“I look like I am selling the car at the Singapore Motorshow,” Germaine Tan tells us as she smizes and poses, leaning seductively against the hood of the vehicle during a shoot with 8days.sg. But instead of the Singapore Motorshow, we are at the 987 deejay’s home, a bungalow built in the shape of a figure ‘8’ if you had a bird’s eye view of it, and the car she is “selling” us is her swanky — but environmentally friendly — Tesla Model X.

Not that she has to. We fell in love with the one-year-old electric SUV (sport utility vehicle) as soon as we laid eyes on its strikingly cool falcon wing doors. But that’s not the only cool thing about her ride. Like a proud mama, the 25-year-old tells us about its ultra-smart features like collision detection and auto-pilot mode. It even comes with a dose of toilet humour too.

“I really like that [Tesla CEO] Elon Musk is so eccentric that he programmes weird things for the car. There’s this feature where you can activate a fart sound to come from any seat so it sounds like your passenger farted. It’s so funny! Who would think of something like that to put in a car? she laughs.

Well, when you’re splashing half a million bucks on a car, it’d better be one handsome ride and decked out with out-of-this-world features. Which it is, and we’ll tell you more about them later. Right now, Germaine is being refreshingly candid about who got her this high-SES ride.

“My dad is paying for it,” she says, “and I would rather you publish the truth about it.” Brushing aside concerns of any potential tongue-wagging that could come her way, she explains, “Growing up with this [privileged] background, ever since I was young, I would face a lot criticism from other people. When I was in university, some of my seniors dug out old photos of me on Facebook and they would say things like ‘she did her eyelids’ and I never really knew why it was happening to me. But as I grew older, I realised it’s because I am in a place of privilege and that it can sometimes attract unwanted attention and criticism.

“I can’t block it out entirely, so I just try to understand it from their point of view. Maybe that’s not what they really mean or that it’s coming from a different place. I just don’t take it too personally. It is something I am learning every day. I don’t want to discount my blessings and I don’t want to take anything for granted.”

She adds, “My dad works so hard [Ed: Germaine's dad is in the retail and electronic manufacturing services business] and all he wants is for his family to have a good life, so I feel if I am not living the best life I can for myself, I am wasting his efforts ‘cos he loves us so much. All he really wants is the best for us.”

8 DAYS: What’s a tiny girl like you driving a monster like this?
GERMAINE TAN: (Laughs) I like SUVs. I am small but in this car, I feel like I am big, strong and powerful. Plus, it is higher so I can see more of the road ‘cos a lot of cars, the maximum [seat height] is not enough for me. So with this car, I am not so much of a hazard lah.

Why Tesla?
Before this, I was driving a sports car, but I wanted that to be my dad’s daily car ‘cos he really liked it, so we went to check out the Teslas. When I saw this car at the showroom and heard about the features, I was like “Wow!” We all had a very good feeling about the car. There was not one person in the family who was [on the fence about it]. [Ed: Germaine also has a brother and sister-in-law.]

What do you like about this car?
It’s the whole electric thing. It doesn’t use gas, so it is so much better for the environment. Not saying that just because it doesn’t use gas it will be a cheaper car ‘cos I feel the amount I pay in tax is more than what I would pay in petrol. I don’t know how much the road tax is but from what I’ve heard from people who know, it is higher than the tax of a Lamborghini Aventador which is crazy ‘cos it doesn’t use gas. But it’s the structure of the tax.

And I also like that the car is very smart. It comes with features like collision detection, so an alarm will sound when you get too close to a car. It is a little alarming but it does help me jam on the brake, especially sometimes when it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I thought the fart mode was hilarious. What other super extra features does it come with?
There’s this feature [called the Romantic Mode] where a video of a burning fire place appears on the centre console display. It will play jazz music, blow warm air, and there’s even crackling of the fire. It’s supposed to set a romantic mood. And there is also this Show feature where the car puts on a show. It is so loud, OTT and unnecessary. My jaw dropped when I saw it. I have probably used it a couple of times. It is so funny.

Speaking of funny, ever had any memorable moments with this car?
There is one funny story. As the roof of the car is all glass, the heat gets through and sometimes your head gets a bit warm. So there was once [the security guys] at Mediacorp took my temperature — they used the forehead thermometer — and it was almost 38 degree Celsius. I had to keep telling them that I was not sick and to please let me in. I didn’t have a fever, I was just sitting in the sun.

