At least here on the west coast in the next few months battery swapping will be an option. It will take only 90 seconds if you want to pay for it (about the cost of filling up a tank of gas) whereas the Superchargers are free for life.
Owners are reporting losing about 1 mile of range after 30,000 miles of driving. The Tesla batteries are warrantied for 8 years or 100,000 miles but will likely last a lot longer. Everything is covered by the warranty except the tires and wheels. It covers brake pads, wiper blades, everything. For when I did need to pay for repairs due to self inflicted damage, the repair cost was far less than if it had been say a Prius, let alone another luxury car. Tesla has stated that their goal is to not make a profit on service.
The extended warranty for 8 years, 100K miles was not that expensive.
And I could have bought a pre-paid battery replacement after 8 years for $12K. As an alternative I bought 8K worth of Tesla stock at $35. It's hovering around $250 right now. Tesla's battery replacement gives back $1K per year you wait past 8 years. I figure that by then the cost of the battery will have dropped significantly especially if they get their Gigafactory online.
Try recharging for 20-30 minutes at a Supercharger or in a few months spend 90 seconds to swap batteries. Every morning my battery is at 60% because I spent 5 seconds plugging in at night and 5 seconds unplugging in the morning. I could just as easily have charged to 100% but the battery will last longer if I keep it between 40-60%. When I drove up to Lake Tahoe I stopped in Folsom to charge for free. I spent the money I would have spent on gas getting lunch. By the time I was done with lunch at a nearby burger place (Burgerocity, awesome burgers) my car was ready to go. I had no problem whatsoever reaching my destination above Lake Tahoe near the summit of Kingsbury Grade at around 7200 feet. As more and more Superchargers are built, road trips become easier. I can already drive from San Diego to Vancouver or across the country and along much of the East coast. By the end of the year 80% of the country will be covered. With Tesla's cross country trip charging consumed around 20% of the time and they were driving through some pretty nasty weather. I don't really mind a half hour break after a few hours of driving. I'll be less tired and sore when I get to my destination. For most of my driving I spend far less time waiting for charging than I did filling up my hybrid at the gas station.
The Leaf has piss-poor battery management. Tesla actually does this and uses excess heat from the battery and electric motor to help heat the cabin. There's a coolant loop that goes through the battery and it will use excess heat from the motor and inverter to heat the battery as well if needed. The Leaf just has an air cooled battery. That's part of the reason why people in Arizona are losing 40% of their capacity after two years. My Prius had a resistive heating element but it was rather weak compared to the engine.
The Leaf uses a resistive heating element for heating which is rather inefficient, especially when it isn't all that cold outside.
My Model S uses both a resistive element and a heat pump and works quite well. Additionally it has heated seats. There is a range mode where the heating is weaker, but at least there are seat heaters to help compensate. As I type this I just turned on the heat remotely to warm up my car before I drive home. Also, since there is a much larger battery and quite a bit more range the impact of heating and cooling is much less.
Those won't be out until 2017 at the earliest. 2015 is when Tesla ramps up their SUV, the Model X. It all depends on how fast they can build and ramp up their gigafactory.
Being aerodynamic doesn't mean that the car has to be ugly. The Tesla Model S is quite aerodynamic, more so than the Leaf yet it doesn't look like a fugly econobox. The biggest problem is the Leaf's headlights.
I agree with most of what you said. I have had my Model S for almost a year now and sold my Prius. The number of times I need a gasoline powered car is quite small. I have also found it to be a very practical car. I regularly haul my dog in the back. I've hauled bicycles up to the mountains and even a new dishwasher. I currently have a 50lbs bag of dog food in the frunk. The amount of interior space is amazing.
It handles beautifully and has plenty of range for most trips. The Superchargers are also not that big of a deal. When I went to Lake Tahoe I stopped along the way to charge and got lunch, using the money I would have spent on gas. By the time I was done, the car was about ready. I monitored the state of charge with my phone and started up the AC before heading back and unplugging it since it was around 106F outside that day.
While the touch screen isn't for everyone, they did a good job with it. It's very responsive with large buttons making it very easy to use while driving. There's also voice support for the radio which also integrates Slacker and navigation.
