Author Topic: Invited to Tesla Model Launch  (Read 1543 times)

APDevelopments

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Invited to Tesla Model Launch
« on: July 21, 2016, 07:20:01 PM »
Hi. Now I'm here I don't know what to say. It still speechless.
Oh well let's give it a try.
This is going to be a long read but I hope you enjoy it.
Today was a very interesting day.
I was invited to the Tesla model uk launch at one of the Tesla dealers.
I chose the the dealer in weighbridge in Surrey.. Not far from Thorpe Park.
So off we went. My appointment was at 1pm.
It's all very nice to look at cars costing over one hundred thousand pounds.
Whilst I was busy chatting to one of the tesla reps I was invited to test drive a model s with ludicrous mode.
How could one ever refuse 8).
So the model s is the big 4 door hatch back car which actually looks like a Jaguar.
It's a 100% electric car which can do up to 250 miles on a single charge.
Going further into it.
It's actually the fastest accelerating production car ever made with a 0-60 time of 2.9 seconds.
All these figures don't mean much until later.
Anyway. I'm shown to a black model S with 21" alloys and white leather interior.
As soon as you unlock it the show begins.
Firstly the door handles pop out so you can grab them.
As soon as you sit in the car your faced with a huge digital display screen to your left in the centre console and a brightly coloured display in the dash.
I adjust the seat to get into my driving position which is all done electrically to include the steering wheel.
The next half and hour is taken up with going through the computer system and its functions.
I will save you that part as its a long boring process.
It has everything.
Phone, satnav, Internet, radio, Internet radio. MP3.
You name it it has it.
Anyway so off we went. In total silence. All you can hear is the tyre noise from the road.
As we were driving out of town you soon realise that this is a top quality car. Something you would expect from a top of the range Beamer, Audi etc.
The ride over the bumps is smooth and most certainly not like any racing or sports car.
The suspension is fully air active so you can raise and lower to your choice. It also adjusts the height depending on your speed.
Now this is where the sanity ends we now enter a world of fiction.
The chap demonstrating the car selects the performance power to 60% to start with.
As the road opens up to a dual carriage way I put my foot down abit.
The performance was like a powerful hot hatch. Like a golf VR6 or Subaru impretza.
But what's weard is as you accelerate there's no noise except from a very faint whine from the motor.
Now that we were finally on the motorway it was time to experience it's auto pilot feature.
Yep it drives itself.
So we got up to 70mph and then engaged the cruise control.
I take my feet off the pedals.
Now for the most weard experience.
You pull the cruise control stick towards you again to engage the auto pilot and you then let go of the steering wheel.
Ok this is very weird.  ;D
The car is driving itself.
No hands or feet nothing.
The chap says you can do a lane change as well. Just signal and touch the wheel.
The car then moves into the middle lane by itself.
WTF :o
The only way to describe the feeling sitting behind the wheel of a car that's driving itself is it's totally alien.
Both you and I have been driving for years and it's natural to use pedals and the steering wheel.
But when this is taken away it freaks you out abit.
Time to leave the motorway and try out the traffic autopilot.
As I take back control by grabbing the steering wheel I take the slip road off.
I keep my feet off the pedals and let the car slow and brake it's self right down till it stops at the lights.
This is all freaking me out.
It feels so un natural all this.
Abit like trying to drive a left hand drive car when you have never driven one before.
As we move off I pull the cruise leaver and the car moves off by itself. Following the car in front.
As we are driving around the roundabout the guy says lets increase the power to 80%.
So I enter back on the dual carriage way putting my foot down.
Sssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shout.
 :o
It was being like shot out of a cannon.
The pick up was incredible.
0 to 80mph in a matter of seconds.
I don't think I have ever felt that kind of power.
Now I've driven high powered AMG mercs etc but nothing like this.
to keep things sensible he says to take the next slip road off as we will try ludicrous mode.
This is full power with 0-60 in 2.9 seconds.
So I turn left and we have a clear straight road ahead.
I come to a gentle stop.
Brace myself and he says when your ready.
So I stomp on the accelerator.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wham!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 60mph.
Jesus I have never experienced anything like it.
Do you remember the days when we were young and we used to go on the fair ground ride called the cage?
It's the one that spins around you stand in it sticking you to the wall.
