Tesla moments

[Pate]

Yesterday, when walking to my car after playing some volleyball, I had just sat in my car when I heard a boy's voice saying "Nice car!". I turned to look and saw a boy of around 10 years old on a bicycle grinning at me. The following conversation ensued:

Me: "Thanks, yes it is very nice."
Boy: "It is electric, isn't it?"
Me: "Yes it is."
Boy: "How much power does it have?"
Me: "Around 360 hp. Goes from 0 to 100 km/h in about 5 seconds."
Boy: "Wow.. So it's a sport version?"
Me: "No, this is the standard version. There is also a sport version which is even faster."
Boy: "How much power does that have??"
Me: "Around 420 hp. It goes from 0 to 100 in around 4 seconds."
Boy, looking impressed: "Nice. Is it a Maserati?" (I thought this was a bit strange question, as he already seemed to know it was electric!)
Me: "No, it is a Tesla."
Boy: "Tesla?"
Me: "Yes, Tesla."

At this point my passenger arrived and we had to go, so I just thanked the boy for his interest and he cycled away while we went on our way.

Pate

 

[ThosEM]

Yesterday, a nice Audi 8 pulled up behind me in heavy traffic waiting for a light. He had his right turn blinker on, so I pulled up a bit to allow him access to the turn lane to my right. He edged into it and then stopped beside me to thank me and also to ask: "How do you like your car?" I had three heavy duty blowers and a dehumidifier in the back of the car, for drying our basement out after very heavy rains this week.

I said I liked it very much: "goes like a Porsche, loads like an SUV and gets 100 MPGe."
He said: "Great, I pick mine up in a month..." Thumbs up!

 

[Ugliest1]

Several days ago I was coming back to our loaner parked and charging at Vancouver BC's Grouse Mountain's EV charging spot, unhooking the cord, when three Australians stopped and were looking at the car.

"What kind of car is that? Who makes it?"
"Tesla, made in Fremont CA."
"It's electric?"
"100% electric, no gas whatsoever."
"Only sold in California?"

Suspecting they were Aussies from their accent, but not wanting to guess and have them be insulted New Zealanders (so I've heard), I said

"Where are you from?"
"Australia."
"They'll start being delivered there in the fall."

Quizzical looks. One of them says "when is 'fall'?"

"Couple of months"
"Ohh, that's our spring!!"

We all laughed, I got in, they stayed there and watched the car leave.

 

[David99]

I saw a local school cheer leading team raising money by offering car wash. There were two lanes and when it was my turn, I heard the girls say "I want to wash the Tesla". All of them came over and started washing my car leaving the other car next to me just waiting. LOL

 

[TexasEV]

I saw a local school cheer leading team raising money by offering car wash. There were two lanes and when it was my turn, I heard the girls say "I want to wash the Tesla". All of them came over and started washing my car leaving the other car next to me just waiting. LOL

Were they using two buckets and clean microfiber towels? If not I wouldn't let them wash my Tesla no matter how cute the girls were.

 

[HHHH]

^This.

 

[Denarius]

^Times infinity

 

[birdsaresmarter]

I just died a little for that car. RIP clear coat

 

[InTheShadows]

Oh, wow, I won't even let the towel guys touch our car at the touch less car wash.

There is no way I would let any kids wash our car except ours. (They have been trained the correct way to do it.)

 

[InTheShadows]

Last night we were on our way home form an amusement park in very light traffic and they just raised the speed limit to 70mph on our highway. So I had the cruise set for 81 (78 on my phone GPS) and our kids were sitting in the back playing on the iPad.

We were going up a slight hill with an additional truck lane and there were big rigs in the far right lane going about 55-60 mph.

