Introducing the Tesla Model S
- Thread starter SuperShouden
- 266 comments
- 24,215 views
- 21,286
- GR-MI-USA
- YSSMAN
- YSSMAN
Well, the base 40kwh model isn't all that expensive at $53k, but you're going to make some sacrifices. The range is pretty decent at 160 miles, and the power output isn't half bad at 235 BHP. But, you're going to go without the supercharger system, which is probably going to be critical with the shorter range when driving around California.
The 85kwh version is give or take what you'd want for day-to-day driving for most people, and that rings up at about $73k. Although it does without the major power boost of the Sport model, it's more than enough, and the range is spectacular for an electric vehicle.
It really depends on what you're comparing it too. Against a comparable BMW 5-series, it isn't a bad value.
The 85kwh version is give or take what you'd want for day-to-day driving for most people, and that rings up at about $73k. Although it does without the major power boost of the Sport model, it's more than enough, and the range is spectacular for an electric vehicle.
It really depends on what you're comparing it too. Against a comparable BMW 5-series, it isn't a bad value.
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
If I was only going to use my car as a city car I would consider a Tesla Model S over a BMW 5 series.
I don't know how much info I'm posting will be a repeat. I hope people are in the mood for some review!
I talked to a Tesla rep this week. According to them, Tthe goal of the company is to completely supplant the internal combustion engine powered car with battery powered electric. Their strategy was to introduce the Roadster in order to try to kill the reputation electric cars had as being slow golf carts. Now that they've completed their mission with a desirable sports car, they're looking to move down the line and appeal to a broader and broader market with each new car that they release.
I also got to learn some more about the tech that they've been putting into the cars. I like how the Model S' door handles are flush with the body until somebody with a key approaches the car. I like the idea of having a front and rear trunk. I also like how they're able to give the car software updates using 3G. Apparently one of the early complaints with the car was that people expected the car to creep forward when the brake was released like an automatic transmission does. Tesla was able to add this feature in a software update. I like how aerodynamics was given such a high priority. Apparently it has a Cd of .26. I'm sure having a flat floor helps tremendously.
The electric drivetrain is also being used as a skateboard concept similar to that of GM's skateboard in the early 2000's. The Model X will share the running gear of the S.
The rep also said that Tesla operates more like a start-up, with Elon Musk personally meeting and signing off on all new hires.
I also managed to secure a couple of stickers. Meet my new Tesla blender.
Personally I think Tesla has some great ideas that they implement into their cars. I think it's a welcome change to the auto industry.
I don't know how much info I'm posting will be a repeat. I hope people are in the mood for some review!
I talked to a Tesla rep this week. According to them, Tthe goal of the company is to completely supplant the internal combustion engine powered car with battery powered electric. Their strategy was to introduce the Roadster in order to try to kill the reputation electric cars had as being slow golf carts. Now that they've completed their mission with a desirable sports car, they're looking to move down the line and appeal to a broader and broader market with each new car that they release.
I also got to learn some more about the tech that they've been putting into the cars. I like how the Model S' door handles are flush with the body until somebody with a key approaches the car. I like the idea of having a front and rear trunk. I also like how they're able to give the car software updates using 3G. Apparently one of the early complaints with the car was that people expected the car to creep forward when the brake was released like an automatic transmission does. Tesla was able to add this feature in a software update. I like how aerodynamics was given such a high priority. Apparently it has a Cd of .26. I'm sure having a flat floor helps tremendously.
The electric drivetrain is also being used as a skateboard concept similar to that of GM's skateboard in the early 2000's. The Model X will share the running gear of the S.
The rep also said that Tesla operates more like a start-up, with Elon Musk personally meeting and signing off on all new hires.
I also managed to secure a couple of stickers. Meet my new Tesla blender.
Personally I think Tesla has some great ideas that they implement into their cars. I think it's a welcome change to the auto industry.
