Should we buy it?
We bought our first electric car in 2019. But to do this, it took us more than 6 months to decide. Not because we could not decide which color… But mostly because we could not decide what was the best for our planet… Driving our old car until it was done, or producing a new car that was more environmentally friendly? Because by doing this, a lot more materials would be used… This while our old petrol car was still driving perfectly.
To make this decision, we drove in the electric models of different brands. At the end of 2019, the government made us decide… We would have to order that year IF we wanted to have all the financial advantages that would change the year after. And so we did…
No dealer but a webshop
We bought the Tesla model 3 in the online webshop of Tesla… as it is not like other brands where you can choose a lot of details and you buy it at the dealer. With a couple of clicks, it was done! We looked at each other and started laughing… It felt like buying a new book, not a car!
Picking it up
A couple of weeks later we were invited to receive the car in Amsterdam, at the dock. Here you can see our video, as this was quite a happening:
First driving experiences
And so it began… We now drove a Tesla Model 3!
So silent and smooth as gear switching is no longer part of driving. But we also had to get used to charging instead of fueling the car. When I had several appointments for work at different locations, it was a guess in the beginning if I would make it home without charging. Therefore I was always looking for charging locations at companies. Just 10% of the battery would feel almost empty… But soon I realized I had a longer range than expected. My confidence in how far I could drive grew day by day… And the autopilot of Tesla just made me so relaxed when driving. I had more energy left at the end of a working day to do other things!
It felt almost like a guilty pleasure as so many people have no idea how comfortable a life with a Tesla really is…
Therefore, we like to offer friends and family a ride in our car. So that they can experience it themselves. But we always sit next to them, as it does take some time to get used to this new way of driving!
Going on holiday
After a couple of months, our first holiday was planned; skiing in the Alps. A ride of more dan 1,000 kilometers one way. How would that be? We and also our friends and family were quite curious…
To be totally honest… It was the most relaxing driving day I ever had. Tesla planned all the charging locations for us, told us how long we would have to charge and when we would arrive… And; it was right!
The advantage of this planning is that you know when you have a break. And somehow this gives a lot of comforts. Also, you stop more often and shorter (for example 15 minutes every two hours). Enough time for a toilet visit or a short walk to stretch your legs. And last but not least; you could watch series or movies in the car while waiting!
By driving these 2,000 km, we came up with the idea to go to Norway with our new car. So that summer we drove 6,500 km, and it was amazing. Later I will share more about this trip here. But by doing this, we noticed everybody around us was very surprised that we did this voluntarily. Going on holiday in an electric car somehow has the image of being impracticable, not something you should want. But we know now that is not true…
To make you believe this too; we will take you with us on our next journey… All the way to Cape Town and back. Let’s do this!