Electric cars were always environmentally friendly, quiet, clean — but definitely not sexy. The Tesla Roadster has changed all that.
A battery-powered sports car that sells for $100,000 and has a top speed of 125 m.p.h. (200 km/h), the Roadster has excited the clean-tech crowd since it was announced in 2003.
Celebrities like George Clooney joined a long waiting list for the Roadster; magazines like Wired drooled over it. After years of setbacks and shake-ups, the first Tesla Roadsters were delivered to customers this year. Reviews have been ecstatic, but Tesla Motors has been hit hard by the financial crisis and lobbyists from the large auto companies, who obviously don’t want the competition.
I got to drive one and can tell you it was accelerating, quite literally 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds. Resting on the Lotus Élan chasse your bums only a few inches from the floor and there’s no power band, with its electric motor the torque remains constant all the way to its top speed. It hugs the ground as you race around corners, and there lies it Achilles heel after a couple of months driving, you’ll have lost your licence and accrued a heap of speeding fines.
But never fear Tesla are developing an affordable electric sedan the Tesla S, planned to be on the road in 1012. It will sell at $60,000 and have a 300 mile range, easily enough for the average commuter and there family.