If you live in California, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard about “Carmageddon”, the closure of I-405 on the weekend of July 16th. To escape from this traffic nightmare, Plug In America member Renee Swenson organized an “Escape from LA” Tesla Roadster rally.
Around 10 Roadsters drove from Los Angeles to San Diego, and met for lunch with San Diego Roadster drivers. Lucky for me, they happened to be meeting just a block from my house and invited me to cruise with them. I rode in Rob Wilder’s “very orange” Roadster.
It’s been a while since I’ve ridden in a Tesla Roadster, and I’d almost forgotten just how quickly that car can accelerate. A Maserati pulled up next to us and tried to drag race us, but it was no competition. Even though the Maserati had a head start and made lots of loud noise, the Roadster’s quick, quiet acceleration made the Maserati appear to be standinding still. As my head pressed up against the back of the seat, I nearly forgot that this car gets 119MPGe and that, as Linda Nicholes would say, those are not gallons of gasoline, they are gallons of sunshine. That is because this particular Roadster is powered 100% by sunshine from Rob’s rooftop solar panels. This truly is efficiency at its best.
To find out about upcoming Tesla rallies, visit www.socalgreenspeed.com.