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  • Radio Flyer, founded in 1917, is the Chicago-based manufacturer of tricycles, scooters, and most classically, little red wagons.

  • Tesla Motors, incorporated in 2003, is the Silicon Valley automaker leading the innovation of electric cars.

  • Put them together and what do you get?

  • The Tesla Model S for Kids, a battery-powered ride-on toy for kids between ages three and eight, which brings us to our test driver.

  • My name's Felix and I’m 5 years old.

  • I live in Brooklyn, New York.

  • One recent Saturday, I led the lad over to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

  • It's a little less than a mile down the road from the local Tesla showroom, and it seems like a great spot to put the car through its paces.

  • Assembly was quick.

  • And the operation so intuitive that I could condense a driver's ed class down to a minute.

  • The toy has two modes: drive and reverse.

  • One pedal to accelerate and it sport side view mirrors, a lithium-ion battery, and headlights much like its full-scale counterparts.

  • It also has an auxiliary port and speakers for cruising with some tunes.

  • The real Model S goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in two and half seconds.

  • And in about same span of time, this one went from 0 to 6, its top speed.

  • It can also be set to a lower maximum speed of 3 mph (miles per hour), by accessing a child-resistant switch at the rear.

  • The kid seems to be enjoying himself, that's what I expected.

  • He's one of those kids thrilled just to sit in the front seat of a parked rental car and pretend to drive.

  • The toy also proved to be educational, quickly broke the boy of the habit of oversteering that has led to so many crashes in arcade racing games.

  • So, what about the bottom line?

  • The vehicle's base price is 500 dollars, which maybe sounds like a lot of money until you consider that, in this neighborhood, that buys you about 20 hours of babysitting.

  • At first, all Felix had to say was, it was fun.

  • Then we went out for a cup of hot cocoa and he took out his colored pencils and drew me a picture.

  • The young man's self-portrait as a motorist told me that his Tesla ride left a truly lasting impression.

Radio Flyer, founded in 1917, is the Chicago-based manufacturer of tricycles, scooters, and most classically, little red wagons.

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