BALBIRNIE HOUSE AND TESLA, A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP

CHARGE YOUR TESLA CARS WITH OUR COMPLIMENTS, AT BALBIRNIE HOUSE!

We’re absolutely delighted to confirm that we have now initiated a partnership with Tesla. 

First things first, we have installed two Tesla-specific charging stations in our front car park. These are roped off with red ropes, and are reserved exclusively for hotel guests who drive a Tesla, and wish to charge their cars. 

Balbirnie House will now be auto-mapped as a charging destination on the SatNav screens for all UK Tesla vehicles. The wonders of modern technology!  

Worth mentioning, we also have two further charging stations in our north car park, available for any other make of electric vehicle. 

Should you wish to acquire a Tesla, you can use our Balbirnie House referral code, to achieve 1,000 Free Supercharger Miles. In turn, with complimentary charging at Balbirnie House when visiting as a hotel guest, so long as we are providing this capability. 

Having committed many years ago, to doing all we can to reduce Balbirnie’s environmental footprints, we switched company vehicles back in 2015, to hybrid electric and petrol. In my case, a Mitsubishi PHEV. This gave 20 or so miles driving on electric, and then switched to petrol.

Our 2019 discussions with Tesla were initiated by two things. Firstly, recommendations on financial efficiency, which arose from our external auditor during annual accounts audit, when future-forecasting on cost-effectiveness. Secondly, on visiting Amsterdam’s Independent Hotel Show, arriving at Schiphol airport and finding that their entire fleet of 167 taxis, were a combination of Tesla Model S and X. Our taxi driver said, ‘Some of the cars have 300,000 kilometres on the clock, they still drive like new’. 

So our Mitsubishi was replaced a few months ago, with a fully electric entry level Tesla Model S 75. This is a modern era supercar, and I now write from the perspective of having covered 6,000 miles. 

Many years ago, and before 3 daughters arrived, I had the great pleasure of owning three Porsche 911’s in a row, so I can certainly reflect upon supercar performance. From a distance, there isn't much difference between a Porsche 911 (on the left) and our Tesla!

Over many recent years however, my personal car objective has primarily based around the needs of my children, and all their associated gear. 

My best car over the years pre dating 2015 with our children, was a wee Mitsubishi Colt, which delivered 65mpg. That car was sourced from a Fife garage forecourt, 'please point me to your most economical to run second hand car', after I had become totally disillusioned by emissions and fuel consumption from what I had purchased beforehand, a supposedly economical diesel Mercedes Jeep. The hotel brigade called the wee Mitsubishi 'The Hairdryer', because it had a tiny 1.1litre engine. I emblazoned its back bumper with a sticker which said, 'ZUMBA CHANGED MY WIFE!!!' - and you know what, we had such fun for years with that car. Kids jumping in after being at the beach, covered with sand? No problem! Dropped your ice cream on the car seat? Hakuna Matata! 

So, here we are in 2019. What’s our new Tesla like to drive? One word, incredible. Compared to a Porsche 911, it has 5 full adult seats versus 2 seats. It handles similarly, as if on tracks. It’s quieter, quicker, and has a huge boot for storage. As there's no engine under the front bonnet, there is refrigerated storage section instead, called a Frunk! And as supplied by arrangement with Lifetime Supercharging, this car will not cost a penny to charge, whenever using the network of Tesla superchargers. 

If I wished to do so today, I could input an address in southern France into the car’s SatNav, the car will then self-calculate the entire journey, based upon the Tesla Supercharger network, and it would not cost a single penny to get there. 

In Scotland, our nearest Superchargers (1 hr plugged in for full charge) are in Perth, Dundee and Edinburgh, so geographically irrelevant for daily practicality at Balbirnie House. 

When plugged in for a full 240 mile charge, it’ll take up to 4 hours at Balbirnie House, the cost from low to full charge, for illustrative purposes, is circa a tenner. The hotel will cover that convenience and cost for all Tesla drivers. We have 22Kw output, which means charge speeds of up to 48 miles per hour on the Model S.

