Tesla launch mode.

[Crispin]

Looks like instant fun 0-62 in 3.2 seconds with instant torque




I've seen a number of them on the road and they look lovely. All other electric cars as as inspiring as a turd with sprinkles on - this is juicy.
Priced at 76k it's steep but not far from similar spec'd cars at that market.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Daughter's father-in-law has one in San Francisco. The Model S - with which I have an appointment this year I hope ;-)

 

[TonyP]

Buy one and get done already. Off course I get a test drive

 

[silvercruiser]

i wanna go!!!

 

[Olazz]

This will change your view on EV's

Had a p85+ on test for 4 hours over weekend.....WOW!

This is an enormously impressive vehicle and as a confirmed petrolhead, completely changed my view on electric vehicles.
From its KERS type regenerative braking, to the adaptive autopilot cruise, its eye opening electronic wizzadry, the ride comfort, cabin space, build quality (raided Mercedes parts bin)etc etc.

But the MOST impressive aspect of this vehicle, is its truly astonishing performance!

The single biggest negative however is the recharging time required if you can't find a Tesla "supercharge" station. If you travel on a journey of more than 250miles, best build in a min 3 hour stop to recharge the battery en route.

However, if it's not to be your sole vehicle, and doesn't have to be driven for 300+ miles in one stint, then it presents is a pretty compelling argument.

Price... if spec'd decently- £95K + change.

 

[Crispin]

3 of those 4 hours weren't waiting for it to charge were they? [emoji38]

What would the equivalent be? Ignoring stupid acceleration. BMW 740 ?
Let's face it, if you gave a shit about polar bears you'd be driving a prius or geewizz. At 95k you bought it because you can.

It will be the start of "real" cars becoming electric rather than electric dull things...

 

[Gary Stockton]

The "supercharge" stations are pretty amazing - Tesla are installing them at popular malls etc. You can thus get a free parking spot and a fill up for nothing. The speedo indicator is cool - supercharge charges the car at 300mph - so a full charge in an hour. Home charger is something like 25mph as a comparison ...

You haven't been tempted by the i8 yet have you??? Mmmm

 

[Olazz]

No, not as luxurious as a modern BMW or Mercedes for that matter. But a very pleasing interior to spend time in.

I went with exactly that opinion of electric cars myself... I certainly wouldn't buy it as a sports car as it doesn't have the same thrill as a howling Ferrari v12 or a 911 flat 6, nor the charm of driving a classic car... but as an alternative to a BMW/MERC/JAG/AUDI... absolutely makes sense... to me anyway.

I started the day with 295mile range, drove motorway, town, stop start and also some hard acceleration, and generally drove it as hard as I dared (within legal speed limits of course) and returned it 4 hours later still with 114 mile range left.

This is a real car, that happened to have been conceived as electric.

 

[Olazz]

The "supercharge" stations are pretty amazing - Tesla are installing them at popular malls etc. You can thus get a free parking spot and a fill up for nothing. The speedo indicator is cool - supercharge charges the car at 300mph - so a full charge in an hour. Home charger is something like 25mph as a comparison ...

You haven't been tempted by the i8 yet have you??? Mmmm

Yep, you would have to plan any major journey around the supercharge stations for it to make any sense and hope when you got there, they were open for use.

Really don't like the look of the i8 so not been interested in driving one of them.

I really love the concept and ingenuity of the Tesla, my heart says yes, but my head is struggling with depreciation, relatively new technology, charging parameters and constraints, and obviously at that price it is not far off supercar money.

 

[MarkW]

Yay electric cars.........................offset your emissions from the exhaust to that huge 1960's coal fired power station what a way to save the planet

Sorry as an Environment Manager I'm supposed to endorse these sort of things but the whole argument is so flawed I can't without laughing inside my head. The other one that really makes me laugh is the government taxing cars on CO2 when anyone who knew said at the time it would push diesels which are even more damaging as we've seen in the news over the last few months.

Despite that and being a confirmed petrol head (I do tack days and drive a LC for holidays ) I do like the teslas a lot

 

[Towpack]

Hydrogen cell vehicles are the real 'greener' way forward IMO. Lugging around 1/2 ton of batteries which need regular charging just seems a bit draconian by comparison, even if you do ignore their 'hidden' carbon footprint. JMO

 

[Philip A]

The day you can swap a battery pack at a "charging station" in a couple of minutes should not be far down the road.

 

[frank rabbets]

The electric car only moves the pollution out of the town centres but does nothing over all for the emissions.

 

[Beau]

Looks like a ton of fun! But lets be honest, the only real reason some one would buy one of those priced at 95k is if they had money lying around. 100k will get you some seriously quick and luxurious cars!

 

[clivehorridge]

Hydrogen cell vehicles are the real 'greener' way forward IMO. Lugging around 1/2 ton of batteries which need regular charging just seems a bit draconian by comparison, even if you do ignore their 'hidden' carbon footprint. JMO

I'm with MW & TP on this one, Electric cars are a sham IMO, from a green perspective.

I know battery technology is improving exponentially, but really, if this trend takes off, after so many years there'll be a dearth of dead batteries dumped all over the place, causing all sorts of long term not so green issues.

I'll always stand corrected, but how long are the batteries likely to last? And £95k? As if cars aren't expensive enough...

 

[moggy1968]

as above, the majority of pollution in a cars life is in it's production and destruction, and in that respect, electric cars are just awful, more polluting than my 25 year old landcruiser! I suspect they're built in obsolescence will be just hideous as well, and the depreciation, knowing how the battery life will deteriorate with time , will make a new range rover look like a wise investment!!

 

[Beau]

Random thought, but can you imagine what the car industry would be like if all the people were like the majority of us on this forum who have had our cruisers for a very long time

 

[moggy1968]

smaller

 

[Towpack]

Random thought, but can you imagine what the car industry would be like if all the people were like the majority of us on this forum who have had our cruisers for a very long time

They'd probably make much better cars for a lot less money.

 

[BarryC]

I had a spin with the tesla S in the states. Very impressive sales manager. I explained I was from the UK but she was happy to let me have a test drive anyway under the point of view that if I was so interested to enquire in the States then I will be interested when it gets to the UK as well.

The car was amazing.

The S may not be for me but I am watching with interest the progress an the X.