Funny story...

EV's are not a thing here in West Virginia, yet. I *think* I spotted a Volt one time a few years ago but am not sure. I did see a Rivian downtown about a year ago. But that's it.

Here it's RAM diesel pickups rigged for smoke, SUVs, and 1960's, early 70's muscle cars, fully tricked out, 3/4 race cams, open exhaust, being driven on the street. Doing a burnout on the street with a 60s muscle car is fine. The cops don't seem to notice. Hah. Wish I had my 'rod from the 70s again (a tricked out '67 Chevelle SS that I sold for 50 bucks because I was sick and tired of building engines and car & boat drag racing.) I'd kill to have my Chevelle again -- 10.94 in the quarter mile.

Anyway, never seen a Tesla...until a few days ago. Called for an Uber ride to escort a friend and her kid to the dentist and here rolls up a maroon colored car. Didn't pay attention to the type of car. Didn't care. Didn't seem unusual because the car was quite noisy with fan noise, etc. After riding for a minute I realized it was a Tesla.

The driver was an old guy like me and he had the heat turned up to like 90 degrees in the car. I didn't complain because the ride was just ten minutes. But there it was, a Tesla. It behaved like an ordinary car but the external noise was off-putting. I would expect silence from an EV, like the electric buses and trolleys I grew up around in Los Angeles 65 years ago. What's with all the noise? The thing sounded like the fans in a data center, which is why I didn't notice it was an EV until I got in and recognized the Tesla escutcheon plate.

Anyway, so I've finally seen a Tesla and ridden in it. I didn't have time to talk with the driver about his impressions, unfortunately. I was too busy talking with the person I was escorting and translating for. (She doesn't speak English).

@shuttersparks The Tesla doesn't sound at all like the posh, quiet, smooth luxury ride that people of Musk's tier prefer. That must not be his target market, by the literal sounds of it.

@ClaraListensprechen4 I dunno. I don't get it. What's with all the fan noise? It sounded like an ICE car with the radiator fans going full blast after a hard run.

I would expect, click, whoosh. Silence, except for the tire noise that you can finally hear because the car is quiet.

@shuttersparks
All the engineering went into the engine. The rest of the car, not so much, betcha. It's got the Studebaker Syndrome.

@ClaraListensprechen4 Yeah, no doubt. It just seemed odd for there to be so much noise. I mean, sure, if you make a drag race run at max power I'd expect cooling systems to kick in afterwards. But this guy drove like the proverbial little old lady. Real slow and careful. Annoyingly slow, actually. And the outside temp was around 50F. I don't get it.

I'm not familiar with Teslas like people in California. Is all that fan noise normal? I don't like it.