试驾特斯拉：毕生最好也是最坏的体验

    “哇噢。”

    我那通常不苟言笑的丈夫以几乎低平的语调发出如此感叹，实际上就相当于一位十几岁的孩子发出尖叫声。当他在试驾中踩下特斯拉Model S的油门后，我们充分感受到了这辆电动汽车的澎湃动力，从静止加速到时速60英里只需4秒钟，他忍不住发出了惊叹。

    我老公其实对汽车无感，也不太喜欢开车。

    但我很喜欢汽车和驾驶，这就是为什么我们全家最近花了一个下午到奥斯汀地区的特斯拉展厅去试驾四驱版的85D Model S（目前特斯拉在售的只有Model S一款，Model X SUV预计将于明年上市）。85指的是电池，并暗示了车子的续航里程。除了85D外，这款车型还有稍便宜的70版本以及稍贵一些的90版本。

    我目前驾驶的是一台10年车龄的讴歌TSX，它连蓝牙都没有，也没有后视摄像头或泊车辅助等任何新技术。虽然它是一台很有运动感而且开起来也很有乐趣的车子，但我还是希望车里能多一点高科技配置，同时能有更大的后排空间给我越长越大的女儿，另外我更期待拥有一台电动汽车，这样我就不用去加油了（在户外温度高达40摄氏度的奥斯汀，出门加油绝对是一项我非常讨厌的事）。

    去特斯拉经销店，就是为了选购一台有最大续航里程和最强性能的全电动汽车。本周早些时候，我已经试驾了日产聆风，它是一台很有乐趣的入门级电动汽车，不过和特斯拉相比，试驾聆风的感觉就像在吃一支脱脂的冰淇淋，远远没有“全脂”的特斯拉那样够味。我并不是一名专业的汽车评测员，但作为一位既痴迷高科技又喜爱汽车的女性，以下就是我试驾这款连《消费者报告》都称赞不已的车子的感受。

    “Oh wow.”

    Those words, said in an almost flat monotone, were the equivalent of a teenager’s squeal coming from my usually stoic husband. But after he hit the gas during a test drive of a Tesla Model S, and we felt the power of an electric sedan that can go from 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds, he couldn’t keep from expressing his surprise.

    The man doesn’t even really like cars or driving.

    But I do, which was why my family had found itself in an Austin area Tesla showroom on a recent afternoon to take a spin in the all wheel drive 85D Model S (Tesla only makes the Model S for now, although the Model X SUV is coming next year for new buyers). The 85 refers to the battery and indicates the car’s range. The 85’s stated range is about 265 miles. It also comes in a slightly cheaper 70 and a more expensive 90 option.

    I currently drive a 10-year-old Acura TSX that doesn’t even have Bluetooth or any fancy technology like a backup camera or parking assist. Although it is a sporty, fun-to-drive car, I’d like to get a bit more tech, a roomier back seat for my growing daughter, and an electric vehicle so I wouldn’t have to fill up the gas tank (a task I absolutely hate when it’s 104 degrees outside in Austin).

    I was in the Tesla dealership for an all-electric car with the maximum range and no compromises on performance. Earlier that week I had test driven a Nissan Leaf, which was a fun introduction to electric cars, but was the equivalent of eating diet ice cream compared with the Tesla’s full fat goodness. I’m not a professional automotive reviewer, but as a tech-obsessed lady who appreciates a good car, here’s what it was like to test drive a vehicle that even Consumer Reports raves about.

