As a startup vehicle company, an electric one at that, Tesla relied upon referrals during their early years to keep sales up. Incredible perks like free lifetime supercharging were available when using an existing owner's unique code and after sending enough customers their way you could actually bag a free next-gen Roadster (when they're finally produced), some online content creators actually have several queued up for delivery in the future!

Loot Box

This was essential to ensure the demand stayed relatively consistent and allowed the company to slowly mature into what we see today. Some time ago the previous referral program was dropped, seemingly due to limited supply as the orders were naturally rolling in faster than ever. Recently it's had an overhaul - now dubbed the Tesla Loot Box - and owners may share their code to friends, family, or strangers on the street, to receive credits for redemption in Tesla's store. 2,000 for a Model 3 or Y, or 3,000 loyalty reward if you purchase another yourself, whilst also offering the new customer hundreds of pounds off their purchase.

Those points may be redeemed for free supercharging miles, cool Tesla swag such as drinks decanters, hats or hoodies, or even vehicle accessories like roof bars or wheel caps.

Test Drives

It's clear that Tesla are still keen to employ this kind of sales generation (it's hard to argue against), this is evidenced by the regular emails I receive offering special deals to share with friends. One such email that landed in my inbox got me thinking; "offer an overnight test drive of Model 3 or Y for up to five friends". I've strived to share the driving experience with as many people as possible, but it occurred to me that these test drives could be turned into an impromptu road trip, to create a lasting memory and great first impression of the cars, whilst also being a shameless attempt to convert as many people as possible to E.Vs.

So I quickly began planning, invited some likely candidates, looked into a route and set a date. It didn’t take any persuasion and people were scrambling for a drivers’ seat! As it turned out on the day, everyone and their family showed up so that all the cars were completely filled and it was great that so many people got to come along for the journey.

The overnight option was available for either a Model 3 or Y and with any package variant (standard, long range, performance) as capacity allows. The staff were so accommodating, surely they realised what was happening since most of the bookings were from the same location, but even with having to make many changes, they were incredibly helpful and keen to serve.

The offer was also limited to 200 miles of range (fair) so we opted to drive around the local countryside and it just happened to be one of the hottest days of the year! So sunglasses on we headed out, a beautiful sight of 6 Teslas parading through the town in convoy which I dreamed as a snapshot into the future, then merging onto the motorway and on to our first destination.

Soon pulling off into the winding country roads of rural England, scenic backdrops floating past our silent parade, save for the melodious tunes of classic singalongs and cheers of excitement at the car’s performances. We also stopped off for a quick light show too.

I was glad to get to spend most of the day harping on about the benefits of ownership - how cheap the fuel is, how low/non-existent the maintenance costs are, along with first hand experience of how fun they can be. We stopped off at a local pub for lunch and to discuss the cars, naturally everybody had an excellent time and whilst I'm sure this is not exactly what Tesla had in mind when they launched this program, I'm certain it had a positive effect for their brand and possibly helped entice a few more souls down the path of sustainable transportation.

Thank you, Tesla, for your unending ingenuity, dedication to the Master Plan, and unrivalled customer service that made this possible. Although the even was set to run in the UK until July, if you're considering taking a test drive it's worth asking for an overnight option just in case, to get a much better feel of actual ownership.

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