New Buffalo or Bust

Scenic Michigan Dunes backdrop the Tesla 75 miles from its home base in Chicago.

During the summer, Jim and I visited the as-yet-to-officially-open Chicago Tesla dealership and were treated to brief test drives in the store's demo car, but that vehicle was sold before we could take our proposed mileage marathon. Thankfully, another came in and Tesla sales consultant Seneca Giese set us up for a Sunday drive in late October.

When we arrived at the dealership, we got a surprise. Just in was a 2010 Roadster Sport, a car with 40 more horsepower than the demo we drove and just 140 miles on the odometer. Seneca asked--rhetorically, I have to think--if this would do.

After a brief run through of the Tesla's idiosyncrasies, Jim and I set out for our proposed turn-around point of New Buffalo, Michigan, 76 miles away.

As we already knew from our prior exposure, one of the Tesla's shortcomings is cumbersome ingress and egress. At 5'9" and 145 pounds, I'm not a big guy, but while I quickly mastered stepping over the tall, wide door sill and falling into the low-set seat with something approaching grace, getting out required bending and folding like a human origami project. Anyone with any hope of disembarking without aid from the Jaws of Life will probably find sufficient headroom and legroom, but the footwells are narrow, particularly on the passenger side, where you sit with your legs slightly skewed to the left. And it's a snug fit for two, as adults--even not particularly wide ones--sit shoulder-to-shoulder. Suffice it to say, this is not a car for linebackers.

As we left the dealership, the car's computer said we had a 95 percent battery charge and a remaining range of 232 miles.

Shortly after leaving Chicago's inner-city maze and merging onto the Dan Ryan expressway toward the southern loop around Lake Michigan, Jim and I were already marveling that we were driving a car at freeway speeds on just battery power. It seemed almost surreal.

We traveled nearly all of the first 76 miles to New Buffalo at 60 mph, then did some around-town running to a few scenic spots. When we reached the 100-mile mark, the computer indicated we had a 65 percent charge and a 107-mile remaining range. By the way, the computer bases its range estimate on power consumption over the past 40 miles, so a change in the type of driving--or in this case, the person driving ("lead foot" Jim Jackson having taken over the reins during this period)--will affect the estimate.