I go into the settings and change the units to km. 130 on the display. Our daughter knows the car well and knows this is the top speed of the car. So I say, "hey, look how fast we are going, and it's so quiet". She looks up from the iPad and says "oh gosh, I'm uncomfortable going that fast, can you please slow down?" Our boy says "one three zero, wow." We go past two more big rigs in the right lane and she says again, can you please slow down. (She's the one that witnessed the big rig blow out last month.) Then she looks back at the iPad for a few moments and my wife switches it back to miles. Then I say, "There, is that better?" She looks up and sees 81 again and says yes. My wife and I both chuckle then we explained to her what we did and she said it wasn't funny.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

We were going up a slight hill with an additional truck lane

Funny thing, I hated those "slight hills" during my commutes back and forth to my parents house during class breaks and family visits. I suspect I'd love them now in the MS, especially on the backside if the energy graph dips into the green.
Seems like it was MS week at the amusement park. They'll need to put in a second charger.
I wonder if your trick would work on unsuspecting test drivers. Seed planted.

 

[caddieo]

Oh, wow, I won't even let the towel guys touch our car at the touch less car wash.

There is no way I would let any kids wash our car except ours. (They have been trained the correct way to do it.)

The best conveyor-type car wash in town also offers hand washing and mini-detailing but after seeing the unbranded liquids and the overused rags, I decided to continue doing it myself.

 

[PeterW]

Suspecting they were Aussies from their accent, but not wanting to guess and have them be insulted New Zealanders (so I've heard), I said

"where are you from?"

Awesome, great people skills.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Awesome, great people skills.

I'd have found it really easy. Kiwis are just friendlier

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

We visited my parents over the weekend and took them to mass on Sunday morning in the car. After mass was over, my mother stops the priest and asks him if he’d mind blessing the car. Seems like a few weeks ago he had a group car blessing ceremony and since we weren’t in town at that time she didn’t want us to miss out.

I thought it would be just the priest but he brings out the whole alter server cadre with him, does the blessing, then we proceed into Tesla time. He says he’s never seen one of these cars before and asks what kind it is – it's a Tesla. Well who makes it – we go into that explanation. Turns out one of the assistants has family in CA and they see many on the road. I get them curious about the engine and pop the frunk – met with wide eyed disbelief (not sure if they’ll be saying extra penance for that). One server asks to see the engine and is disappointed when I say it’s buried behind the second row of seats. Answer the usual questions about range and price. Show them the touchscreen and the group gradually starts to break up. The priest gives me a car magnet that would have been a nice gift but I’ll need to repurpose it since the body is aluminum. Haven’t tried it on our ICE car yet. I did find a nice spot on the rear view mirror mount to attach an icon that was a second gift. All in all, this might have been my favorite moment so far.

 

[Newscutter]

Two excerpts from my blog re: last weekend's trip to Cleveland.

TSLA Owner's First Sighting

As we sat in the car to see what we could dig up, I noticed a silver Mercedes whizzing past us-- in reverse! It was weird behavior in such a wide open parking lot, but when he turned our direction the intent became clear. I walked over to see if he needed directions or something and it turned out that he was a longtime TSLA stock owner and ours was the first car he'd ever seen! He had lots of questions and pretty much my answer to all of them was: "BUY THE CAR." My dashcam has the audio turned off (for legal reasons in my state) but you can see how this all looked from the car:

​

I sure hope he trades that Mercedes in on a nice Model S. If you ever find this post, Mr. Ward, please let me know how you're enjoying your new Tesla!

ZERO Time


Coming out after dinner at an Eat n'Park somewhere off the beaten path in Ohio, I noticed a motorcycle parked suspiciously close to Serena. I had her well away from the busy spots but for some reason a biker had parked up beside her. As we approached I noticed the rider on an intercept course from a store beside us. He caught my eye and immediately said, nodding towards the car "Any regrets?" What a setup!


We dove into conversation and it turns out he has test driven the cars several times but as a single guy was struggling with the idea of a 4 door hatchback body style. I'm sure the presence of my family whooping around the car and smudging up the screen as we talked did little so calm his fears of settling down. It was clear he'd done at least one lap around the car in our absence as he asked detailed questions about the tires, colors and other options... then I noticed his motorcycle.

It that a ZERO?? Suddenly the tables were turned. I had only read about them prior to this and here on a back road in Ohio was a Zero. It's an electric motorcycle with crazy performance and a range of over 100 miles. Also made in America. Also dead silent and high tech. The parallels with Tesla are uncanny.


