Tesla Roadster production officially begins
Thursday April 10, 2008
Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley (California, USA) startup producing laptop battery-powered sports cars, has started production of the Tesla Roadster as of last month (March 2008).
The 2 seater is powered by more than 6000 lithium-ion batteries in a liquid cooled battery pack which drives a small electric motor mounted amidships. This electric motor produces 248 bhp (165 kW) at 8000 rpm and 211 ftlbs (286 Nm) of torque from 0 rpm. This motor is willing to spin beyond 13000 rpm, and the transmission tasked to cope with it is an electrically-actuated-manual-shift two speed gearbox, although this may change shortly if a new one speed transmission under development proves to be superior. The claimed 0-60 mph time is 3.9 seconds, and a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) is said to be achievable. The battery pack gives a usable range of approximately 220 miles (354 km).
If the small Roadster looks vaguely familiar, it is because the body is made by Lotus Cars in Hethel, England, and it is loosely based on their own Elise, although the Roadster's body is slightly larger all round. Despite the increase in size over the Elise, the Tesla Roadster is under 4 metres long, and a mere 1127 mm high. Weight is up considerably over the lithe Elise, mostly due to the batteries, but it still weighs just 2690 pounds (1220 kg).
Underneath the body, the chassis is just what you'd expect from a Lotus (except for the battery back and electric motor, of course!) - disc brakes on all four wheels, and double wishbone suspension fore and aft.
The Roadster has attracted a fair celebrity following, with a number of big name actors already having placed orders for it. Even without this sort of endorsement, the Roadster is pretty enough and technologically interesting enough to sell as well as Tesla Motors expects it to.
The 2 seater is powered by more than 6000 lithium-ion batteries in a liquid cooled battery pack which drives a small electric motor mounted amidships. This electric motor produces 248 bhp (165 kW) at 8000 rpm and 211 ftlbs (286 Nm) of torque from 0 rpm. This motor is willing to spin beyond 13000 rpm, and the transmission tasked to cope with it is an electrically-actuated-manual-shift two speed gearbox, although this may change shortly if a new one speed transmission under development proves to be superior. The claimed 0-60 mph time is 3.9 seconds, and a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) is said to be achievable. The battery pack gives a usable range of approximately 220 miles (354 km).
If the small Roadster looks vaguely familiar, it is because the body is made by Lotus Cars in Hethel, England, and it is loosely based on their own Elise, although the Roadster's body is slightly larger all round. Despite the increase in size over the Elise, the Tesla Roadster is under 4 metres long, and a mere 1127 mm high. Weight is up considerably over the lithe Elise, mostly due to the batteries, but it still weighs just 2690 pounds (1220 kg).
Underneath the body, the chassis is just what you'd expect from a Lotus (except for the battery back and electric motor, of course!) - disc brakes on all four wheels, and double wishbone suspension fore and aft.
The Roadster has attracted a fair celebrity following, with a number of big name actors already having placed orders for it. Even without this sort of endorsement, the Roadster is pretty enough and technologically interesting enough to sell as well as Tesla Motors expects it to.
