The Demo Site

There are three main obstacles to making electric cars a viable alternative to those powered by internal combustion engines: the weight, cost and range of the batteries. Internal combustion engines have range limits based on the size of their fuel tank, but it only takes a few minutes to dump 10-15 gallons of liquid fuel in the tank and be on your way. It takes hours to recharge a battery. Fast charging systems are being developed, but they will require new infrastructure for the high currents and voltages required. The cost issue also works against range. You can reduce cost with a smaller battery, but you know what happens then. A battery with more range is both heavier and more expensive. How about a smaller swappable battery? That's one of the possible alternatives that Tesla is considering for the Model S sedan. This brings a whole different set of problems with it. Even smaller batteries will weigh several hundred pounds, making them difficult to handle. There are also safety issues with handling high voltage batteries. You also need a distribution infrastructure for the batteries and automakers have to standardize on common pack formats to make the whole idea viable. It's not like popping into a drug store for a set of AAs for you camera. Tesla's bright idea just goes to show that electric cars have a long way to go before they can replace internal combustion engines completely.

[Source: Inside Line]

Just how quick is the Tesla Roadster now that it's been blessed with version 1.5 of its drivetrain? Pretty dang quick, as a recent 12.7-second blast down the quarter-mile will attest. The first powertrain that was installed in the electric car used a two-speed transmission, while the latest v1.5 needs just one speed for seamless power delivery from zero to the car's top speed. That should make the Roadster an excellent bracket car, especially considering it was able to put down such impressive numbers with a novice racer behind the wheel who posted a relatively poor .764 reaction time. Its terminal velocity was nearly 105 miles per hour, and whatever car happened to be in the lane next to the Tesla got its butt kicked by an electric car. What's this world coming to?

Some of us here at Autoblog team who've actually driven the Tesla Roadster, myself included, were surprised by this quick performance, but the proof comes courtesy of a scanned time slip from California's Infineon Raceway, which you can click at right to enlarge. Thanks for the tip, JP!

[Source: Tesla]

Tesla Roadster v1.5

Despite recent negative news surrounding Tesla Motors, the all-electric automaker has just secured $40 million in financing to move forward with ramping up production of its battery-powered sports car, the Tesla Roadster. It was just last month when Tesla was unable to secure a $100 million investment round and was forced to cut nearly 25% of its work force. The failure to fund also slowed work on its second model, an all-electric sedan known as the "Model S." The San Carlos, California-based automaker has more than 1,200 orders for the $109,000 roadster, but has delivered just over 50 to date. With early transmission problems solved and plenty of cash on hand, the high-profile automaker seems to have finally found itself in a position to zip forward.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

Electric vehicles... they're so hot right now. And none are hotter at the moment than the Tesla Roadster, which looks positively sublime in Very Orange paint. Even Porsche, the longtime purveyor of some of the world's best sporting hardware, is interested in the little electron powered machine. In fact, rumor has it that the German automaker is much more impressed with Silicon Valley's first ever sports car than it is with the lithium ion-powered E-Ruf electric 911. Is it too slow; too heavy; too expensive? Nobody knows for sure outside of Stuttgart's engineering offices, but we do know that the German automaker has placed an order for a Tesla Roadster of their very own for closer scrutiny. We'd imagine that the EV's dissection could offer some enlightening revelations to Porsche, rumored to be hard at work on an electric sportscar of its very own. Considering Porsche's recent history with other automaker's wares, this could get very interesting.

Gallery: Jason Calacanis' Tesla Roadster

[Source: Inside Line]

Elon Musk, Chairman of the Board, Product Architect and CEO of Tesla Motors,
blogged today about a change in focus at the electric car company.

"At Tesla, we have decided that the wise course of action is to focus on our two revenue producing business lines - the Roadster and powertrain sales to other car companies. In the Roadster, Tesla has a unique product with a large order book that continues to grow, despite softness in the automobile sector. Our powertrain business is profitable today and is also growing rapidly," Musk said.

