If you wanna talk about moving toward a greener future, surely the sexiest way to do that is in a Tesla Roadster. This car goes 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds -- faster than a Ferrari -- without guzzling a single drop of oil. All you need is about three hours plugged into the wall, and you're fully charged and ready to impress.
Tesla has already delivered about 50 of the cars to eager buyers -- including familiar faces like Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Matt Damon, and the guys at Google (they bought three!). The five-year-old company is working on upping production to get the rest of its 2008 cars out to their owners (including this orange beauty we saw in the Tesla showroom in Menlo Park, California). And the 2009 edition is on its way too -- the wait list is about a year long.
The Roadster's got a hefty price tag, for sure -- up to about $120,000 depending on your options. But Tesla's also working on an all-electric 5-person sedan that might run ya about $60K. Still pricey, perhaps, but think of all the dough you'll save at the pump. Tesla Client Advisor Jeremy Cleland, who gave us a tour of the Roadster (inside and out), told us these cars will cost you just 2-3 cents a gallon. And look how easy it is to "fill 'er up":
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Comments
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Bob Wallace Posted 3:58 am
25 Sep 2008
Grist folks...
How about an in-depth piece on batteries - why they are so expensive and what's in the tubes that is likely to bring the price down so that we can have an affordable BEV.
Is it materials cost, manufacturing cost, or simply economics of scale?
Is MIT's micro-wave process likely to cut costs in half?
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KenG Posted 7:19 am
25 Sep 2008
Per what?
Is the cost actually 2 or 3 cents per MILE? That sounds about right. (As oppposed to equivalent to gas at 2 or 3 cents per gallon.)
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thoman5 Posted 7:59 am
26 Sep 2008
2-3cents per mile
03/2007 AAA estimated the average car in America cost 9 cents per mile for gasoline we must assume this is probably significantly more today perhaps 20-25% more...
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