Tesla driver 1

Reading articles for the "auto era ends" posts three weeks ago, I ran across a Ferrari owner and an M3 owner who loved their cars - but now drive a Tesla Model 3. They didn't make the switch to save the climate. They both now drive their Model 3 just for the pleasure of it.

Here's the BMW owner's story:

"My primary car starting in 2001 was a then-new BMW M3 E46. It was nimble, it was quick, it was exciting, and it was stylish and well admired. I enjoyed it for years, and it was the right car for me then. It was so successful and redefining its part of the industry that many other automakers spent years creating their own answer to that edition of M3."

He drove it for over ten years before moving on to the Tesla. 

"The M3 is an excellent car. I enjoyed it for over a decade, and, short of a V12, it's definitely the best-sounding gas engine I know with its inherently balanced inline-6 engine . . But as good as it is, the M3 has been clearly surpassed. 

"Now that I drive the Model S, the M3 and all other gas cars feel clunky and lurchy and powered by outdated, noisy, overcomplicated monstrosities. They're not fun anymore. I found I no longer like the rumble, the shake, the smells, and the noises of the gas engine and its transmission, jiggling my innards and wearing me out after a long drive. 

"While I still admire the engineering accomplishments the M3 represents, it also represents the pinnacle of the bygone gas-engine technology of the 20th century. My feeling is the same I would have for a beautiful 19th-century-tech steam locomotive: I can admire its impressive engineering, but why would I possibly want to own one? Especially next to a 21st-century Model S.