Welcome to “This is TOSV,” a series of interviews with our members. We sit down with TOSV member Ken Lunde, whose family has no fewer than three Model 3s.
By Birgitte Rasine
Name: Ken Lunde
Home City: San José, CA
Tesla Models:
Baby Pearl, Pearl White 2018 Model 3 LR AWD
Baby Ruby, Red 2018 Model 3 LR AWD
Baby Sapphire, Deep Blue 2019 Model 3 SR+
TOSV: Hi Ken, I understand you've got three Model 3s? And they’re red, white, and blue.
Ken Lunde: Yes, in the immediate family. Our oldest son and his family live in Milpitas and they have a Model 3, and my wife and I each have a Model 3.
TOSV: So who does Baby Pearl belong to?
Ken: That’s our first one. That’s what I drive the most, mainly because my wife, um, dislikes the colors I chose (laughs). I mean, she was displeased that I chose white for the exterior and even more displeased that I chose white for the interior. But if I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same thing. The white interior really pops, and nearly four years later, still looks new.
We picked it up at the Fremont Delivery Hub at the end of September 2018. The next month, I drove our Infiniti SUV to South Dakota to visit my parents. The air conditioning made a screeching sound and started blowing hot air. It was October so it wasn’t hot, but fixing air conditioning in an Infiniti was going to be thousands of dollars. We were not going to sink thousands of dollars into that vehicle… and we had already decided after getting the first Model 3, no more gas cars. The only compelling electric vehicle on the market was another Model 3.
TOSV: So you got another Model 3. Baby Ruby?
Ken. Yeah. We were at a party that December, got bored, and decided to go home and get on Tesla’s website and order another Model 3 right there. My wife chose the colors this time. You know, the red exterior, black interior, but otherwise the same configuration. That was a Friday night. Saturday morning we got an email saying You have to pay the balance, so I paid it on Saturday, and then they said Oh, your car’s going to be delivered to your home on Tuesday. We live about 25 miles from the factory.
One thing I should say about my wife is that her life-long dream car was a red Porsche 911. I used “was,” because after she got her red Model 3, she no longer had a desire for a Porsche 911. The Model 3 gave her better performance without using any gas, and at a fraction of the price. Speaking of performance, I bought the Acceleration Boost upgrade for both Model 3s on the day it became available. That was in December 2019. I highly recommend it.
TOSV: That fast?
Ken: Yeah. That’s how we got our first two. Then, the following year, I think it was July or August of 2019, our oldest son’s Honda Civic had an accident. And it was to the point that repairing it was not an option. They ultimately decided to buy a Model 3. They didn’t spring for the dual motor that we have for ours, they just got the standard range plus.
TOSV: So I have to ask. What’s the story behind the names?
Ken: When we got the first one, we just called it Baby. That was from the movie Baby Driver. When we got the second one, we decided to change the first one to Baby Pearl because it’s pearl white. And the new one was gonna be called Baby Ruby. The funny thing about that is that our daughter’s name is Ruby. She teases us a little bit that we named one of the cars after her.
TOSV: What about Baby Sapphire, your son’s Model 3?
Ken: So for his, for the longest time they didn’t give it a name. So one time, we were taking them to the airport, and we had to use one of our Model 3s and their Model 3. Since I had control of their car, I renamed it Baby Sapphire. I think that was about a year and a half ago. We did that, and they kept it. So to this day, it’s named Baby Sapphire.
Once I get my Cybertruck I’m planning to name that one Iron Baby! I already have its personalized Snoopy plates that read FEBABY. Baby Pearl and Baby Ruby already have Snoopy Plates. Baby Pearl’s are personalized and read CJKV.
TOSV: How do you like the color range overall, for the 3s?
Ken: In fact, right now, there are only five colors for the Model 3. It used to be six. The sixth one was silver, it was discontinued I think in August or September of 2018. There was also a special black, they called it Midnight Black, but it’s almost indistinguishable from the regular black. Sometimes when I take a walk with our dog, I can see all six colors. It’s pretty neat when I can actually walk around in my neighborhood and see all six colors, including that rare silver one.
