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The american automaker Tesla has made pure electric vehicles for a little over a decade. From the moment I heard about them I have been nothing but obsessed. I was "lucky" and got a first hand experience with one of the company's cars. How was it?

Ever since I was a little kid I have loved cars. I had a ton of car trading cards and what felt like a million toy cars. I could name about every single car out on the road. My favorite car brand was Porsche and I had my mind set on getting a Porsche Panamera when I grew up. Yeah, the 911 is nice too, but it can't fit your entire family. I was also a huge fan of the Bugatti Veyron, mostly thanks to the football player Cristiano Ronaldo. However, a brand new player came along that would later flip around my view on cars. Let's have a brief look at this company and why it is so different from the rest of the players.

Tesla's very first vehicle, the Roadster (2008), was based on the Lotus Elise, but it was completely different from other cars on the market. Tesla had retrofitted the Elise with an electric motor and battery, making the vehicle fully electric. In 2012, Tesla started delivering the Model S, their first fully electric vehicle built from the ground up. Later they also revealed a SUV called the Model X and then the compact sedan called the Model 3. They are also bringing the Model Y, Roadster 2.0, Semi and Pickup to the market in the coming years.

Tesla has been on the brink of bankruptcy numerous times and has had a lot of negative press by short sellers betting against the company. The CEO, Elon Musk, has also stirred up a ton of controversy, primarily because of his aggressive use of Twitter, but without Elon, Tesla simply wouldn't exist. Elon Musk almost went broke trying to save the automaker. There have been many doubters, but a decade later the company is doing better than ever. Tesla owners love their cars and are the most satisfied car owners.

Sweet! Now that you know a little about the backstory of Tesla, let's continue with my personal experience.

I was lucky and had the opportunity to travel to Oslo for work. Oslo is the capital of Norway, and it is also the EV capital in the world. It is heaven for an EV-fanatic like myself. There is tons upon tons of electric vehicles roaming the streets and a majority of them are Teslas. I was super excited and very eager to go Tesla-spotting.

Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed. Here's a little gallery of some cars I saw.

Definitely some very attractive cars. I was like a kid in a candy store skateboarding around looking at Teslas. One evening when I was in the centrum of Oslo I saw a Tesla taxi drive by. Whaaaaaat. I knew there were a few of them, but they were not that common. I had to chase one down so I could get a ride. This was definitely easier said than done. I kid you not when I tell you that I spent hours searching for a Tesla taxi that wasn't occupied. I skateboarded many kilometers, trying a ton of different strategies and checking every waiting place nearby. No Teslas available anywhere. A few more Teslas passed me and I tried to chase them down, but I could see people in the back. It eventually got dark and I lost all hope trying to chase down one. I was really tired, quite bummed and started my long journey back to the hotel.

I skated into an alley and spotted a beautiful Model X parked. There was also a pub nearby that was playing live music so it was a perfect place to catch my breath and admire the view of the Model X. I sat down on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. I obviously snapped some pictures of the Model X which you can see below. You can also see the sidewalk where I was catching my breath.

Admiring the view I was distracted by some lights shining at me from my right side. Wait a minute... I recognize those lights! Buuut.. this one had a light on the roof too. A Taxi sign! I quickly jumped up and flagged down the driver. Sure enough the driver stopped and the beautiful Model S came into view. Bingo! I asked the driver if he could give me a ride back to my hotel and sure enough he was available.

The door handles slowly retracted and I lightly grabbed them. The door popped open and the first thing I noticed was the huge screen and minimalistic interior. I carefully stepped into the vehicle and sat down in a very comfortable seat. Oh my, this was like a dream come true! I told the driver that I was obsessed with Teslas and that I had been trying to flag down a Tesla taxi for hours. He laughed and shifted the car into drive. He gently pressed down the pedal and the only thing you could hear was the tires rolling on the asphalt. I was mind-blown. This was like riding in a freaking spaceship. We drove a few meters and stopped at a red light. It was dead quiet. Absolutely perfect. The driver commented on how weird it was that it was dead silent and I nodded and laughed. He then made left turn and woah, it sat so nice on the road. It was incredibly smooth. The driver noticed how much I was enjoying the ride. I still couldn't get over how nice that massive touch screen was. I asked him how it was to drive it as a taxi and how the range held up. He said that it was no problem at all and that there was plenty of range, even for multiple longer trips. He said the same thing was true for the winter. I also asked where he charged his car and he said he only charged at home after his shifts ended.

By this point we were leaving the core of the city and headed for a bridge with a slight incline. The taxi driver quickly pressed down the pedal and the car flew forward. I was pushed back in the seat and I have never had a grin that was so big before. Holy shit. The taxi driver laughed and said that wasn't even full throttle. We continued over the bridge and in a roundabout. The Model s handled the roundabout like a champion and it was glued to the road. I had never been in a car that was so comfortable on the road. Insane.

We continued into a tunnel, driving about 80-90 km/h and it was still whisper quiet in the car. We could talk to each other without raising our voices and it was so delightful. I told him about the Tesla situation up here in the north and how there wasn't that many cars. We exited the tunnel and was approaching an onramp to a highway. There was a motorbike to our left (Harley davidson style) and he speeded up as soon as he saw us. The taxi driver was not going to let him get a lead so he slammed the throttle down and the car flew past the motorbike. The taxi driver grinned and pointed out how the Tesla had no problem whatsoever keeping up. Absolutely mind boggling fast.

We reached the hotel and I was grinning from ear to ear. I thanked him so much for the ride and asked if i could take a picture to tell my friends and family.

The best experience of my life. The first thing i did was run up to my room and tell all my friends in full caps lock what just happened. I was legit shaking from excitement. Oh boy! Thank you taxi driver! I think my grin is permanently stuck to my face. It really is like riding a roller coaster... wow.

A week or two later I returned to Oslo and while waiting at a bus stop with a friend a Tesla Taxi approached. I waved him down and once again stepped into the spaceship. Awh yeah!