Everything I Learned Driving a Tesla 1,000 Miles in a Week

pcmag.com:

What's better than road tripping through California? Doing it in a Tesla. 

Each spring, PCMag sends drivers on road trips all over the US to collect carrier speed and reliability data for our Best Mobile Networks project, and I've been lucky enough to snag a spot behind the wheel since 2014. Most of the time, we rent cars on the lower end of the price spectrum. A few times, I've lucked out with a fancier ride, like when Chevy sponsored the project and I got to drive a top-of-the-line Tahoe, or when Silvercar(Opens in a new window) lent us an Audi A4. 

This year's road trip was perhaps my most epic yet, because I landed a route through the Golden State and I got to take a Tesla. Over a week, I put more than 1,000 miles on the Model 3 Long Range we rented from Hertz, driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles to San Diego to Phoenix. The Model 3 Long Range starts at around $56,000 and gets about 358 miles of range on a charge. 

I've tested a lot of e-bikes, but this was my first time operating a Tesla, or any electric car. The Model 3 Long Range offers a very different driving experience than my gas-guzzling 2015 Jeep Patriot, so I had a lot to learn. If you're wondering what it's like to hop behind the wheel of a Tesla, read on. 

My crash course in electric vehicles began at the Hertz counter at the San Francisco International Airport. Hertz recently made a huge investment in EVs, which the company is advertising(Opens in a new window) with the help of seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady. 

Once the Hertz associate pulled up my reservation and saw I was booked for a Tesla, they treated me like royalty, repeatedly calling me a "VIP" loud enough for others to hear. The associate personally walked me to the car, which was