Electric cars might be the future, but until now Kyle Fortunewasn't convinced. Tesla' s Roadster has just seriously changed his mind
THE CAR industry is full of dreamers. Or rather it's not; they tend to fall by the wayside and fade into obscurity after a predictably excited and promise-laden product launch, never to be seen again. I thought that would be the case with the Tesla Roadster, the electrified Californian sports car.
It borrows Lotus Elise underpinnings, but bins the conventional powertrain and replaces it with a battery and a 250bhp electric motor.
With some serious financial backing and expertise from a mixture of California's Silicon Valley gazillionaires and proven automotive know-how, the Tesla is clearly more than mere California dreamin'. Customers are now receiving their cars, albeit slowly.
Sure, the Telsa's arrival has taken longer than expected. And has it been worth the wait? Oh yes. Arriving to drive the Tesla around London, I'd expected half an hour in the car at best, and perhaps even a chaperone to make sure I follow a pre-determined, short route.
What I didn't expect was an informal chat with Aaron Platshon, Tesla's affable marketing manager for Europe, and the keys to a Roadster given to me with no more than a request to bring it back in whenever I'm finished.
Interested as I am to talk about the Tesla, I take the keys and leave. The compromises of its Lotus Elise underpinnings are immediately apparent as I get in - the usual large sill and small aperture requiring a degree of flexibility to enter with the roof up.
Once inside, it's all pretty familiar too, the dashboard borrowed directly from Lotus. There are some hints to the Tesla's drivetrain though, including a small screen to the left of the steering wheel (the Roadster is currently only offered in left-hand-drive) that shows the condition and charge of the battery. There's a plug icon on the speedometer too, sitting next to a rev-counter that redlines at 14,000rpm. . . now the Tesla's really got my attention.
I'd read the statistics, but even with figures such as 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds I'll admit I was more than a tad sceptical. As I said, there are lots of dreamers out there. I turn the key, the dash lights up and I select the single forward "gear" and trickle silently out on to London's roads.
Like hybrids, the Tesla scavenges power back when you lift off the accelerator, which is so effective around town that you rarely need to touch the brakes. A full charge, via a plug, takes between four and 16 hours, depending on the power rating of the outlet.
My scepticism regarding Tesla's performance claims evaporate the first time the road ahead clears and I floor the throttle. The effect is phenomenal - the Tesla silently accelerates with quite ludicrous force. To get a similar effect in a conventional internal combustion engined car there would be a pause as the power and torque build with revs, a flurry of activity as gears change and a whole lot of noise.
The Tesla just dumps all its available torque - 380Nm at zero rpm - the second you ask for it, and fires you forward in an addictively comical manner. If this is the future, then I'm all for it.
It is easy to make a fast car though; for electric cars to really work, they need range.
Tesla promises that too - the lithium-ion batteries it uses allowing a theoretical range of around 365 kilometres. That's comfortably more than any current electrical car, and quite phenomenal given the performance on offer.
Even more so when you consider that, although highly advanced, the Tesla's battery pack is still relatively early in its development. Think of the exponential increase in performance of your mobile phone battery combined with decreasing sizes, and it's clear that there's a lot more potential to be released.
Tesla is right at the cutting edge of that potential too, its battery pack creating a huge amount of interest among the big automotive players.
And so it should: it's hardly surprising that Tesla is looking to use the battery pack in different models - a saloon currently codenamed Model S being expected in 2010. That's then, and the Roadster is now.
It comes at a cost though, the handful of Roadsters coming to Europe costing €99,000 before taxes.
That's a huge pile of money to salve your green conscience. But the Tesla Roadster is more than merely a great, green car; it's a great car in its own right. That's what makes it so special - it is a sports car that can hold its own among conventional petrol engined contemporaries in spite of its powertrain.
The Tesla is unquestionably a landmark in car history.
The future might just be electric after all: what's amazing is that a handful of visionaries have so comprehensively beaten the established manufacturers to producing it. Thank goodness there are some dreamers out there after all. . ."The Tesla Roadster is more than merely a great green car; it's a great car in its own right
Engine: Electric motor, 14,000rpm
Peak power: 250bhp
Peak torque: 380Nm at 0rpm
Transmission:single-speed automatic transmission
Performance:0-100km/h: 3.9 seconds
Top speed:202km/h
Emissions:0g/km at 'tailpipe' depends on electricity source
Combined cycle:fuel economy0.9 litres/100km equivalent
Price:€99,000 before taxes