From ABC News:
It goes zero to 60 in about four seconds. Its top speed is 130 miles per hour. And it doesn’t use an ounce of gasoline.
It’s the Tesla Roadster, a new car that’s fueled entirely by electricity and could be hitting the lot just in time. Today the Energy Department reported that the average gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.10 — a new nominal record price for the United States.
The Tesla Roadster is named after Nicola Tesla, the largely forgotten genius inventor of alternating current electricity, and it’s the brainchild of Martin Eberhard, who said he designed it because he cares about the environment and because he wanted one for himself.
“It’s time for us to do something about our dependence on foreign oil,” Eberhard said. “It’s time for us to do something about global warming. But I wasn’t ready to go drive around some goofy little car. … Think of how electric cars look. All the ones you’ve ever thought of.”
There haven’t been many electric cars. Early automobiles ran on electricity, as did General Motor’s ill-fated and quickly abandoned EV1, which debuted in the 1990s and died soon thereafter. Eberhard said there’s “nothing beautiful” about the Prius, perhaps the best-known hybrid car. “It doesn’t do anything for me,” he said. “Think of it this way. A world of 100 percent hybrids is still 100 percent addicted to oil.”
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aynrkey
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It runs on electricity mostly generated from fossil fuels. It’s as false an idol as the Prius.
At least it isn’t really ugly like all the other alternative vehicles.
Speaking of vehicles, did anyone else here read that Paris Hilton’s Ferrari and Mercedes were repossessed? Normally I’d feel bad about that, but this woman has more money than most people will ever see, yet she still doesn’t meet her obligations. Disgusting.
Nigel,
It runs on electrictity generated from *any* source. It is source neutral. That is a big benefit of electrical cars. If you read their blog, Tesla is also partnered with SolarCity to install panels on customers garage roofs (for those interested).
You will also see that even if the electricity is generated from the dirtiest sources (e.g. coal), it is still has less than 1/2 the emissions of a Prius and gets the equivalent of around 135MPG.
-Jon
Sounds like electric cars have improved a lot since my Sebring-Vangard CitiCar. I still get chills when I smell hot electrical circuits!
Electricity in America is typically generated via the burning of coal, natural gas, or fossil fuels. Anyway you look at it, an electric car still requires something to be burned. However, centralizing the creation of energy MAY be more efficient with respect to pollution. The numbers you quote are probably an overstatement, though.
In about 5-10 years, solar panels will be affordable. When that happens, electric cars MAY become viable for city commutes.
Nuclear power is a valuable source that is under utilized, as are solar and wind power. Water power is clean but it’s difficult to find new water falls.
I was prompted to check into solar because of this Tesla car. I called their preferred solar partner, and learned that it is very doable. The initial cost of the panels seems high (about $40k for my house before up to 15k in possible rebates) but when I consider that my electric utility bill costs me about $5k a year, it seems very much worth looking further into. That outfit is in CA so I’ll have to look for a TX installer.
I think it has to be looked at as an investment.
This courtesy of Jalopnik.com:
“A slithery GT coupe powered by GM’s 6.6-liter Duramax turbodiesel? What’s next, a Navistar-powered TVR? A Cummins 610 Turbo Morgan? Not so fast — the Trident Iceni is for real. And with 375 hp and 520 lb-ft of torque, it can get up and go from zero to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and top out at 170 mph. The company’s taking orders on the six-figure sportster now. But before it does, it wants to prove the Iceni’s fuel efficiency and eco-friendliness, so it’s driving one of the cars from the UK to the Top Marques show in Monaco this week on a single tank of biodiesel. That’s 900 miles on 26 gallons (and the filler will be sealed, so no clandestine fillups. Let’s see a Duramax Silverado top that. – Mike Spinelli”
http://jalopnik.com/cars/news/more-fast-oil+burners-the-trident-iceni-headed-to-monaco-on-single-tank-of-biodiesel-252577.php
We have the technology to do A LOT better than we are doing right now. This thing costs at least 100k, but customer excitement could bring the cost of the technology down. I sure hope so. This is my fantasy mobile right now.
More of the same…
http://www.trident-vehicles.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=41
Michelle, CA cost of living is more expensive than in TX, but solar installers there are also more prevalent, so if you can find a TX installer it may not be any cheaper. Keep us updated though. I live in upstate NY and looked around, at least 20K to start.
On a related note, an HBO documentary had a scientist on that said we could power the whole country (homes and business, not cars I assume) on 100 square miles of solar panels in the Mojave Desert.
The oil companies will never let it happen, but if it did happen, just expand it to 200 square miles and then we can power all our electric vehicles, too.
Man, if only I were king!
“Supreme power comes from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony!”