Un-Greased Lightning

On my latest trip to Chinook Centre I noticed a large crowd gathering around a fancy new show car.  Although I was scrambling to make the movie (Prometheus) I was already late for, I managed to catch a glimpse of the Model S from Tesla Motors.

Image:  Tesla Motors

As I rushed by, I noticed several Tesla attendants trying to answer the crowd’s many questions.  The immediate feel I got from the showcase was that it was an informative exhibit about a new electric car.

To me, this fit my vision of the electric car.  A group of well-informed individuals dispensing information about the environmental, and technological aspects of the car.  Since I wasn’t able to stop and ask a few questions of my own,  I decided to look up Tesla Motors later.  Online I was treated to a much different vision of the electric car.

Tesla’s homepage featured some dynamic pictures of the vehicles, included an image of a Tesla poised behind the finish line.  When I navigated to About Tesla the image of a sports car took me by surprise.  What I saw didn’t fit with my idea of the electric car, which is what makes it especially interesting.

I always picture an electric car being marketed based on the environmental benefits.  I imagine a man in a lab coat directing my attention to a graph detailing the vehicle’s advantages versus a gas-powered car, or hybrid.  What I don’t imagine is a sports car screaming across the finish line. In any case, after seeing the car in-person, and online, I definitely wouldn’t mind a test-drive.

Tesla is offering up the Model S on its Get Amped tour this summer.  If you are an North American Reservation Holder and you’d like to try your hand behind the wheel, check out if Tesla is coming to a city near you.