TOSV: How would you describe to someone what it’s like driving a Tesla?
Ken: It’s quiet, even when you accelerate. I went to South Dakota in August for my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. We had a lot of people… my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband, some friends in the area, and family from Wisconsin. I was giving people rides in the Model 3–none of them ever rode in an electric vehicle before. So they were all impressed with everything, how quiet the acceleration is. I just love these vehicles. That’s why I wrote three articles about [Tesla] being the best vehicles we’ve ever owned, after our first, second, and third years of ownership.
TOSV: What does it mean to you to own a Tesla and has it changed your life?
Ken: The main thing is we’re saving a lot of money not buying gas. Electricity’s much cheaper. We've also paid virtually nothing for maintenance. So both the daily driving and maintaining the vehicle, it’s just so much better than traditional gas vehicles. We also have a Level 2 charger in our garage, and we charge only during off-peak hours. Going on nearly four years, we have never had a need to charge both Model 3s at the same time. It is like having a virtual gas station in the garage.
Those are the main reasons why they’re very compelling for us. The whole save-the-planet thing, that’s nice to say, but I wouldn’t say that that’s one of our primary motivations. Because when you manufacture the batteries, there’s an environmental cost, but it’s all upfront. Everything after that, the use of electricity, almost no maintenance, that’s what makes it compelling for us—and the ability to do interstate driving.
TOSV: When was the first time you got to “meet” a Tesla?
Ken: Our first experience with Tesla was in… I think it was the summer of 2017. My wife’s friend from Japan came over and the three of us went to the Tesla dealership in Santana Row. I set up a test drive. At the time, they only had the Model S and the Model X. So I did a test drive of the Model X. At the time, Tesla was not compelling for us to purchase for three basic reasons. The first one was the price—I wasn’t going to pay over $100,000 for a Model X. Number two, when I looked at the Supercharger map, the route I’d have to take to go to South Dakota was [not convenient]—back then the Superchargers in Wyoming weren’t in place. And third, was the range.
It was in March of 2018 that I started looking again at Tesla. I looked at the Model 3 and it became very compelling. It was a reasonable price and the range was good. The Supercharger network had also grown to the point that I could use my usual route to South Dakota.
TOSV: That’s fair. So how would you rate all these factors that come into consideration: technology, environment, design?
Ken: Number one is technology. These vehicles get better [with time] as you own them. When we look back to when we got our first one and compare both performance and the features to [what it is now, after all the updates], it’s a fundamentally better car. There’s no other vehicle that does that. You know, the typical mindset when you buy a vehicle is, that’s what you get until the vehicle is dead. I mean, you can’t swap out the engine, you can’t make it more efficient. You can’t change the electronic system unless you’re gonna pay thousands of dollars, which nobody will do.
The closest thing that we’ve ever experienced to that in a non-electric vehicle was when we added CarPlay to our last gas vehicle which our daughter uses, a Mazda CX-5.
TOSV: What’s your favorite way to pass the time when you’re charging your car?
Ken: Well, there’s not a lot of time. When I drive to South Dakota, my supercharging sessions are on the order of 15 to 20 minutes. I leave home with a 100% charge, but charge to only about 80% when I supercharge along the way. You can’t sit down and have a long dinner or lunch or something like that. So if it’s close to time to eat, I will go to a restaurant nearby and order something [to go]. In fact, sometimes I’ll just order on the restaurant’s mobile app, and go over and pick it up, but I really don’t have to think about what to do because there’s just so little time.
One thing I discovered is if the Superchargers are on the grounds of a hotel, the hotel is basically the host of the Superchargers. And because of that, you’re considered a guest of the hotel. This means that if you show up during their breakfast hours, you’re welcome to go in there and get their complimentary breakfast just like people staying at the hotel.