- 21,286
- GR-MI-USA
- YSSMAN
- YSSMAN
I can confirm this, 100%. A good friend of mine from High School went to work for Tesla about a year or so ago, got flown out to California after someone had found out about his work on electric motorcycles. He gets to travel around and do promotional stuff for Tesla, and I'm incredibly jealous. Not just over his job, but for meeting Mr. Musk as well.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,260
- United States
Prototyp3
(Banned)
- 397
- Oregon
Elon having issues with NYTimes and then proven wrong by his own data:
http://www.ign.com/blogs/markryan-i...usk-makes-misguided-attack-on-new-york-times/
http://www.ign.com/blogs/markryan-i...usk-makes-misguided-attack-on-new-york-times/
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
Other more respected car blogs have the opposite to say.
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/15/cnn-proves-tesla-model-s-can-make-infamous-road-trip-more-attem/
NYT guy who doesn't like EV's makes claims about Model S failing.
Data shows he used test car like an idiot or purposely tried to make the car fail.
NYT guy's claims shown to be BS.
Other journo's make the exact same trip without issue.
Case closed if you ask me.
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/15/cnn-proves-tesla-model-s-can-make-infamous-road-trip-more-attem/
NYT guy who doesn't like EV's makes claims about Model S failing.
Data shows he used test car like an idiot or purposely tried to make the car fail.
NYT guy's claims shown to be BS.
Other journo's make the exact same trip without issue.
Case closed if you ask me.
Prototyp3
(Banned)
- 397
- Oregon
That's not true. Look at the data. Read the article. the link I provided shows a side by side comparison of what Elon claims and what the NYT claims.
Also, it's funny to me that you have to drive 54mph and turn the heat off also the cold drains the range of the car. Does Elon expect people to not drive in the Winter?
lol@tesla
We are YEARS from reliable electric transport in real world driving conditions.
P.S. you should read the article it's not as unbiased as you might think, and while the writer may not be "respected" or from a "respected" organization, it is a well written article.
Also, it's funny to me that you have to drive 54mph and turn the heat off also the cold drains the range of the car. Does Elon expect people to not drive in the Winter?
lol@tesla
We are YEARS from reliable electric transport in real world driving conditions.
P.S. you should read the article it's not as unbiased as you might think, and while the writer may not be "respected" or from a "respected" organization, it is a well written article.
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
I'd advise you to look at the data before you reply this time. It shows the exact opposite of what you're trying to prove.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/14/tesla-takes-new-york-times-to-task-for-damning-model-s-re/
The guy charged his car up to 72% and then 28% before setting off.
Yes. It shows the NYT claims were BS.
This is how I know that you didn't look at the data. Data shows that climate control settings were increased. lol@failure to read.
You know, unless you look at the facts that you posted...
Take this ignorance back to Top Gear where it belongs.
Last edited:
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,260
- United States
I don't trust anything from IGN.
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
What? You mean that a video game publication that is regularly paid to give titles high ratings doesn't have the same credibility as a dedicated and well respected automotive publication?
Prototyp3
(Banned)
- 397
- Oregon
The guy charged his car up to 72% and then 28% before setting off.
Do you know why? Because it takes forever to charge. He charged it up enough until the car said it could make the trip. That is something the article I linked brings up. Which you clearly didn't bother reading.
In real world conditions, I'm not going to wait for an hour to charge my car. It's unrealistic to think that people will accept this in their everyday lives.
EDIT:
Oh god, here we go with the basest kind of conspiracy theory about sites getting paid off. In anycase, I'm not a huge fan of IGN and don't care to defend them further but sites/reviewers don't get paid by companies like you are suggesting.
Do you know why? Because it takes forever to charge. He charged it up enough until the car said it could make the trip. That is something the article I linked brings up. Which you clearly didn't bother reading.
In real world conditions, I'm not going to wait for an hour to charge my car. It's unrealistic to think that people will accept this in their everyday lives.
EDIT:
Oh god, here we go with the basest kind of conspiracy theory about sites getting paid off. In anycase, I'm not a huge fan of IGN and don't care to defend them further but sites/reviewers don't get paid by companies like you are suggesting.
- 40,419
Prototyp3
(Banned)
- 397
- Oregon
Elon expected the New York Times to drive the car at 54 mph in a 65-mph zone. Elon expected the author to spend hours charging the car more than the car said was necessary. Elon expected the author to turn the heater to low in 30-degree winter weather.
