My neighbor had a fourth of July block party bash yesterday and in his driveway, was his latest purchase of a Tesla model S 85D. Of course, I _had_ to drive it.
[Photo’s below]
Allow me to pre-face by saying this is the first electric car that I have ever driven and first Tesla that I have ever experienced firsthand:
This vehicle does have a learning curve with all the media controls controlled by an “IPad” like display and Autonomous features, but seemed rather straight forward.
Immediate impressions were this vehicle has neck breaking speed like I have never experienced before, that will throw you back in your seat hard. It’s literally an entirely different spectrum of driving something like this with instant acceleration, given its completely battery powered. He (My Neighbor) initially took me for my first drive before allowing me to drive it, and without even telling me, went full throttle on the highway and it was literally startling how fast this thing is. (
This was also without “Ludicrous mode”, which this model is not suited for.)
My first question to him, “
Have you ever been legally stopped for speeding yet?”
Anyways, what’s really different about this Tesla Model, is when you let off the accelerator, if feels like there is a ‘rubber band effect’, where the vehicle has a lot of resistance like its trying to slow down, which you feel like you don’t need to apply that much brake pressure, its not very easy to describe, but just a *very* unique feeling compared to any other car I have driven.
The autonomous features are excellent. Everything the vehicle does is monitored and drives accordingly.
There are loads of vehicle customization features for the vehicle through the media display, which surprisingly is very intuitive and fluid, and even in the bright sunlight, there really wasn’t any issue with seeing fingerprints and glare. I think it’s the way the display was angled and with the coating. But almost everything is directly controlled through the display, aside from the Gear shifter on the right side of the column.
The interior quality was decent, but I don’t know that I thought it was “$90,000 quality”. The leather in the seats was adequate, the dash materials and doors had its plastic parts, it’s not something that I would remember during this entire experience. What I didn’t like, was in front of the center console, there is this ‘large plastic storage compartment’ where you can put things in, and you have to awkwardly reach down whatever that might be. Just seems very out of place. The seats are semi-comfortable, but again; for the price point of this vehicle, I would expect more personally.
I didn’t see any issues with the fit and finish of this vehicle, everything appeared well constructed (And no, there was no ‘Panel Gaps), there was no rattling or squeaks when driving. Also, it had Excellent sound deadening shielding From The outside ambience.
Is This something that I would consider purchasing in the future given Tesla and where electric is ultimately leaving? I don’t know. For $90,000, it was a very polarizing experience driving this vehicle, given that you do have the “Performance” [I use the quoted term loosely] aspect , mixed with
some luxury and the battery charging requirements.
The one direct advantage my neighbor mentioned, was if there’s anything wrong with the vehicle, Tesla has a dispatch team that will come directly to his location to assess or make any necessary repairs.
Overall, criticism(s) aside, this was a really fun experience and I do think Tesla made a very nice car with 85D-S Model. Truthfully, I left driving this vehicle, wanting to come back and test drive it again sometime.
