Copy linkEmailFacebookWhatsAppXLinkedInBlueskyThreadsImpact Link
SaveSaved
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers. Become an Insider
and start reading now.Have an account? .
2019-01-31
I wrote my first words about Tesla in January 2008. In the ten years since, the company has gone from selling one car to selling three, and from delivering a few thousand vehicles the early 2010s to 250,000 in 2018.
Each of the vehicles has its particular charms, quirks, and appealing features. I found myself reflecting on them at the beginning of 2019 as we look forward to some new machines from Elon Musk's plucky automaker: the Model Y SUV, a new Roadster, and perhaps even a pickup truck. Tesla is also juking pricing on its Model S and Model X vehicles, dropping vehicles with smaller, cheaper battery packs and going all-in with a 100-kilowatt-hour design that can be range-curtailed by software if you choose lower-cost options.
Here are all my favorite features on all the Teslas I've driven:
1. Original Roadster. The first Tesla to hit the road, this straightforward electric sports car captured hearts and changed minds — an EV didn't have to be a glorified golf cart! Now discontinued, the original Roadster can still be picked up used.
It's still my favorite Tesla, although the Model 3 has me rethinking that position. I love its open-air style.
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
But what I truly adore is the simple joy of driving it. The speed is electric lightning: 0-to-60 mph in under four seconds. And the feedback-heavy steering is point-and-shoot. Driving this car of the future is surprisingly old-school.
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
2. Model S. Motor Trend's 2013 Car of the Year! I've driven various trim levels, including a P90D that I took on an ill-fated but instructive road trip.
The Model S is luxurious and speedy, as well as a pleasure on long highway cruises. But where it really shines is its versatility: it can carry as much cargo as a good-sized SUV, thanks to a rear hatch and a front trunk, or "frunk."
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
The Model S also serves up superb range — and it did so well before the competition.
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
3. Model X. Tesla threw every idea, good and bad, it could into its expensive SUV.
Matthew DeBord/BI
The dramatic falcon-wing doors sounded goofy when I first heard about them, but in the flesh, they're sci-fi cool.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
But the best feature about the Model X? Honestly, it was how much my dog loved the vehicle!
But what really got me was the white interior. I first experienced it on the Model X, but in the more compact confines of the Model 3, it was stunning.
Matthew DeBord/BI
I know I said the Roadster is my favorite Tesla of all time. But the Model 3 Performance is probably my new darling. Electric bliss on four wheels!
Matthew DeBord/BI
EXTRA! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Tesla's Supercharger network as something I'm fond of. It's widespread in the US, making road trips much easier.
Matthew DeBord/BI
My dog doesn't understand electrical engineering, but I do. Tesla Superchargers can re-juice your ride at 135 kilowatts, much faster than 220-volt level 2 home chargers. Superchargers use direct current to get the job done.
Matthew DeBord/BI
The company has installed Superchargers along major highway routes, but also in dense urban areas.
Tesla
Read next
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Matthew is a Business Insider senior correspondent who covers transportation (and chess, guitars, home-audio equipment, cocktails, and sometimes classic rock). His focus is the global auto industry, including Tesla, a company he has chronicled since 2007. He also looks after Business Insider's annual Car of the Year award, announced every fall.He's written for The New York Times, Slate, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, and CBS Interactive. He's commented on the auto industry for a variety of media outlets, including Sirius XM, MSNBC, Radio France, KPCC, and KCRW. DeBord won the 2018 Ken Purdy Award from the International Motor Press Association.He's taught at New York University's Stern School of Business and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.His book "Return to Glory: The Story of Ford's Revival and Victory at the Toughest Race in the World" was published in 2017 by Atlantic Monthly Press and came out in paperback in June 2018. In the New York Times Book Review, Jonathan Kellerman called it a "page-turning synthesis of business book and adventure saga."
