Hands On

I am in CA, which means the plane didn’t crash. The trip was a normal and uneventful day of flying, meaning it was miserable. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

When I emerged from the big sliding doors of the San Jose airport, beating life back into my legs, Randall was right there . He knew more about my flight than I did, just glancing at his phone. We got into the Tesla and took off.

Linda, Lily’s mom, came out to help with the last couple of days of packing and to fly back with them, lending both her hands (remember: one baby and three cats). I flew into San Jose, Linda flew in to San Francisco (SFO) and hour later, so Randall and I were on our way to SFO so he could pick up Linda and the big SUV he had rented. They needed the rental so they could all get to the airport on Sunday; I couldn’t drop them off because 1) the Tesla will be crammed full of more of their stuff and 2) we all wouldn’t fit anyway. So Randall went into SFO, and I drove the Tesla back to his house.

I don’t know how this blog is going to go, but I think there will be lots of interesting items about the Tesla, so I’ll include them when I remember them. Here are some:

The Tesla looks like any other car from the outside. I’ve never been able to tell one car from another, for the most part, but this one has nice lines (much nicer than my ugly new-model Prius). It’s dark blue, which is the color I would have chosen.

When you get inside, it’s another story. I’m always startled when I get in, after we’ve been away. There’s no dashboard, no buttons, no gauges, knobs or readouts. Nothing – except what is probably a 22″ monitor to the right of the steering wheel, tiled toward the driver for better visibility. Everything’s done from there, except shifting, cruise, turn indicators, and turning on the windshield wipers (did I mention it was raining?) If you want the wipers to go faster, or intermittent, or slower, or off, you have to use the touch screen, which I think requires the driver to take their eyes off the road too often for too long a time.

The thing I think I’ll like best about driving this car is the regenerative braking (not sure that’s the right term, but it’s close). In the Tesla (and in the Prius and, probably, other electrics or hybrids), when you use the brake, some of the energy you generate is channeled back to the battery, to help recharge it. In the Tesla, though, you don’t even have to use the brake. As soon as you back off the accelerator, the brakes engage very smoothly and you slow down much faster than you would while “coasting” in any other car. This sounds troublesome, but it’s not, and the result is that you don’t need to use the brake unless you want to come to a complete stop (or if someone cuts you off). So the brakes recharge the batteries every time you lift off the accelerator, whether you use the brakes of not. I just hope I’ll remember to begin using the brake pedal after I get home…

There is no gas motor and accompanying accessories, so there’s a lot of room under the hood to pack stuff for the trip. This space is called the frunk. I’m not making this up.

Enough for now. Gwen is awake, so it’s time to go admire her.