Had a look at the Model S and Model 3 this weekend. Has anyone got one that would perhaps assist with real daily usage issues if any. Was there any questions that were not asked at the time of purchase that you had wished you had asked before buying. I also got the impression the only way of finding out what each car has spec wise is to actually see them in the flesh as their website doesnt really give you that much information. Would have liked an old fashioned paper brochure to thumb through to see what is and what isn't included but they don't produce one! Many thanks
Sorry can't help you with Teslas. But wot is not being addressed is HTF will thousands of cars be charged up overnight. Well. that's the end of cheap, off-peak energy! Night-time electricity will end up being more expensive than day-time leccy! My sister has a flat in Hove. She has a resident's parking permit but that does not guarantee you the same space but just a space. Unless each parking space has electricity, then how are you going to charge up? I live in a coach house and have to rent out two of my garages to neighbour sand they park in front of the garages. But their garages do not have electricity and they have to ask my permission to instal it. Even if I say yes then that is lots of digging up drives to install electricity so that they can charge their cars. And I might be a tight sod and not allow electricity in their garages but just mine!
Real good point. Apparently the Tesla quick charger is circa. £500 + the cost of installation. Apparently a full charge on an evening can cost between £2 to £9 depending on tarrif. I guess the low cost tarrif i.e. Economy 7 type tarifs cost a couple of quid, if no cheap overnight electricity then the cost will be more like £9.
I'd give it another 5 years. A quick look round Europe and we're clearly miles behind in regards to the infrastructure for leccy cars. Also battery technology is on the up. 5 years from now looking back at what we have today, will be laughable. I too looked into it recently and this was my take on it.
One of my colleagues has a Model 3 performance on order for May, his company car is up for renewal first so I'm going to wait and see how it works out for him, mines not due to change until March 2021 so don't really need to make my choice until later this year when factoring in lead times. From a BIK tax saving point of view they're tempting, quite whether I can get used to the extremely minimalist interior is another but I'm open minded. BMW have the I4 coming, pricing puts it in the same ball park as the model 3 performance so I'm hopeful by the time I need to make a decision I'll have more options than currently. https://www.carwow.co.uk/bmw/news/3917/bmw-i4-gran-coupe-price-specs-release-date
MrsH has a M3 Performance. The minimalistic modern interior takes a little bit of getting used to and it has the odd small disadvantage but overall it is brilliant and makes look all traditional cars look Fussy, over complicated and just a bit stupid really - like comparing a modern smart phone to a 1980s Motorola. Build quality is typical American car (not up to top European standards) but the BIK rules are very advantageous (ours is a company car) and the Tesla range and battery management systems and the recharging network are several generations ahead of the other manufacturers. Then there is 0-60 in under 3 seconds of course!
They're definitely a cool bit of kit alright. I recently got a taxi ride in a Model X in Amsterdam. I was hugely impressed. Just not sure the time's right yet
Same as a BMW 3 series. I suppose it depends on how confident you are behind the wheel. We live in a Devon village and cope ok reversing back up single track lanes wether it be in my T5, the wife’s Model 3 or my daughters little Peugeot 106.
I don't think they're too wide at all, like @Dave says it's only 3 series width, coming from a 5 series I was more concerned about the interior space. I'm still fairly optimistic about getting one, but I'd like to borrow my colleagues for a few days when he gets his. But also that I4 should come with all the BIK benefits, hopefully be a little more German in build quality and offer similar performance and higher range, even if it is limited to 120mph or so (I'm sure that's removable anyway)
Maybe I looked at the wrong model in the showroom???? cannot always believe the internet. A 6 foot 6 inch width restriction would only just clear the mirrors with 1.5 inches either side
Battery isn’t the future. Even the car manufacturers don’t think it is. Government grants is what is fuelling the development at the minute. if you do buy one, get a new one. Used ones are cheap for a reason. Because the cells are shagged and they’re a fortune to replace.
Thanks for the replies. I'm not really sure what to do at this stage. I'd heard that a new battery which lasts up to 4 times longer has finally been tamed as they used to get too hot. New cooling which seems to work so the point about things getting better in the next 5 years could well be right. Not looked at the BMW so will do that for sure. As for range, the quoted figures from Tesla, as with most manufacturers I would suspect are if you drive at speeds which annoy the hell out of other drivers. The Model S quotes 379 miles per charge but was told to expect 250 to 280 driving normally. Not quite there yet in terms of range it seems.
OK agreed - it was a while ago I looked at them probably before model 3 - funny how the dimensions even so are either 71mm or 271mm different though
Range increasingly is there for the way a lot of people drive it seems. My Mrs commutes 150 miles per day and has slashed her fuel bill by 80% now that she just tops up on cheap electricity overnight on our drive. For longer journeys of 2-300 miles she’ll do one stop at a fast Tesla Supercharger. Their network really gives them an edge at the moment. All I’d advise is do your research and listen to people who are really informed and know what they are talking about. There is lots of good info out there from owners groups and electric used car experts and specialists. https://tesla-info.com/blog/tesla-uk-depreciation-2018.html https://www.rsymons.co.uk/ https://m.facebook.com/groups/teslaownersuk/?ref=group_header&view=group One thing is for certain, you won’t get good advice from uninformed idiots on Ducati forums who have never owned one of these vehicles, and probably have no actual experience of them at all LOL ;-)
I have driven near enough any performance car you can think of as a test development/pro driver for manufacturers and an experienced racer but don’t worry about that. I’ve yet to meet anyone in the industry on the dev/tech/r&d or senior management side that actually believes electric is the future the government have no idea what they’re doing (for a change)
Seems odd that they are all falling over themselves to try to bring them to market just as soon as they can then :-?
Media. Government. It is my view (Ofcourse you don’t need to believe me or even acknowledge my opinion) the government are doing exactly what they did with diesel, pushing them on to people, telling them it’s great.. and then down the line ... hey presto .. troubled waters
