Official Tesla Model S thread

[TEG]

A couple of questions about the Model S:
1. How roomy is it compared to the Leaf?
2. Does the air suspension mike the ride less bumpy or is that just to improve handling?

Back seat headroom for very tall people can be an issue.
The handling and comfort (with the air suspension) are both impeccable.
It sails over broken pavement, yet can take hard corners fast.

 

[Adrian]

I'm 6'1'' and rode along in the back seat of a Tesla S today. I have somewhat of a long torso and my head was touching the ceiling the entire time. Awesome car though!

No panoramic roof on that car then ? The panorama roof supposedly adds about 2" of headroom in the rear seat.

Correct, the car I was in did not have a panoramic roof. Good to hear there's a way to make the back seat comfortable for taller people too.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

well, I guess it's time... I will join the conversation over there as well. my interest level in this vehicle just jumped up dramatically with this finding! Between having a universally adaptable charger, battery swap charging option and looong range and TMS, it's inching toward irresistible.

This is very good news and much more in line with the video of the stakeholders meeting that got posted vs everyone who chimed in and said there will be no adapter for CHAdeMO. It was just unfathomable to me that they'd lock their customers out of the growing chain of CHAdeMO fast chargers. I would love to go for a test drive, wonder how hard that would be to pull off while we are in CA this summer!

George, you were right to stick to your guns. I believe I said that the adapter likely won't be delivered to customers on June 22. I also found Elon too vague and non-committal to pin much hope to his statements. Apparently, I was wrong. If the adapters were coming, it would be a game changer. I have resurrected the relevant thread on the Tesla forum, you might want to consider joining that board.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

how was the road noise? i concluded a while ago that sport suspension and wheels made for a loud and bumpy ride and are not for me.

A couple of questions about the Model S:
1. How roomy is it compared to the Leaf?
2. Does the air suspension mike the ride less bumpy or is that just to improve handling?

Back seat headroom for very tall people can be an issue.
The handling and comfort (with the air suspension) are both impeccable.
It sails over broken pavement, yet can take hard corners fast.

 

[LindsayNB]

I haven't tried it but a recent update to Google Maps (for android at least) allows you to download maps for an area for offline use.

http://www.google.com/webhp?client=tablet-android-google&source=android-home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 17" console display is huge. Boomer pointed out, and Lars confirmed, that the use of Google Maps means you really need to be in cell-phone range to make full use of the GPS. This is a negative for me, because I would like to take my EV to nature type places.

 

[mkjayakumar]

It appears that Roadsters in general didn't have much of the battery degradation issues the Leaf is facing. 30K miles with around 5% degradation seems to be the norm.

 

[cdub]

I haven't tried it but a recent update to Google Maps (for android at least) allows you to download maps for an area for offline use.

http://www.google.com/webhp?client=tablet-android-google&source=android-home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But does that feature work with the Tesla browser?

 

[TomT]

But how many Roadsters were in Phoenix or Texas under similar conditions...

It appears that Roadsters in general didn't have much of the battery degradation issues the Leaf is facing. 30K miles with around 5% degradation seems to be the norm.

 

[Boomer23]

how was the road noise? i concluded a while ago that sport suspension and wheels made for a loud and bumpy ride and are not for me.

A couple of questions about the Model S:
1. How roomy is it compared to the Leaf?
2. Does the air suspension mike the ride less bumpy or is that just to improve handling?

Back seat headroom for very tall people can be an issue.
The handling and comfort (with the air suspension) are both impeccable.
It sails over broken pavement, yet can take hard corners fast.

It was very quiet under all of the test drive conditions, as I recall, in the standard version that I rode in (not the Performance version). I'm going again today and will pay close attention to the noise level and head room in both front and rear.

 

[cdub]

I went to the Tesla store in SM last night. Got a free keychain.

The Model X looked pretty sweet too.

 

[jkirkebo]

But how many Roadsters were in Phoenix or Texas under similar conditions...

It shouldn't matter, since the Roadster actively cools the pack. The problem with the Roadster was that it often diverted so much cooling to the battery pack that there wasn't much left to cool the cabin. Supposedly the Model S cooling systems are way more powerful.

 

[tbleakne]

A couple of questions about the Model S:
1. How roomy is it compared to the Leaf?
2. Does the air suspension mike the ride less bumpy or is that just to improve handling?

Back seat headroom for very tall people can be an issue.
The handling and comfort (with the air suspension) are both impeccable.
It sails over broken pavement, yet can take hard corners fast.

The back seat seemed somewhat more roomy than the LEAF's, but the big difference is that you are sitting much lower, so getting in and out of the back will be harder than for the LEAF for folks middle-aged or older.

Air suspension: The test drive included both Performance and standard models. We drove in a standard model, and the suspension seemed great. You could chose a different waiting line if you wanted to test-drive the Performance model, which may well have a stiffer suspension.

