A friend of mine is fairly determined to buy a Tesla and wanted to have me along for the test drive. Although this meant a whole day with travel time, I didn't have to be asked twice.
We only had about 25 minutes in the car but that was more than enough. It was a Tesla model S and there were three of us on board including the very helpful and professional salesman, Mike.
The Tesla is like nothing else. Better mileage than a microcar, seating of a large sedan (which it is), cargo capacity of an SUV and performance only a handful of cars on this planet can match.
It wasn't as quiet as I thought it might be (expectations were extremely high) but it was more than quiet enough. By this I mean it is quieter and smoother than probably any other luxury car with similar handling capability. The interior is very well finished and tends toward Scandinavian lean rather than Italian opulent.
The Tesla has a lot of unique characteristics and build features. We spent 2 1/2 hours in the car and the showroom/meeting room and repeated very little conversation.
Three things stick out for me. One is the simplicity of the design. Go to a dealership and look at the chassis and powertrain. Can it get much simpler than that? If it weren't for the dual motors, which might be 3/4 of a cubic foot each, you'd swear that all mechanicals had been stripped out of it.
The second is the weight of 4800 pounds. This is not-so-mini van territory. And that is with an all aluminum chassis.
The third is the acceleration once rolling. It is violent. When my friend hit the voltage, my cheeks moved back on my face. I'm not THAT fat. It would be a good idea to warn your passengers before you really goose this car. It corners very flat due to the battery being below the wheel axle height.
How fast is it in the midrange? Very fast cars accelerate from 30 to 50 mph in 3 seconds. The Tesla S does it in 1.8. Violent is the only word which applies and I doubt you will read that word in any other car review. Simply no delay. Electrons got jump. More so than air intakes, transmissions and valve timing regimens.
I was encouraged by the staff to drive the car but I wasn't buying it, my friend was, so I wasn't going to waste everyone's time.
Downsides. It is a big car. The options grouping is a little flaky. Otherwise, superb from every point of view. My friend will almost certainly be driving one of these by spring and he intends to keep it for 15 years.
A stunning entry into the automotive world by a novice. Congratulations Mr. Musk. I await your downsized, econo, super-mileage offering.
Cheers,
John M.