There's not doubt Tesla is going to be effected by the economic slump like any other car maker. The smart move is to leverage their strengths, as any business should right now.

First, their Roadster is a success and in strong demand. With that, explains Musk, Tesla will work to ramp up production, improve their margins and reduce operating expenses. The car, to put it lightly, is a hit. All the better to feed off of it and increase sales.

Second, the Tesla power train is unique and desired by the rapidly growing green arm of the automotive industry.

Case in point, the recently announced Dodge EV. Based off the Lotus Europa, the Dodge EV uses Tesla's motor, electronic controller and lithium-ion battery technology. An excellent example of two companies working to the benefit of each. But to Tesla, it's a path to additional revenue.

Two unfortunate results of Tesla's refocus is a reduction in staff and a delay in the development of the Model S program.

With the planned consolidation of operations, there will be, according to Musk, a "...headcount reduction." There's no word from Tesla on how many people this will effect.

"In anticipation of moving vehicle engineering to our new HQ in San Jose, we are ramping down and will close our Rochester Hills office near Detroit. Good communication, tightly knit engineering and a common company culture are of paramount importance as Tesla grows," explained Musk.

As far as the Model S' development, production will be delayed roughly six months to mid-2011.

Even though Tesla plans on unveiling the Model S early next year, detailed production engineering, tooling and commitments to suppliers will slow until a Department of Energy loan guarantee becomes effective. On the upside, Tesla plans on using the extra time to make the car better.

Click to view the video after the jump

Jeremy Clarkson finally got his chance to thrash a Tesla Roadster on the Top Gear test track during the most recent episode and things definitely went better than his time with the G-Wiz. Clarkson pitted the Tesla against its chassis progenitor, the Lotus Elise and the results were... mixed. The Roadster, with the new drivetrain 1.5 featuring the final version of the single speed gearbox and torquier motor, ran away from the Elise in a drag race. However, when it came to going around corners, the extra 1,000 lbs of lithium ion batteries didn't help. As good as the Tesla handles, weight is always the enemy and the Lotus easily beat the Roadster around the corners. On the straights though, the electric torque won the day, for a while anyway.

As we all know, the range of electric cars depends on driving style and the EPA cycle doesn't evaluate a car like the Roadster the way it's meant to be driven. When we tested the Roadster last January, we estimated the range on our drive to be about 120-130 miles. Clarkson managed to exceed the G-Wiz's 40 mile range, but not by much. He got a mere 55 miles before the battery was flat. See it all in the video after the jump.

Remember the electric-powered Ruf Porsche Cayman we saw last month? Well, the executives at Porsche weren't to happy with the car and are rumored to be working on their own lithium-ion-powered prototype. And that's where the American made Tesla Roadster comes in.

According to a Tesla spokes person who spoke with Inside Line, "A Porsche senior engineer actually came over a few weeks back, and he was seriously analyzing the car in every detail."

Nonetheless, just like every other Tesla Roadster customer, Porsche will have to wait a little while to get theirs since it is pretty far down the order list. There is no word on why Porsche wasn't pleased with Ruf's electric Cayman. The car produced a total of 240-hp allowing it to do 0 to 62 mph in under 7 seconds with a top speed of 160 mph. It allows 155 to 180 miles of emissions-free driving with a 10 hour charge.

Source: InsideLine

It sounds like the build-up to some terrible joke. That's right you take a Lotus Elise chassis, replace the engine and fuel tank with an electric motor and a battery and add around 450kg to the overall curb weight.

Despite the company's current difficulties, for any car enthusiast this Roadster is one of the most significant cars ever made. Not on the back of its claimed efficiency or the precise details of its performance (which is stunning), but because this is the first time we've seen the previously contradictory messages of performance and cleanliness combined in a single vehicle.

Funny how the subjective always outweighs the objective: for all the numbers, my abiding memory of this car is just how hilariously fast it was.

Follow the jump to see a video of my test drive of the Tesla Roadster.