Ohm My God! The Tesla Model S
Pure electric: that’s
the metaphorical and literal experience of driving the Tesla Model S. From the
reassuring heavy door clunk on entering the space-age cabin, with its’ ample
storage areas-no bulky engine to clog up rear boot or under bonnet space- to
the massive display monitor positioned on the dash and plush comfy driving
seat, the Model S screams luxury with a futuristic edge.
The aluminium
bodywork is reputed to last ‘a million miles’ with only the battery requiring
replacement over its lifetime. The solid aluminium frame affords the car a 5 star NCAP safety rating. A fully charged battery in the Model S can last
anything from 260-290 miles, depending on driving style and the cost of
recharging the battery, from home in the UK, is estimated at approximately 4.5p per mile. If
charging from a Tesla Supercharger station it’s free and Tesla has guaranteed
this for the lifetime of the car. A Supercharge can give your battery a half
charge during a 20 minute session.
To drive a Tesla it’s
necessary to completely reconfigure your driving etiquette: there is no ignition
(nothing to ignite!)...the car automatically starts up when you’re sitting in
the driving seat. Place the car in drive (or reverse, depending on your
position) and it glides majestically and silently into motion. Acceleration (and it’s explosive) is really
all that’s necessary. By taking your foot off the accelerator the car
automatically brakes, rather than slows down, which is a little disconcerting
at first. A real bonus is that there is
no need for a manual handbrake. This intelligent car senses the need to brake
on hills, whilst stationary, after depressing the foot brake (hill-hold function).
Cruising at 60 on a
dual carriageway (and, btw, you can get to 60mph in 5.2 seconds) my passenger encouraged me to try ‘auto-pilot’ mode, the
autonomous driving system best known in Google self-driving cars. With several
large lorries creeping up my rear end, it was somehow anti-intuitive to employ
this feature. But I did, with my hands hovering over the steering wheel.
Locked into ‘auto-pilot’ the car senses surrounding vehicles and brakes,
changes lanes or accelerates accordingly: a surreal feeling as a ‘driver/passenger’
(especially if you’re a bit of a control freak) but an invaluable feature as respite
from a long haul motorway journey. (Just don’t give up completely and watch a
Harry Potter movie, as one unfortunate guy did in Florida quite recently,
culminating in a fatal crash).
I test drove the
Model S as I was interested in the forthcoming Model 3 (a smaller, more
economical version with a denser more efficient battery pack) hopefully due for
release in the UK in 2018. Tesla are taking £1000 (fully refundable) deposits
for the 3 (with an estimated price of around £32,000 minus a government electric
car contribution of £4,500). 400,000 of the 500,000 Model 3’s available for
release globally, have already been reserved in this way.
Tesla Model 3
Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla Motors: The New Raider of the Lost Quark
Visit www.me-mo.co.uk for interior design ideas for your car
The JCW Mini 2015: a Pocketful of Rocket Tickets?
The JCW MINI 2015 is the fastest most agile Mini
off of the production line yet.
If you like driving you’ll love this little demon;
if you like space flight you’ll enjoy it even more.
Although an anomaly in terms of aerodynamic shape,
this sporty number is a boxful of rocket tickets. The cheeky-chappie
proportions of the JCW Mini belie its’ 2 litre twinpower turbo engine which
packs a 0-62mph punch in 6.1 seconds (6.3 secs for the manual) and a
top-speed of 153mph.
The racing-inspired accelerator pedals respond
exquisitely to the slightest touch (thanks to its specially developed
turbocharger and direct fuel injection) meaning acceleration from both standing
and on the move leaves many of your fellow motorists still lingering over their
first gear change.
Your gear changes, by the way, in the manual
edition, will be enhanced by the ‘automatic revving technology’ which matches
the engine revs to the speed of the wheels when downchanging. You can also opt
to use the gear change paddles on the steering wheel to save time changing up
the gears.
Something that tickles the earlobes of many a
petrol-head is the throaty sound of a twin exhaust; the reassuring muted
guttural sounds emanating from this rear end are pure Marlene Dietrich.
As with all Minis, space is at a premium; the front
cabin provides enough legroom for the average motorist, but your rear seat
passengers might not thank you for an overly long journey. The sporty bucket
seats give a wraparound feel and overall visibility is good. If you love red
and black as evocative symbols of racing style the interior is most definitely
for you. Of course, if you feel like branching out a little you can always
accessorise with some Funky SeatCovers.
