Nick Hexum, 50, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and guitarist with the band 311, in his family’s Tesla Model 3s, as he told AJ Baime.
Growing up, my father informed me a lot about rock ‘n’ roll culture. My first love for music was his collection 45: Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis. Cars were always part of the images. You know: “Fun, fun, fun, until his daddy takes the T-Bird.” We would take car trips in the summer and it came to be that I could tell the difference between a 1955 Chevy, a 1956 or a 1957 with just a glance.
Later, when I had some success with my band, I saw this 1955 T-Bird parked across the street from my manager’s office, and it had a for sale sign on it. I bought my dad that car and surprised him on his 60th birthday. It was this moment of tears that I was able to show my gratitude for my father’s love and support, but also for instilling in myself a love of cars and rock ‘n’ roll.
Over the years, I have had almost all the improved sports sedans from all the German automakers. A Mercedes E55 AMG, a BMW M5, an Audi S6. It wasn’t about looking good in an expensive car. I wanted a spectacular performance.
My band’s bassist, P-Nut, was an early adopter of Tesla, and actually bought the serial number 311 of the Tesla Roadster, the brand’s first model. He had been telling me to get one. I decided to wait until the Model 3 came out because it was the size I wanted and it was cheaper than some of the cars I had been driving.
When I got the performance version of my Model 3 [Tesla’s highest performance edition of this model] Two years ago, I thought it was the best performing car I had ever driven, and having a $ 60,000 car that smoked some of the most expensive cars I had ever owned was beneficial to everyone. Because it’s fully electric, there’s smooth acceleration (the car doesn’t have gears, it just works) that feels like it’s launching into hyperspace. It will go from zero to 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds. At the same time, it is completely silent.
There are certain things in a car that, once you have them, you would rather not do without. I had come to love four wheel drive cars after having my Audi S6, because you could accelerate around a corner and the car would be really safe. I had come to love adaptive cruise control because driving on the LA freeway has a lot of starts and stops. Adaptive Cruise Control does it for you. The Tesla had all this technology. And the autopilot is huge; turns for you, so all you have to do is keep your hands on the wheel.
Now my wife also has a Model 3. We installed a huge solar panel and two Tesla Powerwalls, so the sun not only powers our cars, but also our house. When I was a kid and first fell in love with cars, I never imagined that I would drive a car powered by the sun.
Ultimately what made me an Elon Musk fan [Musk is the co-founder and CEO of Tesla] It is this: most people are not going to do everything they can to save the environment. It created a car with a better driving experience than there was, from my point of view, for a cheaper price. And you can save the environment to boot.
Nick Hexum bought this 1955 Ford Thunderbird for his father, Terry Hexum. They’re both in the car in old Mr. Hexum’s driveway in Omaha, Nebraska, circa 2014. Notice the license plate: “From Son.”
Photo:
Deanna Hexum
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