Tesla Roadster

Australian buyers can reserve Tesla's upcoming Roadster for the eye-watering sum of $66,000 – and that's just to secure a place in the queue. The special-edition launch models command a whopping $326,000 plus on-road costs – despite local pricing, specifications and delivery timing remaining unknown.

Jay Leno has a massive collection of fuel-guzzling supercars, but his taste for power and speed mean he's also keen on the electric hypercars of tomorrow. In the latest instalment of Jay Leno's Garage, the TV personality swaps out of a first-generation Tesla Roadster into the new Model 3 and the wild second-gen Roadster. Guiding him through both models in the company's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, who also gives Leno a sample of the new Roadster's brutal acceleration.

A new study into the experience of current and potential US electric vehicle owners, has concluded that EVs will stay in the minority for sales unless car makers lower prices and better demonstrate the potential economic benefits to consumers. The inaugural J.D Power and Associates 2012 Electric Vehicle Ownership Experience Study explored the EV shopping and consideration experience, as well as ownership experience, of 7600 people during the month of October.

A 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 set out this morning to break a record for the longest road trip by an electric vehicle in Australia. The Roadster will travel 3000km from Melbourne to Brisbane between today and March 30. Tesla’s ‘Oz Goes Electric’ promotional tour will give people a chance to see the Roadster up-close, following the electric supercar company’s official Australian launch in January.