Tesla Roadster Sport – Electric Supercar

By Anthony Crawford | January 07th, 2010

On a recent visit to the United States, which included a spectacular drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles via Highway 101, the first landmark I saw in LA was the Tesla Motors showroom on the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards.

It’s a super busy and often-grid locked location, which incidentally, was on President Obama’s drive route through the city of angels last year, and it doesn’t get any better if its exposure you’re after.

The Tesla dealership is not like any car showroom I’ve ever seen. It’s more like a Niketown store or ultra chic Ad Agency.

But then Tesla is unlike any other car company in the world. They make very fast electric cars that actually work, and the Tesla Roadster Sport is their latest creation.

Not that the standard Tesla Roadster was slow in any way, if you count 3.9 seconds from 0-100km/h as fast, which I surely do.

Try 3.7 seconds for the Roadster Sport and you won’t use a millilitre of fuel. Remarkable, I know. And that’s with a range of 378 kilometres.

Torque is the key to the increased performance off the line with the Sport, and plenty of it, across a torque band that sounds like science fiction even in today’s fast moving times.

Punch the throttle, and all 400 Newton-metres of torque come on song, and stays on song all the way to a staggering 7100 rpm from a single electric motor.

By comparison, the standard Tesla Roadster develops 380 Newton-metres up to 5500 rpm, more than enough for most occasions, I suspect.

Even more remarkable is that the Tesla’s supercar performance is achieved with a single-speed (single ratio) transaxle with a rather dull ratio of 8.27:1.

What that means is that initial acceleration isn’t explosive, but it’s reliable and robust. But the moment the speedometer nudges 16-20km/h mark, the electric motor winds up and the Tesla morphs into a ground-hugging missile.

With a 240-volt power system as we have in Australia, a full charge of the lithium-Ion battery stack will take just 3.5 hours, at which time a green light flashes to let you know you’re full.

Suspension is via nitro-charged shocks on all corners, which are manually adjustable across ten settings and the brakes are regenerative, but just for good measure, AP Racing/Brembo calipers make certain of the car’s stopping power.

Steering is still unassisted as per all other Tesla models although lighter forged wheels make things fractionally easier when parallel parking.

Tesla is one of those trailblazing car companies that you want to see succeed, it’s also a company that seems to put its money, where its mouth is.

We look forward to the four-door Tesla Model S in 2011 with its 7-seat capacity, 482km range, and 45 minute QuickCharge.

And the performance of this plug in electric family car you ask how’s 0-100km/h in 5.8 seconds sound?

Lotus builds the Tesla in the UK, so right-hand-drive cars should not be a problem.

Price of Tesla Roadster Sport: converting US prices to Australian dollars is between $118,000 and $139,000.

Mitch

I wonder how more efficient they would be, if they had more gears.

http://electricnick.com Electricnick

The problem is that there aren’t any gearbox that can withstand the high torque of an electric motor. The first had a prototype with two gears but had to be replace every few thousand miles. When someone will make one that can handle it EVs will pack even more fun… and yes, even more than a souped up Suby. We tried both and the verdict is in, an electric motor just outperforms a gas one.

Jonno

Probably not as fast or as good looking as a souped up WRX
Philthy

Love the looks of the model S. I hope these guys do really well. I’d love a torquey, quiet, plug-in EV. Just need them to become the mainstream so the price drops a bit.

What the hell are all the other car companies doing?
http://www.caradvice.com.au Anthony Crawford

Are you honestly saying that you believe a REX looks better than the Tesla. Our company track car is a highly tuned REX and while its quick on the tarmac, it won’t run 3.7 seconds. And let’s not get into the fuel issue shall we.
Paul

Any news if they will start making these in right hand drive so we can start buying them in Australia?

The next question I have is what is the build quality like and the resale going to be like?

http://web.me.com/alfredar Alfred

- A right hand drive version of the Tesla Roadster has been announced here: http://is.gd/5QIlb

JEKYL & HYDE

if all other electric cars could achieve something like this level of performance,distance and charge time(not to mention refueling/recharging cost),then petrol cars will soon be a thing of the past.vehicle price though is still a major stumbling block.batteries???who knows…

i imagine not to many blind people cross the road near the telsa shop(lololol)…
Trump

“Price of Tesla Roadster Sport: converting US prices to Australian dollars is between $118,000 and $139,000″

So we should expect about $250,000AUD if the current level of dealer gouging is anything to go by.

lazybones

Doesn’t that still make it the cheapest carbon fibre sports car you can buy?

Shak

Yeah the build quality is a real issue for me because the top gear test had both cars pretty much break down.

Chucky

They did not break down. Top Gear was “simulating” what will happen if the batteries were dead without telling the viewers that they were “simulating” it. Fact is that both cars had more than 80% charge remaining after the test review. JC don’t like electric cars that much.

Shak

Mate the first cars brake =s failed while it was charging and i forgot what happened to the other one but it also broke down.

http://web.me.com/alfredar Alfred

There are some 1000 roadster on the road by now and considerable experience has built up. There are so far very few reports of failures that stopped the car. According to a Tesla representative in Europe experience is better than expected and the car proves to be robust, also in snow and ice. Finish was initially said to be a bit “Lotus-like” and perhaps not entirely up to Mercedes levels. I was told that a special quality control unit was therefore added by Tesla in England. More on: http://www.teslamotors.com/ and http://www.teslamotorsclub.com
A Tesla Roadster is just now completing a 4000 km roadtrip across the US with some unpleasant weather and driving conditions:
http://www.teslamotors.com/roadtrip/the-latest/

D

Is the Model S really a 7 seater or is it just a type-o?

Shak

no it really is. There are two rearward facing seats in the back.

