The Tesla UX đź’Ž
In that article, I will share with you what I felt in the last few weeks, interacting with Tesla, both the company and a Model S.
Last year, I went to the Tesla “Store” (yep, it’s a “Store”, not a “dealership”) in Palo Alto, California.
I wanted, at last, to drive a Tesla. It’s probably the next car I will acquire, but I had to confirm first that it was as awesome as it sounds.
Unfortunately, there was a 3-week waitlist to have the opportunity to drive a Model S (or X by the way), and my flight back to Europe was 6 days later… big frustration.
The registration process
After a year of frustration (not being in the Valley, or close to a Store), I was finally planning my new trip to the Valley.
So I contacted the Palo Alto Store 8 weeks in advance to book a slot to drive a Tesla Model S.
Only few days later, I received an invitation to an event, not in Palo Alto but in the Alps.
First step of an awesome user experience: they came back to me with a personalized answer to my question (they managed to understand where they could schedule a test drive for me). So I registered. And it was great.
The venue
First, they invite you to a premium venue - here a 4-star hotel having a beautiful view on Annecy lake, France.
And of course, they have Tesla superchargers in this hotel.
It’s really smart to combine the Tesla brand and experience with great places all around the world.
(note: I’m not a Ferrari or Aston Martin owner, and I guess they do the same)
Starting your “test drive” experience in such a beautiful place definitely sets the right mindset, opening all your senses.
The car
Let’s start with this picture of the car I had the pleasure to drive.
Hard to imagine there is a 700kg lithium-ion battery in that car, right?
This Model S (100D) has 420HP, and it takes only 4.2 seconds for the 0–100km/h (0–60mph).
You will need something like 110–120K$ to be the owner of that car. Note that it was almost a full-options version, including the autopilot/self-driving options.
The enhanced autopilot feature is a 5KUSD option. You can buy it later after delivery (like an in-app purchase!), but you will have to add 1KUSD.
The “full self-driving” capability is another 3KUSD (same thing, +1KUSD if you purchase it after delivery).
Create your own here: https://www.tesla.com/models/design
The test drive: zen
To understand how I felt, let me explain what is my “background” in terms of cars. I owned a Porsche (951), a Mustang GT (V8, 2008), an Audi A4 2L Turbo and a Peugeot 205 “Mi16". I’m far from electric cars.
But let me tell you that a 420HP electric car is awesome. There is no “lag”: you have instantly all the power.
And the absence of “noise” provides a “zen experience” that I loved. Driving along the Annecy lake (surrounded with mountains) with an electric car probably enhanced this “zen” feeling!
I can’t describe it more than this: it’s a mix of silence/zen, technology, and a power you can only experience in supercars.
The “one more things”
What I love as well:
1- they anticipated future evolutions. They put more “hardware” than they use today in their software, so that they can ship new features on a monthly basis (via software updates).
For instance, there are 12 cameras, and they only use half of them today for the features I mentioned above (autopilot / self-driving features). Basically, you buy a car that will evolve!
2- you can dynamically adjust the height of your car. For instance, before a speed bump, you can manually increase the height, and you can tell your car to remind it! And it will automatically adjust the height next time (based on your geolocation) for this speed bump. Cool.
3- for best efficiency, the battery must be “horizontal”, and at a certain temperature. After parking your Tesla, the car will automatically adjust its height (front / rear) to be as horizontal as possible. And it will as well manage the temperature while you’re away.
4- a “bioweapon defense mode” button. Whaaat :)? The Tesla’s air filter is 10 times larger than a normal car’s air filter (300 times better at filtering bacteria, 800 times better at filtering viruses etc.).
“We’re trying to be a leader in apocalyptic defense scenarios” — Elon Musk. Ok :) …!
The tablet & apps
Last but not least, the tablet. I had to conclude on this, obviously.
It’s a super large tablet with a massive 17-inch touchscreen display. And it runs on Linux!
There is no App Store, so it’s Tesla deciding what Apps are available. It’s not open to 3rd party developers today (for security reasons so far, so they say).
And for what concerns maps, it’s Google Maps behind the scene (no surprise, I wasn’t expecting to see Apple Maps here, knowing their strained relationship in recent years, to say the least…).
Would you develop Apps for a Tesla? Definitely, here at Lunabee Studio, we’d love to.
Update May 14 2017:
From Palo Alto to Mountain View (15min ride), we counted all Prius and Tesla we saw. The Prius is a good reference, as we can see a lot of Prius in California.
So we counted 41 Prius and 12 Tesla (10 Model S, 2 Model X)! The ratio is striking, for a car above 80KUSD.
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