Driving The Tesla - Great Review
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Over at GM-Volt.com writer Dr. Lyle Dennis who is an advocate of electric cars. The good doctor started GM-Volt.com to track the preparations of bringing the GM electric car to market as well as other electric vehicles in production. He was pleasantly surprised when Tesla motors contacted him and offered him a Tesla to drive for a day. In his review he covers some of the aspects of the electric vehicle and what he liked and disliked about the vehicle.
He states that:
Once I got out of the parking garage and onto a wide open street, my moment had finally arrived.
With the gusto of ten decades of oil burning cars behind me I slammed that accelerator down.
One word describes the result…unworldly.The little race car literally exploded though space with a mid-tone throaty electrical whine that sounded more like a spaceship than any car I’d ever heard.
The profound acceleration pinned me back into the seat and made me want to yell like you would on a rollercoaster. Surely I had the Tesla grin.
Letting off the accelerator was unique as well. You see you could feel the intense regenerative drag which caused the vehicle to quickly slow, and would continue to the point of stopping even without hitting the brakes. Braking itself was effective and not overly intense.
What is exciting about the Telsa is that battery capability in the roadster offers a range of over 240 miles per full charge. What wasn’t explained was how much juice the car required to fully charge the battery and the price per charge.
I do realize that the price of the Tesla roadster at $109,000 is more expensive than most of us can afford, but one day these prices will drop.
But the review is a good read.
Comments welcome.
6 Comments
Don Naphen
February 23rd, 2009
at 2:22pm
If everyone in your neighborhood has one, better check for long extension cords tapping your outside electrical outlet! LOL
Of course Ron, that’s just a tongue-in-cheek comment, BUT then again, who knows? Back a few years ago when I was a home owner (before the big “D”), I actually came home one night and found my neighbor watering his lawn with a LONG hose attached to MY outlet! Talk about having b***s !! In this shaky economic climate and people losing jobs, etc., anything is possible. I guess if one has 109 Large to plank down on a set of wheels then he/she should be able to cover the electric bill!
Ron Schenone
February 23rd, 2009
at 3:36pm
If anyone has $109 big ones, than they don’t need to worry about anything. LOL
Have a good one Don.
the oracle
February 23rd, 2009
at 11:26pm
I was thinking if they have 109K, they probably can get a loan for the 60 or so thousand to put panels on the roof to run the house and charge the car.
The really big money comes when the batteries will no longer hold a charge.
Paul Bennett
February 24th, 2009
at 4:00am
I can just imagine what he was feeling, something like….
WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!
And the a little bit of a “whew” at the end feeling like your going to have a heart attack and like your innards are almost being crushed, (ok that last bit is a bit over the top but you get the picture.
Alex
February 24th, 2009
at 11:28am
On the Tesla Motors web site you find the time it takes to recharge the batteries. Suffice it to say, it is rather substantial. In their forum a lot of people have made suggestions on the types of batteries that could be used to shorten the time.
I agree, the cost is a bit much. They are planning on a sedan later. At first it was listed as around $30K but now it’s more like $60K. That’s so far out of the reach of the people who need something like this the most. It seems that advanced motoring is only for those who can afford it. The average wage-earner will continue to support the oil companies.
Bill Thomas
February 24th, 2009
at 10:03pm
The Tesla was shown on Top Gear, they loved the car, but the down side was it took about 16 hours to recharge & it kepted braking down.