Apr 1, 2008 12:00 am US/Eastern
Previous Cars Of The Week
CBS4 Car of the Week
5/4 - 5/10 This week, we take a look at the Tesla Roadster. The company took
it's name from Serbian physicist and inventor Nikola Tesla. The
Roadster is a 100% electric car, which in the current gas crunch, is
quite a value. But, this car doesn't surrender speed or torque with the
loss of the gasoline engine.
The Roadster will make it from
0-60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds. The electric motor can generate 248
horsepower and travel around 220 miles on one charge. The battery will
take around 3.5 hours to charge and should have a lifetime of
approximately 100,000 miles. In case you were wondering, the mileage
would translate to around 135 miles per gallon, or a cost of less than
$0.02 per mile.
But, unless you can afford to drop $98,000 on a
two-seater, this technology will have to wait. The company has planned
to put together a 4-door car that will be more affordable for all
consumers sometime in the next 2 years, which would put it in direct
competition with the upcoming Chevrolet Volt.