As for boot space...this car might be nifty but the
boot is titchy. Then again, we are talking pure driving excitement: young,
free, fast and single...not too many yummy mummies are going to be seen trying
to cram their double buggies in to the boot. Of course, that’s a massive
generalisation; I think a lot of women would love the responsiveness and
alertness of this power-packed model. After all, driving cars is a great
equaliser: there is no glass ceiling to power with the JCW Mini (a panoramic
electric glass sunroof: optional extra).
Fuel Consumption:
Manual gearbox: combined fuel consumption of 42.2
mpg with CO2 emissions of 155 g/km.
Automatic sports transmission: combined fuel
consumption of 49.6 mpg and 133 g/km.
On the Road Prices:
MINI John Cooper Works six-speed
manual
£23,050
MINI John Cooper Works six-speed
Steptronic
£24,380
All versions of the MINI John Cooper Works have
automatic engine stop/start
NCAP Overall Rating: 4
Electronic driver assistance features include
Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and Torque Steer Compensation.
Free optional extras: Chili Red roof and mirror
caps, and optional John Cooper Works bonnet stripes. The roof and mirror caps
can also be finished in white or black.
Colours: available in 11 body colours,
including the new Rebel Green metallic and MINI Yours Lapis luxury Blue
metallic .
Additional Extras: Driving Assistant pack. A front
mounted camera monitors the road ahead adding key information in the form of:
Rear end collision warning, Pedestrian recognition, High beam assistant,
Traffic sign recognition and Active Cruise Control.
Full connectivity via MINI Connected and MINI
Connected XL,
Double-zone automatic air conditioning, a panoramic
electric glass sunroof, heated driver’s and front passenger’s seats, rain
sensors and automatic headlight activation, a 12-speaker Harman Kardon audio
system
The Chili pack contains:
- Floor
mats
- Storage
compartment pack
- MINI
Excitement Pack
- Rain
sensor and automatic headlight activation
- Air
conditioning, dual-zone automatic Interior lights pack
- Dinamica/leather
upholstery
- 18"
John Cooper Works Cup Spoke, in two-tone
Pink Car Rally 2015
“Kiss-Me-Quick-I’m-on-the-Pink-Car-Rally”
Pink Cars are being
pampered and polished in preparation for the 8th annual Pink Car
Rally on Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th September. This year’s #SeasideSpecial will see pink
cars from across the UK heading to Blackpool for the start of the rally, which
coincides with the seaside town’s iconic ifest – Blackpool’s Illuminations
Switch-on Festival Weekend.
The pink parade will
travel #Coast2Coast from Blackpool to Scarborough Fair and will be calling in
at Leeds Children’s Hospital, Monks Cross and Clifton Moor Shopping Centres in
York, giving the public and press lots of opportunities to see the pink
procession.
The rally raises
awareness of, and funds for, the Little Princess Trust charity, which gives
‘real hair’ wigs to children and young adults in the UK and Ireland who lose
their hair, primarily through cancer treatment. Donations can be made via https://www.justgiving.com/teams/pink-car-rally-2015
Sali Gray, creator
and organiser of the Pink Car Rally is already incredibly excited, despite this
being the 8th rally; “Each year I think that I can’t possibly get
excited about the rally again, but I do.
Starting the rally in Blackpool, during ifest, is amazing and I’m already
wondering whether we will be able to entice any ‘celebrities’ into our cars,
for some pink publicity photos”
The Mayor of
Blackpool will officially start the rally at 10.30am on Saturday 5th September,
with the Pinkies starting to gather from 9am in St John’s Square. Sali said “We’re hoping that lots of people
will come to see our pretty pink cars, which will be dressed-up for the
occasion!! (As will we!) Sunglasses may be required (rose-tinted of
course) because our shiny cars are dazzlingly bright – rather like the
illuminations themselves!”
After leaving
Blackpool, the rally will stop at Leeds Children’s Hospital, enabling the young
patients on the oncology ward to see the pink cars, before heading towards York
where the ‘final stop’ of the day will be Monks Cross Shopping Centre.
On Sunday morning the
Pinkies will start gathering at York’s Clifton Moor Shopping Park, from 9.30am, for
the official start of Day 2 of the rally at 10.30am. The pink cars will
be easily spotted on the A64 as they head to Scarborough, where they will drive
past the train station before turning right and heading out of town, over the
Valley Bridge, taking the A165 towards Filey. The pink procession should
arrive at Scarborough Fair around 1pm and will stay
for an hour or two, allowing the pink participants to enjoy all the fun of the
vintage fair.
Further
information:- (high resolution photos available on request)
Twitter: @saligray
@pinkcarrally
