I recently put in an order for a Tesla Model S and have found that their "What to Expect" lacked the level of detail that would have made me more comfortable with the process. As such, here's a time-line of the process from my own experience.
| Days from Start | Days to Delivery | Event | Dashboard Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 65 | Order placed and confirmed Deposit made | Order Confirmed We have begun sourcing parts for your Model S |
| 14 | 51 | Received email requesting confirmation of accessory shipping address | " |
| 26 | 39 | Electrical contractor visit for estimate | " |
| 31 | 34 | VIN assigned Charger delivered | " |
| 40 | 25 | First contact from delivery specialist | " |
| 42 | 23 | Garage prepared Electrical service upgraded Charger installed | " |
| 55 | 10 | Manufacturing begins Notification call received from delivery specialist Vehicle trade-in inspection | In Production The Tesla Factory is building your Model S |
| 56 | 9 | Manufacturing complete Electronic forms "signed" | Production Complete Your Model S is being prepared for pickup or delivery |
| 59 | 6 | Paperwork received via Fedex Temporary registration tags incl. Forms signed and returned First local delivery call received | " |
| 62 | 3 | Delivery scheduled | " |
| 65 | 0 | Delivery taken | Delivery is accepted via the dashboard. After this, the order status and "view design" button disappear. |
What didn't happened as described:
- Owner advisor had not introduced the local delivery team (they called directly, about a week before delivery).
- The "dashboard" on "My Tesla" will show your reservation number (starting with "RN") up until the VIN is assigned. At that point, the VIN will replace the reservation number.
- Owner's Manual available online (and also in-car) as PDF with embedded hyperlinks. At the office, I've recently been using a reference manual that was PDF but no hyperlinks, and an interface document which was in Word format as a giant table, so I really appreciate a decent set of documentation.
- It's probably worth mentioning that when you register on the Tesla web site, one of the things on your "dashboard" is a set of online documents relevant to your account.
