I'm In Love!

One look and my heart was racing. She has great curves and is beautiful to look at. It's probably not what you think. A friend of mine got a Tesla Roadster 2.5 and let me test drive it.  I love this car! This was a serious bucket list item, so scratch one more off.

One of my best friends somehow got this impossible to get car. He's the guy that has it all, great wife, great kids, great house, great toys. If anyone truly deserves the life he has, it is him. He and his wife have taught me so much about people and compassion. He is also the friend mentioned in my Karma post.

Back to the Tesla. It is an all electric sports car. No other car company anywhere has anything that can compare to it. It's probably the most innovative car produced since Ford rolled out the Model A. When I found out my friend had gotten one, I begged him to let me test drive it. He laughed and told me to come over his house. Another of our friends was over, so the three of us went out to the garage. I was handed the keys and told to have at it. Seeing a Tesla, amazing; getting into the Tesla, challenging; once inside a Tesla, WOW! You feel like you are sitting in a high end race car. It has all of the amenities and then some. I quickly put the key into, what I guess could be called, the ignition and turned it. My Ape brain did not hear anything, so I turned it again, nothing. The third time, my friend knocked on the window and said, "Dude, the car was on the first time you turned the key, it's electric.".

Did I feel stupid? Let's just keep going. The steering wheel is much smaller then anything I've ever encountered which helps give the feel of driving a formula1 race car. There is no shifter, just buttons marked 'R', 'D', 'P'. I pushed the button marked 'R' and pulled out of the garage. The car slows down quickly after you take your foot from the gas(Err, electric) pedal. It's like downshifting times two and a half. I then pushed the button marked, 'D'. I stepped on the gas and the car smoothly accelerated. I took my foot off at the end of the driveway and the car slowed to enter the road.  I looked up to see if it was all clear and punched the gas. With no sound coming from an engine and no torque curve or shifting noise, your head messes with you. With these simple driving queues gone, your brain can not determine the speed or acceleration, that is left to your stomach and body. From the time it took my brain to scream, "PUNCH IT!!" until the time my stomach cried, "Look at the speedometer.", the car was already approaching fifty. It didn't seem possible.

  It was eerie and refreshing, hearing only the noise of the road. I decided to turn around, so I pulled into a driveway. Upon exiting, I hit the gas(well not really gas) and again the car was at Forty before I gave it a second thought. I wanted one more crack at the long straight road, so I turned around and punched it again. At the stop sign, I took a left and brought it on some windier roads."What's the hurry?", I thought, I  wanted to test this baby out.

Coming back to the neighborhood, I had the car going about sixty when I realized I was about to pass the road. I took my foot off the gas and made an insane hard turn. I gunned it and the car came around smooth as butter. The wheels never pulled or left the road, it felt like I was going much slower. I read the performance reviews on the car, but cornering at that speed with that much confidence was amazing and probably stupid. The movie line, "Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash.", flashed across my brain. I punched the gas and with the acceleration building made it down to the house. I pulled slowly up the driveway and as I reached the spot where I had left my friends, pushed the 'P' button and turned the key.

Getting out of the car was a challenge both emotionally and physically. Once I got out, I thanked my friend and in a fit of adrenalin, described how awesome the car was. They suggested I get in the car for some pictures. I stupidly left my camera in manual mode and did not adjust it for the light. So some of the pictures that they took were dark. As I sat there posing, I decided I needed to do another test drive, so off I went again.

I am not a car person. I've never bought a copy of 'Road and Track' or whatever other car magazines are out there. I've never been to a NASCAR race. When I first saw a pre-production Tesla being put through it's paces almost three years ago while flicking through the channels on TV, I was intrigued. An all electric car, made in America that would be on the road by 2009(Before any foreign competitor). An American car that could get over 200(now over 250) miles per charge. An American car that drove silently, An American car that could out 0-60 a Ferrari, a Porsche a Lamborghini,or a Vette.  This could be an amazing success story.  I followed the progress on the internet.  Now I can say I had the pleasure of driving one.

Tesla is the kind of business we need to encourage and keep from failing in America, not the large corporations.