Image via Complex Original
Tesla Motors isn't as new as you think it is. Although the company didn't really start gaining traction until the release of its Model S sedan in 2012, it's been around since 2003 and has been making electric cars in roadster form since 2008. Still, it's only expected to build around 50,000 cars this year, making ownership a relatively exclusive party. Generally profiling its owners isn't too difficult: They're more well off, they appreciate beauty, and they likely care about the future of Earth. Either that or they're all just trend-hopping zombies. So what's it like to be an owner of a Tesla? What do they know and see that others don't? Let's take a look.
It's OK to Drive Crazy
The Tesla Motors Model S is a weighty temptress. Despite being a full-size sedan that hits the scales at 4,647 pounds, she's available with some serious spunk. Though electric vehicles aren't typically known for brain-melting speed, the alternating current motors on the car (that Nikola Tesla invented back in late 1800s) provide instant power to the wheels. Because there are no gears to run through, the Model S actually has one of the best launch times available in any car.
The rear-wheel-drive model with the 85 kWh battery shows a respectable 0-60 time of 5.4 seconds. But that's just floor level. Tesla has since introduced all-wheel drive and upped the ante with performance versions, the P85D and P90D. Tesla announced this model has an insane mode that clocks 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and a "Ludicrous Speed Upgrade" on the 90 kWh version that you'll miss if you blink with a 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds.
Range Anxiety Is For Chumps
In a world full of let downs, the Model S is a bright spot. Everything in our world these days seems to overpromise and underdeliver, but Teslas have been doing the opposite. The listed ranges on for the Model S go from 230 to a claimed 300 with the new 90 kWh battery upgrade. According to the Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, a person drives an average of 37 miles per day. Even the highest group (males ages 35-54) drives a daily average of 52 miles. The Model S can obviously more than handle that with daily charges at home. And there's no reason to fear long trips either.
With 499 charging stations and 2,810 superchargers in North America, you typically only need a 30-minute charge (a fill worth approximately 170 miles) before moving on. Better yet? A new record was just set by a programmer who drove 452.8 miles on a single charge in a P85D. That was obviously in extremely specific conditions, but still.
We're All James Bond on the Inside
If you're a good Tesla owner, you know about this little secret. If you don't, well, you're welcome for making your car infinitely cooler. Hidden in the Model S settings is a trick that makes up for your less-than-stellar party attire. If you hold down the "T" on the screen and enter 007 as the access code, the displayed Model S transforms into a Lotus Espirit submarine from The Spy Who Loved Me.
The prop car has an incredible lost-and-found story, but most recently in 2013, Elon Musk purchased the sub for close to a milli and announced plans to swap a Model S powertrain into it. Musk might actually be a real-life Bond, and Tesla owners can pretend to be.
Risk Is Necessary in Life
If somebody purchased a Model S, it's more than likely that person is at least somewhat familiar with Elon Musk. And aside from knowing he became a millionaire when eBay bought PayPal, it's pretty common knowledge that he's be able to reach the level he is today by taking risk after risk after risk.
In 2008, Tesla was on the verge of going bankrupt after Musk had chosen to split his funds between Tesla and SpaceX. But just before Christmas that year, SpaceX notched a contract with NASA, and Tesla closed its round days before certain death. Purchasing a Model S obviously isn't near that type of risk, but it does require a certain confidence and faith in a cause and in the company. Spending $70,000-$100,000 on a car not knowing whether the company would exist in five years is an inherent risk, but it's a step hundreds of people have made.
Buttons Are Overrated
So many drivers are complaining that touchscreens are ruining the interiors of cars and that buttons will forever be superior. If you're a Tesla owner, you know those people are just stuck in the past. The only buttons on the interior of the Model S are on the steering wheel, because, well, you are always holding onto the steering wheel, and touch controls would likely result in accidental damage to your eardrums. At the center is a touchpad bigger than your face that operates everything from the charge current to saved seating positions to mapping to suspension settings and steering feel.
You Don't Need To Make Noise To Make Noise
Silent but deadly, the silent killer—whatever you want to call it. Driving an electric car is an eerily different experience. You feel like you're just floating around because there's no hearty soundtrack to the machine beneath you. No noise at startup. No noise when you accelerate. No noise if you try to rev. But what it lacks in audible expression, its beautiful exterior makes up for. Its sumptuous design is one of the first good-looking electric cars and needs no help getting inquisitive looks.
This Is a Rebirth of American Ingenuity
One of the most exciting parts about the uprising of Tesla Motors (at least if you live here) is that it's an American company. For the first time in a long while, it's a U.S-born automaker that is making waves, rather than somebody out of Germany or Japan. Morgan Stanley Research analyst Adam Jonas said it's possibly the most important car maker in the world right now. Not to mention they're not in America's car mecca Detroit—the company is based in Palo Alto, Calif. Consumer Reports even named it the best overall American vehicle for sale right now.
The Remix To Ignition Is Alive and Well
Does a Model S have a key? Yeah, of course it does, but your friends would never know unless you took it out and showed them. The car is set up to sense when the key is near, pop out its door handles that usually sit flush to the door panels, and when sensors in the driver's seat recognize the weight of a person, the car turns on. You won't know it, because it's silent, and there's no turning of a key or even a push button. It just knows you're there and is on. Voila!
Not All Trunks Are Created Equal
You pop your hood to check the oil. Tesla Model S owners pop the hood to store their French bread, Oreos, and Australian red. Because the Model S doesn't have an engine, there's some extra space for storage, a compartment also known as a frunk (front trunk). And it's a good thing the Model S has the extra room, because the kids might be taking up the real trunk. No, we're not implying Tesla owners have incorporated weird scare tactics into their parenting. Thanks to the convenience of the hatchback design, the Model S actually has the option for rear facing seats in the back. Just make sure the kiddies have some ice cream and sun block. It gets a little toasty back there.
Tesla Supports Progress, Not Tradition
Is the name Tesla new? No. Is the AC motor in a Model S new? No. Are electric cars new? Not even close (the first were created in the 1820s and 1830s). What is new is the type of boundary-pushing shake up that's been missing the American auto industry for years (decades?). Tesla came in through the backdoor, walked straight up to the industry's Big Three and told them, "this piece market belongs to me, thank you."
The model S is truly the first attractive all-electric performance sedan that offers a livable range, fantastic safety, and easy charging. Thus far, it has crushed nearly all doubts about these types of vehicles, and this is just the beginning. Along with plans to build a crossover (Model X) and a much more affordable mass-production vehicle (Model 3), the Tesla group has plans to revolutionize batteries with its new gigafactory in Nevada, change the way energy is harnessed, stored, and distributed with its in-home Powerwall, and eventually change how energy is looked at all together.
Elon Musk and Tesla are pushing American automakers to be more innovative, foreign companies to be more creative, and the entire auto industry to improve as a whole. That's what you're supporting when you purchase a Tesla. Sounds a little better than sticking to tradition, no?