2013 Tesla Model S in Queens, NY, service center, awaiting delivery to buyer David Noland, Feb 2013
After just about four years of waiting, my 2013 Tesla Model S has arrived.
Almost.
The call from the Tesla delivery rep came on February 4, the last day of the two-week delivery window promised back in December.
My car, with metallic green paint, 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack, black leather interior, air suspension, had arrived at the service/delivery center in Queens, New York.
To say that I was eagerly anticipating its final delivery to my home--just 60 miles upstate in the Hudson Valley--would be the understatement of the year.
But fate can be cruel.
Tomorrow, on February 7, I'm scheduled to leave for a two-week biking trip in Myanmar.
I briefly considered taking delivery before the trip, driving the car for a day or two, and then heading off to Myanmar.
But I wasn't sure I could bear the frustration of abandoning the car after such a brief taste of its pleasures.
And I really didn't like the idea of my brand-new Model S sitting unused, potentially buried in a snowdrift, for the first two weeks of its life.
So, with very mixed feelings, I have postponed delivery until February 22, two days after I return.
Although this kind of short-term delivery postponements can be arranged, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] recently confirmed that once a customer signs the final configuration paperwork, it won't allow long-term production or delivery delays (as a few customers have now requested).
The delivery rep assures me the car will be stored indoors and watched over carefully.
Hopefully they'll have plenty of time to inspect it carefully, correct any small defects, and perhaps install the updated defroster vent that the company is apparently developing.
I'll report what my new Tesla Model S is like to drive, in detail, as soon as I actually drive it--in two more weeks.
Stay tuned.
David Noland is a Tesla Model S reservation holder and freelance writer who lives north of New York City.
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