![2013 Tesla Model S, in July 2017 [photo: David Noland]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s-in-july-2017-photo-david-noland_100613423_t.gif)
It was time to let her go. She is my 2013 Tesla Model S, serial number 003662, in dark green, now with 76,000 memorable miles. The best car I’ve ever owned, by far. She had taken me to 33 states and roughly 100 Superchargers, through deserts, mountains, and tropics, with total reliability, and always with style and flair. DON'T MISS: Life... Life with Tesla Model S: the challenges of selling her at last
It was time to let her go. She is my 2013 Tesla Model S, serial number 003662, in dark green, now with 76,000 memorable miles. The best car I’ve ever owned, by far. She had taken me to 33 states and roughly 100 Superchargers, through deserts, mountains, and tropics, with total reliability, and always with style and flair. DON'T MISS: Life... 
Last week, I was in a bit of a Tesla funk. That’s not normal; my four-plus years of Tesla Model S ownership have been a mostly giddy ride, with the few bumps minor and temporary. But last week I was facing the prospect of two long-term permanent downgrades to my personal Tesla World, both related to Supercharging. DON'T MISS: Life with Tesla... 
Over the first three years of driving my 2013 Tesla Model S, there wasn't a single time when I looked at another car and said, “You know, I’d really rather be driving that car than this one.” Not once. The Tesla’s combination of performance, style, economy, technology, plus the addictive allure of electric acceleration... 
Back in 2014, Tesla had a spate of problems with the drive units in early-production versions of its Model S electric sedan. (The drive unit is essentially the car’s power train: electric motor, inverter, and gear box.) High-profile multiple failures occurred in long-term test cars driven by Motor Trend magazine and the automotive website... 
Fleeing my home in New York’s Hudson Valley for California during February and March has a number of charms. Currently at the top of the list: reading about Winter Storm Stella while watching the surfers at Rincon Beach. For electric-car nuts like me, however, there’s another California perk that’s not far behind: the wide... 
It’s a new era in Teslaworld: the end of unlimited free Supercharging. Starting a few days ago, anybody who orders a new Tesla Model S or Model X will receive an annual allotment of 400 free kilowatt-hours (good for about 1,200 miles). After that, they will have to pay for use of the Supercharging fast-charging network, at prices that vary... 
My 2013 Tesla Model S is now approaching 75,000 miles on the odometer. That happens to be the mileage benchmark for my next scheduled Tesla service. So I called my local Tesla service center, in Paramus, New Jersey, to set up the appointment. No problem, the service rep said. The first available slot is...a month from now. Whoa. DON'T MISS: Tesla... ![2013 Tesla Model S at Supercharger station on NY-to-FL road trip [photo: David Noland]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s-at-supercharger-station-on-ny-to-fl-road-trip-photo-david-noland_100454645_t.gif)
Last Friday night, I arranged to meet my wife for dinner in Newburgh, New York, at a restaurant that has a Tesla Supercharger. Even though the battery in my Model S 85 was about 60 percent full, I figured I might as well top it off to 90 percent while we ate. When I arrived, there was a white Model X already plugged in. That left five empty... 
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Tesla’s claim that its Autopilot driver-assistance software is safer than a human driver. After a fatal Autopilot crash last May, the company said the death was the first in 130 million miles of Autopilot driving—and noted that, “among all vehicles, in the U.S., there is a fatality every 94...