delusionofgrandeur

Tesla Motors, the young, Silicon Valley based electric automobile manufacturing company has begun delivering it’s flagship product; the Tesla Roadster.

The Tesla Roadster is a sharp-looking sports car, similar in looks and dimension to the world-famous British Lotus Elise. This is no coincidence as Lotus reportedly had a hand in the design of the Tesla Roadster and indeed, the Roadster shares some components with the Elise. The Tesla Roadster’s chassis is made in Norway and final assembly takes place at Lotus’ Hethel plant in the United Kingdom. The Roadster’s drivetrain is entirely battery-electric utilising a 53kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor.

That may not mean much to those who haven’t been following the development of battery electric vehicles (EVs/BEVs) but it translates into an all-out sports car that can get from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and arrive at an electronically limited 125mph only moments later. The electric motor, unlike it’s internal-combustion counterparts delivers peak torque of 200lbf from zero rpm all the way up to 6,000rpm and produces a net 248bhp.

The whole package weighs around 1,220kg, almost twice that of a Lotus Elise but still surprisingly lightweight for a battery powered car. The weight shouldn’t be issue for the Tesla Roadster’s constantly available peak-torque to overcome.

Another impressive feature is the Tesla Roadster’s range. If you don’t drive everywhere at wide-open-throttle, you should have a range of 220 miles. As the Tesla has it’s own inverter-integrated charger, you should be able to recharge from the mains on arrival at your destination.

The news today is that Tesla are now delivering the Roadster to customers in California at the rate of 4 per week so this is a real, bona-fide production car.

Finally, FT.com reported earlier this year that Tesla plan to sell cars in Europe from the third quarter of 2008 initially at a price point of EUR100,000

Tags: battery electric vehicle, bev, california, deliveries, electric car, europe, ev, lotus, tesla roadster

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Automotive, Cars, News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.