The one car with the glass roof was on display only, no access inside. Both Boomer23 and I took pictures, but I may not have time to post them today. They also had one car in the new Red, which is brighter than the Signature Red. The Blue and the Green were both much too dark for my taste. Some of the wood accent choices looked weird to me, not luxurious. My taste must not be up to that level. I believe some of the test cars were pre-production, so the interior may look better in the production cars.
One car had an evaluation version of the center console, but we did not get to see it. I believe it was the Green one. They have not finalized the design of this console option, and are still accepting customer input.

Lars said that the 4600 lb weight listed on the web specs referred to the cars equipped with either the 85 kWh or 60 kWh battery. The 40 kWh models will be somewhat lighter.

 

[Boomer23]

I just rode in a base model S. Rear seat headroom was tight for me at 6 feet tall. If I leaned back, my head touched the ceiling. If I sat up straight , I had about an inch to the roof, I sat in a car with the pano roof and it didn't make a difference if I was leaning back. If I sat up straight, there was about an inch more headroom than the standard car.

Noise inside the car is only tire and wind noise, which are minimal. There was no gear whine or other mechanical sounds.

 

[Randy]

Wish I was there with you, Phil...

Lots of questions come to mind...I'll be waiting for more posts from you and the others there...

Does the S have a VSP noise system?

 

[Boomer23]

This is very good news and much more in line with the video of the stakeholders meeting that got posted vs everyone who chimed in and said there will be no adapter for CHAdeMO. It was just unfathomable to me that they'd lock their customers out of the growing chain of CHAdeMO fast chargers. I would love to go for a test drive, wonder how hard that would be to pull off while we are in CA this summer!

...
There will be adapters to allow both the 85 kWh battery, and the 60 kWh battery, if equipped with the Super-Charger option, to charge from CHAdeMo or SAE Quick Chargers. ...

I just spoke with the same guy again today at the Tesla test drive and I asked him the same question. He said basically that if Tesla sees CHAdeMO spreading, they'll look at offering an adapter. He said that the SAE DC doesn't provide enough power for the Tesla, so that's less likely.

My take is to consider it all as a futures thing and don't bank on any early stories til you get it on writing.

 

[chris1howell]

Does the S have a VSP noise system?

No the S did not have VSP, I asked an engineer about VSP and he said they would add it when it became mandatory.

I got to drive a Performance S in the Sport mode. You can change the suspension, steering and regin feel but the drive was too short. The S felt glued to the road compared to the leaf. Acceleration is awesome and it is a bit quieter. There is no turbine-ish whine at all.

The car had the pano roof but I didn't notice, despite the lack of a shade at 100 on a very sunny day it blocked most of the sun. Tesla says 98+%...

All in all its the best car I have ever driven. I can't wait to park mine next to the leaf and be done with gas for good.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

yeah, up here we have concrete with expansion joints on I-5. It's better now that they ground it down, but it gets bumpy from the big gravel in it as it wears and it also wears unevenly, all adding up to a very distinct pattern of high noise and bumps as you drive which gets amplified with sport suspension... but it sounds like the S has options for different tastes which is great. we are heading over to the Bellevue store today to have a look at the prototype and ask questions.

It was very quiet under all of the test drive conditions, as I recall, in the standard version that I rode in (not the Performance version). I'm going again today and will pay close attention to the noise level and head room in both front and rear.

 

[Christopher]

There is no turbine-ish whine at all.

Well, I found there was inverter whine whenever I floored it. (The white, non-performance version, at Fremont weekend.) And then it actually squealed a bit as the whine spun up. The squeal was kinda funny-cute.

Also, at 6'4", sitting in the back seat is definitely cramped. Much more headroom in the LEAF, front and back, but that's what you get with a low-sloping roof – particularly when there's a battery pack under the floor.

Even after the test drive, I'm still not sure I'll follow through with my reservation. (I'm in the 2700's. Probably due up in Nov.) The car is just so damn big on the outside, not my thing. It'll be a squeeze through my garage doors and on some of the narrow roads around Santa Cruz here, where sometimes there's no room for the white line. And in parking lots?! And you definitely feel the weight. Feels like a tank. A mighty fast, stable and pretty tank though. Of course, on the other hand, it will be a while before Tesla will be delivering their Gen III. As much as I like my LEAF, it's limited range and performance is... well... limiting. ;-)

Gimme a smaller Model S-like hatchback, designed more for efficiency, but still with over 200 miles range, sport handling/steering/performance and all wheel drive (to avoid the need for chains in the Sierra), please. Yeah, something like my old Audi A3, but electric. (Wish Audi wasn't dragging their heels so.)

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Does it ask you to touch OK to accept every time you start it?

 

[chris1howell]

Does it ask you to touch OK to accept every time you start it?

No its worse you have to sign a waiver...