Tesla will be my first car (or truck) in 7 years, as soon as I can afford one.

1. It’s not a car. It’s…like a big cell phone. IE, there’s no engine. IE, there’s no years for the Tesla–they just update it constantly. Almost nothing to break or maintain. There are just about no service charges for Tesla owners. It gets auto-updates virtually, just like your iPhone. > Car Dealers Are Terrified of Tesla’s Plan to Eliminate Oil Changes (wired.com)

2. Power it with solar (perhaps Solar City, one of Elon’s other startups) and it’s zero emissions, beyond manufacture, which is still significant.

3. Its catch-on-fire rate is 1/1000th conventional gas powered cars. > Owner Of Battery Fire Tesla Model S Says Car ‘Performed Very Well,’ Will Buy Again (motorauthority.com)

4. Its safety rating is the highest in Consumer Reports history. You know, perfect. > Consumer Reports: The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car (news.consumerreports.org)

5. Its no more expensive than a Mercedes or BMW, already. So if you’re a richie, or like fancy cars, it’s in range. For the rest of us (well, I’m going to be filthy rich in a year or two, just not quite there yet 😉 ), Tesla’s business model is to make cheaper and cheaper cars, price-wise, for a larger and larger demographic.

6. Who cares about electric? We all should: climate change is going to (and already is, in many areas) cause loss of life, damage to economy, loss of homes, affecting rich and poor). Also, pollution is, you know, bad for us. And that includes noise pollution.

7. There’s been two problems with electric, so far: too pricey, and not enough range. Tesla’s investing $5 billion in the US to improve batteries–that will help their range, which is already by far the best of any electric. Price addressed above. > Tesla To Open $5 Billion Battery Factory for Mass Market Electric Cars (batterynews.org) > Tesla patents electric car battery that gets 400 miles on a single charge (inhabitat.com)

8. Tesla is building (there’s already a bunch of ’em) a network of free energy stations that will rapidly fill up your Tesla with juice wherever you go.  Yes, I said free. For life. No gas/fuel money. Ever. > Tesla Unveils Solar Power Supercharging Stations – “fills up your tank” for free (finance.yahoo.com) > Elon Musk: You’ll Be Able To Drive From LA To NY Using Tesla Superchargers By The End Of 2013 (businessinsider.com)

9. Tesla is planning to make a pickup truck. (businessinsider.com)

10. Enough talk: here’s everything else you might want to know about the current Model S: