I’ve been following the Tesla Motors story for a long time, and after recently staying at the W Hotel in Hong Kong, I was able to experience one of their brand new cars first hand thanks to the W’s purchase of 5 Tesla Model S Signature models for their hotel guest transport. The W Hotel is the ONLY hotel in Hong Kong to offer this clean transport mode for hotel guests, and it’s both a novel and environmentally-minded gesture.
Electric cars have had a resurgence thanks to the efforts of companies like Tesla to break the mould the pedestrian design efforts of traditional car makers in EV performance and appeal – perhaps, one might argue, to discourage take-up while there is still a large business in fossil-fuel powered vehicles.
Tesla’s first offering was a fully electric version of a Lotus two seater sports car, which took the EV concept into a much sexier, sportier field than had ever been attempted before. The Tesla Model S is the first bespoke model, built from the ground up as a sedan, or rather saloon, as its size dictates.
The car’s sleek lines already embody something special, hinting at a purpose and performance even while standing still. But to really get eyebrows raising all one has to do is open both the boot and bonnet of the Tesla Model S at the same time. The reaction is always the same – one of bewilderment and maybe bemusement. Why? Because there is literally nothing to see in either cavities – no engine in either front or back, and plenty of storage space.
The other giveaway that this is not your average people mover is sitting inside the car – the floor in both the front and back of the Tesla Model S are completely flat, with only batteries making up the majority of the floor space, with no need for a traditional drivetrain and therefore no lumpy center moving through the length of the car.
The noise you hear in the video is external travel noise only – wheels on asphalt, and probably wind noise as well. But as far as performance of the Tesla Model S goes, moving up through the digital speedometer is silky smooth – with just the one “gear”, there’s no transition from gear to gear.
Technology is front and center in this car as well, with a massive center console touch screen LCD and a smaller dashboard screen providing all critical readouts and measurements. The inbuilt SIM card allows a wifi hotspot connection to be created for all passengers on board.
The half hour I had in this car was all I needed to convince myself that the age of electric cars is truly here – it’s just a question of when, not if.
And kudos to the W Hotel for investing in an emission-free alternative for its vehicle fleet, it’s definitely one reason I’d return to the W in Hong Kong!