I asked him about his experiences with it and how he liked it-- basically all the questions he had just asked me about the Tesla! His other bike is a Ducati but he never rides it anymore. The Zero has no hot engine, no vibration, no sound and when he rides he says the experience is closer to flying like a bird than anything else-- silently blasting through the countryside with only the wind buffeting. Wow. I'm scared to death I would like riding motorcycles.. to my death, which is why I can't get one. But I love riding my bike because it also has no heat, no vibration and is silent. A bike on super steroids.


They're really like "the Tesla of motorcycles" if you think about it. Also a proud electric product from California with a mission to change their niche in the industry. If you can't afford a Tesla or need a different kind of silent thrill, you should definitely look into www.zeromotorcycles.com.


As we prepared to part ways after 10 minutes or so of eagerly explaining our rides to each other, I insisted he go first. He climbed on his bike.. no starter or anything... then just disappeared. No sound. A moment later he reappeared on the main road below, accelerating hard up to speed in what seemed to be an action movie on mute or a special effect of some kind. Surely he's just CGI, I thought, watching him silently vanish into the night.

 

[KenN]

Bit off topic, but if you like the Zero, check out the Mission Motorcycles RS.

Mission Motorcycles

Warning: costs almost as much as a MS60!

 

[mhpr262]

We have a whole thread on the Mission motorcycles in the electric vehicles subforum. Last news, from lolachampcar IIRC, was that the manufacturer had gone silent and wasn't answering emails ... I hope it's because they're busy with ramping up production ...

 

[Newscutter]

Hopefully Mission is still going-- but regardless the Zero hits the value mark a bit firmer. I think they're all until $15 pretty easily and considering the decreased fuel and maintenance they're in line with comparable bikes from what I can tell... Just like a Model S is a better value than an M5 or Panamera. :wink:

We now return you to your previously themed thread....

 

[kirkp]

I went to a car show in Newnan, GA, today; I had to park in the center of the lot, and it was really hot, over 100-degrees w/ no clouds. I had my usual posters in the trunk & frunk along with postcard handouts and a couple of drag-racing trophies I'd won over the summer. I left the AC running all day (even w/ all the windows down so people could see in), and I'd sit in the car for about 5 mins at a time to cool off and then get out for 10-15 mins to talk w/ people and give them a tour of the car, and then get back in to cool off again.

I got all the usual questions, but this time I also noticed that people would poke their heads inside the car and be amazed at how cool it was inside and that the AC was running the whole time.

One time as I was cooling off inside, a guy w/ his wife and son poked their heads in the passenger window to look at the screen and realized that it was cool inside. So they all piled into the car!!

The guy told his wife "It's cool up here" and she said "yeah, there's air blowing back here as well" The kid said "this is the nicest car I've ever been in". I went on explaining all the screen functions, and the guy asked me how come I knew so much about it. I said "'cause it's my car." He punched me on the arm and said "GET OUTTA HERE, this is your car??? I thought you were just checking it out!" Then I guess they got a little embarrassed because the guy told his family a few moments later to get out and move on. He had to tell his son to get out about three times, because the kid didn't want to leave. Pretty funny.

- - - Updated - - -

Also at the car show mentioned above, several people recognized my car from the Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday Night Drags (AMS FND) that I'd been doing all summer; one guy said he belonged to a Car Club that met every Saturday morning, and that the 'red Tesla that kicked-ass at the drags' was a huge topic of conversation each week.

All of the cars at the AMS FND races are seriously fast, and this was great fun for me all summer. These are un-timed 1/8-mile single elimination "street drags", so I don't know my actual times, I just know that my speedo reads about 90 mph at the end of each run, and that the P85 beat every stock production car it ran against, except for a 2014 Corvette that runs pretty-much identical to my car (our two cars swapped wins all season long). Obviously I'm pretty-happy that my 4-door sedan runs identical times with a world-class Corvette sports-car.

For anyone interested, a friend of mine put together a few videos of the AMS FND races at:

Tesla Model S P85 Drag Racing on Vimeo

The last four videos have a bit more Tesla content than the first one.