This is my ode to Elon .... and each and every Tesla employee, past and present
[i.e. non "Tesla fanboys" or non "militant Teslans" need not read on!]
So this is it! More than 3 1/2 years ago, Elon made a promise - to build an electric vehicle for the masses and thereby "... accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation".
In never before released footage, the following link shows me arriving at the St Leonards showroom just before 7:00am on 29th March 2019, to be the first to register my interest in getting one of those vehicles and to be part of history (though I did not have the sense to turn the camera towards my face).
My knowledge about Tesla at the time was limited (I was reading the Ashlee Vance's "Elon Musk" book while queuing), as you can see from my inappropriate reference to "refuelling stations" instead of "superchargers". I have learnt and obsessed about Tesla a lot since then.
On Friday I finally collected my Model 3 from the Alexandria delivery centre. Here is Shadowfax coming out of the delivery centre:
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The drive home was mind-blowing. My first zero-emission trip through Sydney's polluted air. I did not notice any annoying squeaks or rattling sounds. So, as promised the Model 3 indeed felt "woody" rather than "tinny" and I felt more like flying a starship [cheers jaykaye] than a car.
At home, after taking the wife for a short joyride, I proceeded to immediately apply two layers of a ceramic coating, which means that while the coating cures I am not allowed to drive until tonight and not in the rain for the next 4-5 days after that. But hey, what is another 48 hours after waiting 3 1/2 years!
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A lot has happened during the last 3 1/2 years - not all of it was good. There even was a time when I almost cancelled my reservation (nothing to do with Tesla) and withdrew from another Tesla-related forum due to a disagreement with how it was managed (perhaps my fault, as I was getting into politics, when forum rules did not permit this).
My biggest disappointment is not being able to show the Model 3 to my father, who passed away in late 2016. He was an engineer and visited me at the Tesla showroom when I was queuing there. Like my son, he shared my excitement about Tesla and the change that it is bringing to the world.
Anyway, I might not agree with everything Elon says, but when he once said:
"I’m not trying to be anyone’s savior. I’m just trying to think about the future and not be sad."
Somehow, that deeply resonates with me.
To me the Model 3 represents a necessary and tangible step towards a better future. Less pollution, less noise, much more renewable energy and with autonomous driving, a massive freeing up of resources, as a significantly smaller car pool driving people around the world, in that process freeing up garages and parking spaces all around our congested cities.
This gives me more hope than any empty words by our political leaders, who - by the way - in my opinion, are woefully ill-prepared for the challenges that will come with this change.
For the coming days and weeks, I look forward to bonding with my new baby and somewhat unexpectedly, I will soon have the chance to visit its birthplace in Fremont [my son being in LA on an industrial placement, and my wife and I
having to visit him there].
I wish all others here decades of joy with their Model 3s and hope to meet with some of you over coming days, months, years!
.... and to some poor soul out there, I gladly and graciously pass on the bragging rights as "longest wait for Model 3". From the time I was the "First in Line" to register for my Model 3 on 29th March 2016, it has been 1,277 days of waiting until I received my Model 3 this Friday. For anyone who has waited longer than this [I suspect someone who was a day 1 reservation holder who is waiting for a white interior or AWD model, with October delivery], that honour now goes to you.
However, no one can take away my "First in Line" title. Perhaps a sad reflection on my life, but I view this as the single most important achievement of my lifetime and carry it with great pride. I will ask my family that when the time comes, to put that on my grave stone!
To Elon and each and every Tesla employee - thousand thanks for keeping your promise ....and a mind-blowing car!
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