A Tesla I can afford? That may well be the most impressive achievement
I’d driven one of its cars previously: a Model S, which went like a rocket, drifted only if you had Ben Barry’s determination, and refused to close its sunroof.
But it was 2016 and a two-centre trip to the US – Texas and California – that really grabbed me by the ankles, flipped me upside-down and stuck my head into a bowl of purest Tesla, flushing again and again until I’d experienced it all; the Model X’s wacky gullwing doors; the nascent Supercharger network; Teslas’ intuitive route-planning software from A to B via the most efficient charging strategy possible; the brand’s passionate and expert early-adopters; the shockingly good self-driving capability (I’m still yet to drive anything that comes close, though in part that’s down to risk-averse European legislation); the Fremont factory’s curiously charming blend of the bespoke and the bodged; the way a dual-motor P90 made a BMW M3 feel about as potent as a pre-turbo Transit.
It’s dicult now to divorce the man from the mission (we failed in this issue – just head to page 88 for evidence of that). But the ferocity of Tesla’s onslaught since 2016 is breathtaking. And the cars, the ideas and eco-system deserve as much credit as the man and his mouth. Looking back, what amazed me then was the extent to which everything just worked – and only four years after the introduction of both the Model S and Tesla’s first Superchargers.
Yes, the network was thin on the ground in places, particularly in enormous and oil-obsessed Texas, making for some nerve-wracking drives as we cruised from one charger to another like desert travellers hopping between oases. And in LA I queued for a charger for the very first time in my life, the Supercharger’s proximity to a branch of the painfully expensive but irresistible chain Whole Foods Market ensuring Model Ss were lined up around the block as their owners dashed in for hummus. But mostly we just drove, enjoying the space, near-silence and cushy comfort of both a Model X and a Model S for hundreds of (mostly) uneventful miles. It was so impressive.
And the Tesla difference is impressive still. After an all-day test of the UK’s motorway charging network last year, from Exeter to Perth, the following day required that we simply drive home. In a BMW i4 M50 I fought the car’s inefficiency while juggling its fickle range display and my charging options on Zapmap. My colleague in the Model 3, on the other hand, cruised home without a care in the world. He had the range and efficiency to indulge in the Tesla’s decadent performance from time to time and complete faith in its ability to plan a route home using swift, strategic charging stops.
On my return from that 2016 trip Model Ss become an increasingly common sight on UK roads, of course. And now? Now my rural Lincolnshire village groans with Model 3s and Model Ys, and the Model 2 promises to be a Tesla even I can afford. Given how expensive the Teslas I drove eight years ago were, that might be the most impressive achievement of all.