Tesla Is a Driving Experience Like No Other

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I’m just back from a trip to Silicon Valley. When my friend Iliana picked me up in Mountain View, she was driving her Telsa Model S. I quickly learned that this is truly a car like no other.  Sleek, feature rich, thoughtfully designed, it’s like Apple made this car. And they’re working on their own version, so stay tuned!

The Tesla Model S is so quick it's startling.
The Tesla Model S is so quick it’s startling.

Inside the Tesla Model S there are two seats located in the rear hatchback. And up front there is plenty of room with a full trunk. Kids like sitting in the cute little backwards-facing seats.

Music is provided by Tesla’s own version of Pandora, playing the songs you like and remembering the ones you don’t. The full days calendar appointments are displayed in the 17 inch dashboard screen along with the most detailed GPS map you could imagine.

 If you’re taking a long road trip, you can bring up a map showing all of the Tesla high speed charging stations along the route. The car goes about 240 miles between charges so there aren’t that many places you can’t go.

Well maybe Wyoming might be tough. But the company has mapped out a complete transcontinental route for owners with that in mind.

Getting into the Model S Cockpit and feeling the leather seats and crisp styling, you aren’t always prepared for the acceleration beneath you. If you pull out in front of someone you can bolt ahead like no gas powered car ever has. There’s even an option for insanity mode which will rocket you faster than a Ferrari. Silently of course. My friend said they declined that option.

The downside of riding in the rocket ship is the cost. The car sells for more than $75,000, and if it breaks there is only one place to get it fixed. But they loan you another Model S to use while they fix it. Iliana said that their home electric bill isn’t that much higher even with charging the car every night. And of course she doesn’t pay for oil changes or gas.

If she wants to park her Tesla in the garage, it could do it all by itself- no driver needed. And on the highway the car stays between the lane markers and automatically brakes if it senses a nearby car or other impediment.
electric plug
It doesn’t use that much electricity to fill up the batteries–but it takes all night. You can also charge the car at one of Tesla’s many super charging stations that only takes 30 minutes.

In Amsterdam, the only taxis allowed to service Schiphol airport are Teslas. The drivers there told me they get cold in the European winters despite the floor being lined with lithium ion batteries. They all want their Mercedes S class black cars back but the Netherlands government is hell bent on cutting emissions so the country is Tesla’s second largest market after the US.

In Silicon Valley cold is not an issue, and the cars are everywhere. My friend who just bought a new house in Los Altos was pleased to see that there was already a Tesla home charging unit installed in the big garage. Across from the Googleplex we saw a parking lot with twelve of the company’s super fast chargers waiting for their owners to finish their days work.

It’s become a cliche but this is how cars should be made. Whether you go for the high end Tesla (the company is bringing out a much cheaper version soon) or pick one like the Chevy Bolt which for $30,000 delivers 200+ miles per charge, or Nissan’s Leaf, electric is becoming a truly better way to go.