Lifestyle

My Journey to the Model 3 Event: Renting an ICE

Posted on

I’m a big city gal through and through. I didn’t think to get a driver’s license until I was 21. Public transportation and my own two feet were all I needed to get by. When I travel, I tend to take the same approach. I stay in the heart of a city and walk as much as I can. No, from the Gaslamp District of San Diego to the Zoo is not a reasonable distance to walk. Ask me how I know. When public transportation is an option, I jump at the chance without much thought that maybe public transit isn’t as well developed everywhere else as it is in major east coast cities. (I’m talking to you bus driver who took a wrong turn in the unbelievably small downtown area of Fort Myers, Florida.)

I’m also not the world’s best trip planner. I am a bit stubborn about making a plan or visiting typical tourist sites, and as a result, have missed out on things. (It took two trips to San Diego to even bother heading to the zoo.)

This time, things are different. I’m heading to Los Angeles not for a vacation but for a very specific event. That event has a predetermined location and a start time. The start time of the event is just 4 hours after I’m scheduled to land at LAX. The location of the event is 15 miles away from where I will be staying. From what I gather, 15 miles in the LA area during rush hour can be a long trip. I’m also learning that public transportation options are’t all that great for where I’ll be staying.

Tesla-Model-3-Unveiling-Invitation-Confirm

I can’t just “wing it” this time around. This event is too important and any potential flight delays will shrink an already tight time span. That being said, I have to do something I never do: rent a car.

It won’t just be any car, it will be a tiny, slow, ICE. That’s right, folks. In order to economically and reliably get to and from the airport, as well as go anywhere on that special Thursday the 31st, I am renting a car. Many thanks to several fellow Tesla owners who have offered to assist with airport travel from as far away as Santa Barbara, but I wouldn’t knowingly subject someone to rush hour in LA on my account.

The irony isn’t lost on me and in fact, is almost a sort of tribute. The Model 3 will, in my humble opinion, be the catalyst we enthusiasts all want it to be to usher us out of the ICE age. That is not to say that gasoline cars and trucks won’t continue to be important for decades to come – they will be. But for this gal, I want the daily use of a gasoline car to be a part of my past and not my future. Sure, I’ll still call my brother with the lifted diesel Ford F250 when I need to pick up sheets of drywall. But with any luck, my days of spewing exhaust fumes on a daily basis are numbered.

See recent posts from Electric Jen.

More Model 3 News

 

 

To Top