I found myself winding down a back road, looking for the 'dealership', which isn't really a dealership at all. It sort of reminded me of going to a cell phone store. There are a lot of displays inside, but the product is kept in the back (or somewhere else, as in the case of Tesla). When I got to the office, I found several other groups of smiling, happy, wide-eyed people who were being given pre-test drive tours of the various models Tesla offers. I was there to look at a Model S, but really love the Model X.
I was immediately greeted by a hip, young staff, which reminded me of an Apple store. They are a bit like the Geniuses at Apple - nicely dressed, friendly, knowledgeable. They confirmed who I was, and started giving me the rundown.
In the back, I was shown the various charging options. Included with the vehicle is a cable for a standard 110v/120v outlet that you can plug into any household outlet for top-up charging. Various estimates on how much charge you get on a standard home outlet range from 3-5 miles of driving per hour of charge, hence my designation of 'top-up charging'. If you get home from work at 6:30pm, and then leave the next morning at 7:30am, that gives you 11 hours of charge, so you've regained between 33 and 55 miles' worth of driving.
Tesla sells various adapters for the charging cable, including one for, a 240v outlet that can charge the entire vehicle from essentially dead batteries to full overnight, (roughly 10.5hrs). Tesla also sells an add-on power booster called a Wall Connector that can charge the batteries in of a 75kwh model in 8hrs, 45 minutes, or a 100kwh vehicle in 5hrs, 45 minutes. Obviously, you want to have one of these 240v outlets installed in your garage by an electrician if you drive much more than the 33-55 miles per day, unless you plan on marathon charging over the weekend, or pony up for a Wall Connector. Of course, none of this matters if you have a Supercharger station close by, or have a charging station at or near where you work.
What is a Supercharger station? Tesla motors runs a network of high-power charging stations - the equivalent to gas stations for Tesla owners, free of charge. Yep, I said it. Free of charge. Tesla states on their site that your Tesla can regain 170 miles' worth of battery charge in as little as 30 minutes. These stations tend to be built along major US highway corridors, such as I-40, and I-85, the two that I was most concerned with. The current (October 1, 2017) map of their over 1000 stations in North America is below.
Tesla also lists 'Destination Charging Stations' on their site. I wasn't sure how these differed from Supercharger stations, so I investigated. Destination Stations are essentially located at common destinations for consumers, such as museums, shopping malls, hotels, etc., with the bulk of them being located at hotels. These would be places you might go for a longer period of time than the 30 minutes Tesla references with their Supercharger stations.
I was curious about the range, and asked, and was shown real-world numbers, as they differ from EPA published numbers and information I had gotten from various online sources. The 75kwh Model S, according to EPA gets roughly 250 miles per full charge. The real world data indicates that this is closer to 300 miles. The 100kwh battery pack is listed at 335, but real world driving numbers indicate that this is close to 360.
One thing to keep in mind about this car is that it's wired. Seriously wired. The EPA mileage estimates are just that - estimates. Tesla cars are all connected to Tesla via a complex wireless network. They upload telemetry data, download software/firmware patches, and navigation maps automatically. That said, Tesla knows exactly how well or how poorly the vehicles are performing under certain conditions. This way, they can send out software updates to make the car more efficient., or even add features or options to the vehicle's software. This is another free service that's offered for the life of the vehicle.
We were then off to meet the car I was going to 'pilot'. It's not a test drive, and you're not taking a salesperson with you, you're taking a 'copilot'. Here was my baby, a 75kwh, rear-wheel drive only Tesla Model S, in black:
I had seen the car in passing when I went in, but when I got up close and started looking, I was dumbfounded at the luxury of the vehicle. The LED daytime running lights were brilliant, the shape of the car was sleek, and the fit and finish was impeccable. This particular unit was a holdover of a set of options that are no longer offered, as this is rear-wheel drive only, and all new models are the 75D, which means dual motor - both front and rear. Interestingly, the copilot told me that the all wheel drive model is more efficient with respect to battery usage, and therefore has a longer range on the same 75kwh battery pack. Who knew. I asked the copilot, "What's under the hood, since there's no engine in there?", so he popped the hood and showed me:
There's a trunk up there! It's a bit small, owing to the need to include things like air conditioner compressors, brake boosters, etc, under the plastic panel, but still, a trunk in the front! Very cool!
I had to see what the 'actual' trunk looked like. Absolutely HUGE.
One thing that I thought was neat was that Tesla offers an optional third row seating for children in the back. The area of the bottom nearest the rear of the vehicle is hinged, and has a deep well, that the children's legs would go into, and the rear-facing seats would be back-to-back with the rear seats. These are only good for smaller children, and maybe young teens, but I think this is a really need option that I've never seen on a sedan before, as this is usually in the area of the minivan.
We walked around and I got a feel for the vehicle interior, which is very nice, and quite comfortable. The rear set in this vehicle seats three adults quite comfortably.
The front seats looked just as good as I had expected based on the rear seats:
There were multiple cup holders in the center console, as well as plenty of storage. There were also two USB ports, as well as a 12v accessory port.
