John and Emery Drive a Rocket

John Zimmerman and I had a very rare treat last Sunday - the chance to drive the brand-new, rare as hen's teeth Tesla Model X. Of course, Tesla is much in the news these days for making a success of selling vehicles that are electric only - no gas engine at all. The nephew of one of my choristers had managed to get his hands on one, and had kindly offered to let John and me drive it. It's a very nice ride, and driving it was a real treat!

Yes, those are gull-wing doors on the rear doors. In fact, this test drive had a number of "firsts" for me: first drive of an EV (Electric Vehicle), first drive of a car with gull-wing doors, and I suppose, first drive of a car worth more than the Grant St. Garage on the open market. The first thing to know about Tesla EVs versus the rest of the market is that they have enough range to largely set aside the "range anxiety" that most people exhibit when asked about EVs.

The owner brought the car to church on Sunday for us to drive, so it had been driven a few miles already when I got in. The circled number in the photo below is enough to make my Nissan Leaf-owning friend Lem green with envy:

That display was part of the panel right in front of the driver, which changed to various modes depending on what you're doing at the time. The press has made a big deal of the center display in the Tesla - it's like a 20" monitor turned sideways. It too can be put in various modes and splits to show what you want:

Incidentally, the car has a full-time Internet connection built in, so it was playing Pandora. I asked how much the monthly fee was for that, and was told the first 10 years are included in the price of the car. Cool. 

The Tesla drives like any car, with one big exception. When you let off the gas, the "regenerative braking" system slows the car pretty aggressively, to reclaim as many electrons as possible from the work of slowing the vehicle. That's one of the ways it has such a good range, and in normal driving, you don't even need to touch the brakes unless you're coming to a complete stop.

The other big surprise of driving a Tesla is just how quick it is. They rate this one at 4.8 seconds for 0-60 mph, and even with five adults in the car, I have no trouble believing that. For an extra $10,000, you can buy one with "Ludicrous Mode" (that's the real name) that drops that number to 3.3 seconds. For comparison, the 2016 BMW M3 makes that sprint in 4.1 seconds.

But even the raw numbers don't tell the tale, because the sensation of acceleration is so different. Electric motors (EVs have "motors", gas cars have "engines") make maximum torque at zero RPM. That is, they make the most power when they are stalled and trying to move. Gas engines by comparison have to spin up some RPMs before making any power. Also, EVs don't have transmissions, so there's no time wasted shifting, and no sensation of shifting. Instead, it just pulls like crazy and keeps on pulling!

I only did one or two tests from a standing start, but several times at the owner's urging I slowed to around 50 on the highway and then nailed it. The car leaps to speeds that I dare not write in this post... Dee Zimmerman hates driving fast, so this was not her favorite part of the test drive! In fact, after lunch (when John was driving) she elected to ride back in another car. Here are John and Dee with Mary Ellen after a very fun experience!

One more picture, to give a sense of size. The Model X is an SUV and even has a third row of seats, but it's pretty compact. Huge inside, because all the drivetrain stuff in a regular car is absent. Here's a size comparison with a BMW that will be on these pages soon...