Odometer: 39 miles

We’ve taken delivery of the car and gotten it home. Our initial reactions so far are pretty predictable if you have read Tesla reviews before:

• The quiet of electric drive is fabulous. ‘Nuff said.
• Acceleration is incredible and fun. I don’t have either Insane or Ludicrous mode on my car, and it is still incredibly fast. The spec is 0-60 in 4.2 seconds, but it certainly blows me away. The acceleration is strong enough that it makes your stomach muscles tense up to take the G forces. Oh, and top speed is 155 mph, so it’s really easy to blow past the speed limit when you are having fun; cruise control and autopilot are a must just to avoid tickets in this car; one slip and you can be doing 90 before you realize it.
• Autopilot really works. We used it in I95 on the way home, and it was flawless, even on Massachusetts roads with worn lines.

Here are some of the surprises we experienced during the delivery because Telsa does things differently from other car companies:

• I have no proof I own the car yet. Because I did a trade-in and transferred my plates, I have to wait for an email with my registration. Further, my purchase documents also have to be uploaded to my “My Tesla” site, so I don’t have those either. I’m really hoping I don’t expect any problems, but being stopped would be awkward without a registration.
• I don’t have an inspection sticker. Tesla can’t inspect cars in Massachusetts because its service centers don’t have MA-certified systems for getting rid of car exhaust; that’s a requirement for MA inspection centers. Because I picked up my car on a Saturday, all the inspection centers nearby were closed, so I’ll have to do this myself within the next 10 days.
• The car really doesn’t like my garage. We measured our garage to make sure the Tesla would fit before we bought it. The opening is 92 inches wide, and the car is 86 (77 with the mirrors folded), so the car definitely fits. However, the parking and object awareness sensors get very vocal when anything is within 10 or 15 inches of the car, to the point where it beeps a “Stop!” message when we actually enter the garage. This means that we can’t use the “Summon” feature presently to get the car in and out of the garage. It also means I’ll spend the next many years worrying that I’m going to put a crease in one of my doors or knock off one of my mirrors.

I’ll write more when I’ve taken more trips, but despite all the surprises, my first impression is that the car is worth every penny of its price.