the rebirth of the electric car

Every night, I see the same array of car commercials, all trying to one-up each other on how many miles per gallon their automobile gets compared to others on the market. I find myself laughing out loud when I hear statements like, "27 miles per gallon". With alternatives like bio-diesel, vegetable oil and electricity out there, you would think that car makers would take notice and actually create a vehicle that was in fact revolutionary, once and for all ending our dependence on a oil. We can do better, and alas, a new car company has ...

Introducing Tesla Motors. I know, I know, you are thinking, "Great, I get to drive a go-cart to and from work everyday, which probably maxes out at 50 miles per hour." Think again, the new Tesla Roadster is powered by lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor, can go from 0-60 in 4 seconds with a top speed of 135 mph, and only needs to be recharged every 250 miles for 4 hours (if it is a completely dead battery) before it's ready to go again. Plus, it's super sleek.

How do you get one? Well, right now, that's the tricky part. Tesla's first 100 cars, set to release in 2007, have already been bought and paid for; however, there is a waiting list for the next round. The other obstacle is its $100,000 price tag. Tesla's plan for 2008 - to build a four-door sedan, which will be made in the US and sell for under $50,000.

Will we all be driving Tesla cars by 2008? Probably not. But there's great hope for this little car with big ideas.

Comments

[Steve]

I wish electric cars would catch on and become more available. I have many friends in California who drive them, but they are nonexistant on the east coast!!

[Carole]

You have got to be joking. I (really) would like an electric car, but my budget is more like 8K, and I don't want a golf cart either because I have to go to work with it and I need to take a highway. This is a completely ridiculous price tag. I don't care how great it is for the environement, why even bother if only 200 people can affort to buy it. It is like solar pannels. I wanted to put them on my house, which we just built, but who will buy that for the 30K price tag, especially when it defaces the roof of an otherwise beautiful mediterranean home. I don't care if it "pays for itself 30 years from now", it is just not worth the price tag or lack of aesthetics.