
 
Looking at the seats they'd have to be pretty small kids. If they were big enough to clonk their head when the hatch came down they're probably too big for the seats in the first place...
 
Looking at the seats they'd have to be pretty small kids. If they were big enough to clonk their head when the hatch came down they're probably too big for the seats in the first place...
I hope they put an intercom in then cause the kids will be barely old enough to control their bladders.
 
Plus, even if you never use the other cars' 155+ mph capability, the fact that the Tesla doesn't have it still makes it look inferior. Status again.

Yeah, the reason I buy an S-Class or 7 series is because it has a top speed artificially limited to just below what the proletariat driving cheap American V8s can do on the uber-bahn... Just like an electric car has an artificially limited top speed to preserve the motors and batteries.

Those electric motor compatible multiple-speed gearboxes can't come soon enough... And if they can get one to work, that should also increase the range quite a bit, too...

50k is a surprisingly sensible price for an electric sedan with that kind of cargo/passenger capacity. I wonder how it drives?

Whatever you can say about Elon Musk.... and I think the man's a total weenie... Tesla does produce results.
 
I hope they put an intercom in then cause the kids will be barely old enough to control their bladders.

I was thinking 5-6 years old rather than babies/toddlers.

Call me daft but I suspect Tesla has defined some sort of maximum height for the rearmost seat passengers so you don't give them concussion every time you close the boot...
 
I was thinking 5-6 years old rather than babies/toddlers.

Call me daft but I suspect Tesla has defined some sort of maximum height for the rearmost seat passengers so you don't give them concussion every time you close the boot...
I was warned by a Junior school head teacher that any child under 7 y.o. is "like a loaded gun". :lol:
 
Is it just me, or does it look kinda like what you would get if you crossed a GranTurismo with a Mondeo? :D
 
i can definitely see the jag in it. chrome strip on the boot lid, overall shape. Maybe some opel/vauxhall in there to? Insignia style lights mainly. Maybe even citroen with the front grille shape. 3rd row of seats is interesting. Especially in a coupe. SUV's, MPV's, 4x4's sure. Last car i can think of with that layout was a volvo 240 estate. Not sure how safe it would be in a rear impact. If i bought one i'd probably take the extra seats out. If u need the extra seats. why wouldn't you just buy an SUV etc? Especially at around £43,000. Base Audi Q7 on the road is £41,000. Then theres still the problem of limited range and hardly anywhere to charge it. Electrics still not they way forward for me.
 
I cannot believe legislation would allow kids to sit in the boot facing the rear window like that! it looks extremely dangerous. If you have a rear collision it game over :scared: Why would you even want it anyway when the car is already a 4 seater!

As for the car itself I really like it (always have done) although it looks totally like a Jag, seriously you could put Jag badges on it and it would totally pass.
 
If u need the extra seats. why wouldn't you just buy an SUV etc?

Tesla will be unveiling a 7-seat SUV online on the 9th of this month. It'll also have 7 seats.

I'll hopefully be interviewing CEO Elon Musk at the Geneva show, and one of the things I intend to ask him is why both the Model S and Model X will have 7 seats.

To answer your question though, if people are buying a Model S it's unlikely that they'll have chosen it specifically for the extra seats... I suspect the seats are there to enable people with larger families to buy the car, where they might otherwise buy a smaller, less expensive EV, and then a minivan or SUV as well. This way it pulls customers towards Tesla.

Then theres still the problem of limited range and hardly anywhere to charge it. Electrics still not they way forward for me.

Limited range doesn't really apply to this car.

Forgetting the fact that most EV buyers buy their cars with the range considered (i.e. nobody buys an EV and then thinks "what, it only does 100 miles?"), the Tesla has a much greater range anyway - 300+ miles for the top-spec versions.

Now I dunno about you, but my regular petrol car doesn't do 300 miles on a tank. Fair enough, recharging takes little longer, but then generally when I do long distances my stops tend to be longer anyway. A fast charger should allow Model S drivers to do pretty decent distances.

I cannot believe legislation would allow kids to sit in the boot facing the rear window like that! it looks extremely dangerous. If you have a rear collision it game over :scared: Why would you even want it anyway when the car is already a 4 seater!

5 seater :) The rearmost seats are numbers 6 and 7, not 5 and 6.

That aside, I can see your point, but it's certainly not an unusual layout - many, many estate cars sold in the past have had a rear-facing third row.

And let's face it - I wouldn't want to put a couple of young kids in the rear row of basically any smaller estate or MPV, as they're invariably only inches away from the rear window.

It's a big, murky grey area as far as legislation is concerned, I expect. Clever construction techniques probably make it safer than ever and distribute most of the impact around the occupants, but the subtext is that they're only "occasional" seats and you wouldn't want to stick someone there too often.
 