    第一印象实在是惊艳。在我们坐进车子的时候，销售员提醒我们，车子会自动记住我们偏爱的后视镜和座椅的位置。还有一个地方也能显示出这台车子的独特之处，那就是一个占据整个中控台的触摸屏。坦率地说，似乎有点太大了。不过等到开始正式试驾时，这种想法就被抛在了脑后。令人有点扫兴的是，车子启动的时候没有任何征光。电动汽车说启动就启动了，在我看来，这是聆风和特斯拉这两款汽车最诡异的地方。我想，现在经常开电动汽车的人估计已经忘了，他们头几次启动车子时总会不自觉地想：“这东西到底启动了没有？”

    不过，一旦踩下特斯拉的油门，你就不会再有这种疑问了。它的起步不亚于任何一台肌肉车，另外你在加速的过程中感受不到任何卡顿，非常平顺，而且速度比我预想的要快得多。后来我才掌握了加速的油门感。不得不再说一遍，的确很惊艳。

    所以说，它的动力是很吸引人的（也让我丈夫发出惊叹），但一款车的灵魂是它的操控。销售员显然不笨，他很快看出了我的驾驶风格，然后从正常驾驶模式调到了更紧凑的运动模式，并鼓励我绕着弯道开得更快些。我照做了。我以从来没有在那台讴歌上试过的速度转弯，并没有产生任何汽车可能失控的感觉（特斯拉的车子着实份量很足，重量超过4600磅，给予它更好的稳定性）。我可怜的女儿在后座上被惯性带得东倒西歪。

    在试驾区的弯道上享受了高速过弯的乐趣后，我们开到了奥斯汀的街道上，一般来说，在奥斯汀市区开车的感觉都是很不爽的。今天我依然像平常一样不走运，走到哪儿都是红灯。于是我开始研究起这款车型的再生制动功能，也就是当我刹车的时候，制动产生的电能会储存到电池里。但这个功能会产生一种令人不爽的额外的“延迟”，直到后来我才稍稍掌握了窍门，学会轻一点踩刹车跳板（我得承认，我对这个功能的感觉一直不好）。由于我大脚轰油式的起步，再加上我对再生制动功能的讨厌，从这次试驾看来，我应该是达不到特斯拉宣称的续航里程了。

    Amazing. The moment we got in the car, the salesman tried to impress us with the fact that the car would remember our preferred mirror and seat positions. Another thing made it clear that this car was different: a giant touch screen that replaces the entire center of the control panel. It’s a bit much, frankly. But I had to just push all of that out of my mind while putting the car into drive. It was a bit anticlimactic because there was no telltale hum of a motor starting. Electric cars just boot up, which frankly, was the freakiest aspect of both the Leaf and the Tesla. I imagine anyone who has driven an electric car regularly will probably have forgotten that momentary frisson of self doubt as they started the car those first few times and wondered, “Um, is this thing on?”

    But once you hit the gas on the Tesla TSLA -4.71% there is no doubt. This car moves into drive like every overpowered masculine cliché you can imagine, only there’s no subtle lurch as it accelerates. It’s smooth. Suddenly we were moving forward, much faster than I intended, until I got the hang of how much power was at my disposal. Again, this was awesome.

    So the power is compelling (and what elicited the exclamation from my husband), but what makes a car is the handling. The salesman, who was clearly not a fool, quickly saw my driving and switched from the normal steering into the tighter sport mode, and encouraged me to go faster around the curves. So I did. I could take corners at speeds that I could never take in my Acura, without ever feeling any risk of losing control (the Tesla is really heavy at more than 4,600 pounds, which gives it more stability). My poor daughter was sliding around in the backseat like she was at a roadside carnival ride.

    这辆车还有很多新奇的功能，比如车道偏离警告，即车子偏离车道时，方向盘会发出震动。另外车子还会自动识别限速标志，如果我超速了，车速计就会闪灯报警（由于车子动力非常强大，超速的确是很轻松的事）。我觉得我正在驾驶一台电脑，它的软件似乎可以改变车子的高度，来绕过地上的沟沟坎坎，可以平行泊车，可以改变操控的感觉，随着时间的推移甚至还可以添加新的功能。

    特斯拉的电子功能是它的一个主要卖点，因为该公司可以轻易地升级新的软件，提高车辆的自主驾驶水平。不过它对我来说也是一个很大的隐忧，因为作为一个以评测电子产品为生的人，再没有人比我更了解软件故障的痛苦了。如果我的汽车表现得像我的手机或其它家用电器一样（我家里到处都是各种能联网的灯、恒温控制器和锁），那么哪怕是一次故障，都会让我为花出去的这9万美元深感懊悔。毕竟，如果车子送回店里修理，或是坏在路边动弹不得，都会让我在一两天里出行不便。