Callous Aussie

What an awesome vehicle. Stunning to look at, blindingly quick and yes I’d have this over a WRX any day of the week. This mob have produced what Toyota’s Prius should have been. Full electric. Hybrid is garb against this car .Well done Tesla. Not too often a new vehicle truly goes against the masses but this one has.

My gut says this is going to be a winner.
Looking

If Nikola Tesla were alive today and built this,it wouldn’t need to be recharged at all.

Callous Aussie

How so? Would he have developed technology that NASA and the rest of the world’s scientists can’t?

Looking

Callous – do a search on youtube for Nikola Tesla,Master of lighting.

Callous Aussie

Sadly we still don’t have the capacity to produce self-sustaining vehicles. The closest thing would be a solar recharge station like Toyota is trying to develop at the moment.

The negative of this vehicle is that in a country like this we need to burn coal to produce the power. The positive is it still gets you away from the oil companies. Then of course if this type of vehicle became the dominant type of vehicle purchased, we’d see a drmatic rise in power costs.

Looking

Sadly some of the human race has not evolved from Flatlander mentality yet.

Robin Graves

Tesla did some ‘magic’ with electricity that still cannot be reproduced to this day. Problem was the genius he was, he kept all the plans and designs in his head, so they followed him to the grave. He ‘transmitted’ electricity 30 miles in 1896. In 2008 intel managed to reproduce his 1894 experiment of powering a nearby lightbulb with 75% efficiency. They guy was pure genius.

JEKYL & HYDE

you should spend a few hours on u-tube looking at “the joe cell”.tesla did that in his lifetime too…
http://www.motormo.com/ Rob

Yeah, but to no where near the distance, wasn’t it around 30 inches or something?

JEKYL & HYDE

rob,
what i’m referring to is an energy cell that powers a motor(no petrol)its been done all over the world.telsa talks about it in his “autobio”.nobody has perfected it yet.the timing is at 90 degree’s to standard.its an interesting subject.blacklight power is another…

Tinman

Callous, please do some research on Nikola Tesla. NASA and the world’s scientists wish he was still alive. He is regarded as the man who invented the 20th century.

Tom

Quite misleading with the whole 3.5hr recharge comment. If you actually did some research you would see thats with a 70A 240V quick charger, ie 7 times more power than a standard powerpoint, making its recharge time on standard AUS power around 20hrs. Which makes a bit of a difference. Do the maths, a 53kWh battery, and a powerpoint that can output a maximum of 2.4kWh’s, doesn’t equal 3.5h recharge time. Sloppy reporting.

Chucky

Tom, it is not sloppy reporting. 3.5 hours does make sense with 70AMp@240Volt.
Lets do the Maths: 3.5(hrs)x70(Amp)x240(V) = 58kWh….Makes Sense.

Tom

Top points for missing my point. I’m talking about a household powerpoint, hence why I listed 2.4kWh. The point is this article doesn’t stipulate at all that the quoted 3.5hr recharge time is only possible with some significant costs in rewiring a 70A circuit in your house. Hence why its sloppy.

Chucky

Yes you are right.

lazybones

Toms right with his figures. Std aussie outlets are 10amp, then 20amp for your oven. Also the battery technology is Lithium-Ion, not IRON. So i’d agree its not quite as sharp as CA normally is.

Keep in mind if you can afford the cool quarter mil for this car, the odd 10-20K upgrade to your house electricity would be small fry. Also the charge times are based on a completely flat battery. The idea is to always keep the battery topped up.

Gazza

Not many houses in Australia would be able to handle adding 70A to their supply. In fact it wouldn’t be allowed in many areas as your local electricity supplier has limits on the size of 240v circuits. In most cases this is 40A or 50A.
If you had a 40A circuit it would recharge from empty in 7 hours. I think most people would be charging overnight anyway so this would be fine.
BTW a circuit of this size could cost as little as a couple of hundred bucks if it’s near your switchboard.

ohreally

wow an electric motor, how ‘modern’

how earth shatteringly ground breaking!
…. hardly.

There are people who made comparitively better vehicles in their own garages, from batteries, motors and transformers purchased over ebay.
for under 20k US

How much do these abominations cost?

Just a bunch of overpriced well marketed toys, capitalizing on future government subsidies, and taxpayer funded profits.

Tinman

When you get one to market for $20k you will have something to crow about, until then you’re just static.

Neo Utopia

At first I was a bit skeptical of these electric cars, but now I can see what all the fuss is about, technically innovative. If the electricity used comes from renewable sources, ie from concentrated solar or even geothermal, then these can be self sustaining super cars, so long as the parts and assembly are also fueled by renewables.

http://web.me.com/alfredar Alfred

They are pretty good, even if powered from non-renewable sources. The efficiency of the whole chain back to the original source of energy can be very high with a well engineered vehicle. I have done some calculations here: http://web.me.com/alfredar/Alfreds_Pages/Energy_Efficiency.html

new golf

so if tesla stripped off the fancy stuff and tried to make a small EV car, what would it cost? how much does all the fancy electric motor and components cost?

http://web.me.com/alfredar Alfred

Tesla has plans for further development. Two model series at lower price points, are planned. A good explanation of these plans is given in a recent interview with sales and Marketing Director of Tesla Motors Europe, Espen Pedersen. He speaks about Tesla Roadster’s sales in Europe and talks about the future of e-cars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf5nVnne2FE

themarvel2004

Q: if it only has a 1 speed box, then is the reverse speed exactly the same and forward? If so – this car could set a new acceleration and speed record for a car going backwards….

Odd I know, but hey, it’s 40+C here in Adelaide and my brain is acting weird in the heat!!