To be a good grandmother and expand my grandchildren’s world view, I took them to New York City over spring break. When I returned home, I found a lot had changed.
My husband, Grady (who should be a car salesman), sold his car to our son-in-law who, in turn, gave his car to his 17-year-old daughter. My husband then sold my car to our office manager, bought himself a small mid-life-crisis sports car, and ordered me a Tesla.
Picking up the Tesla
After a month of waiting, we got a Tesla VIN number, pickup date and location in St. Louis, MO. Excited, we took the first Southwest flight out of Little Rock and were waiting at the Tesla store when they opened.
It was the weirdest car buying experience. We finished the car buying process using the Tesla app while sitting in the parking lot, watching a tutorial on the big screen in the car’s dashboard.
Driving a Tesla is like driving a very, very fast golf cart. There is little need for the break. It goes when you step on the accelerator and stops when you take your foot off. Everything is automated: there is no key, no manual locking of doors, no starting of the engine. It is a handsome, giant, luxurious computer that is controlled by an app on my phone.
A Little Freaky
I must admit, it is a little freaky. Maybe not as freaky as going from a horse and buggy to a combustible automobile, but there is a learning curve.
With all the charging chatter about EV’s (electric vehicles), I was a little nervous about the 350-mile drive home from St Louis back to Little Rock, but it was no big deal. There are charging stations along most routes and planning for them kind of reminds me of travel when I was young, before interstates were everywhere, and towns with gas stations were far and few between. I remember listening from the back seat of my parent’s Oldsmobile as they talked about getting low on gas and guessing how far ‘til the next station. I used to have nightmares of running out of gas on an old dark highway and being left alone, or worse. Because of today’s technology and Tesla’s charging station location app, there is no guessing, and it is kind of fun. Like a global scavenger hunt.
Part of the Solution
Now that I have a Tesla, I see them everywhere. I know electric cars are nothing new but, whether you like him or not, one must admit that Elon Musk has successfully brought them to market.
Becoming an EV owner makes me proud of myself. In my own small way, I am part of the solution to climate change. Like the trip to NYC, I feel like a good grandmother to my grandchildren who will one day inherit the earth.