I learned that at the Supercharger in Wheatland, Wyoming. So that’s on the eastern side of Wyoming on Interstate 25 [at the Heartland Inn & Suites]. I had to use the restroom, and they said, “You’re also welcome to breakfast.”
“Oh,” I said, “Why?”
“You’re considered a guest of the hotels since, you know, the Superchargers are here.”
So that’s nice. By the way, in the lobby of that hotel, they have a picture of a Tesla Semi because apparently, one came there and Supercharged. So they got a picture of it at that location, which is pretty neat.
TOSV: That’s a great story, and good to know for many of our members! You must have some interesting stories from all those road trips.
Ken: When I was driving to South Dakota, back in August, on my way to the Supercharger in Wells, Nevada, there was a construction zone where the two lanes of Interstate 80 were reduced to one. I was behind a pickup truck that decided to coal roll me. (Rolling coal is a modification to diesel vehicles that produces this black smoke, and they typically do it to electric vehicles.) Some people, for whatever reason, they’re against electric vehicles, which I can’t see why, today when you look at the price of gas.
Anyway, that’s the first and only time it’s ever happened to me. Once the construction was over and we had two lanes again, I pulled off to the right. The pickup truck stayed on the left and proceeded to coal roll me again because the exhaust was on the right side of the vehicle. I think I went from like 70 miles per hour to pushing 120 in what felt like about a second. Then I slowed down again, but the driver didn’t bother catching up.
TOSV: That’s just gross.
Ken: Yeah, that was an interesting experience. It kind of made me think about, you know, what goes on inside their heads, to do stuff like that? So the instant torque and acceleration [of a Tesla], it can help get you out of some potentially nasty situations. It is also a safety feature. Not all situations require braking.
TOSV: So how did you find out about the TOSV club and what motivated you to join?
Ken: I found out about it through Twitter. I knew from the beginning that I would not be able to attend many of their events, but to the extent possible, I knew that I would try. It made sense to join, mainly because I live and work in Silicon Valley. Even if you cannot attend any events, or very few, there are other benefits of being a member, such as special discounts that are available only to members.
TOSV: What would you say is the coolest thing about the club?
Ken: The fact that it’s located at what’s effectively Ground Zero for Teslas. I mean, Tesla’s a Silicon Valley company, or at least started out that way with its first factory in Fremont—and this is the owners’ group in Silicon Valley. So it’s pretty much ground zero for Tesla. And that’s the reason why I see them all the time here in my neighborhood.
TOSV: In your opinion, what’s the purpose of a community like TOSV?
Ken: It is a great way to meet with others in the area who share the same passion for Teslas, especially for those who are interested in customization and would like to see examples first-hand. The interaction with other members doesn’t need to be in-person either, because TOSV is also on Slack.
TOSV: Any recent events you’ve been to?
Ken: I have attended only three TOSV events thus far. The first was the event in March of 2021 when the 56 superchargers in Firebaugh were taken over. It’s about 100 miles from here. I have never seen that many Teslas in one place and so many of them were customized. The second event was in December 2021, which was the Holiday Frunk Toy Drive. For that event, my oldest son and grandson came with me, and we had a great time, especially seeing how some of the people decorated their frunks in a Christmas theme. Some of them even had lights. I really hope it turns into an annual thing.
The third and most recent event was volunteer duty at an Earth Day event in Mountain View. I really want to attend the event at SS Customs at the end of June, but I will be driving Baby Pearl to South Dakota on that day. The reason is that I’ve been thinking about giving Baby Pearl the “Herbie the Love Bug” treatment for quite some time. It is already white, so all I need are lengthwise and off-center red and blue stripes, and a circled 53 on the hood and both sides. Like this.
TOSV: That’s going to look amazing, we can’t wait to see it. Any final thoughts?
Ken: After nearly four years of ownership, I can confidently state that the instant torque and acceleration never get old. I sometimes regretted that we didn’t buy Performance versions, but the Acceleration Boost upgrade split the difference.
TOSV: Ken, thank you. We appreciate all the time you’ve spent with us today.
This interview has been edited for clarity.