For well over a year now I have had a sleek and sexy red roadster as my Windows wallpaper on my laptop. Most people who saw it assumed that I was a big fan of Lotus or Ferrari. But those who bothered to comment or ask me about it found out that the picture was actually of a new kind of electric car that I've been waiting to see go into regular production.
What was pictured is a 250 horsepower, rear-wheel-drive, 2-seat sports car that can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 4 whisper quiet seconds, can travel about 300 miles on a single charge, and can be "re-fueled" with just a few hours of being plugged in at your home.
The Tesla Roadster ,as it's called, is seriously on par with Porsche and Ferrari when it comes to style and performance. The "Roadster" boasts heated sport seats and full leather interior. A 7-speaker stereo with CD, iPod, and MP3 support. It has power windows, air conditioning, and even a retractable cup holder! Also 250 horses 'under the hood', 276 ft/lb of torque, independent suspension, anti-lock brakes, and 17-inch 7-spoke wheels. And a slew of other luxury options and accessories to appease even the highest of car buying standards.
In the fuel-efficiency department, Tesla has no rival I can think of. This ain't your mommy's hybrid. In fact, it's not a 'hybrid' at all. This car is all electric; no gasoline at all, baby. Though, calculating approximate electricity costs versus gasoline prices and mileage... the Tesla Roadster will hit your wallet around the same as a car that gets about 135 miles per gallon!
"Charge me, baby!"
The California based company announced November 3rd that is now in regular production of the car at a rate of about 10 per week. That number is expected to jump up to 30 per week as early as next year. Tesla, backed by the same guys who started PayPal and Google, is selling this awesome machine close to $100,000. Depending on your view of things that's either kinda pricey or a pretty good deal. I consider it the latter. However, the plan is to start making profit and drive down the costs of the technology with this high end model. After that, they intend to start producing more 'affordable' versions that will appeal more to the rest of the car buying world. I haven't seen any hard schedule as to when that might happen. But knowing what kind of brilliant minds (and money) are running things, I'd keep my eye out for Tesla Motors stores to open up in a city near you soon!
Tesla Motors - Los Angeles
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1 responses:
I can't wait for their chicago store to open next fall . Only live less than 2 hours away . Just having my picture taken in one of those babies would be good enough for me .
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