    对于汽车的续航里程，以及在出门时只能在特定的特斯拉超级充电站充电的问题，我倒是不那么焦虑，但我丈夫还是提了出来。

    最后，我还是决定，特斯拉不在我的预算之内。要买这样一辆心仪的爱车，除了高得离谱的9万美元的价格，还要支付高额保险费。我在经济上无法承受（尤其是目前油价还比较低）。但特斯拉的确是唯一一台我想买的车。

    试驾特斯拉的经历虽然短暂，却让我产生了一种跻身于一个精英俱乐部的感觉——似乎特斯拉的车主都既开着豪车，又能享受最新的技术。尽管特斯拉的价格非常高，但你依然可以用6万或7.5万美元的价格买到更便宜的版本或二手车。另外你也可以入住一家非常高档的酒店，它会让你免费驾驶特斯拉一两晚。

    是的，不管哪个版本的特斯拉，价格都十分昂贵。但是自从我这次试驾之后，每当我坐上自己那辆平凡的车子时，脑海中都会再次回忆起驾驶特斯拉的感觉。我有时甚至对自己说，只要能以那样的速度过弯，在车流中穿梭，哪怕付出那样的天价也是值得的。何况我仍然非常讨厌去加油。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    After the fun of driving around a curvy campus and through parking lots we hit Austin’s streets, which are typically a misery to drive. As is my usual luck, I hit every red light and played with the regenerative braking feature that helps return power back to the battery while I brake. But that feature created an unpleasant extra “drag” while braking until I got the hang of a lighter touch on the brake pedal (I never got a great feel for it, I admit). Based on my rapid-fire take offs from stoplights and my hatred of the battery-conserving regenerative braking, I could tell that I would fall short of Tesla’s projected mileage range on this ride.

    The car had so many novel features like giving the sensation of rumble strips when I crossed over a lane marker and the ability to read the speed limit signs and flash an alert indicator on the speedometer to let me know when I was going too fast (such an easy thing to do with that much power at my feet). I never stopped being aware that I was driving a computer whose software could change the height of the car to avoid potholes, to parallel park, to tweak the feel of the steering and to even add new features over time.

    Tesla’s electronics are a major selling point because the company can easily update a car with new software that would let it drive autonomously. But it’s also hugely scary because no one knows the pain of glitchy software like someone who reviews gadgets for a living. If my car behaved like my smartphone or my home appliances — my house is filled with lights, thermostats and locks that are connected online — I would feel profound buyer’s remorse for spending $90,000 on a product that caused me even a moment’s irritation. After all, I could be inconvenienced for a day or two while the car is in the shop or, even worse, stuck on the side of a road.

    I was less anxious about the car’s range and having to charge at only specific Tesla supercharger stations on road trips, but my husband did bring it up.

    In the end, I decided that a new Tesla wasn’t in my budget. The cost of paying the higher insurance premiums and the insanely high $90,000 price for the version of the car I wanted didn’t make financial sense (especially with somewhat lower gas prices today). But the Tesla did become the only car I wanted.

    Tooling around in a Tesla, even if only briefly, made me feel like I was in a rarefied club: People who drive luxury cars and own the latest technology. And while the price tag was too high, it’s possible to buy a cheaper or used version for $60,000 or $75,000. You could also stay in a pricey hotel that gives guest free access to a Tesla, and drive one for a night or two.

    Yes, Teslas, no matter the version, still cost a lot of money. But ever since my test drive, I’ve been reliving the experience in my mind every time I get behind the wheel of my far more mundane car. And I can almost tell myself that it’s worth the stratospheric price to be able to accelerate through traffic so quickly or take curves at the speed they deserve to be driven. Plus, I still really hate having to get gas.