Visiting Germany – Part 5: Entering a Tesla Showroom for the First Time

If you’re reading the series of
articles on our trip to Germany, here’ s something a little shorter and a
little different from the rest of the series. The main difference being Tesla
is an American brand. Also, this was just a normal showroom, but it’s not something
we get to see in Malaysia. We don’t have Tesla showrooms in Malaysia. You may
have seen some Model S and Model X driving around, but they either belong to
some government agency or are grey imports.
Recent news on Tesla and Germany
have been around the push against Tesla building a factory in Berlin because
they were against trees being cut down to build a factory. Anyway, we were in
Stuttgart after visiting Markthalle when we came across a Tesla showroom.
Knowing we might never step foot inside one again, we just had to check it out.
Tesla cars are not that common on German roads. From our
conversation with the Volkswagen representative while driving the e-Golf, it
might take another 5 years or so for Germany to significantly shift to electric
cars. We did see one Model S as a taxi as well.
The showroom is simple just like any other showroom. Although nothing spectacular in terms of layout and presentation, there seemed to be a lot of people interested in at least sitting inside one of the cars on display. So, we took the liberty of doing the same. The Model X, Model S, and Model 3 all have different types of door handles with some being less intuitive than others. The Model X door handles for example, need to be pushed in at the edge. I find these things to be unnecessary and fragile, but that’s just my opinion.
Tesla cars look very plain on the
outside, other than the Model X’s gull-wing rear doors. After getting into all
three cars, my first impression was that Tesla cars reminded me of Mazda cars. The
steering wheel girth is generous and they all have a very clean look on the
inside. The dash and the centre console kind of envelop you, creating a nice
cockpit. That really reminded me of Mazda. On the outside, they also look
Mazda-like. The thought of Mazda and Tesla lingered with me even after returning
to Malaysia. It was only today that my brain connected the dots.
Remember the Tesla Cybertruck?
Remember a man throwing metal balls at the truck? An even
hitting it with a hammer?
That man is Franz Von Holzhausen – former Mazda Design Director
(North America) and current Chief Designer at Tesla.
No wonder the Teslas reminded me of Mazdas
We didn’t take many photographs since this was a showroom.
Just some exterior and interior shots that we could share with you here.
Model X interior
Model 3
Model 3 interior
Model S
Model S interior
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