Spending my time

It's just like Roxete's song but instead of "watching the days go by", I watch the minutes go on the display saying how long it will take until full charge. When I see BWM i3s on the highway, I pity BMW's meagre 60miles (100kms, give or take) range. How can you beat Tesla's 248miles (400kms, more if you drive sanely)? Ludicrous!
And yes, I spend my time charging with nothing better to do than playing the Tesla wife... Read on, gal! Read on!

Fuelling

Actually, I might get the axe from the Tesla and EV aficionados just by applying the ludicrous word fuelling to an all-electric context. But old habits and words die hard and charging, that word of correctness, is not yet firmly embedded in my vernacular. Still, on a supercharger no-zone what other choices does one have than resorting to what the locals have to offer?
Charging stations in Portugal are few and thin on the ground. And slow, did I mention slow? How I miss those delicious superchargers back in the States. When, you Tesla folks with the decision power, when will there be superchargers in this no-zone?

Forget the smile, it was the excitment of finding a charging station in the middle of the highway, what I really want is a supercharger network asap. Let me reiterate: I-want-a-supercharger-network-a-s-a-p, get it?

The Creature is out... here and there

By the sunny blue sky no one would guess it's the dead of winter... yet it is. First weekend with the Creature fully legal and we concoct the thought of taking it somewhere postcard-like. Belém, what better? It was from Belém that, in the sixteenth century, caravels set sail to explore and discover the great unknown where there be dragons. Belém symbolizes the seafaring spirit of the Portuguese and epitomizes the Age of Discoveries. So too are we at the dawn of our own personal age of discoveries behind the wheels of a Tesla Model S 85D and Belém may well act as our departing point.
On a fine January Sunday, the place was, as it usually is, jam-packed with tourists but we nonetheless managed to find a spot for the momentous picture bemused upon hearing passers-by saying this must be some prototype or the latest German car (mind you, I'm the German part of the equation, not the car).

And the gazing... My was there gazing.
Off, off and away!

Taking the Creature out

And the day was upon us. After a grueling, insane process of legalizing the Creature in a Tesla no-zone, we could finally take baby out. And out, to work, we went. 

Those 15kms (9 miles) of newness were just begging to hit the road and we even tried autopilot mode: insane! Freaking unbelievable that it exists in real life and... it actually works: thanks Tesla people with the insane engineering minds!

A sunny day at the peak of winter and the Creature is now ready to take us places...

Hip, hip, hooray!  

Mississippi burning

After Alabama there came Mississippi but, alas, this is a Tesla supercharger no man's land. The great State of Mississippi has no superchargers. A bit like Portugal, it is a no zone and I guess that, as in Portugal, Tesla owning and Tesla driving is only for the wild at heart or for the plainly insane.
So, no superchargers in sight, what's a Tesla-wife to do but kill time in selfie mode whilst appreciating some good ole southern hospitality?

And yes, it was burning hot down there!

Into Sweet Home Alabama

And now that the festive season is over and the new year is here in full swing, let's resume at where we were in our all-American road trip.
Leaving Florida on interstate 10 (boy were we eager to do interstate 10!) and having stopped in DeFuniak Springs, the last supercharger before the state line, we entered that Sweet Home Alabama (take a bow Lynyrd Skynyrd although my heart's a sucker for Kid Rock's All Summer Long...). It was going to be our longest stretch yet: out of Florida, cross Alabama and Mississippi to get to Louisiana, all in one gigantic, seemingly never-ending day.
Stiffling heat and the first and only stop in Alabama: Mobile.

And Tesla brightly anticipating that when you get out of Florida on I10 what you really want is get to Louisiana and you need to refuel somewhere in Alabama. Bang, enter Mobile. The heat was so insufferable I kept reminding Rev. King's line "sweltering with the heat of oppression" because only someone who has endured the heat of the Deep South can aptly define it. But the heat accounted for no one in sight which gave me five minutes of posing without the shame of being the ludicrous Tesla-wife.

I even did a Marie Antoinette... (good grief).

Well, "Vive la Révolution" and it's time to hit the road again and on to Mississippi.

We're on EV-Sales and I'm Penny

Well, hello, hello dear 2016! And what good news thou bringst! My, o my!
Being referenced by EV-Sales (just THE blog about evs) is quite a treat: thank you to the über ev fan and fellow countryman over there!
And as it seems, I'm kinda the Big Bang Theory Penny lost amidst the geek, nerdy gang. Yeah, I do sometimes feel like Penny: both blonde, both strangely finding themselves unwantingly crashing in the world of geek and both utterly unable to escape it freewillingly. How's that for life's ironies?

I do, however, hold a PhD, which is miles away from nerdiness and all things tech. And what good does it do me as I enter the Tesla galaxy? Penny, I so do understand you. But ah, this crazy little thing called Love...

It joins even the most disparate souls.
If you want to read the bit about my Pennyness, here it is with credits to José Pontes and his blog of ev fabulousness:

Ever wondered how 0 kms Model S end up in countries where Tesla isn't officially represented, like Russia, Romania or Portugal?

Wonder no more, On the Road with Tesla follows one of these cars, in it we see a Model S buyer endeavor, from the website configuration, passing through the Tilburg delivery, to the current status of getting a number plate in Portugal. 

It will be interesting to see how it will develop, the moment it is finally allowed to go on public roads, first impressions, reliability, and for me a very interesting point will be this, how do you service a car that has no nearby service centers? Mmmm...

An important feature, https://ontheroadwithtesla.wordpress.com/ is in English.


UPDATE:

There is a mirror blog of this, also named On the Road with Tesla, but on a different server, (well) written by the wife of this Tesla-owner, documenting their sometimes strange life, like travels searching for superchargers, talking with the random Model S owner, besides other ev-like quirks.

In a way, it reminds what Penny from The Big Bang Theory would write about Sheldon Cooper, Leonard and the rest of the pack, if they were Tesla-fans...

Really interesting, even for people that aren't EV-nerds do not know what a Tesla is.