Tesla's Birthday

Today is Nikola Tesla's birthday, which I'm going to use as a loose excuse to write more about our new Model S car.

People know it or don't:  People either know immediately what the car is, are excited, want to ask you questions and talk about it, or they don't even notice it.   If you're into cars or electric cars or technology, you may have heard about this breakthrough new car company that's doing things differently than other companies.   Otherwise, it just looks like a nice sedan.  I've picked up people in the car and they've said, "you got a new car, nice, " followed by, "what is this?" and then followed by, "who makes it?"  It doesn't stand out visually, even the logo, a capital T, looks a bit like the Infinity logo if you're not paying attention.

The stereo can play any song:  If you've used Pandora, you'll be familiar with this type of behavior, but this is the first time I've seen it in a car.  The car comes with five years of 3G AT&T cellular service and includes both Slacker Radio and TuneIn Radio.   It also has voice recognition, so you can press and hold a button on the steering wheel and say, "Play 'Ants Marching' by Dave Matthews Band".  It will process your request and then pop up a selection on the touch screen.  You can pick the song itself, the album or alternate versions of the song by other artists and it will start to play.   If you pick the song itself, it will first play that song and then play other songs that are in the same genre/era/feel as that song.

The volume goes to eleven:  Some people have said that this feature alone makes the Tesla Model S the coolest car they've ever bought.   If you're not familiar with the phrase, "our amplifiers go to eleven" from the cult classic movie, This is Spinal Tap, then this feature may not appeal to you.   As someone who's been saying that phrase for decades, it is, I agree, one heck of an homage.

Digitally Faithful:  The car won't let you in unless you're vetted by a key.  Heck, you can't even grab a door handle and try to open the car unless you're in possession of a key because the door handles pull flush with the car when it's locked and asleep.   You can't unplug the charge cable if you don't have a key in proximity either.    I thought at first the car liked me,  now I realize it's digitally faithful to the keys, which are shaped like mini Model S cars.  As long as it's protecting itself, I suppose I don't really mind.

Charging Stations:  We've been looking at Plugshare.com on the browser in the car and continue to marvel at how many EV charging stations there are in the area.  We went to one of our favorite shopping malls the other day and discovered not one, not two, but three locations you could charge your car with a total of five charge ports and two levels of charging.   The electric car world has been out there for a while, we're just now realizing how prevalent it is.

Strange Noises:  This car makes noises you've never heard a car make.  It makes them at times when you think it's asleep, like when you walk out to the refrigerator in the garage to get a drink.   It makes buzzing sounds, popping sounds, unusual humming sounds.   There is a panoply of noises I have yet to catalog.   So far, I have no idea what any of them mean either.

I have parking anxiety:   It's new.  It's shiny.  It's unmarred.   Both my husband and I are having parking anxiety because we don't want to get it dinged by someone who isn't paying attention in a small parking space.   I had my last car for five years and it never got dinged, but this car is new and suddenly we're both overthinking the whole parking thing.

How efficient driving saved the car:  The car goes fast, that's for sure.  But it also wants you to drive it slowly because it tells you, in great detail, how good or bad your driving habits are--in graph form.   There's the, "rated range" and the "ideal range" and your driving habits, accelerating slowly or quickly, using regenerative braking or hitting the brakes at the last minute and overall speed can make a big difference in how much range you get out of a full charge.  My husband and I have been comparing who can be the most efficient driver.   Yesterday, I was at a stop light and when the light turned green the person in right lane went straight through the intersection into my left lane without even realizing they had changed lanes into mine.  Because I was trying to accelerate gently and slowly, they faded into the lane in front of me and I took a deep breath of relief.

Happy Birthday Nikola Tesla, the impact you've made on our world is both dramatic and ongoing.

The Big Boy Update:  My son looked down today and said, "what are those, mom?"   Ah, "those are your testicles," I told him.  I don't know if he's never noticed them before, but he suddenly wanted to check them out.  He was trying to isolate them in his scrotum so he could get a better look when I told him, "why you don't ask daddy about them.   You should be gentle with them, I hear they can hurt if you're not."  Let's see what he asks daddy tomorrow on the subject...

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   I let the dog out after she ate her dinner and before I could shut the door, my daughter came around the corner on hands and knees, exclaiming, "mommy, I'm a dog."  She wanted to go outside too.