The founder of Internode, Simon Hackett bought a very important part of Australian motorsport. The first Tesla Model S in the country, now belongs to him. A few weeks in, Hackett has detailed his experience with the car.
The order first went in way back in 2012, on the day they were announced. At the time there was no guarantee when or even if they’d ever be sold in Australia. Thankfully they now are. The company has now produced more than 60,000 units of the Model S and is after the recent announcement of a new all-wheel drive P85D model, it’s not stopping anytime soon.
Hackett opted for a Pearl White and Carbon Fibre Black P85+ which now calls Adelaide, South Australia home. Recharging a electric vehicle only costs a few dollars, but the dream is to one day be fully off the grid. Thanks to a solar array on top of the house, Hackett can drive wherever he likes, for zero. Combine that with the supercharger network being built along the east coast of Australia and he’s pretty much set for a holiday drive as well.
Hackett believes so strongly in EV as the future of transportation that their household now has exclusively electric vehicles. As an early owner of the Tesla Roadster, the garage now features both models Tesla has made. With the Model X not far away, he might need to start planning extensions if he wants to keep up this trend.
Hackett says in terms of driving, his expectations have been solidly exceeded.
The level of software integration with the hardware is fantastic. It leverages the capacity of software to harness all the vehicle sensors for multiple purposes concurrently. This is the subtle, but crucial, advantage that the platform has in comparison to other cars that treat each subsystem as a separated entity.
As a driver, I find that driving (and using) this car involves exploring a user interface and user experience that is at once very sophisticated, and yet also very easy to use.
Hackett goes on to say the job isn’t done. These cars are certainly not perfect but for the most part, those issues can be addressed with over the air software updates.
It is a car that has you looking for excuses to go driving.
Overall he seems very happy with the car, saying not only does it looks fantastic, but that it delivers an instant, silent, and yet crazy-fast acceleration on demand with zero fuss or bother. As we’ve discussed on techAU before, the biggest criticism of the Model S is the price, because many want it and can’t afford it. Hackett is a successful businessman and can afford it and if that’s not encouragement enough to work harder, I don’t know what is.
Probably the most indicative line is this – This is indeed The Future I Was Promised.
More information at http://simonhackett.com/2015/01/16/tesla-model-s-arrival/
