Drive
Like many city dwellers, and in this shifting time from lockdown to freedom, I don’t use my car much1. The car exists for weekend trips to Costco, occasional visits to the family in RI, and the too infrequent weekend getaways.
Before moving to Boston a few years ago, I lived in the suburbs outside Seattle and was in my car daily. Going to the office was 25 miles each way. Every trip to the store or movies or anywhere required the car. That had pretty much been my life forever. I grew up loving cars, bought my first one as soon as I got my license, and have had a series of vehicles since that satisfied my particular mindset of the moment and whatever inner adolescent I was still trying to please.2
Yesterday I drove 100 miles to meet a friend for dinner. Then a 100 miles home. As much as I enjoyed dinner and catching up, the journey was the reward. I had forgotten the tranquility of time without email or other interruptions, the rapture of loud music playing at 75 mph, and the anachronistic vibe of stopping for gas and caffeine at the highway service plaza. I was probably more relaxed3 in those 200 miles than I have been in a while.
Americans love the highway, the promise of the open road and untamed vistas ahead. Car commercials celebrate the love affair we have with cars, roads, and freedom. Yet, my 18-year old daughter seems to treat her car as simply transportation.4 Will the eventual (hopeful) death of fossil fuel chugging vehicles kill car culture completely, or will we see a renaissance as every manufacturer goes electric and uses that to rethink the very idea of car?5
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for my next drive.
Purchased in March 2019 and almost has 5k miles on it. The dealer laughs at me when I go in for the oil change and they see I have driven 1000 miles since the last one.
My first car was a lovely 1968 Mercury Cougar, the kind where the headlamps had covers that flipped open when the lights were turned on. I had it painted a deep metallic blue and added beautiful wheels and larger tires in the back for that jacked-up racer look. The Ford 302 engine inside was loud and fast. Since then I have owned everything from a first generation Acura Integra (when Acura was exciting) to a convertible Mustang, a basic Jeep Cherokee to a luxe Grand Cherokee, a sequence of BMWs from the 3-series up to an X5, and both a Prius and a BMW i3. My current ride, shown above, is a sweet Range Rover Evoque named Bella. I suspect the next car will be electric.
But alert!
Although she made it clear she much preferred the Nissan Sentra we bought her to the i3.
I am going to admit that I am not a huge fan of the exterior design of Tesla at all. The cars are brilliantly engineered and the interior layout and use of space is revolutionary, but the exteriors just leave me cold. The new Ford Mustang Mach-E, however, has me pretty excited.