Holland...
 

I was in Europe for a couple of weeks, during which was in Holland for a couple of days.

Saw 4 Teslas in 2 days round Amsterdam area.

I've never seen 4 Teslas in the UK in total...

Why so popular over there ? Anyone know.....

Flatter landscape = more miles per charge

I feared that....

Does that mean here, in the hilly UK we get less range than documented, or are Holland enjoying more.... ?

Randomly, I was in an Audi A3 E Tron this morning. Apart from a silent set off, some pretty diagrams on the MMI and a button that lets you select whether to go electric, combustion, both, or use combustion to charge battery, it was all a bit of a non event. It just drove like any other A3....

....slowly and with not much cabin space.... ;)

I saw 3 Teslas near Wokingham near where I live.
Have no idea where they recharge (apart from home of course).

Yeah, lots of Teslas in Amsterdam, and lots used as Taxis. Makes sense in a flat and small city

Yep, if they were white, they were probably taxis. Also, Tesla were surprising late to the party in the UK - Scandinavia and the Low Countries were earlier adopters.

Think I saw one in 3 weeks in France just.

Is there an advantageous incentive scheme there maybe? Is it Norway or somewhere that has a good scheme, and adoption is high? Remember reading about it somewhere.

I work in Amsterdam on occasion but yesterday I was in Oslo and they were everywhere! Seemed to be like 1 car in every 25 was a tesla S in the town centre. I made a comment in the meeting I had in the afternoon and the host said she had one! Seems too common there! Ha...

She said there are big taxes on imported cars - but not on electric cars. Plus zero road tax and they can use lanes that petrol cars are not allowed.

And here; Audi announce Q6 EV http://evfleetworld.co.uk/news/2015/...nge/0438021182

Too little, too late…?
 

It's worth remembering that the Tesla Model S outsold all the premium European brands (i.e. the A8, 7 series, and S class) in the US following it's launch (and still is, AFAIK).

A 2018 release date ( if the Q6 is actually released on time, and this is not just defensive marketing hype…) will be three years too late to compete with the Tesla Model X, which is being released this Autumn, and apparently already has a waiting list of more than 20,000…

Model X release news here:- (from Christianpost website, for some reason…)

http://www.christianpost.com/news/te...odel-x-142907/

I asked this question to the Tesla rep at the summer meet and she said that it tends to be swings and roundabout - i.e. that the uphill bits were compensated by the downhill bits / regenerative braking. The range thing (320 miles-ish) was short of my journey home by 3 miles which meant that the integral Google maps had me doing a detour thru' Edinburgh to get to somewhere north of Glasgow. I think you may find that journey distances in Holland tend to be shorter than here making the range issue less of a problem besides which they tend to be good at integrated transport infrastructure.

The plant building the Tesla for Europe is in Dogen, not to far from Amsterdam (opposite one of our factories - so they see many every day...)

I saw 5 Teslas on the opposite side of dual carriageway when i was travelling back from Germany through Holland to Calais also - at the time I thought it might be a test drive event with multiple cars and drivers on a set route

I have only seen Tesla once on the road apart from annual meet. I was driving behind it for a while and about 5 LED's in the high level brake light were not working on it, not good for 14 reg car. :( Does not give much confidence in build quality.

Perhaps it was an intermittent battery state indicator rather than a brake light? :D
You are right - dodgy electrics on a, umm, electric car dont inspire confidence.

I'm very interested to see what Tintin makes of his when it arrives.....

I'm sure its purchase was a well researched and informed decision.

If it cost half as much, or had twice the range, I'd have probably put a deposit on one by now, but its just too expensive not be 100% practical for me on a daily basis.

I can see though how it would work well for others with a less erratic driving requirement.

Seems to be known problem, some info here on google cache, original page does not show any more.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=uk

It is a known issue Ainar, and UK drivers who've had the problem normally have it rectified almost immediately, usually on a while you wait basis, based on the stories that I've heard.

There are 4 or 5 Teslas I see around here on a regular basis - including one owned by a guy just down the road. There are several 8s in the area too - I hardly ever see an S class any more though... odd, really

Interesting update -

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1485960472

Introducing Tesla 100D with up to 393 miles of range

Recently, we introduced the 100D versions of our Model S and X.
With an NEDC range of 393 and 351 miles respectively, they redefine the longest range electric vehicles available.

Combined with Tesla’s All-Wheel Drive, industry leading safety features and revolutionary Autopilot hardware, Model S and X represent an uncompromised driving experience.

The need for integrated public transport with a Tesla
 

[QUOTE I think you may find that journey distances in Holland tend to be shorter than here making the range issue less of a problem besides which they tend to be good at integrated transport infrastructure.[/quote]

Yeah, so you can complete your journey on public transport after abandoning your cherished vehicle on a run-down back-street (or a dual-carriageway!). :ROFL:

Just jealous: they will get better and cheaper soon, thanks for being an early adopter. :love: +++

Robert

We have quite a few Teslas around us in Dorset, we use a local firm for airport runs and they only use Teslas. They are lovely cars and we was really impressed with them ( not so much now I own an A8 though, it's not as comfy in the rear )

Here's the link if anyone is interested ! https://www.drivve.me/

Exactly my thoughts after a test drive recently. Just doesn't cut the mustard for passengers, though for driving I found it was very good.
If I was running an "upmarket" taxi/limo fleet I would only use them if the customers actually demanded them. (Neil, thoughts?)

I guess at the end of the day its all about how much a customer will pay for what they feel they get. We have many corporate customers who could choose to use standard cars but prefer the luxury, comfort and space that the A8's provide, especially the LWB's. We have done many journeys where for example we have driven 4-5 hours to get to the location of a pick up and then driven customers another 5 hours back into London and then driven home to Swindon so on those jobs we would still have issues, but on the majority of journeys a Tesla would work operationally, its just then about perceptions of comfort, space and luxury. Certainly not something I would dismiss going forwards, but would need to gauge customer happiness about before introducing more widely. We have some Merc E Classes and I would perceive the feel inside a Tesla to be more like one of those.