Checking Out the Tesla Electric Roadster

One of the cool things about the auto show this week has been the chance to see all the cars that debuted overseas, or at other much smaller events, we were unable to get to. One of them is the Tesla Roadster, which is completely electric. GM may be promising a plug-in hybrid in the future, but this plug-in, totally-electric car is here now.

OK, so it’s not produced yet, but Tesla’s chief technical officer, JB Straubel, says the company is in the middle of crash and durability tests of the car right now and will start filling its orders in the early fall of 2007. The company has 250 orders in hand that have been paid in full at $100,000 per car. Straubel pointed out that’s $25 million in funding right there.

My initial thoughts of an alternative-fuel repeat of Tucker went out the window when I heard that figure.

The Tesla has a range of 250 miles on one charge, and it takes 3.5 hours to recharge the battery with a home charging station, which Tesla will install after the car leaves the still unmaterialized showroom. There’s also a portable charger that makes road trips possible, if a bit limited. Check out the cable from the recharging station here. It blinks yellow as it’s charging and will glow green when the battery is completely charged, kind of like a cell phone.

Straubel was also the one who gave California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a ride in the Tesla earlier this year when it debuted to a much smaller crowd. The quote of the day around here was Schwarzenegger calling the Tesla “hot.”

Anyone interested in buying a Tesla should be prepared to wait — the company plans to fill 200 orders in 2007 and 800 in 2008 – and cough up $98,000 — the new sticker price. So far, buyers have been a mixed bag of environmental and performance-­oriented folks, many in the technology business.

A Tesla sports sedan is planned for the future — think 2010 — but by then batteries like the huge cell in the back of the current Tesla should be smaller and carry a longer charge. Straubel said he expects battery size to shrink by half — while the total charge doubles — in the next 10 years. I don’t doubt it, given my cell phone has shrunk that much in just the past few years.

The interior is a bit sparse and the design a bit too Lotus-like, but I’m pretty intrigued but this all-electric sports car. Anything that can hit 60 mph in four seconds deserves praise. It just won’t be able to rev its electric motor at a stoplight.

Tesla Motors Website

Comments

[ilya]

Beautiful car!
Most importantly it is electric.
I just hope the rest of automakers would follow this trend

[M3]

I bet with a slight revision in programming they could reduce the performance some and increase the range to make it even more useful. Maybe they can have a switch in the cockpit for "performance" and "economy" modes. Very impressive tech, if still pricey. Too bad GM's old EV1 didn't come anywhere close to this, but that was old technology.
Now as far as the environmental benefits of electric cars, it only shifts the pollution control burden from the car to the power plant. If the electric source is clean like hydroelectric, wind, solar, or maybe nuclear, then it's an improvement. But if the electricity comes from a coal or natural gas plant, is there any real benefit? Are power plant emissions cleaner than tailpipe emissions?

[J]

Wonder will it follow the EV-1's path, or will this be a home run?
I would love to have it if I have the dough.

[Lil'Tom]

M3, Power plant emissions are somewhat cleaner than tailpipe emissions, but your right there is still a lot of pollution there. I believe Tesla Motors has an arrangement where you can buy photovoltaic solar cells with you new roadster and have them installed. A rooftop array of cells can collect more than enough energy to power the car for a reasonable, but not large, number of miles. Aside from environmental reasons there's quite a economical advantage to electric power. If you believe the Tesla website it cost $.01 per mile to operate the roadster. Then there are the geopolitical reasons that I won't go into.

J, The thing about the EV-1 is: it was a bad car. The performance was pretty average, but the range on a brand new one was 60-70 miles (when the air conditioner and all accessories are off), it lacked many features, and they cost $45,000 to produce. I don't know how successful Tesla will be, but there's definitely a lot of demand now and it's a lot easier to stay profitable as a niche product than to compete against the mainstream car makers. Fortunately, they look like they're being careful not to get ahead of themselves.

[Happymantis]

Although I'm not a huge fan of all electric vehicles, given the lack of recharging infrastructure, I think this car is absolutely beautiful.

[EV Rider]

I am a fan of electric vehicles. To me, the beauty of going electric is that most everyone already has the delivery infrastructure at home or at the office. Plug-in at night, just as you do with a cell phone ..duh, how long does that take? ..a second or two to plug it in, uh, then go to bed and sleep while your car refuels. Nikola Tesla himself would weep with joy to have been honored by this sleek, sexy, powerfully hot SuperCar, loaded with torque and state-of-the-art technology! We've seen the future and IT'S ELECTRIC, BABY!.

[Louis Radden]

im interested in opening a Tesla dealership in michigan.