The Best Car for Someone in a Wheelchair?! - Our new Tesla Model X!

Alright, I'm ready. Are you ready? Okay... Three, two, one... take off. Nature everywhere. Really cool. This is incredible. So there are a lot of cars out there. A great variety. And they all serve different things. And there are plenty of cars that are great for people with physical limitations like me. Some are better than others, but virtually any car can be adapted for a

wheelchair

user. But there aren't many cars that don't require a trip to the gas station. And if you're a

wheelchair

user, you know that's a big deal. I'm talking about a big deal.

And I'll show you in a second why that is. Full disclosure: Since this technology is new, it is ridiculously expensive right now. But as with any piece of technology, the price will drop in the coming years. And it's good to know that it currently exists. One way to get a discount on the price of technology is to buy it used. We purchased this used Tesla Model And it has some features that are awesome for everyone, but even more so for Cambry. And we will show you what they are. Let us begin. So this is the Tesla Model X.

The SUV version, all electric and it's incredibly fast. The Model It has a lot of personality with the Falcon doors. And I think it will suit Cambry quite well. It has automatic doors, which is great. With my last car, I never used the rear hatch because I couldn't reach it once it was up to lower it. So with the Tesla, you can open it with the remote and close it with the remote or the app on your phone. Which makes my life much easier. Cambry, do you want to show us how to get in? Yes. So you may not think going to a gas station is a big deal, but when you're in a wheelchair it's a totally different ball game.

You have to transfer the wheelchair and yourself in and out of the car twice. It's like going to the gym just to get gas. So getting an electric car avoids the gas station altogether. But even though we avoid the gas station, Cambry still has to get in and out of the car. And no matter what car we get, the process will be basically the same. So first I put my feet in... or my legs. And then I grab the steering wheel. It's locked at this point. I put one hand on my cushion and then turn inward.

And then I have to take this apart... when I'm alone. When I'm with her, I help her and then put the chair back. The rear seats fold down and there is enough space for your wheelchair. You can see this is the entire process, so imagine doing this at the gas station several times in a row. The wheels come off quite easily. You can then take the wheels and put them in the back seat, right next to one of the pilot seats in the middle. And then I have to make some room to pick this guy up.

And then I put him in the passenger seat next to me. There you go. So you can see why avoiding the gas station is a good thing. Not only does he have to take his chair apart, he also has to put it back together when he returns to the gas station twice. So having an electric vehicle that you can plug in when you get home is great. So since Cambry's chair is made of metal, we added some protection. Some clear plastic protection here along the side walls, so that when you put your chair on the frame you don't scratch anything.

We also have a cover for this seat as well as the center console and a screen protector on the screen. So if something hits the screen or the seat...or the door. ...or the door, everything is always protected. We had our friends at Luxe Auto Spa, the same people who wrapped Dan's gray Tesla and applied those special protective features to us. I think they've done a pretty good job. We have had this car for about 2 weeks and there has been no damage to the actual car. You may have heard that Teslas have something called Autopilot, and you might think that with Autopilot

someone

with a disability could just jump in and start driving, but that's not the case yet.

Fully autonomous driving will come in the future, but for now, the Cambry requires manual controls to operate the vehicle. Okay, this car is already pretty well adapted to me, like we don't have to make many modifications. But something I will always have to make modifications to is the manual control. Since my legs don't work, my hand controls do the job. So this part, if you push forward, applies pressure to the brake. And then if you move it backwards, it electronically controls the acceleration. Very cool. One of my favorite features is that when you apply pressure to the brake, the door closes.

Nice. And then I don't have to reach for it. Quick side note, one of my favorite features, and I know there are some cars that have it, but the steering wheel gets hot. And I'm always cold, so that might be my favorite feature about this car. My hands are nice and warm. Yes, it has a lot of features that make life easier for everyone in general, but I think my favorite is that it's faster than most sports cars. Especially since Dan splurged a bit when he bought it and got the P100D, which means this is the “fast” Model And the Cambry has been fast.

He's thrown it a couple of times in ridiculous mode. But she has never done it personally. So this will be the first time. Are you ready? Are you ready for this? I guess that's the question. Yes, I think I'm ready. Three... two... one... take off. Oh my God! I feel like my eyes are shaking! Three... two... one... take off. Oh my God! I feel like my eyes are shaking! I feel like you went 30 miles per hour and stopped. That scared me! That's like losing control! The seat belts are also tightened every time. Oh, that was fun.

You can feel the blood rushing to the back of your head because the acceleration is so intense. I think my eyes are shaking like that. That's crazy. We had a friend in the car one time and he said, "Man, my blood forgot how to circulate," which is like the perfect example or the perfect analogy of what happens when this thing accelerates. Perfect description, for sure. That was fun. As was? I just want to keep driving on these trails. It's super pretty right now. And there are houses on the side of these roads that I'm sure you can't get to in the winter, but they are super cool.

