I just took this picture with our new Sony DSC HX5V point-and-shoot from our living room. Amazing, huh? It's got a 10x zoom and that's really showing.

If anyone is interested, here are the details: I put it on a Gorillapod, in manual mode, autofocus and exposure to center, maximum 10x zoom, 10 seconds self-timer and took a +/- 0.3 EV bracket shot at ISO 125.

Then merged the single photos to HDR with Photoshop, converted the HDR back to a 'normal' picture and applied some gaussian blur (1.2px) to the halo. Voilà!

Yesterday was a good day. I got to drive a Tesla Roadster in Munich. Got a 45-minute test drive from Schwabing to Garching (via the A9 highway) and back. And it felt like only a couple of minutes in this incredible machine. It is nothing short of awesome.

 Feels like a go-cart (direct steering, very low seat position), and a wild one as that. You quietly 'start' the engine by turning the key in the ignition. Which is a funny concept for a pure electric car, as - well, you guessed it - the engine is coming 'online' with all electronics fired up, but certainly it's not 'running' like in a combustion engine.

 And then off you go. Quietly. Hope you can see or better hear it in the second video linked below.

 We were driving the Tesla without the roof, so to say in 'convertible mode'. All I can say is that the noise from tires and the wind is pretty much all you can hear. But that it is being quiet doesn't mean it's slow. Because it's not. The acceleration from 0 to speed limit is nothing short of spectacular. But I think it's even more impressive if you accelerate from say 120 km/h to top speed (around 200 km/h). Because this doesn't take much longer than the 3.9 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. Which is definitely something completely different to the behaviour of your conventional engine (ok, except maybe you drive a Ferrari).

 For me, personally, the direct steering in contrast to my power steered BMW feels a bit strange, but hey, it's a sportscar!

 And what I found very interesting and could adjust to even within the 45 minutes: if you step off the gas, the engine becomes a generator (to further save on energy) and 'brakes' you to walking speed. So for usual driving you will not use your brake much except at red lights and, well, when you arrive. And you can hear the generator at low speeds, pretty cool sci-fi turbine sound.

 Ok, I think I wrote too much already, but it was really quite an experience. So here are some photos and a video:

Btw. the Munich Tesla showroom is scheduled to open soon... so stay tuned for updates.
 
PS. the full charge in Munich with local prices for green power was around 11 EUR. A full charge gives you around 350 km of pure driving pleasure with some buffer included.

That came quite surprising! I saw that gorgeous thing (http://www.teslamotors.com) at the one place where you wouldn't expect one: standing right next to me at the gas station. But you guessed right: only for some air for the tires!

It looked really sportive in black and had a british plate. But steering wheel on the left, so I guess there is still no 'british version', but it was just an US import.

I so want one for myself now!

I just rediscovered a video that a friend of mine took on last year's opening day of Oktoberfest in Munich. Watch one of the tents (12 tents accommodate a total of 80,000) filling in less than a minute after opening: