First Drive: The Tesla Roadster
We’ve taken a look at the Tesla Roadster from afar and we’ve taken a ride in the spunky electric sports car too. But recently we had a chance to pry the keys away from a Tesla engineer and climb behind the wheel of a hand-built $350,000 Development Prototype Tesla Roadster.
Slide into the thinly padded driver’s seat of the Tesla and it looks and feels very familiar. That’s not surprising since the car’s chassis and many interior bits are shared with Lotus. But twist the key and things get strange. Of course my brain knows this is an electric car but I still wait for a starter to crank over a highly stressed internal combustion sports car engine. It doesn’t happen. It’s all quiet until a small dash light illuminates and tells you its “on” and a faint “click” from behind my head says it’s ready to go. Weird.
The Tesla’s transmission has two speeds but for our drive, the car was purposely locked in Second. Step on the gas, whoops, I mean the accelerator, and it scoots away nearly silently in a rush of instant torque. First gear would essentially double that torque, but unless we were racing a Vette or a Viper, Second is enough. Even without the lower First gear the Tesla really hauls. Tesla’s claim of running 0-60 in around 4 seconds sounds plausible. You squirt through traffic holes without the hesitation—it’s absolutely always in meat of the powerband. And all you hear from the powertrain is a hushed turbine-like wail from behind your head. Ferraris and Lamborghinis are known for making great noises. But the Tesla plays its own tune and it’s a futuristically cool one.
The downside of a relatively silent powertrain is that other sounds naturally get amplified. Stuff you’d need a trained ear to hear on a regular car. On this prototype we could clearly detect the chassis bushings squeaking. Our co-pilot, Mike Harrigan, Tesla’s VP of Sales and Service tells us that those noises are being addressed now. The second round of cars, the Evaluation Prototypes, should be nearly squeak and creak free.
Like its platform cousin, the Lotus Elise, the Tesla feels at home on twisty roads. The chassis is very taut and communicates exactly what those tire patches are doing right up through the steering wheel. On our test drive around Pebble Beach, California it was like driving a big electric go-kart. Who knew saving the planet could be this much fun?
As we roll back into The Lodge at Pebble Beach, where we began our drive, a crowd gathers. Within minutes well-heeled car nuts are pouring over the car. The Tesla seems to be a hit. In fact the first “Signature One Hundred” special edition cars are already sold out.
Good news does indeed travel fast.—Ben Stewart
Slide into the thinly padded driver’s seat of the Tesla and it looks and feels very familiar. That’s not surprising since the car’s chassis and many interior bits are shared with Lotus. But twist the key and things get strange. Of course my brain knows this is an electric car but I still wait for a starter to crank over a highly stressed internal combustion sports car engine. It doesn’t happen. It’s all quiet until a small dash light illuminates and tells you its “on” and a faint “click” from behind my head says it’s ready to go. Weird.
The Tesla’s transmission has two speeds but for our drive, the car was purposely locked in Second. Step on the gas, whoops, I mean the accelerator, and it scoots away nearly silently in a rush of instant torque. First gear would essentially double that torque, but unless we were racing a Vette or a Viper, Second is enough. Even without the lower First gear the Tesla really hauls. Tesla’s claim of running 0-60 in around 4 seconds sounds plausible. You squirt through traffic holes without the hesitation—it’s absolutely always in meat of the powerband. And all you hear from the powertrain is a hushed turbine-like wail from behind your head. Ferraris and Lamborghinis are known for making great noises. But the Tesla plays its own tune and it’s a futuristically cool one.
The downside of a relatively silent powertrain is that other sounds naturally get amplified. Stuff you’d need a trained ear to hear on a regular car. On this prototype we could clearly detect the chassis bushings squeaking. Our co-pilot, Mike Harrigan, Tesla’s VP of Sales and Service tells us that those noises are being addressed now. The second round of cars, the Evaluation Prototypes, should be nearly squeak and creak free.
Like its platform cousin, the Lotus Elise, the Tesla feels at home on twisty roads. The chassis is very taut and communicates exactly what those tire patches are doing right up through the steering wheel. On our test drive around Pebble Beach, California it was like driving a big electric go-kart. Who knew saving the planet could be this much fun?
As we roll back into The Lodge at Pebble Beach, where we began our drive, a crowd gathers. Within minutes well-heeled car nuts are pouring over the car. The Tesla seems to be a hit. In fact the first “Signature One Hundred” special edition cars are already sold out.
Good news does indeed travel fast.—Ben Stewart
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