I own a Tesla and the nice thing is that I rarely need to use a public charging station. The public charging stations are always clogged up with Volts and Leafs and other plug-in or low-range electric vehicles. My friend who owns a Leaf and works at Yahoo is always fighting over getting a charging spot. He's always looking for a charging spot since he always needs to charge. You can't really get around the Bay Area without charging all the time.
With my Tesla it's not a problem. I have plenty of range to go all over the Bay Area and with the Superchargers I can drive to much of California without spending a significant amount of time charging. I can also charge at out of the way places like RV parks and soon ChaDeMo chargers. The Leaf is limited to the standard J1772 or the few ChaDeMo chargers or 110V outlets. Tesla has a lot more choices for charging. They're releasing a ChaDeMo adapter soon and have adapters for most 220V and 110V hookups in addition to the Supercharger network. I've taken my Tesla to Lake Tahoe with plenty of range to spare and taken it camping along Big Sur. The Model S is more than a sports car. It's also a large sedan with a LOT of interior room. I've hauled bicycles inside with two passengers up to Lake Tahoe. I even hauled a new dishwasher in the back with a lot of room to spare.
It's rather difficult to get stranded. The car is quite good at telling you how much range you have left and even when it hits zero you still have 10-20 miles of range left. Finding charging stations is also fairly easy with numerous web sites out there that track them, i.e. Recargo, Plugshare, Chargepoint/Blink, etc.
One thing with Tesla is that they have stated that their goal is to not make a profit on service. Then again, their margins are fairly high and rising on the Model S, over 25% now.
They still charge a fair amount for pre-paid service at $1900 for four years though everything but the wheels and tires is covered. When I had my 12,500 mile service it included a wheel alignment and various updates. Since my car was a fairly early VIN there were a number of things they changed, mostly to deal with rattles and whatnot (though I already had most of this done under warranty). Even wiper blades and brake pads are covered and replaced if needed (I suspect my brakes will last nearly forever though).
I would never consider a Leaf. The range is too limited. I can't reliably drive from my house to San Francisco in a Leaf without worrying about finding a place to charge in SF. The problem is in the Bay Area all the charging stations seem to be always clogged up with Leafs and Volts. In all the time I've owned my Model S there was only one time where I had to use a public charging station. In that one case I was forced to unplug a Volt (who was paying an outrageous amount of money to charge). In the near future when I make the same trip that will not be a problem since there will be an additional Supercharger along that route closer to the destination.
From the Tesla message board it sounds like Tesla owners have lost about 1 mile of range after 30,000 miles. The battery is guaranteed to hold 70% capacity for 100,000 miles or 8 years. From talking with someone that works at Tesla and from the observation of other owners and the history of the Roadster it sounds like the battery will likely last a lot longer.
It sounds like just most of the EVs have active battery management and that Nissan will be adding it in the future.
I still consider the Leaf's range inadequate. A while back I drove my Model S from Sacramento to San Francisco then on to Fremont without having to charge. With the Leaf I couldn't even drive round trip from Fremont to San Francisco without worrying about getting stranded or looking for a public charging spot that isn't taken. I've taken my Model S up to Lake Tahoe and will be taking it to Reno next month. I've taken it camping in Big Sur. There's no way I could consider any of these with a Leaf. The Leaf would be good for my commute and a bit around town but I couldn't use it for even driving around the Bay Area. I have a friend with a Leaf and he knows where all the chargers are because he's always using them. I can charge at the Superchargers, RV parks, J1772 plugs and virtually any 110 or 220 outlet available drawing up to 80A. Soon ChaDeMo will also be supported.
I usually don't bother with the expensive public chargers or even the free ones which are usually clogged up with Leafs, Volts and other plug-in hybrids. I have plenty of range and the Superchargers allow me to take road trips. Usually by the time I'm finished with lunch at a nearby restaurant my car is ready for the next leg. A full charge at home takes me around 5 1/2 hours on a 100A circuit (80A charging) or I can get around 200 miles of range with around 30-40 minutes of charging and soon I can just do a 90 second battery swap when driving down to LA. As Tesla continues to build out their supercharger network it becomes easier for road trips. Soon there will even be ChaDeMo support for the Model S for charging, though this will not be as fast as Tesla's Superchargers.
I don't lose any significant range based on weather conditions. My battery doesn't suffer in high temperatures (Leafs in Arizona have been reported to lose 40% of their capacity in two years!). Owners of the Model S are reporting that they've lost 1 mile of range after driving 30,000 miles and no impacts from hot climates.