Am I able to drive 240 miles on full charge? That’ll depend on how I drive, and on what roads I drive. From experience, motorway cruising speeds can reduce the stated distance. 

Our Tesla Model S model is actually now discontinued, and the two S versions now available are significantly more expensive, but both provide scope for greater distance, at 367 miles, to 379 miles respectively. Bear in mind, all car manufacturers calculate such distances using testing methodology which involves lower speeds, flat roads, and so on. 

The top model, in Ludicrous mode, has acceleration which defies belief. Drum roll please, ... for the world's fastest 5 seat saloon car. Such performance would previously only be available for a tiny proportion of world buyers, willing to purchase an extreme and exorbitant sports car. 

On the point of acceleration, if I may so bold as to say so from a practical perspective, that level of acceleration is perhaps more befitted to a race track!

The car continually improves. This is via ongoing WiFi downloads of software updates. 

For sure, acquiring and funding the vehicle at outset is a considerable proposition, however depending on how you intend using it, and when comparing a 5 year running cost to a normal 5 seat family saloon, it’s certainly worth doing the math!

And for company car drivers, as our auditor was especially keen to point out, that effective from the financial year 2020/ 21 – the car’s Benefit in Kind tax, drops to … Zero! Before then seemingly beginning to gradually increase again. 

Instead of myself writing in detail about what it’s like to live with our Tesla, here’s a truly great explainer. A cartoonist’s review of his magical space car.

What do I personally love about the car? Basically, everything. 

 But most especially? 

-       Fold down the back seats, and the space easily fits two bikes. 

- If it’s a cold winter’s day, 10 minutes before you drive, use the App to pre-warm the car, its steering wheel, and its seats. 

-       Cruise control, you can alter settings so that your Tesla automatically sits a set multiple of lengths behind a slower car in front, then automatically speeds up when the car in front has speeded up or moved over. Very relaxed motorway driving. 

-       The car has permanent 4 wheel drive road-holding, with suspension which can be raised. 

-       A gigantic sliding glass sunroof. 

Soon after we acquired our Tesla, the manufacturer released their new and significantly less expensive Model 3 in the UK. This has entry level pricing at £38,500 for the 254 mile version – and this introduction seems to be a further conclusive point, whereby electric has perhaps now overtaken previous conventional car power, at mass market capability.

Tesla Model 3 vs BMW 3 Series: electric car vs diesel showdown

You can also use Balbirnie’s referral code when acquiring one of these Model 3 cars, to achieve 1,000 Free Supercharger Miles, and complimentary charging at Balbirnie House when visiting as a hotel guest. As stated, hotel charging is to be provided for as long as we can justify the ongoing partnership, which will be benchmarked by the numbers of hotel guests who use the charging station. 

Our Tesla Model S looks to me like a fairly conventional 5 seat family car. 

From a distance, maybe you could mistake it for a Mazda 6 2.5 GT Sport, like the one below, or any other similar looking car? 

But that's certainly not how Scotland's youngsters see it. Adults mostly tend to see the Tesla just as another car, but the reactions from youngsters is very different indeed. When driving, you can see one youngster after another gesturing to their pals, mouths wide open, 'OMG THAT'S A TESLA!!!' 

As a company that doesn't advertise, apparently doesn't need to advertise, with a client base who (as I am myself writing this today) willingly recommending the vehicles, someone, somehow, somewhere within Tesla, has done something to totally hook into the imagination of today's Scotland youngsters. 

And as Scotland is clearly 'the Saudia Arabia of renewal energy', with green energy driving more and more future electric vehicles, Tesla is certainly at the revolutionary forefront of that delivery today. 

And Balbirnie House is of course absolutely delighted to be involved. 

Many thanks, safe driving one and all,

Nicholas Russell / MD Balbirnie House 

PS Watch out for Tesla unveiling their new pickup truck, 21.11.2019, apparently 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, over 400 miles charge distance.