Zero to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds with a top speed of 125 mph. But this is not the whole story. Because it has no clutch pedal and a very wide, flat torque curve, the acceleration of the Tesla Roadster is much more available to enjoy: just step on the accelerator and go. No matter what speed you are driving, no matter what gear you are in, the acceleration is instantaneous.

Actual range depends on driving style and conditions. During testing of prototypes cars, Tesla Motors has seen between 170 miles per charge for very spirited driving to 267 miles per charge for city driving that makes use of the Roadster's regenerative braking. Our most recent EPA driving cycle tests, conducted in December 2007 at an EPA-certified facility, resulted in the following numbers:

    * 230 mi EPA city
    * 211 mi EPA highway
    * 221 mi EPA combined (city/highway)

Keep in mind that Tesla Motors is in the midst of final development and testing for the Tesla Roadster. While we are confident in our most recent numbers, the final results will be dependent on the car's specifications at series production. We will update our EPA range numbers once we have fully tested a production Roadster, expected in early 2008.

When you take into account the efficiency of producing the electricity it uses, the Tesla Roadster is more than twice as efficient as the most efficient hybrid car on the road. However, unlike a hybrid, the Tesla Roadster produces zero emissions and uses no gasoline. For more information, see the Energy Efficiency page on our website.

May not be good for long distances unless you have a couple hours to burn every couple hundred miles, but for every day use..........sign me up!

How long does it take to recharge?

That depends on how far the battery has been discharged and what source is being used to charge the batteries. A full charge using the Home Charging Station (included in the price of the Tesla Roadster) can be achieved in as little as 3.5 hours.

However, an electric car is a bit like a cell phone: it does not matter how long it takes to charge as long as a charge lasts all day. You plug it in when you get home, and unplug it when you leave in the morning.


Tesla Motors

Wicked cool car.  But with a base price of $98,000, a bit out of my range right now.

Oh it's possible.  I can live with even slower.  They need more dealerships also, to avoid that 8K cost for not living in one of 4 or 5 cities...

Its great and I'm all for it but 2 things:

1. Your grandma is 300 miles away... You have to sit for three hours in order for it to charge enough to get there?  Kinda makes the 125mph irrelevent, even if you could go that fast.

2. how much does it cost to charge it?  Are we talking $20 or $100?  After all that electricity comes from somewhere... *cough* coal, probably *cough*.



Now, we get Nuclear electricity and these cars (and get trucks and buses too) and then we are talkng about a substantially cleaner environment.  Make them mandatory in big cities by 2015. (or start charging a oil burning toll tax).


Either way, the gov't has to get behind this.

Whatever happens I just want a car that doesn't go bust all of a sudden.

I don't think its a feasible product...but its nice to the design and innovation.

There are some concessions we should be willing to make.  I find my moral fiber is fine with nuclear power as well.

Yep. I have no issue with Noo-culler power.

Fredledingue-

No, electric isn't the wave of the future. What happens with the disposal of the extremely toxic batteries? They only have a fixed life within the vehicle, and like all batteries will eventually lose their charge. Just wait until the hybrid backlash starts when all those smug Prius owners have to start replacing 'em in a couple years. That's the dirty little secret of 'em.

If an appropriate hybrid car that uses a similar setup to the Diesel/Electric traction motors they use on trains, then we're talking business here. Those are remarkably efficient and well designed. But they don't (IIRC) use a typical battery setup, just a diesel motor to charge an electric turbine to run the traction motors on each carriage.