The amount of space in my Model S is amazing as well. I have far more storage space than my Prius. I hauled a dishwasher in the back a few months ago, have hauled bicycles inside with two passengers and luggage under the hood. With the Model S I was able to sell my Prius. I can comfortably carry 4 additional passengers.
If my budget were more restricted I might consider a Leaf as a commuter car but would have to have kept my Prius as well for all the longer trips I make.
The biggest thing people keep complaining about is how long it takes to charge. I tell them it takes 5 seconds to plug in at night and 5 seconds to unplug in the morning.
I usually don't compare the Leaf with the Model S. They are very different vehicles. I know many Tesla owners that also have a Leaf as a second car.
Though battery swapping has it beat. Tesla will be introducing it in the next few months between the Bay Area and LA. 90 seconds to swap without ever leaving the vehicle.
In the next few months they will open up battery swapping between the Bay Area and LA. It takes only around 90 seconds. There are also some stops I wouldn't mind stopping at (i.e. Harris Ranch for dinner).
Even the 17 inch screen is fairly easy. The most common controls are around the edges. There are also steering wheel controls that are configurable. The buttons on the touch screen are large and well spaced out. Generally the only thing I generally need to adjust is the temperature or turning the climate control on or off (it was a nice day today so I opened the panoramic roof). Unlike many cars I have seen there is also no lag so there's no waiting to see if it actually worked or not. While it could be a bit better it certainly is not bad. One thing I miss about my '06 Prius was that it had more steering wheel controls, though in general I don't need to use them as much with the Tesla. The voice recognition in the Tesla is much better (it uses Google via 3G) and having the GPS map right next to the speedometer is handy as well. The voice recognition also works well for music.
I think their idea of showrooms is actually better. The employees do not earn a commission and service is totally separate. They are there to show the car and answer questions. If you want to buy the car you go online (though in Texas they are not allowed to tell people this). Their stated goal for service is to not make a profit, which is the opposite of how most dealerships work.
I've walked into their showroom at a mall and the general public walks in to take a look and asks questions, something that you wouldn't see at dealerships where only people shopping for a car would go to them. There is no pressure to buy. Similarly with service there is no pressure to get unneeded services done.
I doubt it would go anywhere with Apple. Tesla uses embedded Linux with the Qt toolkit for their touch screen, which is quite fast and responsive using an nVidia Tegra 3 processor. The touch screen has been quite reliable in my experience with it over the past year and Qt was an excellent choice for them. They have an open-source OS and full source code over all of their libraries. Tesla has shown that they're not afraid to write their own software, after all they wrote their own:a href="http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/11/04/1722226/how-elon-musk-approaches-it-at-tesla">SAP replacement themselves.
They have a number of ex-Apple engineers and have a quite good user interface which is simple and intuitive designed around people who are driving, not for people sitting stationary with a phone or tablet. The fact that it displays two applications at the same time totally contradicts how iOS or even Android work.
I can have something full screen or half screen. I usually put the GPS on top and the media or rear camera on the bottom.
They are not buying off-the shelf batteries. They use an off-the-shelf form factor but that's about it. They use their own chemistry which is different than all of the other electric vehicles in that it has significantly higher energy density and a lower cost. Even the 16550 cells they use are customized in a number of ways to reduce cost. Panasonic is manufacturing the cells, but the IP is owned by Tesla and they can just as easily go to other manufacturers.
As for battery cost, they gain due to economies of scale. They are looking to build a new "giga factory" for batteries with other partners to further reduce the cost. Since they will be one of the major investors in that it will help them reduce cost further.
Tesla also has a huge amount of R&D in their battery management. The other manufacturers are using a more stable chemistry but it is more expensive and has a much lower energy density. Tesla's battery management addresses it so they get good reliability out of their packs and high energy density while keeping cost under control. That is also why they are selling battery packs to Toyota and Daimler. Tesla also has a lot of R&D in the electric motor which they manufacture themselves as well as the drive electronics. In fact, Tesla manufactures more if its own parts than just about any other automobile manufacturer including things like aluminum casting and injection molding.
I remember my parent's '86 Mercedes 300SD when a vacuum line broke. It would not shut off since the injector was mechanical until my father fixed the vacuum leak.