Your car has a unique colour. Is this the original shade?
The car was originally black. I drove that for a while and then decided to change colour so [I added this wrap]. I picked this sheen so it doesn’t look so flat and in the sun it looks really iridescent. I didn’t want a flashy colour like hot pink and I felt this colour was more “ooh” but not too flashy, like how the car is. I added some pink accents ‘cos I like pink. I was supposed to change the wrap to a satin pink colour before this shoot but the stock from China has been delayed. It was supposed to be a Valentine’s Day present [from my boyfriend but because of the Covid-19 outbreak] they halted all exports out of the country.

Has anyone asked you to open the wing doors so they can take photos of your car?
No, but if they ask, I would oblige. Sometimes when I am walking back to the car and I see people taking pictures of my car, I will just stand aside and pretend it is not my car. So paiseh. [I don’t want to approach them] ‘cos they will ask questions.

Does your car have a nickname?
It’s PiXie – with a capital X ‘cos it’s a Model X. It’s quite lame, I know (laughs). I feel this car is my best friend and my second home. I brings me a lot of joy. I have been driving for about six years and I am the closest with this car ‘cos it has a personality. It’s quirky and weird like how I am sometimes. It is not flashy — it is quite muted — but at the same time, it doesn’t look like a traditional car. There are no grilles or vents so it looks quite futuristic as well.

It matches your futuristic house too.
It’s rooted in a lot of fengshui things ‘cos my dad is very into fengshui. The house is supposed to be like a yin and yang house, and when you look down from the top, is shaped like the figure 8. [Ed: We also spotted some fengshui-inspired water features in the two-storey spaceship-looking bungalow].

Singapore isn’t exactly electric car friendly. Ever ran out of juice?
Thankfully, the car has never run out of battery, but I have driven out and then realised I have less than 10 per cent of battery left. I could literally be stranded anywhere at any moment and there’s no where I could charge it, so obviously that is a big thing. But electric cars are good for the environment and you don’t have to pay for petrol. You just have to remember to charge it every day like your phone.

How long would it take to charge it?
It takes around two hours for a full charge. I usually charge it at night when I come home. If I were to just go to work and run some errands, it would go down about 30 per cent, so I don’t usually charge it for two or three days — save electricity. I paid a couple thousand dollars to install the charging station at home.

I noticed your car is quite empty.
There was so much stuff in my previous car, so I decided to turn over a new leaf and [adopt] Marie Kondo’s approach to minimalist living. People are going to sit at the back so I don’t want it to feel messy or dirty, though I think my biggest flaw is when I use tissue, I like to throw it at the side of the car.

Keep scrolling to see what else we found in Germaine’s car.

“This is my car key. I had it wrapped because I wanted something pink (laughs). I have another key and that one has the same iridescent wrap as the car. To open the door, you just press three times on the top. [Not that I need to do that] ‘cos if you have the key in your pocket when you walk towards the car, it automatically unlocks for you. Even my house door doesn’t do that.”

“I bought this dustbin off Taobao for a couple of dollars but I never use it. If you look under the seats, I am sure there’s tissue everywhere,” Germaine laughs. “I have a thermometer in the car ‘cos [of the Covid-19 situation] we have to take our temperature before we go to work every day. The energy drinks have been here for a few months. I always drink and eat in the car ‘cos I am always hungry. But I really should stop ‘cos I once saw a baby cockroach in the car. I went “eew!” and tried to catch it. Luckily I was not the one driving then so I fumigated it.”

“I keep a feather duster in my glove compartment ‘cos I am a little OCD about cleaning but not about cleanliness, for some reason. Sometimes when I am at a red light, I would take it out and dust the console or dashboard. It makes the air feel cleaner.”

“Support! Not that the Muttons and Fook Kin need any more exposure (laughs). I think they just opened for like a couple of months when I got the car so I asked them for a decal. I thought it would be damn cool.”

“This is a bear-slash-bag. You can hug it in the car, you can also use it as a bag, so I leave it in the car. There’s usually a lot of jackets in the car ‘cos I get very cold. The shopping malls and restaurants are super-duper cold and it’s freezing in the studio too, so I have a ton of jackets here. I also keep at least a pair of shoes too.”

“I have a boot in front as well ‘cos the car doesn’t have an engine so the bonnet space is empty. It is quite small but we can put groceries here so it is not bad. I keep my emergency kit in the bonnet like an adaptor and camera. I have never used any of these things, though.”

Photos: Alvin Teo