[SilverRevlis]

I have been all over the place for my next move...even here. I did an extended test drive of a 17' 75D AWD 2 weekends ago to see if the car was a good fit in our everyday lives.

-Handling: Super low center of gravity was very happy to turn in late and stay very flat. I was very impressed. On the highway, the heft of the car made if feel more substantial in a positive way. Around the city, the car actual felt somewhat nimble, but you can tell the weight is all there.

-Acceleration: Off the line, there is not a whole lot of cars that are going to be next to this thing. I love to be able to put a healthy amount of space between me and other cars when the light turns green to help minimize my risk of getting swerved into or cut off, or who knows what else. This car gets where you want it with urgency. The 75D was 0-60 in 4.2........ I believe every bit of that as the throttle response is very satisfying in that you think about advancing the car forward and your body receives immediate confirmation by stuff getting blurry outside! Once moving and passing a vehicle, acceleration is also pretty good up there, but not at pin-you-to-your-seat as lower down in the speed range. Mind you, the car for the test drive was limited to 85mph, so there could have been logic to start to taper power as I got closer to the capped speed limit, who knows. I also did a test drive in the P100D, its physically uncomfortable how fast that gets off the line and gets moving from any speed. its like it tries to push your brain and your internal organs into the back seat. You will not want to do that over and over again.....TRUST me!

-Charging: This was my main focus to exercise and take note of. It's not like a gasoline or diesel where you can simply find any station, fuel up and be on your way within minutes. You need to plan, and ensure you have charged the car sufficiently overnight or the previous day. Luckily there are roughly 9 of Tesla supercharger stations down the street that have just been installed by our local WaWa and every rest area on the NJTP has at least 4 Tesla supercharger station. It was convenient as I was able to bring my laptop and do my weekly and next-day planning while having soup, listening to music AND using the built in web browser to effectively "dual screen" my work. When plugged in with 45 miles of charge left, the car got up to 72kw at first, then I heard a fan behind the dashboard get down to business and those kw started climbing (highest I saw was 85 kw). A couple of minutes later a Model X pulled up and plugged in, and about 2 minutes later, the kw's dropped down to 72-75kw, not getting higher again until they left. At home, don't even bother plugging the car in unless you have the upgraded charger, as the standard charger results in about 1-2 miles/hour.....nope!!

-Interior Comfort: With a 4 and 5 year old in booster seats out back and the wife passenger, we had a bit more room than my F10 with Comfort seats. It was a bit of a pin buckling the kids up due to the placement of the belt buckles in the back seats though. It also felt like I had to unnaturally keep my legs together as it seems the foot-well sharply tapers in (I'm 6'0, 245). I absolutely loved the bolster on the seat back, but wish the thigh bolsters we an inch or two more open. Not having perforated or ventilated seats was a bit of a shock, but I was told they do not offer ventilated seats due to the constant heating and cooling causing cracks and tears between the perforations....dunno about that one. Cup holders in the front armrest were super awkward and didn't seem to be deep enough. The rear visibility seemed to be truncated out of the rear window also. As for the seating position, I really liked it.

-AutoPilot: I'm in the IT field, and I was thoroughly impressed with it's functionality. I hit a bit of traffic on the highway going to the office Monday morning which helped the AutoPilot "make it's bones". On the way back home the first night, a tractor trailer decided to try to occupy the same coordinates in time and space as I was, before I could throw an expletive out, the car already threw the opposing signal on the move to the next lane while slowing down....Impressed! Not an autopilot situation, but a pair of dogs came into the road when it was dark at night and the car seemed to have the brakes primed, and I could swear it started to stop before i could to avoid hitting them.

All in all, taking the price into account with having to sacrifice some luxury bits, in my eyes, it's not a result that's enough to sell me. I think pre-owned pricing may get that into a much more positive position, but I would need to wait until the prices for a pre-owned model that supports v2.0 and up get within a good value ballpark. I though the lease prices would be a bit more friendly, but even on the 75D, we are up above M550/650 GC pricing.