Okay i read your post. It is unique that they're offering the extra seats. And it does look ok. So maybe it would pull more customers towards Tesla. But i don't believe for 1 second that its capable of 300 miles. Until i see it happen. Did Tesla say that by any chance? Most, if not all EV's aren't capable of the manufacturers statements on range. Especially with normal driving. Like having the heating on, radio, sat nav etc etc. Things people like to do while driving. There's still the problem of charging it. 9hrs? if you can find a charging point to start with. Then there's the battery life. Fast charging is gonna lessen the battery life by around half. Considering that charging properly, your batteries might last 5-7 years? Then there's the cost to replace batteries.
Going back to the range. Just an example. Not everyone would bother doing this. But nice to know you could. Have you seen the top gear episode when Jeremy drove a V8 engined Audi A8 from London to Scotland and back? On 1 tank? Total distance 900+miles? Fair enough the Audi's fuel tank isn't exactly small. And it is more expensive to buy. And I know he was driving carefully. But you would need to in the Tesla to get the 300 miles. Then have a stop over to charge the car back up. You would need to charge the Tesla at least twice to do the same journey. Audi was a single continuous journey. Range does depend on how you drive the thing. Most people aren't gonna want to drive at 50 on the motorway, not overtake anyone, cut the engine/motor at every red light, slowly build up speed from a stop etc. EV's are still limited in a number of ways. They don't quite give the freedom of a petrol/diesel car. One day they'll get there. Just not yet. 300 miles (if it is possible) is definitely more positive.
 
Okay i read your post. It is unique that they're offering the extra seats. And it does look ok. So maybe it would pull more customers towards Tesla. But i don't believe for 1 second that its capable of 300 miles. Until i see it happen.
I'll just stop you right there.

In Europe especially, fuel efficiency numbers quoted at the point of sale are rarely attainable in real world scenarios. So to doubt the quoted range of an electric vehicle is to doubt the range of any vehicle. Air con, terrain, weather, auxillaries all affect range of any vehicle.

Now I understand that range anxiety is very much an electric vehicle specific issue, but no one should be getting nervous with a 300 mile range, unless they have the pre-emptive thinking of a slug.
 
i know. i'm just making a point that's all. I did mention range depends on how you drive the car. Sometimes it may be more, sometimes less. Its just nice to know that with a petrol/diesel car. i can go anywhere i like at anytime. electric you can't.
 
i know. i'm just making a point that's all. I did mention range depends on how you drive the car. Sometimes it may be more, sometimes less. Its just nice to know that with a petrol/diesel car. i can go anywhere i like at anytime. electric you can't.
Which raises the issue of electric-vehicle-only city centres becoming a real issue in the next decade.
 
One day electric vehicles might be brilliant. Petrol/diesel had to start somewhere. Nearly everyone depends on them nowadays. Building the infrastructure to support EV's is gonna take time. I give credit to Tesla (amongst others) for trying it. I like the idea Honda had with the Clarity. On board power station. Slightly dangerous but if they get that sorted, i think it would be a good thing for the car industry. Also the Jaguar CX-75 concept's an interesting idea. Any flammable gas can be used to power the turbines. Which in turn can be used either to power the car or to charge the batteries. But its an idea only. I don't think it works. Theres loads of ideas out there. I've heard of waste (human and animal) being used, seaweed, water, Chip fat oil, magnets to name a few. All are limited to certain degree though. Has anyone thought about solar panels to help charge a battery? You would probably need alot. But Combined with regenerative braking you wouldn't need as many. It could help matters further.
 
Not quite as easy as that. What if your in the middle of nowhere? Like the countryside? In town. Are you gonna knock on peoples houses and ask.... 'can i borrow a plug for a few hours?'. If it was that easy then why is there still an issue with charging your car up?
 
But i don't believe for 1 second that its capable of 300 miles. Until i see it happen. Did Tesla say that by any chance?

Feel free to disbelieve what you like. Hundreds of Tesla Roadster owners happily get the 200+ miles recorded by the EPA in America for their cars, so I've no reason to suspect the Model S will be any different.

Not quite as easy as that. What if your in the middle of nowhere? Like the countryside? In town. Are you gonna knock on peoples houses and ask.... 'can i borrow a plug for a few hours?'. If it was that easy then why is there still an issue with charging your car up?

Sorry, not buying that argument, for the reason I already mentioned above.

Nobody buys an EV and suddenly finds the range doesn't work for them. People who buy electric cars will always be the ones who know they won't have any trouble running them.

People bring up the daft "where would you charge?" argument time and time again, but it makes no more sense than suggesting someone who lives up a pot-holed farm track and needs to ford a stream would accidentally buy a Lotus Elise and then realise they can't get home.

You buy a vehicle suitable for your personal circumstances. That includes only buying an EV if you know you can live with the range.

To reiterate: There is only an "issue" charging your car for people who don't actually own EVs in the first place.

And don't even get me started on the FCX Clarity you mentioned above. Hydrogen fuel cells are a crap idea. Nice in theory, terrible in practice.
 
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