We usually rent a car from Hertz when we’re flying out of SFO; we can walk to the nearby location, seeing wonderful flowers on the way; it’s fairly cheap (thanks, IBM!); and we don’t have to sit in close quarters with a stranger on the trip to the airport (that will come soon enough on the plane!).
Today was no exception, but they had a surprise for us – a Tesla Model 3, even though we’d reserved a cheap class C car.
They gave me a five-minute crash course in Tesla and turned me loose. The driving experience has been OK so far, though I find the regenerative breaking rather aggressive compared to our Priuses, and I’m not a fan of having to look to my right to see the speedometer instead of having in front of me, like every other car I’ve ever driven (including the electric Nissan and Hyundai we test-drove a few weeks ago).
Where I wish I’d paid more attention was after we got the car home – I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off! It turns out that you don’t actually have to turn off a Tesla; it figures out that you’ve left it alone and goes to sleep. But then it surprised me again when we went out for a walk and I noticed the A/C running; I guess that’s normal behavior, but it was still alarming.
It’ll be interesting driving it to SFO. And then it’ll be Hertz’s problem, not mine.
Happy Easter to all who celebrate it; it’ll be Monday when we touch down in Sydney.