Who doesn’t like a powerful sports car? But after the ex-communication of SUVs, the fuel guzzling sports cars have started attracting some dirty looks. In India, of course, seeing a sports car is, in itself, an event that warranties more awe than derision. But elsewhere in US$137-a-barrel land (read USA), you will probably catch people lower their heads when confronted with a sports car and look away, hoping to be caught admiring a more efficient Honda or Toyota sedan.
Thankfully, due to some innovative companies, sports-cars needn’t go the same way as the SUVs and pick-ups. They could turn hybrid, still retain the power and looks and get to be trendsetters. Like the Tesla Roadster.
All in the name
You might have heard of Tesla Motors, based in San Carlos, California. And if you have ever read up on green cars, then you have come across the Roadster as the only in-production completely electric sportscar.
The story goes that more than a century ago when Thomas Edison was fiddling around with direct current he had an argument with a Serbian immigrant, Nikola Tesla over a payment of US$ 50,000. While no one is really sure if Edison finally paid or didn’t pay the amount to Tesla, what is known is that Tesla went on to champion the alternating current. Edison meanwhile unveiled the very first nickel-iron electric car battery but it didn’t work out. Apt then, that a century later, the concept of electric cars panned out and the first real electric sports car is called Tesla.
The Tesla Roadster looks like any other sportscar trying to make its mark. It’s sleek with curving lines and some surprising touches. Like the ‘gills’ in the front or the angular wing mirrors or the indented rear bonnet. And it looks very familiar. If you are wondering why, it’s because the Roadster has been developed with the help of Lotus Cars, which extended the chassis of the Lotus Elise to fit in the 1,000-pound Roadster battery. To counteract the added weight, engineers decided for a full carbon fibre body, making it lighter and affordable. The Roadster is less than 10 per cent of the Elise, except for the windshied, airbags, tyres and some dashboard parts. The rest is all genuine Tesla.
The car itself has undergone numerous prototypes from 2004 and 2007. While the batteries have proven excellent, Tesla has had to do more work on the transmission. Already, the second version is being used in production models and a third and fourth versions are under development. The blogosphere is abuzz with how Tesla might counteract a weak transmission and what options they have. But for all that the car still hits from 0-100 in a little more than 4 seconds, good enough for a sportscar, you think?
The genius under the hood
Clearly, the most amazing part of the car is the 3-phase, 4-pole electric motor that develops a maximum power of 248 bhp and a maximum torque of 270 Nm, as good as any other sportscar! What’s more, if you were to compare the efficiency of the motor to a regular petrol one, the Tesla Roadster delivers a whopping 24 kmpl! That is almost 1.5 times higher than the Toyota Prius, the current icon for green cars. On full charge, the 6831-cell, lithium ion battery will give a run of 350 km. Tesla even claims that the Roadster’s efficiency is six times that of rival sports cars (though they don’t really take names) and that its CO2 emissions are ten times less. If green is not enough, Tesla even has thought out the laptop-battery-blowing-up scenario. The cells are all liquid cooled by the same time-tested refrigerant used in ACs and the cells are even immersed in 27 square metres of surface area to squelch any hot spots that might otherwise be left out.
Kick off
The Tesla Roadster created a huge buzz with all serious motorists when it finally went into production in March this year. Self-confessed motoholic Jay Leno said, “If you like sports cars and you want to be green, this is the only way to go. The Tesla is a car that you can live with, drive and enjoy as a sports car. I had a brief drive in the car and it was quite impressive. This is an electric car that is fun to drive.”
A more serious Motortrend aptly capped it all when it wrote that the car was not only undeniably efficient but would be ‘profoundly humbling to just about any rumbling Ferrari or Porsche that makes the mistake of pulling up next to a silent, 105-mpg Tesla Roadster at a stoplight.’ For our part, we can’t wait for the Roadster to make it to India.
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