2015 Lamborghini Aventador SV Spy Shots

2014 BMW M4 Coupe Spy Shots

Need For Speed Rivals Announced For Xbox One & PlayStation 4...
Corvette Museum Motorsports Park Construction: Update

Audi Le Mans Prototypes: Lightness Through Gorgeous Carbon

Jaguar's Mille Miglia 2013 Highlights: Video, Gallery
McLaren 50 12C & 12C Spider Mark 50th Anniversary

Detroit 3 Will Be Absent From Tokyo Motor Show, Again

McLaren P1 Sets New Nürburgring Lap Record?

Tesla's lightweight electric car unveiled

James Martinez

Author

LATEST ARTICLE
First Ferrari Hybrid Likely To Be A V-12
Governments around the world are bowing to public pressure to reduce levels of greenhouse gases... Read More

N/ALEADERBOARD RANK
892ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
100COMMENTS POSTED

537 views Jul 19, 2006

Tesla's lightweight electric car unveiled

Enlarge Photo

Related Photo Galleries

See more photos »

Tesla's new electric car is a cyborg cross between a Toyota Prius and a Lotus Elise, and we like it. The Roadster is capable of a Ferrari-beating 0-60 time of 4 seconds, and has a top speed of 130mph.

Being an electric car, it has no emissions and requires charging for approximately 3.5 hours. A single charge allows you to travel up to 250 miles on the highway, and we expect it to be around half that in city traffic.

We love the sort of lightweight sports cars that this car promises to be. Let’s see if it can join the Elise, S2000, and MX-5 in dynamic ability.

Click more for technical details.

From the press release:

The car's impressive range is due to its state-of-the-art lithium-ion Energy Storage System. The Roadster's ESS provides power to the entire vehicle, including the motor. Its durable, tamper-resistant enclosure includes: 6,831 lithium-ion cells; a network of microprocessors for maintaining charge balance and temperature among the batteries; a cooling system; and an independent safety system designed to disconnect power outside the enclosure under a variety of detectable safety situations.