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Tesla
05 October 2015
Tesla
So as so often can happen, fate was at work. I guess I was feeling frustrated with the usual conservative information feed, or perhaps some subconscious influence was at work what with all the Jeremy Corbyn focus of late and his inaugural speech to his party making me feel like I wanted to be a student again with all that optimism of youth. So when we pulled into the fuel station on our way to Gatwick, and while Rick put diesel into his tank, I made an instinctive move and purchased a copy of the Guardian, something I haven’t done since I was, well, a student. This gave me a strange sensation. Like I was doing something different, rebelling against my normal self, sort of made me feel youthful and breezy.
The news last week of course, was very centred on manufacture omissions over emissions, and as we set off and I opened the paper there was quite large amount of comment on particle pollution, the 23,500 deaths a year resulting from pollutants and the fact that despite the manufacturers making huge strides in diesel technology, the UK government had that very weekend issued a report that showed the effort to drive down emissions under real driving conditions was not working out quite as was planned.
So when as we pulled into the car park of Tesla’s Gatwick head office I saw that the Gods were at work. Page 27 full page article ‘Tesla hopes its Model X will catch the eye of motorists’
I have always been a fan of Elon Musk. He is the Marvel comic super hero of entrepreneurs. The Electric Man. I have written about him before, but this is the first time I can report back on the Tesla product, because now I have actually driven the car. They call it the Tesla smile and I can honestly say I did not stop smiling from the moment I walked into to their offices. Jeff Edgar was hosting and I could only liken his situation to that of an actor who knows he has won the lead role in an amazing film or play, where he has been gifted great material. Everything about the production of this incredible machine seems to add up. From the way the non monocoque chassis is fitted out with the huge flat bed battery, which gives the car amazing balance and road hold to the strategic vision of the super charger stations networks, everything Tesla seems to make adds up. When you get behind the wheel and experience the 0-60 in an intake of breath with matching engine braking speed, coupled to the sensation that you are riding on a magic carpet, you really do end up with a smile that would be smug enough to establish yourself as a true environmental socialist worthy of any Guardian reader.
So thanks for that Jeff, and then to cap the day off and because fate like things come in threes, when Rick and I arrived at Capel le ferne as guests of Geraldine Allison chairman of KM group who was hosting a supplier function at the new Battle of Britain memorial in Folkstone, the car that pulled up next to us happened to be a Tesla being driven by Hugh Edelmeanu, Chairman of Evision. So it was a Tesla day. I still have an issue though, because whilst a range of 250 miles is reassuring and it only takes 25 odd minutes to recharge if plugged into a super charger, Like Jeremy Corbyn the Elon Musk Tesla still has to overcome the cynics.
Jonathan Ross October 2015
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