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Well after bumping into the first Tesla Australia salesman the other night and having a chat, my wife finally persuaded me to test drive one as she wants us to get one as the 'family car' and leave the Prado for the weekend adventures. Yeah okay love where we going to find $100K..... 
Anyway after spending an hour driving around Melbourne I gotta say what a car! Its unbelievable especially when you compare it to any other electric/hybrid piece of crap offered by the main manufacturers.
First up this thing just drives like any other 'luxury' car out there. No weirdness, it even creeps when you take your foot off the footbrake and the things so solid that even if you did have a big engine up front you probably wouldn't hear it. Just feels like a big audi/merc etc. The controls funnily enough are all supplied by Mercedes (dash, indicators etc) so its all very normal. The main thing is a HUGE central touchscreen that controls everything from car dynamics to the stereo system. I'm not too sold on this touchscreen but i guess people will get used to it like those weird knobs that now appear in everything from top end BMWs through to Mazdas.
Anyway so driving around Melbourne in rush hour all very normal....until we hit the eastern. The dealer says 'put yer foot down' so i do. Now i cant exactly remember what happened next but it seemed to involve both me and my wife swearing alot and my insides trying to force their way past my spine and through the seat. To say this thing is quick of the mark is an understatement. Its amazing. You just press the pedal and boom your gone. No build up, no change down just BANG and you are gone. Instant and linear torque. Anyway i did a few more of these 'tests' whilst my wife asked the hard questions, range, charging, maintenance etc. i would have done but i couldn't wipe the grin off my face....
So seems like they are building a few 'supercharger' stations every 250km on the main routes up the east coast and to Adelaide. 20mins for another 250km range, 1 hour for 500km range. If you want to charge it at home its takes a bit longer....13km per hours charge which was a bit disappointing. Maintenance is just wheels and tyres etc The engine doesn't need anything really. Plus the batteries and engine has an 8 year unlimited km warranty...wish they did that for my Prado. Its also constantly upgraded via downloads like an iphone (although hmm after my iphone shat itself moving to IOS8 they may have to install a bit more confidence). A recent upgrade was hill start assist.....It seriously looks like a 1,000,000km car.
Oh and price...starts at 100K
goes up to 180k ....but they are bringing out a smaller version that will be 50k in a few years 
so if that has the jaw dropping performance i reckon im sold! Would make a great runabout and second car.
Did have a face palm moment though when the guy started talking up the Model X (the SUV version) as a 4wd....hmmm er no, 21in wheels and low profiles dont work in the bush........
Anyway after spending an hour driving around Melbourne I gotta say what a car! Its unbelievable especially when you compare it to any other electric/hybrid piece of crap offered by the main manufacturers.
First up this thing just drives like any other 'luxury' car out there. No weirdness, it even creeps when you take your foot off the footbrake and the things so solid that even if you did have a big engine up front you probably wouldn't hear it. Just feels like a big audi/merc etc. The controls funnily enough are all supplied by Mercedes (dash, indicators etc) so its all very normal. The main thing is a HUGE central touchscreen that controls everything from car dynamics to the stereo system. I'm not too sold on this touchscreen but i guess people will get used to it like those weird knobs that now appear in everything from top end BMWs through to Mazdas.
Anyway so driving around Melbourne in rush hour all very normal....until we hit the eastern. The dealer says 'put yer foot down' so i do. Now i cant exactly remember what happened next but it seemed to involve both me and my wife swearing alot and my insides trying to force their way past my spine and through the seat. To say this thing is quick of the mark is an understatement. Its amazing. You just press the pedal and boom your gone. No build up, no change down just BANG and you are gone. Instant and linear torque. Anyway i did a few more of these 'tests' whilst my wife asked the hard questions, range, charging, maintenance etc. i would have done but i couldn't wipe the grin off my face....
So seems like they are building a few 'supercharger' stations every 250km on the main routes up the east coast and to Adelaide. 20mins for another 250km range, 1 hour for 500km range. If you want to charge it at home its takes a bit longer....13km per hours charge which was a bit disappointing. Maintenance is just wheels and tyres etc The engine doesn't need anything really. Plus the batteries and engine has an 8 year unlimited km warranty...wish they did that for my Prado. Its also constantly upgraded via downloads like an iphone (although hmm after my iphone shat itself moving to IOS8 they may have to install a bit more confidence). A recent upgrade was hill start assist.....It seriously looks like a 1,000,000km car.
Oh and price...starts at 100K
goes up to 180k ....but they are bringing out a smaller version that will be 50k in a few years so if that has the jaw dropping performance i reckon im sold! Would make a great runabout and second car. Did have a face palm moment though when the guy started talking up the Model X (the SUV version) as a 4wd....hmmm er no, 21in wheels and low profiles dont work in the bush........
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