Tess
of the drivervilles
Goodbye NAV Missy
The NAV Missy
Julia and I said goodbye to our beloved 2013 Nissan Leaf on 03/22/2018. It is such a great car and served us so well for almost five years. It was our first experience with electric drive and it exposed us to the pleasure, and sometimes anxiety, of driving electric cars. She hasn’t gone to the scrapheap she’s in fact found a new home with our dear friends Margo and Todd. Here she will serve Todd as a trusty commuting car shuttling him back and forth across the San Francisco Bay for many years to come I’m sure.
Electric cars have far less moving parts than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Less moving parts means less servicing and lower probability of mechanical failure. Electric cars do have far more complicated electronics. But integrated circuits either work or fail soon after they are placed in operation and are easily replaced. This makes electric cars far superior to ICE cars from the standpoint of longevity and maintenance. So it was with our Leaf. During the five years we owned it I replaced two tires.
Electric cars are far cheaper to operate than ICE cars. Gasoline is not just destructive to the environment it is extremely expensive. In fact, if you add the price we pay in the loss of human life, destroying other countries to obtain oil to make gasoline, and the damage we cause to our environment, the actual cost of gasoline is astronomical.
Of course, electric cars use energy, but in California we generate 30% of our electrical energy via renewable sources and this is on the increase.
The estimated proportions of generation from each renewable technology type in California in 2017
So, say hello to our new 2018 Tesla Model X 100D who we’ve named: Tess, of the drivervilles. This is an homage to Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel: Tess of the d'Urbervilles and the amazing Roman Polanski film of the same name.
Tess has a 100 kWh 350 Volt lithium-ion battery that gives her a 289 to 310-mile range on one charge. One of the most amazing things about Tess is she is all American made. She’s certainly not a lite car weighing in at 6,658 lbs. gross weight. But, Tess can jump from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds, which is not too shabby given her weight. She has four-wheel-drive and a maximum ground clearance of 9 inches. This gives Tess the ability to serve as our sole car. She can transport us from the market and back as well as transport us across the country via the most extensive charging network in the world today. And she can take us down the occasional dirt road Julia and I find ourselves on while looking for hiking trailheads.
We’ll miss the NAV Missy, but we look forward too many years traveling this great country in Tess of the drivervilles.
