Tesla Model S (Part 1): visiting Tesla Store, chassis platform and facelift in person

The Tesla Model S is an incredible phenomenon in today’s automotive industry. The first prototype appeared at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009, although production was still uncertain. The first vehicles were subsequently manufactured and delivered in 2012 (the Signature series for true enthusiasts who paid a substantial deposit in advance without being able to see the finished car or know the final price). Sales then surpassed 100,000 units in December 2015.

Part of society remains distrustful of electric cars, sometimes even pathologically opposed to them. One reason is probably that they have not yet ridden in an electric car. Personally, the Model S has fascinated me in recent years, especially after gaining experience with the LEAF. It works the same way for many others – one suddenly realises just how imperfect an internal-combustion car is; moreover, Tesla certainly inspires positive emotions in person. However, it is not entirely easy to get access to a Tesla – Tesla has no representation in the Czech Republic and apparently does not plan one anytime soon, as our market is too small for it.

I therefore took advantage of my stay in Sweden, which is drawing to a close, and bombarded Tesla’s representation in Gothenburg with emails and then phone calls to see whether something could be arranged. From the outset, they correctly guessed that I was not about to buy a Tesla just like that (students do not often operate in the €80,000 to €120,000 price range), but they decided to lend me one anyway (perhaps partly to get rid of me). I was also given the very helpful Ayman to answer questions and show me around the Tesla Store Gothenburg.

Tesla Store Gothenburg

As Tesla is certainly not a cheap car, I expected a showroom in a somewhat grand style, albeit with Tesla’s minimalist design. Its address already made me a little uneasy; I had never properly visited the Mölndal district before, and on this trip I found out why. There is simply nothing there apart from Tesla – an industrial zone and huge supermarkets, full stop. Nothing more. On the other hand, at least I could not get lost on my way to the large red sign proclaiming the fulfilment of my dream.

Tesla has so many orders that there are no cars in stock. Only a few demonstration cars stand outside the showroom, with a few more in the fenced car park merely waiting to be handed over. There is also only one Model S in the showroom itself. Only one, admittedly, but it is the facelifted 2016 model, which arrived two weeks ago. More on that later.

Two salespeople and two iMacs are available to customers in the showroom for placing an order on site, should they be unable to wait until they get home to access the Tesla Design Studio. Otherwise, it has the standard equipment: optional paint colours, interior finishes and optional wheels of up to 21 inches, which take Tesla’s design to a much higher level.

I am not entirely sure about the offering of stylish tracksuits in black, red or grey. I cannot really imagine someone going to buy a €100,000 car and adding a tracksuit to the order, but perhaps my imagination is simply needlessly limited. Other options naturally include caps, toy cars, mugs and the like, but I have basically never understood that. Perhaps a golf bag or document case, if one wants to emphasise one’s image as a visionary and environmentalist in front of others, but I really would not have expected a tracksuit.

Model S P85 chassis platform

A rather unusual part of the showroom is also a look at the technology used. On display at the Tesla Store is the aluminium chassis platform of the Model S in the P85 version: an 85kWh battery installed in the floor from the interior perspective, and a 310 kW / 600 Nm asynchronous electric motor on the rear axle. It is quite fascinating how small it is compared with an internal-combustion engine of the same output, even without counting all the additional systems it requires. The second of the following photographs shows the motor in question – only its left half; the other part is the AC/DC inverter. The result is a large luggage compartment at the rear and a smaller one at the front.

Tesla is quite entitled to be proud of its technology, as it makes the Model S one of the safest cars on the market according to the NHTSA methodology. The batteries give it very good body rigidity as well as a low centre of gravity, reportedly on a par with the Ferrari 458 in some sources, although it must be acknowledged that they also make it weigh more than two tonnes.

What changed in the 2016 Model S facelift?

Car life cycles are becoming ever shorter, with facelifts often arriving after just two years. The Tesla Model S lasted quite a long time from its market launch in 2012, but all the more changes have now arrived. Unfortunately, this includes a USD 1,500 price increase.

The most noticeable change at first glance is the front-end design. The imitation radiator grille has disappeared, the light design has changed completely (they are now adaptive LED headlights), and the bumper’s shape has changed so that it now resembles the Model X more closely. For me personally, the facelift is somewhat mixed: I preferred the headlights of the pre-facelift model with their accentuated xenon-bulb lens, but I considered the imitation radiator grille highly inappropriate on an electric car.

In addition, the choice of paint colours and interior trims, the rear diffuser and optional equipment have changed: the HEPA filter introduced in the Model X and new heated and ventilated seats. A complete list of changes is discussed, for example, by YouTuber Bjørn Nyland in his video on the 2016 Model S changes.

Beyond the design changes, the battery offering was also reworked: 70 (from May 2016, 75 with the option of unlocking the former) kWh and 90kWh batteries are now available, with only the smaller one available to order in the basic rear-wheel-drive version.

The onboard charger has also been changed and, instead of the original 40 A, can now handle 48 A, with up to 72 A planned for the future.

Another expected new feature was Autopilot, an improved adaptive cruise control system with the ability to steer the car autonomously within lanes, although the driver must still remain alert, and which can also park autonomously. But that will be covered in the second part of this series.

Questions I was interested in / what caught my attention on site:

How many vehicles are sold as company cars and how many privately? How many are Executive models?
Roughly 70 % of vehicles are company cars; the question is how many of them are actually used as such. In other words, how many serve as private “company” vehicles. Only 10 % of cars are sold as four-seaters (this version was not available even to inspect), while all the others have a conventional rear bench, suggesting there are not many owners who would only be chauffeured in the car. Roughly the same number have rear child seats as optional equipment, which were not present here either, but Ayman confirmed that an adult cannot sit on them even in an emergency, as there is nowhere to put one’s head.

How many vehicles are sold with all-wheel drive?
In Sweden, roughly 90 %, although this is also because D cars have longer range with the same battery and the surcharge is not all that terrible. This is quite interesting: with internal-combustion cars, powertrain losses increase consumption, but Tesla has two motors without a mechanical connection between the axles, so they can be controlled better and range even increases.

Will there be a head-up display?
When testing the BMW i8, I fell in love with the head-up display, but Tesla does not offer one at all. However, it is assumed that, given the interior design of the Model 3, it will arrive soon. Elon Musk is, as usual, as mysterious as a castle in the Carpathians…

When will the Model 3 arrive, and will Superchargers be included?
In April, Model 3 orders surpassed 400,000, and at the start of planned production it will serve only the US market. Europe will come second in line, probably primarily Norway and Germany. In Sweden, the first cars are expected to arrive in 2018 at the earliest.

Even the salesperson himself is unsure how Superchargers will work for the Model 3. Such a large number of electric cars could cause problems with the availability of stations, whose number is growing but which cannot be said to be ready for another 400,000 cars. The Model 3 will be “Supercharger ready”, which can be understood to mean that it will be prepared, but charging will not necessarily be free as it is for the Model S. It could be the same arrangement as for the Model S in its original specification with a 60 kWh battery, where the cost was an extra USD 2,000.

During the conversation, Ayman and I also got to the fact that he has opened a savings account called Tesla ????

The most important question at the end: does Tesla offer student discounts with an ISIC card?
No.

Other parts of the Tesla Model S series:

• Tesla Model S (Part 1): visiting Tesla Store, chassis platform and facelift in person
• Tesla Model S (Part 2): the P90D is incredibly fast, but is it truly perfect?