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Does anyone know where the Tesla Cars dealer has opened in Chengdu? Since Saturday I have seen four in varying colours but unplated and I really would like to go and investigate further. They look amazing “in the flesh” so to speak, at least to me, apart from the tech under the skin. Normally I’d go looking along the airport express but that may not be the location. Any suggestions or hard information gratefully received. The Chinese web site simply says the dealer is opening soon….
Someone that I work with got a Tesla a few months ago. I’m pretty sure it was sent over from Beijing, and not purchased in Chengdu. I’ve heard rumors that someone else that I work with has a relative who is opening the first Tesla dealership here. I will see what I can find.
Also, I have learned that Tesla’s for the time being cannot be legally registered in China, so no plates for now. If you have enough money, plates aren’t required, it seems (anyone with a Tesla in China almost certainly falls into that category!)
Interestingly enough – Teslas in China are not at all that expensive compared to other ‘luxury’ cars. They didn’t jack up the price at *all*! I think their ticket price for their base (in China, whatever that is) model is around 760k rmb. Tesla posted a breakdown of the cost – and all of the extra cost is tax/whatever. This is the only (that I know of) high end car company here that does this.
By contrast, my wife is owed a lot of money by a business partner who has remaining cash flow locked up in a deposit that is non-refundable (1.7mil RMB) that was made on a 9mil RMB rolls (idiot.) Since it’s non-refundable, and she can’t sue for the cash back for various reasons, she was made an offer by the dealership: can use that 1.7mil towards something else, or take the dealer’s only vehicle below that mark….which is a fucking ugly Morgan. It’s not a 2014 Morgan. It’s a 2013 Morgan, because they sold I think *ZERO* in Chengdu, and the only people who have them also fell in the bracket of not being able to buy the rolls they put the deposit on — so also took the Morgan instead of nothing. The retail for the Morgan Plus? (2013 model) 1.58mil rmb. In other countries it runs about 65k USD. If anyone wants a Morgan, we’ll trade it off for a few hundred K less than sticker price 😀
Tesla, hopefully, will dominate with that sort of not-here-to-gouge-you pricing, I heard they plan to make a huge push on building the tesla supercharge stations also. Where do Teslas charge up here now?? Without supercharging stations they take a long time to charge, and I don’t imagine you can park close enough to wherever scooter plugins are at.
Tesla, hopefully, will dominate with that sort of not-here-to-gouge-you pricing, I heard they plan to make a huge push on building the tesla supercharge stations also. Where do Teslas charge up here now?? Without supercharging stations they take a long time to charge, and I don’t imagine you can park close enough to wherever scooter plugins are at.
That will be the real test, if Supercharging stations begin to appear. I had an amazing conversation with a game company CEO and Tesla owner on a train from Cologne to Paris last week, and he told me that his office has electric car charging stations. Their office is in Chicago and the state of Illinois offers huge tax incentives for employers that provide electric car chargers for employees. If China does something like that, it would be pretty huge, in the tech industry at the very least. But my concern would be that people purchase luxury or electric cars for fundamentally different reasons – probably few people with means are down for the “cause” of electric cars, and a Tesla arguably doesn’t produce as many face points as other more-recognizable luxury cars.
people purchase luxury or electric cars for fundamentally different reasons
That is *definitely* true. However, just like iPhones, while it may start out to be “super modern and cool new techy” it may just become the norm, like, yah I drive a Tesla because it’s the best vehicle out there….as opposed to I drive a Tesla to show off something you don’t have….maybe they’ll just start selling diamond-encrusted gold-plated Teslas to fill the face-begging fucktard spectrum of the market. 😛
I finally managed to drive one Sunday past. Not a diamond encrusted one in sight and even the housing area used for the launch was not stratospherically priced. I took a few pictures and was able to have a really good look at the car. Extremely well made, excellent paint finish, well-fitted interior as you would expect for the price. Lots of bells and whistles to play with and the central “Tesla Pad” covers everything you could imagine.
Visually it looks better than the photos – sits very low and gives the impression of holding the road even when sitting still. I had no opportunity to try it on twisty toads but during the drive the steering gives a little feedback so I sense it will be fine. The disc brakes are huge; here’s why: The BIG thing was the acceleration!!!: for reasons known only to the organisers the test track was very short with a slight curve, and I suppose they were expecting lots of drivers so all I could really do was floor it and see. I think its possibly the fastest accelerating car I’ve driven and it’s quite relentless – pushing you back in your seat with no gears to worry about. I could only hold it for about 6 seconds before lifting off but could not check the speed as I was concentrating on other things as it was time to stop. My passengers could not tell me much either as they were also firmly pressed back in their seats. Extremely impressive but far too short to tell much else. I had a Ferrari 400GT a few years ago and I know it would be slower than the Tesla was; maybe comparable to a Space Shuttle?? I need to go back and try it for longer.
Internally it has lots of room including amazing boot/trunk storage in the front and rear. Also no spare wheel – Tesla say you should use sealant and a pump to get you home…. might be fun in some parts of China.. Only thing I really didn’t like was the size and shape of the back seat: way too short for larger folks like me and zero support under the back of your upper legs. I think it would be quite uncomfortable on a longer run.
Charging is going to be the big question/solution here. If you have a house then setting a station up should be easier. Bought and rented parking spaces present a bigger challenge depending on the nature of your management office and the wuguan . The most expensive model on show was the fully kitted out P85 Model S which was almost a million yuan, but prices start just under 600k RMB. The dealer is around the back of American Garden (not been yet so don’t know exactly where) and there is another unofficial trader with a shop just off the 3rd ring road near the Wuhou road (Taipingyuan Middle 3rd road). I want one – just don’t have that kind of spending power for now, but I see it as a great solution for daily runs around town, and plugging it in every night if required, like my phone. Batteries and power train are warranted for 8 years… And if all our electricity was renewable it really is the future of motoring…. Not perfect but a really useable proposition.
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