And it's amazing how many colors are still available. Like a lot of leaves have fallen, but it's still like nature... everywhere. It's pretty cool. Hello Bertha. Hello. So when I take my hand off the accelerator, the car takes that energy from decelerating and puts it back into the battery. Basically, we could gain more miles by going downhill and using that energy. So one of the reasons we chose the Model What I like about it is that you can change the height of the suspension, so it can be low to be able to get in and out, but it can also be raised when we are off-roading.

Obviously, buying a Tesla is quite expensive right now. The price will go down over time. And if you end up buying a Tesla, the

best

way to do it is with a Tesla owner code. Yes, you can go to a dealership and buy a Tesla outright, but if you have this code, you'll get an extra 1,000 miles of free supercharging. A thousand miles for you and a thousand miles for the person whose code you're using, which would be Cambry and me. Supercharging is what we would use on long road trips. Fills the Tesla battery with energy very quickly.

We can fill a large portion of the battery in just 30 to 45 minutes. Many people might think that superchargers have to be used, but in reality, most people, including us, have a small charging station installed in our garage. The superchargers spread across the United States are mostly just for long road trips. So one thing that bothers both of us quite a bit is when there is no parking because

someone

is taking the handicapped spot. Or two... Someone parks right next to my car and I can't open the door enough to get in. She needs a lot of space.

One interesting thing about the Tesla is that it has the summon feature, but now also, with just this update, it is a smart summon. Which means you can park anywhere and you can hail the car from across the parking lot. We're going to try it. Right now the Cambry is parked in an impossible place. There is no way he can sit in the driver's seat, but since he has the app on his phone with smart calling, now he can call the car. And he knows there's a car next door and it's coming to get Cambry. I can't believe he did it with a car next to him.

What do you think about that? Yes. I approve. We're on the highway right now and Cambry has never tried Autopilot on his Model X yet. So we'll do it for the first time. So, Cambry, when you're driving and there's that gray steering wheel in the corner, it means the car has identified the lanes on the road and is ready to help you drive or drive yourself. Then, on the steering wheel on that opposite side, there is a little knob that if you click it twice towards you it will go into autopilot mode. And it will maintain the same speed.

It will maintain the same speed and distance from the cars in front of you. Okay, so double tap it? Click towards you twice, yes. Well. We are sure? Well. There you go. Now the car drives itself, staying within the lines. This makes me anxious. And now the steering wheel is blue, which means the car drives itself. And about every 60 seconds or so, a small flashing light will appear telling you to take control of the steering wheel for a second. So you just have to push it to show that you're still awake and listening. Dan and I made a video about what happens if you fall asleep while autopilots are on.

So I'll leave a link for that in the description. It's great. Cambry, what do you think about autopilot? Um, initially it's stressful because I didn't trust it very much. But I still don't trust it 100%, I will continue with my eyes on the road. But it allows me a little more freedom in my hands to do other things like grab the window. Roll it up or down. Take my drink real quick. Fix my seat belt. Adjust something like the speed of the windshield wipers. It just gives me a little more freedom because my hands are always busy if I do it all the time.

And the

best

thing about all this is that the capabilities of the autopilot will continue to get better and better. Right now, Autopilot can guide us while we're on the highway, but soon, in a year or two, it will be able to take us from our home to our destination without us having to drive ourselves. Crazy. So when this car passes us by, we can see that the Tesla has recognized it and knows its position. It recognizes other cars with all the cameras located on the outside of the vehicle and that is what helps us drive safely.

So Cambry, now that you don't have to control your vehicle with your hands, what are you going to do with them while driving from now on? I remain a responsible driver. I'm not going to put on makeup or anything. I'm going to rest my hands. All the charging stations are full and there are many Teslas sitting around waiting to plug in. Alright, there's Dan. Open the door for him. And it is opening. Convenient. I miss this car! It looks so good. It's been a while. How long has it been since I've been in this car, like 3 or 4 weeks that you guys have this now?

Yes, it's been a bit. I think the real reason you sold the Tesla to the Cambry was because it's more of a girl's vehicle... Oh right? ...and you were afraid to run with my truck. Look, I'm fine with the race. I don't know if that exists, but I'll let you go with that. That's the real reason. So there we have it. We have the old owner in the back seat and the new owner in the front seat. And I think we're going to have a lot of fun with it. So if you want to watch Dan's video about why he sold his Tesla, I'll leave a link here.

Hit the subscribe button if you haven't already. And come hang out with Cambry and me on our Instagrams. We will leave a link for those that appear in the description. And do you remember how we finished it off? I miss this car. Is this how we end it? Thanks for watching. Shall we see you there? Perfect. Yes pretty.