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
Visit www.me-mo.co.uk for interior design ideas for your car
posted by Ruthie @ 7:53 AM
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