In essence, Elon Musk doesn't think the New York Times author went far enough out of his way to make sure the car succeeded. (In fact, the author made way more concessions than a normal user would. He drove under the speed limit. He let the cabin temperature drop. He called Tesla HQ for tips and triage recharging locations. I wouldn't have done any of that.)
Tesla's data charts show that the New York Times author charged the car on three occasions, and never to 100% full charge. "Despite narrowly making each leg, he charged less and less each time. Why would anyone do that?" asked Elon in the same blog that revealed the data logs, and at once exposed his misunderstanding.
That Tesla's data shows this charging behavior is no surprise -- it is exactly what the author wrote about. There is no discrepancy in the data of charge rates and distance driven. The problem is that Elon doesn't understand why the author wouldn't charge to 100%.
Elon, here's why John Broder didn't charge the car more: It takes too damn long. It is the fundamental weakness in all electric cars. It is the issue the Superchargers are made to address.
....
When Steve Jobs said, "Don't hold the phone like that," the Internet hive mind unloaded on the Apple exec. When Elon Musk said, "Don't drive the speed limit, and don't turn on the heat," the hive mind instead attacked the New York Times author that dared challenge Tesla.
About the Climate setting in car:
At 182 miles, Broder said, "I put the climate control to low..." Climate settings were actually increased."
Elon's data shows that cabin temperature in fact drops precipitously, just not at 182 miles (the author never said it happened at 182 miles)
Finally,
I don't drive that much but we aren't based an entire car companies future on what I alone do. I know plenty of people who drive 100+ miles a day for work.
Anyway, we are talking about the trip in question.
----
Edit:
it seems pretty clear at this point that the fact the article is from IGN is detracting from any serious discussion. I guess it's not enough to pay attention to good writing regardless of where it comes from. Because of course everyone at IGN is a pos who is mentally retarded. Sometimes GTplanet is worse then gamefaqs.
In essence, Elon Musk doesn't think the New York Times author went far enough out of his way to make sure the car succeeded. (In fact, the author made way more concessions than a normal user would. He drove under the speed limit. He let the cabin temperature drop. He called Tesla HQ for tips and triage recharging locations. I wouldn't have done any of that.)
Tesla's data charts show that the New York Times author charged the car on three occasions, and never to 100% full charge. "Despite narrowly making each leg, he charged less and less each time. Why would anyone do that?" asked Elon in the same blog that revealed the data logs, and at once exposed his misunderstanding.
That Tesla's data shows this charging behavior is no surprise -- it is exactly what the author wrote about. There is no discrepancy in the data of charge rates and distance driven. The problem is that Elon doesn't understand why the author wouldn't charge to 100%.
Elon, here's why John Broder didn't charge the car more: It takes too damn long. It is the fundamental weakness in all electric cars. It is the issue the Superchargers are made to address.
....
When Steve Jobs said, "Don't hold the phone like that," the Internet hive mind unloaded on the Apple exec. When Elon Musk said, "Don't drive the speed limit, and don't turn on the heat," the hive mind instead attacked the New York Times author that dared challenge Tesla.
About the Climate setting in car:
At 182 miles, Broder said, "I put the climate control to low..." Climate settings were actually increased."
Elon's data shows that cabin temperature in fact drops precipitously, just not at 182 miles (the author never said it happened at 182 miles)
Finally,
I don't drive that much but we aren't based an entire car companies future on what I alone do. I know plenty of people who drive 100+ miles a day for work.
Anyway, we are talking about the trip in question.
----
Edit:
it seems pretty clear at this point that the fact the article is from IGN is detracting from any serious discussion. I guess it's not enough to pay attention to good writing regardless of where it comes from. Because of course everyone at IGN is a pos who is mentally retarded. Sometimes GTplanet is worse then gamefaqs.
- 40,419
Do you know people who drive 160+ miles a day for work, and then have no time between getting to work and leaving work to let the car charge for a few hours? Because they should probably get closer jobs if they are spending more time on the road to and from work than they are at work.
Or it's because the article isn't worth seriously discussing, as it contradicts itself by putting the Twitter logs at the end and the car's diagnostic equipment says that what the NYT reporter said happened didn't happen, so the fact that IGN of all outlets wrote it is simply icing on the cake.