I have had a stuck accelerator on two cars, my '91 Ford Probe and a '66 Pontiac. In the case of my Probe it was due the throttle cable not retracting properly, a little oil and cleaning solved that problem. On the Pontiac it was the carburetor getting stuck. Most cases I read about are with older drivers, some of whom should no longer be allowed behind the wheel.
The galleries would not make any money since they don't sell cars. It's rather hard to outsource something like that. In Texas the Tesla showrooms are forbidden from telling people to go to http://www.teslamotors.com/ to order their car. The only way to order a Tesla at a showroom is to use a web browser. The showroom employees do not earn any commissions.
Tesla has heat and even a sub-zero weather package for heated wipers and a heated rear seat. They just did a cross-country trip going through several snow storms and some very cold weather. For warmer weather it uses a heat pump, for colder weather it uses a resistive heating element. The traction control also works extremely well, especially since the electric motor is far more responsive than a gasoline engine. There is also active heating and cooling for the battery pack which can also extract excess heat from the electric motor and inverter. They wouldn't be selling them in Norway if they didn't have heat.
The difference here is that Tesla has promised and made it their goal to not make a profit on service or parts and Elon Musk has publically stated this. From my experience this is certainly the case. When I looked into the possibility of having to replace a part on my model S due to a friend spilling something in the car the price I was quoted for the part as well as installation was a fraction of the price in another well-known luxury brand car according to a mechanic friend of mine who specializes in that car. Fortunately I was able to get everything cleaned up.
I also at one point broke a clip on one of the roof panels on my car. Unfortunately this required replacing the entire clear-coated roof panel that borders the panoramic glass panel. The replacement was $100 for the panel and $175 for labor (about 3 hours). If this had been a Toyota the part would easily have cost at least double that.
Tesla seems to have no problem doing this with their service centers. Some things they don't do, such as body repair work but only factory authorized places can even get parts. This makes sense since working with aluminum is rather different than the usual sheet metal and steel. The service centers are a subsidiary of Tesla so there is no man in the middle. Parts have to be ordered and stocked, just like any dealership service center. Even the service center at the factory can't just grab stock from the factory.
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At least here on the west coast in the next few months battery swapping will be an option. It will take only 90 seconds if you want to pay for it (about the cost of filling up a tank of gas) whereas the Superchargers are free for life.
Owners are reporting losing about 1 mile of range after 30,000 miles of driving. The Tesla batteries are warrantied for 8 years or 100,000 miles but will likely last a lot longer. Everything is covered by the warranty except the tires and wheels. It covers brake pads, wiper blades, everything. For when I did need to pay for repairs due to self inflicted damage, the repair cost was far less than if it had been say a Prius, let alone another luxury car. Tesla has stated that their goal is to not make a profit on service.
The extended warranty for 8 years, 100K miles was not that expensive.
And I could have bought a pre-paid battery replacement after 8 years for $12K. As an alternative I bought 8K worth of Tesla stock at $35. It's hovering around $250 right now. Tesla's battery replacement gives back $1K per year you wait past 8 years. I figure that by then the cost of the battery will have dropped significantly especially if they get their Gigafactory online.
Try recharging for 20-30 minutes at a Supercharger or in a few months spend 90 seconds to swap batteries. Every morning my battery is at 60% because I spent 5 seconds plugging in at night and 5 seconds unplugging in the morning. I could just as easily have charged to 100% but the battery will last longer if I keep it between 40-60%. When I drove up to Lake Tahoe I stopped in Folsom to charge for free. I spent the money I would have spent on gas getting lunch. By the time I was done with lunch at a nearby burger place (Burgerocity, awesome burgers) my car was ready to go. I had no problem whatsoever reaching my destination above Lake Tahoe near the summit of Kingsbury Grade at around 7200 feet. As more and more Superchargers are built, road trips become easier. I can already drive from San Diego to Vancouver or across the country and along much of the East coast. By the end of the year 80% of the country will be covered. With Tesla's cross country trip charging consumed around 20% of the time and they were driving through some pretty nasty weather. I don't really mind a half hour break after a few hours of driving. I'll be less tired and sore when I get to my destination. For most of my driving I spend far less time waiting for charging than I did filling up my hybrid at the gas station.
