Model S beta passes 150k miles

Not a lot to go on here, but Elon tweeted today that the Model S beta endurance vehicle had passed 150,000 miles in testing. That's 800 something miles a day, presumably on a dyno and some sort of automatic recharging system.

No word on range/capacity impact yet, but hopefully Elon will tell us more soon.

For those not in the know, George Blankenship posted some updates on the Model S in his blog yesterday that provides a few new tidbits. It's time to build your Model S | Blog | Tesla Motors

They've started finalizing design for some of the earliest Signature S buyers. Supposedly they'll be doing about 30 a day or so as they ramp up toward production. There are a couple of people over at Teslamotorsclub.com who've placed their orders. The design studio, online, has been updated to include interior color/material choices: Model S Design Studio | Tesla Motors

Each Model S will have "personal delivery" service, they'll bring it to wherever you want (presumably for the same delivery fee) with a Tesla customer service rep to tour the vehicle with you. That's good news as I was dreading the trip to Chicago to get the car and then having to figure out when/where I'd be able to charge to make it all the way home again. Not that such a trip is impossible, but with zero prior EV experience I didn't want to have to worry over those details until I know the car better.

They also have said you can now get satellite without having to get the pano roof (which previously they said was the only way to get the antenna). Still have to buy the upgraded stereo system to get satellite, which I don't like, but at least I don't have to pay another $1500 for the pano roof.

Getting pretty excited to finalize my order and, hopefully, take delivery come August or September.:rockon:

 

Not sure what you're asking:
Model S Options and Pricing | Tesla Motors

I'm getting the standard, non-performance, 85kWh pack, probably standard paint and interior, with tech package, twin charger, probably upgraded stereo & an HPC.

Would like to add the Aero rims (but they're pricey @$1500) and upgraded interior (b/c of the heated 12 way seats moreso than b/c of the color/leather). But we're over $80k with all that and I just don't think my budget (meaning my wife! ) is going to allow that.

 

Plan is to keep the Prius for now. Hoping to convince my wife to make it her daily driver as it gets double the MPG (at least) of her Highlander Hybrid. Then we'll keep the HH for family travel, hauling larger loads, towing, etc. She's at 100k miles on the HH, I'm on 120k on the Prius. Would prefer to just run the Prius into the ground until we can hand it down to our boys (they're almost 13 so will be driving in a few years) and/or buy my wife a new vehicle (maybe a Plug-in hybrid of some type).

 

While I certainly do OK financially, this is a HUGE stretch for our budget. We live pretty conservatively, putting most of our income into our homes/real estate and retirement as well as kids' college funds. So we don't have a lot of excess cash around.

We've been saving for the Tesla ever since getting home from our sabbatical...in fact, we'd hoped to stay budget neutral on that trip, but it ended up taking $40,000 out of our savings due to credentialing SNAFUs. that $40k would have gone a LONG way toward the Tesla.

As it is, we're hoping to have at least half (probably a bit more) of the cost of the Tesla in cash saved up by the time of delivery and we'll have to do a home equity or some other sort of loan for the balance...and we're none too happy about that. We haven't had any debt of any kind other than our real estate for over 10 years.

This is clearly not a "hit the lottery" purchase, but rather a purchase of passion for the technology and a financial vote of support for what Tesla is doing.

 

The hospital screwed up the paperwork for getting my medical license. I couldn't work for almost 3 months so we had to live off of our savings. We had been planning on that income for 3 months to keep from having to use our savings. Indeed we'd planned to save some of that income to pay for the last 2 months of our trip when we were not working, but traveling around the world.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU"]SNAFU[/ame] - Situation Normal, All F***** Up

 

Your advice is sound, Daniel.
I decided to go with the 85kWh pack instead of paying for a replacement warranty to give me more range initially and I expect I'll still have 230+ miles in 7-8 years.

I may not need the twin chargers, but they're pretty darn cheap and it would be a pain to add later if I did decide I wanted it.

I don't care about the leather, and tend to like cloth too, but the only cloth option is solid black--which I hate, and the upgraded interior adds heated seats (important in this part of the country with an EV that may take a while to heat up in the winter). It also adds 12 way adjustable which is important as my age advances! But there's a good chance this won't make the budget cut.

I want the tech package...don't need it, but really really want it.

I don't want the upgraded stereo, but it's the only way to get the integrated satellite. I could add aftermarket, but I think that would look really clunky and stupid with such an advanced system.

The HPC is something I'll want and I think it will be easier to help others charge. Also, there will be times that I'll want to quickly top up charge.

We'll see exactly what the budget looks like when it comes time to officially place the order. I'd LOVE the performance, but can't justify the extra $10-15k to get it.

 

My bum gets cold when I sit on a cold seat, not usually other times. But I suspect I could use less cabin heat with the seat heater. But hard to justify the cost. I hope range won't be an issue for me very often, but I do have several 200+ mile drives I do several times a year. I suspect I'll WANT to take the Tesla, but suspect, also, that I'll end up taking the Prius for practicality.

 

Unfortunately the usual 200+ mile trips are ~220-230 miles on 75mph interstate and very hillly terrain and then I tend to go to ball games, hotels, museums and other less reliable places to charge. There are RV parks and a few EV chargers along the way.