Tesla VP 11

“In fact, one of the engineers drove it up here from the SF Bay Area last night.”

Errr, they drove up to Bellevue Washington from San Jose in one night in the Tesla? That’s over 800 miles. Tesla’s max stated range is around 244 miles on a charge, and 3.5 hours to recharge, using the at-home high power connector unit and a 70 amp 220 volt circuit. A standard 3 prong outlet could take as long as 32 hours for a full recharge.

The video states it drove part way, and then was trailered the rest of the way.

Suck it, big oil!

It does smoke the tires, the traction control is designed to prevent you from doing that. If I recall on an earlier writing they were talking about turning that off to demonstrate the power and traction difference.

Gotta love the naysayers though, heels dug in falling down the slope to $10/gallon… Fossil driven cars are on the way out, its a supply problem not to mention the inefficiency.

one word comes to mind. GORGEOUS!

I just want the technology (engine, charging system, etc.) not that interior though, put into my 1965 bug. Re-use comes before recycle, so I would rather buy a Tesla kit to put in my classic ride.

Looks like a shoe. They should have kept original Lotus exterior.

This car is recharged from a powerpoint so for most of us that would mean it’s source of power is coal.

I have a Lotus Elise, until you’ve driven one you can’t begin to understand the joy they bring. The handling is incredible. OK so this car is heavier, but where Lotus are involved they’re unlikely to settle for second best. Lotus hand make their cars, I’ve seen these cars being hand made at the UK factory in Hethel. Members of staff build them with a passion, it’s not just a job to them. One day I hope to have a go in a Tesla, it must be a very odd feeling going 0-60 with only road noise to listen to!

Interior is very cheap. =\

It’s really a great first effort; Lotus is an excellent platform for electric drive. The range is impressive, but I doubt if the battery pack will hold up without frequent catistrophic failures. I just hope that won’t sink the company.

244 miles per charge on average; somewhat less if you’re really aggressive; a bit more if you’re more conservative in your driving.

Great car – even greater concept. Ideal time to bring it to market!
To all the nay-sayers, how is your Model T Ford going? This is progress, AND, being electronic, economies of scale will greatly reduce the price over time (compare with the price of PC’s and other electronic gadgetry).
Hopefully the lack of ongoing service requirements and the dent in oil consumption wont “tempt” legislators to find a way to outlaw it.

Any idea on the range of one of these things?

with the cost of fuel on the rise and the cost of battery technology falling fast

your forecast of fuel for 5 years vs the batteries in 5 could be very very far from acurate how ever in 5 year you could spend that same about on the batteries and likely double your distance, half your charge time, and reduce your weight

look at the recenet battery technology and how much it has changed in the last 5 years

I have personally always thought that Lotus made ugly cars. This is a prime example of just that.

I have no clue why big car companies haven’t tackled the hydrogen relm… I see no problem with filling my car up with water. My friend installs these kits already. He claims the engine gains an additional 40 hp and it gets somewhere between 40-50 mpg. I would have it installed already but he says that Turbo charged cars have not been tested with a hydrogen kit yet. I am thinkin about being a brave soul to test it out.

Anyways, I’m sorry to say but I think Honda and Toyota have the Luxury car companies beat when it comes to fuel efficiency and ECO friendly. Obviously electric would be ideal but if you have to change the batteries every 100,000 miles and it costs that much… I fail to see the point.

Looks like a Lotus

You should be aware that (according to Tesla) the batteries will need to be replaced in 5 years or about 100,000 miles (whichever comes first) at the current price of about $25,000. For a car that gets 20 miles per gallon, and gas that costs $3.75 per gallon, it would cost $18,750 to drive 100,000 miles. Food for thought…..
Jim

i think it looks like a porsche carrera and a mitsubishi eclipse rolled into one.

i agree about the price.. if i had that much money, a corvette would definitely be sitting in my driveway

A couple of responses to the thoughtful and enthusiastic comments here. I don’t speak for the company but am awaiting my own Tesla Roadster.