The Leaf has piss-poor battery management. Tesla actually does this and uses excess heat from the battery and electric motor to help heat the cabin. There's a coolant loop that goes through the battery and it will use excess heat from the motor and inverter to heat the battery as well if needed. The Leaf just has an air cooled battery. That's part of the reason why people in Arizona are losing 40% of their capacity after two years. My Prius had a resistive heating element but it was rather weak compared to the engine.
The Leaf uses a resistive heating element for heating which is rather inefficient, especially when it isn't all that cold outside.
My Model S uses both a resistive element and a heat pump and works quite well. Additionally it has heated seats. There is a range mode where the heating is weaker, but at least there are seat heaters to help compensate. As I type this I just turned on the heat remotely to warm up my car before I drive home. Also, since there is a much larger battery and quite a bit more range the impact of heating and cooling is much less.
Those won't be out until 2017 at the earliest. 2015 is when Tesla ramps up their SUV, the Model X. It all depends on how fast they can build and ramp up their gigafactory.
Being aerodynamic doesn't mean that the car has to be ugly. The Tesla Model S is quite aerodynamic, more so than the Leaf yet it doesn't look like a fugly econobox. The biggest problem is the Leaf's headlights.
I agree with most of what you said. I have had my Model S for almost a year now and sold my Prius. The number of times I need a gasoline powered car is quite small. I have also found it to be a very practical car. I regularly haul my dog in the back. I've hauled bicycles up to the mountains and even a new dishwasher. I currently have a 50lbs bag of dog food in the frunk. The amount of interior space is amazing.
It handles beautifully and has plenty of range for most trips. The Superchargers are also not that big of a deal. When I went to Lake Tahoe I stopped along the way to charge and got lunch, using the money I would have spent on gas. By the time I was done, the car was about ready. I monitored the state of charge with my phone and started up the AC before heading back and unplugging it since it was around 106F outside that day.
While the touch screen isn't for everyone, they did a good job with it. It's very responsive with large buttons making it very easy to use while driving. There's also voice support for the radio which also integrates Slacker and navigation.
I own a Tesla and the nice thing is that I rarely need to use a public charging station. The public charging stations are always clogged up with Volts and Leafs and other plug-in or low-range electric vehicles. My friend who owns a Leaf and works at Yahoo is always fighting over getting a charging spot. He's always looking for a charging spot since he always needs to charge. You can't really get around the Bay Area without charging all the time.
With my Tesla it's not a problem. I have plenty of range to go all over the Bay Area and with the Superchargers I can drive to much of California without spending a significant amount of time charging. I can also charge at out of the way places like RV parks and soon ChaDeMo chargers. The Leaf is limited to the standard J1772 or the few ChaDeMo chargers or 110V outlets. Tesla has a lot more choices for charging. They're releasing a ChaDeMo adapter soon and have adapters for most 220V and 110V hookups in addition to the Supercharger network. I've taken my Tesla to Lake Tahoe with plenty of range to spare and taken it camping along Big Sur. The Model S is more than a sports car. It's also a large sedan with a LOT of interior room. I've hauled bicycles inside with two passengers up to Lake Tahoe. I even hauled a new dishwasher in the back with a lot of room to spare.
It's rather difficult to get stranded. The car is quite good at telling you how much range you have left and even when it hits zero you still have 10-20 miles of range left. Finding charging stations is also fairly easy with numerous web sites out there that track them, i.e. Recargo, Plugshare, Chargepoint/Blink, etc.
One thing with Tesla is that they have stated that their goal is to not make a profit on service. Then again, their margins are fairly high and rising on the Model S, over 25% now.
They still charge a fair amount for pre-paid service at $1900 for four years though everything but the wheels and tires is covered. When I had my 12,500 mile service it included a wheel alignment and various updates. Since my car was a fairly early VIN there were a number of things they changed, mostly to deal with rattles and whatnot (though I already had most of this done under warranty). Even wiper blades and brake pads are covered and replaced if needed (I suspect my brakes will last nearly forever though).
I would never consider a Leaf. The range is too limited. I can't reliably drive from my house to San Francisco in a Leaf without worrying about finding a place to charge in SF. The problem is in the Bay Area all the charging stations seem to be always clogged up with Leafs and Volts. In all the time I've owned my Model S there was only one time where I had to use a public charging station. In that one case I was forced to unplug a Volt (who was paying an outrageous amount of money to charge). In the near future when I make the same trip that will not be a problem since there will be an additional Supercharger along that route closer to the destination.
