First Production Tesla P1 Roadster Hits The Road February 06, 2008
Read more Cars , Gizmodo UK , Motoring , Technology
The first production Tesla electric sports car, the P1 Roadster, rolled of the line this week in San Carlos, California, with chairman of the company, Elon Musk, taking the wheel.
The photo above shows the car being pushed [it really works though, honest] into a Tesla work bay where it was fitted with its whopping 1,000lb battery. Each battery consists of 6,831 laptop-sized lithium-ion cells and took two-hours to fit.
The car is capable of 0-60mph in under four seconds, tops out at 125mph, is a claimed six times more eco-friendly than a typical sports cars, and takes 3.5 hours to fully charge. The car has a range of around 220 miles per charge.
This one is black – Chairman’s privilege, I guess - but the first 100 of the £49,000 cars will be ‘Limited Edition’ green. Jump for another shot of its production debut.-Martin Lynch
UPDATE: There will be other colours available for first 100 run of Teslas, as well as the 'Signature Green'. Thanks Tony
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
how much does it cost to fill the tank(battery) then?
A minor correction. . . The first 100 cars aren't all going to be painted green. Tesla are indeed offering a special "Signature Green" paint job as an option for the first 100 cars, but there are several other colors that buyers can select from.
hang on, does anyone else think that looks like the stuck polyfilla on a Lotus Elise ?
Are the allowed to call it a P1? I owned a P1 for 4 years, and it certainly didn't look like that.
"hang on, does anyone else think that looks like the stuck polyfilla on a Lotus Elise ?"
Not surprising, the cars are being built by Lotus for Tesla Motors.
Yet they won't be sold here, I'd leap at the chance to get one of these and then laugh at every petrol station I pass.
I laugh at every petrol station I pass.
Not because I've got a green car- I just have a serious brain problem.
The reason people think it looks like a Lotus Elise is because it was designed by Lotus and obviously based on the Elise floorpan to save time/money for R & D costs.