The Drive Of My Life: Why I Want A New Tesla Model 3 For $28,000
What it’s Like to Drive a Tesla
The sleek midnight silver metallic Tesla Model 3 sat in the parking lot, reflecting iridescent sheen off its roof. Reminiscent of the iconic KITT, a highly advanced, robotic car in the TV series Knight Rider. The Tesla‘s compact, aerodynamic, and elegant design oozed state-of-the-art excellence. My neighbor, Tom, came out and beamed proudly, talking about having been on the waiting list for a year to buy it, then finally replacing their old Prius with 200,000 miles.
Tom, silver-haired, stocky body-builder, retired construction company owner talked with boyish excitement about their experience of driving the Tesla up to New England from their winter home near Fort Meyers, Florida. He was clearly smitten and eager to show it off as he pointed out super-advanced smart convenience and safety features, traction control, and autopilot. “Hey, you want to take it for a spin?” he asked. It wasn’t what I was angling for, but heck, how could I refuse?
Steve, another neighbor, Tom, and I hopped in and Tom gave me a quick rundown of the controls and the storage organizers on the center console. With no instruments behind the steering wheel, an all-purpose touch screen was the control center. The screen, which was built into the center dash allows you to set up multiple driver profiles that include settings like the seat and steering wheel adjustments, mirrors, and driving modes. There was nothing to start or turn off. One simply would put it in gear to go. Just like that. Off we sailed powerfully down the street, on a single-gear transmission, smooth as glass and without a sound, zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds, by the way! The steering was tight and the ride glided along smoother than anything I could ever imagine, let alone remember.
“How often do you have to charge it? Was finding charging stations a problem, and how long does it take to top it off?” Steve wondered. Tom replied, “I need to stop for a men’s room every three or four hours anyway! The touch screen has a computer map that allows you to schedule charging and shows you where all the 18,000 worldwide charging stations are and which ones are closest to your route. It calculates how much charge you have left and what speed you can afford, given your distance to reach charging stations along the way. I can plug it into any 120-volt wall outlet and charge at a rate of 5 miles or so an hour. But with supercharging, it only takes a half-hour to get 140 miles worth of juice. We can hit the restrooms, get some refreshments or have a bite and when we come out we are ready to roll.”
As we quietly glided along Tom confided, “I am a large guy and my biggest concern was if I was going to fit in a Tesla 3. I got to drive one at the dealer in Tampa and found out it had plenty of room for me and after driving it I was immediately sold. The fit and finish, reliability, and technology are outstanding and it drives unlike anything I have ever dreamed.”
What was the secret to the resilient battery capacity? The car had regenerative braking, which means any time the foot comes off the accelerator, or onto the brake, the friction charges the batteries while it drives. The quick, confident acceleration, smooth suspension and quiet ride were a dream. Tom also commented on how much he enjoyed the lack of gas fumes, oil, exhaust, and practically nonexistent maintenance on the car.
Steve commented that the car was turning a lot of heads as we floated along. “Yeah,” Tom said, “But I’m happily married, already!” We pulled up to Tom’s parking space. A real-time animated graphic of the curb appeared on the touch screen, showing the bumper distance to the curb. How many times do we either hit the curb, overshoot it and hang over the sidewalk, or leave a couple of feet to spare in order to avoid getting too close?
The sweetest driving experience ever was addictive and while the price tag of $35,000 is still out of reach for a lot of car buyers, with a $7500 federal tax rebate, which just expired, it could compete with luxury cars, not to mention a lot of gas-powered family cars and even SUVs. Several states offer rebates on electric cars. Consumer demand drives the promise of every major car company ramping up ecar production, making the near future of American transportation look fun and a win-win for people and the environment.
There are plenty of reasons the Tesla 3 is a sensational vehicle. And one of them is that Tesla has set a new bar for car manufacturers, not only for passenger sedans but SUVs and pickup trucks, which for the most part still have big carbon footprints. Let’s hope that the $7500 rebate and also state rebates and incentives come back, once our leadership comes back from their senses.
The rebate wont appear by itself. That is where you and I come in. With only 15% of Americans taking an activist role in telling our leaders we want change, here is a good reason to go to Senate.gov, look up your senators, and shoot them an email or a call to support bringing back the rebate!