From the Tesla message board it sounds like Tesla owners have lost about 1 mile of range after 30,000 miles. The battery is guaranteed to hold 70% capacity for 100,000 miles or 8 years. From talking with someone that works at Tesla and from the observation of other owners and the history of the Roadster it sounds like the battery will likely last a lot longer.
It sounds like just most of the EVs have active battery management and that Nissan will be adding it in the future.
And the Tesla Model S has a lower drag coefficient as well and looks cool. I hate the bug-eyed headlights... it reminds me of a frog.
I still consider the Leaf's range inadequate. A while back I drove my Model S from Sacramento to San Francisco then on to Fremont without having to charge. With the Leaf I couldn't even drive round trip from Fremont to San Francisco without worrying about getting stranded or looking for a public charging spot that isn't taken. I've taken my Model S up to Lake Tahoe and will be taking it to Reno next month. I've taken it camping in Big Sur. There's no way I could consider any of these with a Leaf. The Leaf would be good for my commute and a bit around town but I couldn't use it for even driving around the Bay Area. I have a friend with a Leaf and he knows where all the chargers are because he's always using them. I can charge at the Superchargers, RV parks, J1772 plugs and virtually any 110 or 220 outlet available drawing up to 80A. Soon ChaDeMo will also be supported.
I usually don't bother with the expensive public chargers or even the free ones which are usually clogged up with Leafs, Volts and other plug-in hybrids. I have plenty of range and the Superchargers allow me to take road trips. Usually by the time I'm finished with lunch at a nearby restaurant my car is ready for the next leg. A full charge at home takes me around 5 1/2 hours on a 100A circuit (80A charging) or I can get around 200 miles of range with around 30-40 minutes of charging and soon I can just do a 90 second battery swap when driving down to LA. As Tesla continues to build out their supercharger network it becomes easier for road trips. Soon there will even be ChaDeMo support for the Model S for charging, though this will not be as fast as Tesla's Superchargers.
I don't lose any significant range based on weather conditions. My battery doesn't suffer in high temperatures (Leafs in Arizona have been reported to lose 40% of their capacity in two years!). Owners of the Model S are reporting that they've lost 1 mile of range after driving 30,000 miles and no impacts from hot climates.
The amount of space in my Model S is amazing as well. I have far more storage space than my Prius. I hauled a dishwasher in the back a few months ago, have hauled bicycles inside with two passengers and luggage under the hood. With the Model S I was able to sell my Prius. I can comfortably carry 4 additional passengers.
If my budget were more restricted I might consider a Leaf as a commuter car but would have to have kept my Prius as well for all the longer trips I make.
The biggest thing people keep complaining about is how long it takes to charge. I tell them it takes 5 seconds to plug in at night and 5 seconds to unplug in the morning.
I usually don't compare the Leaf with the Model S. They are very different vehicles. I know many Tesla owners that also have a Leaf as a second car.
Though battery swapping has it beat. Tesla will be introducing it in the next few months between the Bay Area and LA. 90 seconds to swap without ever leaving the vehicle.
In the next few months they will open up battery swapping between the Bay Area and LA. It takes only around 90 seconds. There are also some stops I wouldn't mind stopping at (i.e. Harris Ranch for dinner).
Even the 17 inch screen is fairly easy. The most common controls are around the edges. There are also steering wheel controls that are configurable. The buttons on the touch screen are large and well spaced out. Generally the only thing I generally need to adjust is the temperature or turning the climate control on or off (it was a nice day today so I opened the panoramic roof). Unlike many cars I have seen there is also no lag so there's no waiting to see if it actually worked or not. While it could be a bit better it certainly is not bad. One thing I miss about my '06 Prius was that it had more steering wheel controls, though in general I don't need to use them as much with the Tesla. The voice recognition in the Tesla is much better (it uses Google via 3G) and having the GPS map right next to the speedometer is handy as well. The voice recognition also works well for music.
I think their idea of showrooms is actually better. The employees do not earn a commission and service is totally separate. They are there to show the car and answer questions. If you want to buy the car you go online (though in Texas they are not allowed to tell people this). Their stated goal for service is to not make a profit, which is the opposite of how most dealerships work.
I've walked into their showroom at a mall and the general public walks in to take a look and asks questions, something that you wouldn't see at dealerships where only people shopping for a car would go to them. There is no pressure to buy. Similarly with service there is no pressure to get unneeded services done.