Last edited:
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
Incorrect, CNN did the trip with miles to spare at 67mph.
Incorrect, Broder deliberately unplugged the car early despite common sense and what the car said.
Oh yes, apparently 70 degrees is too low
All incorrect. Look at the data, the NYT author (who has a history of bad mouthing EV's) was lying.
Did you even read this before you posted?
Neither do I. Why would you drive around a parking lot for 15 minutes, then unplug the charger prematurely, then on the second charge unplug the charger at 28%? Maybe this NYT author (with a history of badmouthing EV's) wants to make some sort of story...
Not relevant. The limitations of the super charger system are one thing. Fabrications in journalism are what's being discussed.
Inaccurate claim based on false data.
The data shows that most of the time the climate control was kept between 70 and 74 degrees. It shows inaccuracies in the author's report, suggesting that the author was lying.
Then don't make claims such as "It's unrealistic to think that people will accept this in their everyday lives." It only serves to prove how much knowledge you lack on this topic.
Most people drive less than 50 miles a day. The car has more than enough range for most people's needs, it doesn't need range for these "plenty" of people who drive 100 miles to work every day because the market for an EV of this range is already huge.
Oh darn, people are calling me out on my unwillingness to look at the facts that I post.
The report is a regurgitation of the inaccurate claims the author made. It comes from an organization that is far from trustworthy.
edit: Tree'd by Toronado.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,260
- United States
I'm beginning to think this Prototyp3 guy is the writer from the NY Times....
Why argue so much over this? Clearly you can see the guy was wrong, Tesla proved it so with the data from the car, CNN did the trip with no problems, and tomorrow a group of Model S owners are going to make the same trip to prove him wrong even more. I honestly don't see why you are sticking up for the guy with his track record of hating on electric cars, and damn near every other publication out there has nothing but rave reviews for the car...
Why argue so much over this? Clearly you can see the guy was wrong, Tesla proved it so with the data from the car, CNN did the trip with no problems, and tomorrow a group of Model S owners are going to make the same trip to prove him wrong even more. I honestly don't see why you are sticking up for the guy with his track record of hating on electric cars, and damn near every other publication out there has nothing but rave reviews for the car...
- 40,419
Also, in regards to "don't hold the phone that way," that was Steve Jobs implying to the hundreds of thousands of people who bought iPhones that they were incapable of talking on a cell phone properly. He got ire because that was an obscenely arrogant thing to say in regards to the failure of his design team to make the product work the way it was realistically going to be used.
If you want apply that analogy to this situation, it would be more like if iPhone users held the phone out a foot from their head without turning on speakerphone and progressively lowered the volume after each phone call; and then complained to Apple that the thing didn't work right because the call quality was poor.
If you want apply that analogy to this situation, it would be more like if iPhone users held the phone out a foot from their head without turning on speakerphone and progressively lowered the volume after each phone call; and then complained to Apple that the thing didn't work right because the call quality was poor.
Last edited:
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,260
- United States
Link isn't working?
Try this: (If it's the same)
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/18/tesla-model-s-road-trip-drivers-have-no-problem-video/
Try this: (If it's the same)
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/18/tesla-model-s-road-trip-drivers-have-no-problem-video/
- 758
- Alabama
- Horobi-Scorpion
Badass. I would so buy this. Removing those doors really livens this up for me.
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/08/tesla-model-s-coupe-rendered-looks-like-a-winner/
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/08/tesla-model-s-coupe-rendered-looks-like-a-winner/
- 4,035
- Gothenburg
- Agremont
It's a pretty nice looking car. Although a bit too simliar to other car designs. But that's common nowdays.
- 12,389
- Betelgeuse
- Beeblebrox_237
That's properly gorgeous. The styling really comes into its own as a coupe.
- 1,315
- GTP_GTMail
- Chilldomination
Looks like Tesla is pulling a Aston Martin making both their models look exactly the same! Not that I agree or disagree with a coupe version of the model S. I see about 5-6 if these things a day and to be honest they're pretty ugly. The car's rear section is pretty wide and it's just not proportional. A coupe might fix this but look at how big that door is. If that's the real thing it's going to be huge. Not really good for a grand tourer that already has the disadvantage of being electric too.
