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The return of $3.00 per gallon gasoline prices and the increase of hybrid gasoline-electric cars by all the leading marques have also pushed all-electric cars to the forefront once again. The U.K.’s Lotus Development is heavily involved in two offerings that expand the boundaries of styling and performance in an otherwise-staid automobile class. One of them is the exciting 2008 Tesla All-Electric Roadster, the first high-performance BEV ever.
Maker Tesla Motors of San Carlos, California, based the battery-electric Tesla Roadster on the superlatively-sporty Lotus Elise chassis. Founder and CEO Martin Eberhard claims that a hundred of the current-year model have already been snapped up at $92,000 per. So brisk has the demand been that the company has announced a new price of $96,000 effective June 15, 2007 for the 2008 model. By next year, the sticker price is expected to climb to exactly $100,000. At that, the Tesla Roadster is still considered a bargain and the company is confident it can sell all 2,000 units it can produce in 2008.
Performance, extended range and styling explain the tangible interest in this groundbreaking all-electric car.
As well, the choice of initial market cannot be viewed as merely a happy spin-off of the fact the CEO Eberhard is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who did very well in two ventures he helped found here. California happens to be very receptive to environment-friendly technologies, as witness the existence of 100 refilling stations for hydrogen hybrid vehicles in the state. No doubt, the choice of the two-seater Elise chassis was made with an eye to all those prestige-conscious Valley millionaires and Hollywood celebrities. The likes of George Clooney and George Haysbert have made sure they are among the first to drive one.
Yet a fifth factor behind the sparkling success of this niche offering is that the Tesla Roadster is available now. Other promising advances in low- or no-emission vehicles, like the Honda Hybrid or the ZapX Electric Crossover (another Lotus design), remain in prototype with production runs promised for 2008 if that.
The Roadster packs 6,831 Lithium Ion batteries, each measuring 1.0 by 2.6 inches, that can be fully charged in 3.5 hours by a custom 70-amp, 220 volt charger Tesla installs in your garage. The battery pack carries a five-year/100,000-mile warranty.
All this juice goes to power a single three-phase, 248-hp motor that redlines at 13,500 RPM. Gear reduction and torque multiplication are provided by a two-speed, solenoid-based manual transmission.
To performance-conscious owners, all these add up to pulse-quickening acceleration (0 to 60 in four seconds flat) and top speed of 130 MPH. Range between charges is over 200 miles, significantly better than the 150 miles attained by the GM EV1 electric car.
While retaining the low-drag profile, fire-engine-red tint and sporty look of the Elise, concessions to comfort have been made. The cockpit has been made roomier at the cost of raising curb weight by 500 pounds. And to heighten sex appeal, the body is made entirely of carbon fiber (really CF-reinforced plastic) just like Formula One cars and high-performance cars have been constructed since the 1980's.
For the rest, the Tesla comes standard with ABS, air conditioning and federally mandated airbags, of course.
All in all, the combination of instant maximum torque, breathtaking acceleration, roadster speed on the highway, Lotus styling and handling, low cost-per-mile and zero greenhouse gas emissions make the Tesla 2008 Roadster well-nigh irresistible.