Tesla Roadster Heads to Production
By Staff | April 2008
After several delays that pushed back its originally scheduled launch date in summer 2007, the composite-bodied Tesla Roadster is finally ready to go into production. At press time, series production of the battery-powered, all-electric sports car from startup automaker Tesla Motors (San Carlos, Calif.) was to begin March 17, 2008.
Tesla chairman, PayPal founder and space tourism entrepreneur Elon Musk took delivery of the very first production Roadster on Feb. 1, this year.
Unlike other electric vehicles that have entered the auto market, the Roadster’s environmentally friendly powertrain requires little in the way of a performance trade-off: Thanks in part to its ultralight composite body panels, the car can get its owners from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 100 kmh) in just four seconds, and the car reportedly has a top speed of 130 mph/209 kmh. Observers note these as two good reasons why reason, at a base price of ~$100,000 (USD), Tesla’s entire 2008 model year is already sold out and the company is now taking deposits for 2009.
Tesla also is considering additional versions of the Roadster for international markets because of increasing global interest.
CT recently detailed the design of the Tesla Roadster’s carbon fiber-reinforced composite body in an “Engineering Insights” story (see “Related Content,” at left).