Well this was the same experience. 1.5 G you pull when you floor it.
You are welded to the seat. It's so powerful it actually hurts and your vision starts to blur.
I come back to a stop and gather my breath.
My god that was fast. ((((((( can I do it again)))))) 8)
Yep
So let's do it. This time I'm more prepared.
I stomp on the gas.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wham 60mph again.
This time my eyes went funny and I actually felt a little sick.
This car is totally nuts.
This car is quicker than the fastest production cars in the world. Bugatti, lambos, ferraris are no match for this thing.
On the drive back to the showroom I drove it normally but with a few blips on the gas.
The pick up and torque is instant. There's no lag or anything. You simply lurch off like a rocket.
As we pull into the dealer he shows me the self parking feature.
I pull along side to 2 parked cars. He presses a few buttons on the screen and I let go of everything.
I'm sitting there doing nothing and the car steering wheel spins by itself as it manovers itself into the parking spot.
Done.  Parked and I did nothing.
So far I'm so blown away by this car and what it does but there's one more thing you need to see.
As we get out we walk a little distance from the car and he says this is the new summon feature.
He pulls out his iPhone and opens the tesla app.
Selects a few things and then this has to be the total bollocks.
The car actually starts up and drives over to you by itself.
WTF.  
This is something James Bond would have. It's fiction not reality.
Pierce Brosnan had a BMW 750 that he drove with his phone.
I grew up dreaming of knight rider where KITT used to drive it's self.
Of course it wasn't real. That's what was so cool about it.
but now it is real. I've just seen the car I have been driving for the past hour come over by itself to greet me
It's just incredible. I'm so blown away by it I feel I could cry.
All my life I have had dreams where cars did there own things. You know a kids imagination. How cool was it. Knight rider, back to the future to name but a few.
That dream has been taken away. It's no longer a dream. It's actually a reality.
But what if this technology turned bad and against us.
Cyberdyne terminator here we go. But that's another story for another time.
But now for the really sad bit.
All this amazing power and technology has a price.
Firstly it takes shit load of electricity to move this car.
Enough to run your house for a month.
Seriously.
To charge it it will take you 2 days at 3kw. That's like holding your kettle on boiling away for 2 days. 48 hours.
Or if your lucky to have a 7kw charger it will take 12 hours.
That's like taking a hot shower for 12 hours :-[
That's a shit load of electricity.
Then there's the price
The demonstrator that I just drove is £95000.  Yep that 95 grand.
Bargain. I will take 2.
What's most scary of all is that in 3 years time the cars going to only be worth around £50k.
How on earth can a car de value £50k in 3 years.  
That's a eye watering loss of money. Just get 50 grand and smoke the cash until it's gone in 3 years.
It's such a shame that all this cool stuff is so expensive.
And that's it. Demo done.
So to sum up. Wow what a car.  Damm what a car. All my dreams have become true.
But if I had the cash would I buy one. Probably not.
Why?
Even tho it has all that technology and performance it's still lacking in something.
Soul maybe?
It's all very sterile.  Abit like a iPad on wheels.
Nobody takes any notice of it. It's just another car. Like a jag, Beemer or Audi.
If I was to park Cerberus next to the Tesla in a tesco car park. People wouldn't be crowded around the tesla they would be taking photos of Cerberus. Nobody would look twice at the tesla.
And that's why we own these replicas. For that and just that. The look and the first impression.
The Tesla is unfortunately no pussy magnet LOL.  ;)
Hope you enjoyed the read.
Many thanks
 ;)
« Last Edit: July 21, 2016, 08:59:19 PM by APDevelopments »

Mickey_London

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Re: Invited to Tesla Model Launch
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2016, 11:29:21 AM »
To me it is just "Let's see what gimmicks, and how many, we can fit into one car"

Don't get me wrong, I am a car person, and if I see a nice car I will let the owner know if they are about. I'm not one of those blokes that turns their head away
This is a nice car but for £95000 and you get 250 miles before it needs charging back up
Takes 10 minutes to fill a tank up with Petrol/Diesel then you are on your way again, for another 400 miles

To me speed isn't really an issue. I used to have a Honda Fireblade and a CBR1100XX
Both very fast bikes and on a good day I could get 0-60 in the low 3 seconds. A professional could easily beat the 3 seconds

But having said that I would be beaming from ear to ear if I was in the car accelerating like that

As I said a nice looking car, but looks like a Vauxhall haha

Was a good read :)
Mick

 

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