I bet you had to read that headline twice! I know, I couldn’t believe it myself. For me, one of the biggest impediments to buying an electric car has always been performance. Now we finally have someone with a vision to revolutionize the industry who is doing what no one else has done to date: Introducing an electric car that works like a sports car.
Martin Eberhard’s development of this cutting-edge vehicle is being financed by high-profile internet billionaires like the founders of Google and Paypal. This should tell you right away that this car is serious business.
The new battery-powered car will be one of the fastest production cars available on the planet, competing with Ferraris and Lamborghinis that cost five times what the new roadster will sell for. The name of the company is Tesla Motors, after the Serbian inventor of the first motor powered by alternating current.
Tesla’s roadster gets its power from almost 7,000 lithium-ion batteries, rechargeable of course. The batteries are nothing special either, they are the exact same batteries we use in our laptops. In addition to going from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds, the vehicle has a top speed of more than 130 mph and a range before recharging of 250 miles. The first model to be built will be a two-seater roadster, but they already have plans for a sedan as well. So how much does it cost to run this car? You won’t believe it, less than two cents a mile! Say goodbye to high gas prices because this car uses ZERO gas.
Eberhard’s electrical engineering background is what has given him the knowledge to build the first high-performance electric car. He says that he was inspired to create the car by reading about other revolutionaries in the auto industry, John DeLorean and Preston Tucker.
Instead of trying to invent a new battery source, he decided to go with lithium-ion batteries because he was involved in the computer industry and he knows that the big computer companies will continue to work on making the lightest, most durable batteries he can get from the computer industry and use. to boost their cars.
Tesla Motors has gone from a concept to a car that will be built in less than three years. The first cars are being built at a factory in England and will be available in the summer of 2007. The price of the first cars is expected to be around $80,000. Considering the price of gasoline, it could soon be considered a bargain.
