Battery-Fueled Car Will Smoke You

Thursday, July 20, 2006

The world's first lithium-ion supercar is here and it's rocking. From 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds, zero emissions never looked so hot.

The Tesla Roadster is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries -- the same cells that run a laptop computer. Range: 250 miles. Fuel efficiency: 1 to 2 cents per mile. Top speed: more than 130 mph. The first cars will be built at a factory in England and are slated to hit the market next summer. And Tesla Motors, Eberhard's company, is already gearing up for a four-door battery-powered sedan.

A range of 250 miles at 1 cent per mile means that it would cost around $2.50 to fill up the car. That's what I call cheap. The price of the roadster hasn't been disclosed yet, but unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it won't be affordable.

You can read the full article over at Wired or go and visit Tesla Motors' official site right here.

edit: I got my hands on a video presentation of the tesla roadster. Check it out:

9 Comments:

Sign me up, I'm ready to be energy positive!

Cool car, unfortunately I won't be able to afford one just yet.

By Evan Spiegel, at 2:02 PM
Way cool. I can't wait until this technology reaches the masses, and the oil companies have to drill something else.

By Sterling Camden, at 2:54 PM
Hi,

I want a Tessie car!!!

Coral

By CoralPoetry, at 5:09 PM
this car is a great idea!!! so glad they are going to be massed produced but i doubt we will see one being sold in the USA

just wondering though, the battery - how toxic will the eventual disposal be to our environment? i don't know enough about this technology to answer that - anybody??

By azgoddess, at 5:51 PM
azgoddess: these batteries are recyclable, there is some new laws in europe forcing corporation to sent over their old batteries to recycling facilities..

Example of a recycling plant in scotland here

By Kiltak, at 9:05 PM
What is the number of recharge cycles for the batteries? What is replacement cost for the batteries when they die? Also, is this car designed for cold weather use? To be usable in Michigan, it would have to be able to consistently run in 20 degree weather, and occasionally run in -20 degree weather.

By Anonymous, at 9:42 AM
omfg now that's hot. I want one. Bet the price tag on there is going to be crazy though. And what the life span/battery replacement is going to be.
Still think that they most likely have a long way to go in getting the development perfected.

By Na, at 4:53 PM
most excellent car!!

By Tom, at 7:23 AM
This car is great but yea, the life span of battery, the replacement of parts, how many battery re-fueling stations are there? these are questions i would consider, so i believe that this car would not reach me in the next 10 years though as they have lots to work on as for the infrastructure of the whole idea...

By Anonymous, at 9:32 AM