Up to NY to see the Model S

Still drunk on voltage from our test ride in February, Megan and I jumped at the chance to attend a private viewing of the Tesla Motors Model S sedan in Manhattan.



I mean seriously - "invited" by Tesla to a "private viewing" of their new model? How could we pass on that? Even the reality that the event was 4 hours away on a Wednesday night couldn't deter us! Oh how I payed for that decision today running on only a few hours of sleep...



...but back to the subject. Tesla seems to do everything with style, as this event was in the IAC Building, which was like nothing I'd ever walked into before (thanks to Ankur for helping us get to the building). Slick lighting, Tesla decorations, brochures on tables, and motion pictures all over the walls. High class stuff!



As for the goods they had to show: a Roadster, a fake Model S, and a Teslafied Smart Car (the last of which I got no pictures of). My father, who met us along with my sister, finally got to sit in a Roadster!



They had a Model S on display, but it was a dud. There was no interior (the windows were highly-tinted to keep you from noticing), and some of the components appeared to be fake (the brake rotors and calipers were curious).



And then there was the Smart Car. I'm not a fan of the Smart Car, but I respect it and think it would prove a much more respectable EV than the moronic version they brought to the US that runs on high-test gasoline. It appeared that they were seriously tinkering with the one we got to sit in.



Finally, at 11:30pm we got our text message telling us that our ride was ready! So we dashed across the street where they were giving extremely short demo rides of the Roadster and real, drivable Model S. We jumped in the S with another couple, and a Tesla driver took us for a spin. He figures the machine we were riding in, all things considered, was 50% representative of what will roll off the assembly line in 2011.



Five thousand to reserve an S, huh? Hmmm...

Unconventional performance

We were left speechless after a recent visit to the Tesla Motors store on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles. Aside from a small arsenal of stunning American machines with carbon fiber bodies, this store had knowledge to share.



Our genuine interest resulted in a pummeling of questions for an apparently well-prepared Tesla employee. She answered questions of all kinds - from financials and company structure to drive train and voltage conversion. Taylor floated the possibility of a demo, and our generous host offered the unimaginable.



The ride is like no other I've ever experienced. Megan pointed out that the Roadster's acceleration resembles that of a linear-induction roller coaster. She was spot-on. The quiet, but high-pitched whine and the subtle sound of the air rushing over the windshield was all your ears had to report. When not accelerating to 70 MPH in the blink of an eye, there was little sound aside from the ambient noise of traffic that you'd here if you were standing on the sidewalk.

It's way out of most people's price ranges, it can't get me to my parents' house in a single charge, and they recommend against taking the car to the track because of heat-related issues (according to our Tesla driver).



Minor shortcomings aside, I can't help but feel misguided by automotive convention. The Tesla Roadster has a transmission with a single gear, and a motor that spins in both directions. Is this the necessary simplification of a tool that has been over-complicated for too many years?