2: The Wait and Taking Delivery

Proud New Model 3 Owner

2018 is nearly in the rear view mirror and it has been a rocky ride for Tesla and to some extent for its customers and would-be customers.   The latter part of the year has been triumphant as the company has met and exceeded expectations not only of production but of the quality of the product as well.

At the start of the year, production of the rear wheel drive Model 3 was underway amid media reports of poor build quality and other examples of an inept and overreaching company.   Over the summer, Elon Musk was living in the factory, troubleshooting the manufacturing process 120 hours a week.

We had expectations of getting a $14,000 rebate from the Ontario government and of getting our car sometime during the year but having no idea when exactly.  The rebate vanished with a change of government and our decision to wait for the all-wheel-drive model.  We have long snowy winters and I decided many years ago – at the precise moment that I was vainly trying to get a rear wheel drive BMW up a snowy hill – that I would always have all-wheel-drive vehicles. (I did make an exception for the Bentley and a couple of Mazda Miatas, though!)

Tesla has, of course, done away with the traditional dealership model. If you want to buy any other car, you walk into the local dealership and either buy something that they have in stock, something that they can acquire from another dealer, or you can order from the factory. You will of course have to go through a salesperson and there will be a dance over the price involving a consultation between that salesperson and their manager leading to a handshake.   The process will work itself out and you will have a pretty good idea when you can get your hands on your new car.

With Tesla, at least here in Ottawa, there is no bricks and mortar Tesla store and you will find yourself dealing by email and the occasional phone call with a representative who, you quickly discover, is only one member of a series of teams who will determine your delivery experience.

Once we had confirmation that our car was available, and a VIN number had been assigned, I was put in touch with a young gentleman called PK who was an Inside Delivery Manager.  Throughout our frequently frustrating exchanges, PK was totally professional, friendly and sympathetic. He even responded to emails from when he was on vacation.  He admitted to me that the whole delivery system was under resourced and overstressed. He spent his days dealing with people anxious to get their hands on their new wonder car and having to apologize for logistical glitches.

It turned out, however, that PK was part of a team based in Toronto to deal with deliveries but that the delivery process was managed out of Montréal by another team. Our trade-in was handled by a third team.   The actual delivery was made by an independent contracted carrier taking direction from the team in Montréal. PK seemed to have a great deal of difficulty getting information from the Montréal team and it also seems that the Montréal team had limited contact with the carrier.

After several frustrating false starts, we took delivery one evening. The car was backed off a large trailer and for the first time we sat in our new Model 3. We had arranged to take delivery and hand in our Evoque trade-in but the driver had no "paperwork" related to the trade-in and we had to leave it behind.

The Delivery of Blue

So, what can I say about the delivery experience? It was frustrating in the extreme but all that frustration washed away as soon as we stepped inside the car.   A conventional dealer would have washed the car and it would have been spotless inside and out. Our car was pristine inside but filthy outside, having been on a lengthy highway trip in bad weather.

I understood that Tesla was doing something absolutely unprecedented in our time, namely transitioning from a low volume manufacturer to mass-market levels of production. The growing pains of the company had been highly public.  They had even started making cars in a tent!   In fact, our car was probably made in that tent.

Elon Musk polarized people like very few public figures. Clearly, he is a genius and a visionary. On the other hand, he has an impulsive adolescent streak that makes observers question his maturity. He is  relentlessly truthful but also relentlessly overoptimistic when it comes to predictions and deadlines. As the face of a public company, his every tweet and interview is scrutinized and criticized. Institutional investors openly bet against his success.  And of course, he is dividing his time between running a revolutionary electric car startup and a private space company.

All of this is part of the Tesla mystique and part of the allure of the company.

For all of these reasons, Model 3 purchasers tend to forgive the clumsy delivery procedure. However, this would not be so if the car itself disappointed.