Piers Chandler drives a Tesla Model S 100D 2018 electric car.

This is Piers’s first electric car, he’s owned the Model S for 3-4 years and drives between 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 10,000-20,000 miles and he achieves 200 miles range from a full charge.

Rate your Model S out of 5.

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Why did you choose this electric car?

• There seemed to be very positive reviews and reputation of the car
• The range and
• The charge network
• The finance deal.

Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car.

• The Supercharger network
• The integrated charging/map routing
• The Performance.

Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car.

The whole car was a disappointment compared to the hype and price:

1) Tesla’s priorities – developers writing fart apps when fundamental features like auto wipers just didn’t work on a £101k car, something I’ve had for more the 15 years

2) Shoddy quality – in the first year I spent 3 months in various loan cars and that continued throughout ownership. I don’t think I ever remember washing the car myself as it was always never more then a few weeks between visits to the Service Centre.

3) Awful design and ergonomics – so many examples, the most annoying was the proximity sensors covered over the map. The sat nav was half useless in central London, there was always a bike, car or curb causing the proximity view to cover over the detailed map view in the centre binnacle. The HomeLink would cover over the reversing camera. The list is long.

4) The customer service was abhorrent. I can’t be bothered to type anymore but rest assured I would still be typing in 2 hours time.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

The car arrived with a paint issue requiring a respray. Also hadto replace 3 x front drive shafts, clevis joints, 3 headlights (4th needed too), wing mirror, LTE/wi-fi antenna, driver’s seat & several interior trim parts. Also, 3 sets of front mats & a LTE failure. The car was like Trigger’s Broom (from Only Fools & Horses).

What are the standout tech features of your Model S?

The integrated GPS routing with their charging network made long distances effortless in regards to planning.

Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car.

For a supposed tech company, the technology was very second rate.

What electric car are you interested in next and why?

Polestar 2 – looks very nice and is built on Android Automotive.

What home charging unit do you use? Would you recommend it to others and why?

zappi – I would defiantly recommend it.

Rate your home charging unit out of 5.

What home electricity supplier & tariff do you use? Would you recommend it to others and why?

Octopus Go – yes, definitely recommend them and the tariff for EV owners.

Rate your electricity supplier out of 5.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

Tesla, very extensive.

List your top 3 favourite public charging networks (in order of preference).

• Tesla Network
• Gridserve
• InstaVolt.

Who do you insure your electric car with? Would you recommend them to others and why?

Admiral

Rate your insurance provider out of 5.

Estimate how much money you save per month owning and running an electric car compared to a petrol/diesel car.

£200

See other owner reviews here