I doubt it would go anywhere with Apple. Tesla uses embedded Linux with the Qt toolkit for their touch screen, which is quite fast and responsive using an nVidia Tegra 3 processor. The touch screen has been quite reliable in my experience with it over the past year and Qt was an excellent choice for them. They have an open-source OS and full source code over all of their libraries. Tesla has shown that they're not afraid to write their own software, after all they wrote their own :a href="http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/11/04/1722226/how-elon-musk-approaches-it-at-tesla">SAP replacement themselves.
They have a number of ex-Apple engineers and have a quite good user interface which is simple and intuitive designed around people who are driving, not for people sitting stationary with a phone or tablet. The fact that it displays two applications at the same time totally contradicts how iOS or even Android work.
I can have something full screen or half screen. I usually put the GPS on top and the media or rear camera on the bottom.
They are not buying off-the shelf batteries. They use an off-the-shelf form factor but that's about it. They use their own chemistry which is different than all of the other electric vehicles in that it has significantly higher energy density and a lower cost. Even the 16550 cells they use are customized in a number of ways to reduce cost. Panasonic is manufacturing the cells, but the IP is owned by Tesla and they can just as easily go to other manufacturers.
As for battery cost, they gain due to economies of scale. They are looking to build a new "giga factory" for batteries with other partners to further reduce the cost. Since they will be one of the major investors in that it will help them reduce cost further.
Tesla also has a huge amount of R&D in their battery management. The other manufacturers are using a more stable chemistry but it is more expensive and has a much lower energy density. Tesla's battery management addresses it so they get good reliability out of their packs and high energy density while keeping cost under control. That is also why they are selling battery packs to Toyota and Daimler. Tesla also has a lot of R&D in the electric motor which they manufacture themselves as well as the drive electronics. In fact, Tesla manufactures more if its own parts than just about any other automobile manufacturer including things like aluminum casting and injection molding.
I remember my parent's '86 Mercedes 300SD when a vacuum line broke. It would not shut off since the injector was mechanical until my father fixed the vacuum leak.
I have had a stuck accelerator on two cars, my '91 Ford Probe and a '66 Pontiac. In the case of my Probe it was due the throttle cable not retracting properly, a little oil and cleaning solved that problem. On the Pontiac it was the carburetor getting stuck. Most cases I read about are with older drivers, some of whom should no longer be allowed behind the wheel.
This would be like Fisker all over again. Fisker used dealerships to try and sell their cars and failed miserably.
The galleries would not make any money since they don't sell cars. It's rather hard to outsource something like that. In Texas the Tesla showrooms are forbidden from telling people to go to http://www.teslamotors.com/ to order their car. The only way to order a Tesla at a showroom is to use a web browser. The showroom employees do not earn any commissions.
Tesla has heat and even a sub-zero weather package for heated wipers and a heated rear seat. They just did a cross-country trip going through several snow storms and some very cold weather. For warmer weather it uses a heat pump, for colder weather it uses a resistive heating element. The traction control also works extremely well, especially since the electric motor is far more responsive than a gasoline engine. There is also active heating and cooling for the battery pack which can also extract excess heat from the electric motor and inverter. They wouldn't be selling them in Norway if they didn't have heat.
The difference here is that Tesla has promised and made it their goal to not make a profit on service or parts and Elon Musk has publically stated this. From my experience this is certainly the case. When I looked into the possibility of having to replace a part on my model S due to a friend spilling something in the car the price I was quoted for the part as well as installation was a fraction of the price in another well-known luxury brand car according to a mechanic friend of mine who specializes in that car. Fortunately I was able to get everything cleaned up.
I also at one point broke a clip on one of the roof panels on my car. Unfortunately this required replacing the entire clear-coated roof panel that borders the panoramic glass panel. The replacement was $100 for the panel and $175 for labor (about 3 hours). If this had been a Toyota the part would easily have cost at least double that.
Tesla seems to have no problem doing this with their service centers. Some things they don't do, such as body repair work but only factory authorized places can even get parts. This makes sense since working with aluminum is rather different than the usual sheet metal and steel. The service centers are a subsidiary of Tesla so there is no man in the middle. Parts have to be ordered and stocked, just like any dealership service center. Even the service center at the factory can't just grab stock from the factory.