Electric Cars
I've been persuaded by the environmental argument that to swap my handsome Jaguar for an EV would be good for my grandchildren even if not for neighbourhood friends who snort the gas from our exhausts. So, in September 2019 we collected the new small Tesla Model 3 from Heathrow.
I suppose I've bought 20 new cars over the years; the Tesla had the longest and most complex hand-over as there is much more to learn. Firstly, how to charge it and detach the umbilical cord when used with a Tesla Supercharger or any other of the 24,500 charging points in the UK. You also have to learn how to get in and start up as surprisingly the car has no door key, handbrake, gear-stick, engine, gearbox, axles or transmission tunnel that we have previously been used to.
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The Tesla instructor showed us how to load the car's identity into our phones and adjust the mirror, seat and steering wheel for specified drivers. We learnt a lot, like how to key in our home post code at which point the car immediately predicted we'd arrive home with 31% of the juice still in the battery. Within a few minutes we forgot most of this, so when he said cheerio and we raised the window, there was a pause while we worked out how to drive out of his highly polished showroom. One snag is the car is absolutely silent and you're not quite sure whether it alive and good-to-go or whether you haven't switched on yet. The car had a full charge when we left the Tesla showroom and after driving 140 miles we arrived home with just enough energy to drive a further 130 miles.
I have a charge point on the garage wall and this will fully charge the car overnight and it is then good for 300 miles, provided you stick to 70 m.p.h; higher speeds do seem to soak up the energy significantly.
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The outside paintwork is black and the inside has white upholstery which coupled with the glass roof really make the car quite handsome to look at. It has an enormous fund of gadgetry which takes days to absorb. For example, we have allowed it to link with our Google calendar so it offers a route to the destination on the day and gives a very accurate estimate of time you'll get there. The car knows when it reaches our home post code as it folds the mirrors in. I have had to disable that as I need them to back into the garage. I have only 1.5cm clearance each side unless I fold the door mirrors. The rear-view camera is large and clear, nevertheless I like to have the benefit of the mirrors as well.
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What's the best bit? Everyone talks about the acceleration which really is exceptional. The dual motor 4-wheel drive that we have does 0-60 mph in 4 seconds and there is an even faster version that claims 3.2 seconds. The 3 litre Jaguar, by comparison was around 6 seconds. But astonishing acceleration is only a statistic. The best bits in our opinion is the silence from the electric motors, the smoothness as it has no gearbox and the 12” screen that enables you to twiddle all the knobs that otherwise are absent. Unlike all other cars there is no dashboard with speedometer, fuel, temperature, radio nor heater controls or vents, instead you have a clutter free view of the road and intuitive links on screen to everything you'd want. The map, when shown on a 12” display, is awesome but sometimes when you want to fold the mirrors or speed up the wipers, it involves two touches rather than one in a conventional car. I could write pages about this very futuristic car and predict in the next decade there will be a significant swing to electric vehicles.
Anything lacking? With all this gadgetry you could hardly imagine anything is lacking but I believe every Tesla should come with a grandchild or two to help the aged get the best out of the technology.