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Sunday, October 17, 2021

One Month Old Tesla

Tesla Model 3


Today I have owned my Tesla 3 for a month. We have put 1200 miles on it. I am 73. I have owned 80 cars - trucks - scooters - campers. So I have experienced many great years of the adventure - freedom - and joy that the internal combustion engine has provided. I have enjoyed revving engines and also squeezing every mile out of a gallon of gasoline I could. My career - I was a public school science teacher - and always wished for the day when I owned that great American electric car. Our Telsa has been great - here are so many features I love. But while driving this wonderful quiet smooth powerful car - I have a deep sadness for the passing of an era. I have always been an early adapter - I liked being first with the new gadget - the DVR - the latest computer - iPhone - etc. After driving this car for a month - I feel the revolution is going to come a lot sooner than many expect.

After all those years in the classroom - I am hard of hearing. So the number one feature I like about the Tesla is the quiet. It is hard getting used to throttling it and getting pushed back in my seat without that roar. I almost want to buy an outside speaker and play motor noise. The quiet is that profound. It is great for conversations in the car. The second feature I like is the one pedal driving. You get used to that so quickly - off the throttle - the car slows and stops. Third - the autopilot - it keeps me between the lines like nothing else. My wife says this feature alone is worth the $56k we spent.

For 55 years - my dream car was a Shelby Cobra - 450 screaming horsepower in a little roadster. In my own warped view - I have finally gotten it - with a little refinement. I have the open sky - but with a glass top - I have the head-snapping acceleration without the heavy clutch and roar - I have the comfortable seats with room for friends in the back - I have two motors - powering the front and rear wheels - and the sun visors are standard - not optional. I did not even mention air conditioning - that works even when the engine is off.

I am being sincere when I say I have some concerns. I am not used to no spare tire - but I can't remember the last time I had to change one. I bought the Long Range model because I fear running out of electricity. But at 73 - it was time for a little adventure.

I do bluster when the zealots claim it does not pollute. Somewhere someone is burning fossil fuel to make the electricity for me to go. They are polluting. Yes - someday - we will make more power by solar - wind - tide - hydro. But right now in America - a big majority is made by coal - oil - gas. So we are not saving the planet. But maybe it is easier to make cleaner energy at a big power plant than at millions of little gasoline and diesel engines.

The Telsa is a gift from my wife - to an old motorhead. "Gone are the years when you dreamed of that car - it sits in your garage in your Shangra-lar."


 

Saturday, October 02, 2021

My Friends Joel and George Dawson Bought A New Toyota Plug-In Hybrid Car








George writes - 

Picture 1: Saturday, September 25, after 6.5 months wait we got delivery of our brand new Toyota Rav4 Prime which is a plug-in hybrid.  Doesn’t it look great?

Picture 2 & 3: Then on Tuesday, September 28, Joel turned in front of a fast moving car and this is the result.  She turned left from Monroe to Brevard and the white SUV in the background whammed into her. That car pushed her into the gray one stopped at the light. All the air bags worked and Joel’s body didn’t hit anything. Picture 4: She felt fine - you can see her standing by the car. She is showing the friction burn from the seat belt. She was very lucky to be in this car since it protected her so well. She was also lucky not to get a ticket.  Picture 5: The next morning she went to Urgent Care just to make sure there weren’t any undectected injuries.  You can see the x-ray shows no broken bones. You can get a good look at the internal makeup of her pacemaker. 

Now what? The car will probably be totaled. Our insurance should cover replacement of the car with our paying $500 deductible. We will probably order another RAV4 Prime soon. We should have plenty of time to decide if that is really what we want to do, since it will probably take a while.