Not interested ... but ...

I've known this couple for a few years; not well, but certainly more than cordial. We've had many conversations about many things. It was a casual mention of my Tesla ownership that kicked off a recent conversation.

I gave them a quick overview of what a Tesla was all about and he was curious, but a bit standoffish. I asked him if he'd like to see it and he begrudgingly followed me to the car. His was more cautious, but it didn't take long for him to get onboard.

As we approached the car, I slipped my hand into my pocket and clicked the remote to release the "frunk." Following me, he looked in the empty cavity and looked a little stunned. I showed him the trunk and sub-trunk. He shook his head. "Why in the world would you get something this?"

"We love it," I told him, "we love the technology, we love peeking into the future of the automobile industry." He shook his head slowly from one side to the other.

As they looked the car over from front to back, side to side, and inside and out, I asked, "Want to go for a ride?"

It didn't take but a split second for them to buckle up. I put the car in reverse and the first comment was heard, "It's running?"

"Yes," I told them. As I approached the highway, I asked them if they wanted to see what it could do or just go for a leisurely ride.

"How fast does it ..." I put it almost to the floor and hit the 55 mph speed limit and leveled off. There were no words.

We approached a traffic light and as it turned green, I hit it again and leveled off at the now 65 mph speed limit. We all relaxed a bit and I showed them auto pilot. I read the warning to them about keeping my hands on the wheel and be prepared to take control at any time. But, as the car drove itself down the empty highway, I showed them how it changed lanes. I removed my hands, just a bit, and heard, "Oh NO, put your hands on the wheel!" My hands were less than an inch from the wheel, but I promptly grabbed it and returned to the right lane using auto pilot. He was stunned.

We talked for a bit about navigation, charging stations - ours and others - and he was rapid-firing questions to me. I answered all his questions. He was satisfied, but as we drove back, he had one more question, "You said there are charging stations around, but I've never seen one."

I asked him, "what are you looking for?"

"Good question," he said, "I guess I don't know." I told him I'd show him a picture when we returned and I did.

Once we returned, he had many more questions and my final question to him was, "Would you like my referral code? You'll save a thousand bucks." He didn't say no.