Then I got in, and almost started giggling like a madman. The car automatically powers on when you get in, and the climate control, stereo, etc, all come alive in all their high-tech glory. The first thing I noticed was the MASSIVE 17" display in the center. I've owned televisions smaller than that! It's really a thing of beauty, and is the control center for the entire car. This is where you set all of your vehicle details, such as your climate preferences, your radio, your navigation, phone and bluetooth connection/control, camera views, your calendar, and even your heated seat controls. I immediately started playing with the navigation display:
The navigation display is powered by Google Maps, so anything you can do and see with Google, you can get on this display. The onscreen keyboard is massive, and easy to type quickly on. I was looking at local charging stations, and didn't do much else, as I was overly-sensitive to the charging aspect of the vehicle while I was there.
I was so hooked on the range, charging and charging stations, that I decided to map a virtual trip from Durham, North Carolina where I live, to Pasadena, Maryland, where my in-law's live. The system gave me this:
The system, based on the current range of the batteries, recommended a stop at a Supercharger station in Chester, Virginia for a 40 minute stop, and then drive the remainder of the trip without stopping. Keep in mind that the battery wasn't fully charged as you'll see in a moment. I was still hung up on the Supercharger stations, so the copilot did a search and randomly selected the one in Wilmington, North Carolina as a reference:
The system shows the location of the station, current usage of the station (how many available charging stalls are there), and even amenities that are nearby, in this case restrooms, dining, coffee, hotels, shopping, and wifi. Very cool.
After the amazement of the touchscreen display wore off, I realized that music was playing, and I looked at the instrument panel. It was there that I noticed the album art for Heart.
There's a lot of information here, even if you don't realize it. The center top shows your speed. Just below that shows your vehicle, which in reality is surrounded by a matrix of cameras and ultrasonic sonar waves. This is how the vehicle determines your proximity to things like other cars, curbs, and even lane lines. The 'fuel gauge' is to the bottom left, which at this time shows that I had 197 miles left on the charge. It was a nice 86 degrees outside, as you can see next to that. On the opposite side from the charge indicator and temperature you can see the clock and drive train indicator, showing that we were in park.
To the right, opposite the Heart album art is the historic battery usage meter. This shows how much juice the car has been using, and during your drive, a meter bounces between power used, and power regained through regenerative braking - something I'd heard of, but didn't understand it's inner workings. To fix that, I asked how it worked. It's something like this:
You have a car with a big battery in it. That big battery powers a motor. When you let off the accelerator pedal or press the brakes, the car 'assists' by basically changing the motors from motors to generators, which then pump energy back into the battery - a very efficient process, by the way. The aggressiveness at which the car does this when you simply remove your foot from the accelerator can be adjusted in the vehicle driving options.
So, we got strapped in, and headed out for our drive. The first thing I noticed was that the car had a ton of power. The acceleration is smooth and linear. There was no acceleration curve you see with a gasoline-powered vehicle with a transmission, as an electric motor doesn't have a sweet spot for power like a gear driven transmission does. It's simply all power, all the time. I never tried to see just how hard I could get the car to accelerate by pressing the pedal all the way down. I resisted my every childhood, teenage, and even adult male instincts to do so. I'm sure the copilot was wondering about that, as I'm sure every single person who gets into these cars does just that. It felt like the luxury sport sedan I had just driven about two weeks prior on a business trip to Utah. This had all the power, all the stability, and all the suspension of that car, and then some. The stability is due, I assume to the car's low center of gravity due to the battery pack, which is situated in the belly of the car between the wheels. This makes the center of gravity so low, that I'd be surprised if one of these could be rolled over without really, really trying.
We tooled around on some side roads for a while, and then hit the highway. The car accelerated very quickly as I expected. One thing I immediately noticed on the center display was that the car shows every sonar echo on the instrument panel, going so far as to actually show other vehicles. I activated the autopilot feature, and let the car drive for awhile. Weird. It was a little jumpy, as it stayed in the lanes, but it did so very well. The one place it got confused was where I was in the far right lane, and passed an off ramp. The vehicle started to move over slightly, but as soon as we passed the off ramp, it realized that the lane wasn't turning, and it immediately corrected. This is why they say that autopilot is no replacement for hands on the wheel, and eyes on the road.
One cool thing that the copilot showed me was the voice search on the radio. I asked the radio to 'Play Joe Satriani', and so it, like Pandora, built me a 'Joe Satriani' station, playing his music, interspersed with a mix of music from other, similar artists. I was in hog heaven, buster. HOG HEAVEN!
We went back to the sales office, and I didn't want it to end. I decided right there that if or when I ever get the opportunity, I'll buy one. The cost is high for the Model S, but the Model 3, which is currently getting it's first units out to customers, is less than half the cost, and might be a more realistic option for me, but it's still something that's out of my budget for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, the Model 4 (or whatever they decide to call it), will be even more affordable, with the bulk of the cost of the vehicle being battery costs, and Tesla doing much to reduce this cost.
