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Tesla moments

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You all have to learn the "Tesla Nod"

I remember about 18 months ago learning of the Tesla Nod and the question then was, "What should AutoPilot owners do?" I responded with this pic. I still think we should!
Dogma_buddy_christ.jpg
 
I remember about 18 months ago learning of the Tesla Nod and the question then was, "What should AutoPilot owners do?" I responded with this pic. I still think we should!
Dogma_buddy_christ.jpg
Buddy Jesus. Classic.

I don't seem to make eye contact with many people on the freeway but I have noticed an uptick in receiving the classic Tesla wave the last month or so while driving around town.
 
You all have to learn the "Tesla Nod"

Ha! I've always loved that video.

There's so darned many Teslas around these parts it feels like I'd be nodding at pretty much everybody (not necessarily a safe thing to do unless stopped or on autopilot). But I will wave at people occasionally and I'll always return waves if I can react fast enough.

Bruce.
 
I prefer the headlight flash (Porsche style) for oncoming and a wave or nod for side by side. Not many people reciprocate the headlight flash though :sad:
Another TMC member who lives within walking distance of me(FLDarren) always complains about the same thing, no one ever flashes back. A few weeks ago (before I sold my 60), I was at a light when I noticed him sitting at the same light heading in the opposite direction. He flashed, I flashed back as he made a left turn in front of me. Later I texted him, and he was so mad that someone finally flashed back and it was "just" me! Haha.
 
I prefer the headlight flash (Porsche style) for oncoming and a wave or nod for side by side. Not many people reciprocate the headlight flash though :sad:

I tried to keep up with the headlight flash tradition, but I never seem in the right setting for it. For the first few months I had the car, the only other Tesla I ever saw would be a white one traveling in the opposite direction across a divided highway.

Then the first time I was on a surface street opposite of another Tesla I was mildly lost and focusing on the different nav directions that I totally missed that there was another Model S until it was too late.

I just wave like a mad-man now and will return light flashes if I can.

Oh, on topic, I had another series of Tesla Moments this weekend. These were in a controlled environment though, so less spontaneous than most.
My car was featured in a Car Show to support Autism Awareness not far from me (put on by the same guy who set up one last year) and while I didn't win any awards this year, there was plenty of foot traffic around my car.
All the standard questions were posed and I went right into Tesla-knowledge-base mode answering as much as I could. One gentleman in an Audi S7 (very beautiful car) lamented that he was in a toss up between the S7 and a nicely appointed Model S but he didn't think he could make the trips down south. I told him that I had made the trek to Alabama last year and was planning to go down again this year, no problem. You could almost see him running numbers in his head on how good a trade-in he could get for the S7 :D
 
We spent the weekend south of the border (that would be 'USA', not 'Mexico'!) and didn't have the luxury of a destination charger. So I scanned through Plugshare for something local and found that the nearby Nissan, Kia and Mitsubishi dealerships all had some facilities. The closest was a Nissan dealer and Plugshare indicated 'open to all cars'. So we headed on over with the trusty CHAdeMO adapter. But... 'open to all cars' evidently meant 'open to Nissan cars'. They turned us away quite bluntly. Needless to say, I edited the Plugshare entry appropriately...!

Next stop, another Nissan dealership. I called ahead and was told 'No problem! If you don't have a Chargepoint card, you can use ours!'. We arrived, I plugged in (using my card) and then spent the next hour talking to a steady stream of Nissan sales and service people, as well as a few customers waiting for repair work.

The best part of it was, they weren't shy about their feelings when it came to the Leaf. Yes, they're selling like crazy this spring, but the range is too short and they're just too darned ugly... No animosity towards the Tesla brand (just the opposite!) and full disclosure on what they're selling. They're hoping Nissan will up their game and give them something better to sell/service. They seemed to realize that the game had changed with the unveiling of the M-3.

I arrived, prepared to be grudgingly accepted, but just the opposite. Great bunch of people and the charge time flew by!


I've charged at the Sna Marcos (TX) Nissan dealership several times (L2 only), they are very nice. Northpoint Nissan in Austin has CHAdeMo and are also nice to all plugins (the 2 times I've stopped there).
 
Happy Earth Day, everyone.

Today, my local coffee drive through was offering $2 coffee drinks if you brought your reusable travel mug. I usually do this, but I stopped for coffee on my way back from Tesla service picking up my car and I didn't have my mug with me. The gals at the coffee drive through (that all know me very well) were giving me a hard time for not bringing in my mug on Earth Day.

I let them jab at me for a few seconds, then I looked back at them, grinned and said, "I drive a Tesla. Back the f&^# off."

We all had a good chuckle.
 
My first was five minutes into my initial MS test drive in Houston. I whooshed onto I45 and settled into the lane right next to a new Panamera with temp tags. I glanced over to see a teenager in the back seat videoing me(!) with his iPhone. Couldn't help but stomp the pedal at that point, all the while thinking "I've got to get me one of these!"
 
Picked up my new MS on Wednesday evening and had my first two Tesla moments yesterday. The first was at lunchtime pulling into a Whole Foods parking lot. Saw a woman in a silver Model S and got a nod and a wave. The second one was while I was sitting in the car waiting for my wife to come out of a store. A young guy parked beside me and when he got out, he looked at me and said "Awesome car dude!" This is going to be fun.
 
I had an awesome Tesla moment last weekend. Context: I have long been enthusiastic about EVs, but had never touched one before. I saw an old friend who now drives a Tesla at an event. Obviously we got talking about it and he offered to let me drive it; yes my jaw hit the floor! It was funny sitting in the driver's seat and already knowing where everything was and how it worked because I have watched so many videos and already read the user's manual :).

I have heard many times over how smooth and quiet the Model S is, but that didn't change how blown away I was in the first 10 metres of driving. I normally drive a 2000 Honda Civic and of course whenever the engine is running, the whole thing vibrates ever so subtly. Driving the Model S, I was SO blown away by the sensation of...well lack of sensation. We were even driving through a grass parking lot so there wasn't even any tire noise. Wow!

...and now the wait continues for our Model 3. Thanks for the test drive friend!