1. The price- It’s hefty, but far less (80% less) than I paid for my Italian sports car. Plus, those cars need tune ups every 5k miles/year of driving, at which point the timing belt is replaced, etc, etc to the tune of at least $5k per year. Electric cars are very low maintenance, but even if the Tesla turns out to be buggy, that will all be warranty issues. Plus, that “italian car” costs $100 per fillup and undoubtably costs much more to insure. (Still a heck of a lot of fun though!)

2. How many $100k cars go 0-60 under 4 seconds? None? How many can drive in the carpool lane with a single driver? None. How many qualify for potential tax credits and Utility agency rebates? None! Also, keep in mind these are essentially handmade cars at this point.

This article is very informative and I had no idea these are being flown over! That alone must cost several thousand dollars. Apart from that, initial owners while greedily buying a performance car, could also feel better about it because we were showing that an electric car could be more than just efficient and quiet, but downright cool! That is worth paying more than a corvette for! And, let’s face it, if these things don’t have thermal events, etc, they will have net positive resale value, unlike corvettes, etc which go down in price drastically.

3. The body was based on an Elise, but you cannot replace the driving experience by getting an Elise, as nice as they are. Tesla’s car is wider and longer and MUCH more comfortable to sit in, while retaining the high performance flavor. And, yes it is nice to drive in such a quiet car with the top off, going fast on a sunny california day!

4. Re: Emissions- I have solar panels at my house, and I bet many other owners either do or will. It won’t take any power from coal. Also, most of the Teslas are going to California owners and California gets less than 20% of its electricity from coal. It is mostly from natural gas and nuclear, with some hydro and thousands of megawatts more of solar and wind energy coming down the pike. On a related note, Tesla’s biggest investor/founder Elon Mush also has started a significant solar installer called Solar City and I’m sure they’ll work out a deal with owners to install solar carports. IOW, these guys have thought about everything!

Boy thats slick as hell! Heavy or not, what a dream car for the future….
However……….
Is it my imagination, or are those body panel gaps ‘Grand Canyon’ big???

it needs to be lighter!!! that thing is heavy. I still want it though.

- All i really want to know is how do I get a green car to go 0-60 in 3.0. See what im sayin’ criticism from everyone cause youre different. It aint easy bein green:)

I’d love to roll up to a gas station, say ‘fill ‘er up’ and watch them try to figure it out. Or hand it over to valet and see them try and figure out the gears. Man, I want one.

Tesla VP 11 Zero Emission Sport Coupe

Very nice! I love the carbon fiber… http://www.eurocarblog.net

if she’d smoke the tires ill give it a high five!

I would buy one if the price is right and thats pretty awesome that an electric car can go 0-60 in 3.9 seconds!!!!!

That thing is awsome!!!

yea make the car affordable!!!!!

no, it would look amazing in my garage! haha i want one!!!!

That car would look amazing with a flat black paint job

its becuse of cars like that 1 that i want 2 be a mechanical engineer

There is an autocross in Bremerton tomorrow 9/28.
Convince them to bring it out.

rev-counter that red-lines at 14000…. that’s F1 material right there…

awesome…

Daniel,

The car was designed with a lot of help from Lotus, so the similarities are there for a reason. They didn’t just “steal” the design.

For that price i could buy a brand new Exige or Elise. Get better handling, and pretty decent gas mileage… People who are able to purchase this car probably dont have fuel costs on their mind, or budget. Hell, for that price i could get a ZR-1 Corvette. Sorry, but this car needs more of an edge, not the novelty of being “emissions free” (which isn’t true because more than likely the powerplant it’s getting the electricity from is run off coal) Drop the price to 30K-40K and we’ll talk.

i loved it since day 1

why cant they make something like this with an affordable price tag..

these cars are so sweet i want to actually see one in person, and i’ve heard theyre really impressive accleration too, there such sweet cars

The designers of this car seem to make no effort at all to cover up its Lotus Elise bones. But then again, should you?

very nice.

its really that small

Is it really that small or is he that big?

Long Life for the Tesla Roadster!
Keep this spirit alive.

That Thing Is Sexy