When you first sit in the car, sensors detect your presence and that of the key, and the car enters accessory mode. The dashboard lights up and a large flat-panel display that takes up most of the center console comes to life.

The 17-inch touchpanel screen controls almost everything about the car. It can be used to set and tweak the drive mode, monitor data from sensors throughout the vehicle, run the air conditioning and interior lighting, adjust the audio system, and a lot more.

It also has a built-in Web browser -- and not just the basic, feature-lacking browser sometimes found in consumer electronics products.

The Tesla's entire computer system is based on Linux, and a cellular connection ties the car to the Internet. When I fired up the screen it was on the home page of Space X, a second company run by Tesla Motors co-founder Elon Musk. A connection to Google Maps provides the basis of the navigation system.

But let's get on the road. That means depressing the brake pedal, tapping a gear lever on the steering wheel column into drive mode, and then switching your foot from the brake to the accelerator.