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I test drove a Tesla
- swivelmaster 18y agoI am so jealous. Not only that he test drove this but that he can afford it.
- jmtame 18y agoI hold a lot of respect for Elon Musk. He's making a lot of great contributions with the work he's doing, and it's exciting to see someone addressing some serious issues.
- nazgulnarsil 18y agoIf one of my startups is ever successful this will be one of my very few "I'm rich bitches" purchases.
- swivelmaster 18y agoAmen to that.
- mtw 18y agoI'm not sure about the point of having a car I'd drive only 10 days in a year. Why not creating a company that leases Tesla cars? and the company would also have a racing circuit nearby. Now, that would be fun.
- run4yourlives 18y agoHence: "I'm Rich, Bitches".
- wilshipley 18y agoI'll drive the Tesla every day, as I do with my Lotus. Why drive a boring car to work? -W
- jasonlbaptiste 18y agoLet's also give Wil tons of credit. No VC it seems and a great piece of software with delicious monster.
- jamongkad 18y agoI'm surprised he can even afford a Lotus Elise. But do you think he was able to afford those cars by Delicious MOnster alone? Or were they a purchase from his earnings at Omni?
- there 18y agoa lotus elise isn't that expensive a car; brand new they're only about $45-50k. my lotus exige was only $57k new. though the tesla roadster, while initially based on the lotus elise chassis and body, is about double the price of an elise. i'd be more surprised if he was actually able to find one for sale since i thought all 2008 models were spoken for. though i don't think his article actually said he was buying one, just that he took one out on an autocross course.
- jonny_noog 18y agoWell, he did say: "The Tesla I drove was an engineering prototype but is said to be very close to the one I'll get next year." So I guess he's getting a 2009 model or something.
- menloparkbum 18y agoIn an another post he mentions getting on the Tesla waiting list, quite some time ago. So long ago I can't be bothered to dig it up out of the archives.
- tlrobinson 18y agoAt TED a year and a half ago: http://wilshipley.com/blog/2007/03/ted2007-days-3-4.html http://wilshipley.com/blog/2007/03/ted2007-days-3-4.html
- wschroter 18y agoI'll stick with my gallardo and continental gt. nothing compares to listening to a v10/12 rip the road apart! although admittedly, I do miss a stick shift.
- schtog 18y agoTesla is incredibly awesome. First electric-car-project that I believe in. Deisgn is awesome. I have never even been interested in cars but I really want a Tesla.
- Prrometheus 18y agoI guess it's Elon Musk Day today. Good news from his two most ambitious projects.
- froo 18y agoMy brother used to race his Porsche, so after reading the article I found myself wondering "How long til people start trying to circuit race these things" Anyone care to put an estimation on a time frame? I'm thinking somewhere around 2010-2012. I think someone putting some serious effort in trying to set up a series would help in a greater adoption of the electric car.
- vaksel 18y agoThe whole quiet thing creeps me out about the Tesla. Its a sports car you are supposed to hear the engine roar. + the whole quiet thing greatly increases your chances of some soccer mom side swiping you
- corentin 18y agoSo I assume smug geeks are immune against bad driving?
- vaksel 18y agowhen a guy crashes its because he is in the process of doing something stupid. When a woman crashes its because she isn't paying attention. Women are just horrible drivers from my experience. I've been hit 5 times and members of my family were hit 3 times. In ALL but one cases the other person was a woman. And that doesn't count the hundreds of times I had to scramble to get out of the way because some woman suddenly decided that she liked my lane better 1-side swipe w/o her using any turn signals. Usually not a problem since I'm used to this, but this one was dodging rear ending another car 2-sitting at a red light and the woman thought the light turned green, caused about 4 grand in damage(she must have had the pedal to the metal) 3-entering driveway and the woman thought my turn signal was flashing the other way, so she decided to pass on a shoulder and t-boned me as I was entering 4-t-bone in a parking lot because the woman decided to look back at her kids and hit gas instead of brakes 5-rear end at a red light because the woman thought I'd run the red light and didn't 6/7-2 major hits at a parking lot because the woman didn't slow down enough entering the space the one time I got hit by a guy it was when we were both pushing the limit at the racetrack, and was due to him understeering. Until I modified my car's exhaust I had to avoid careless women almost daily. Now that they can actually hear me thats been cut down to once a week. An aftermarket exhaust is the best investment you can make to avoid major repairs to your car.
- a-priori 18y agoI don't drive, but when I'm out cycling -- and I do a lot of cycling (something like 900km this summer) -- I behave like a car on the roads. I've never been hit myself, but I've had many close calls: 1) About two months back I saw a girl on a bike get hit by a guy who "didn't see her" because, as he claims, he was watching me (I was about 10m back). He was on a minor street crossing a major street. We were on the major street, and she got hit side-on. She was fine, by the way, just scrapes on her legs and hands (a doctor happened to be nearby, and he checked her over). 2) I almost got sideswiped by a guy turning right off a minor highway. Had to pull on the brakes and swerve left into the lane to avoid him. Thankfully there were no cars there. 3) As I was stopping at a stoplight, a pickup truck pulled up behind me. The guy inside apparently didn't like how far from the curb I was. He stuck his head out the window, swearing about how he's going to run me over. I yell back, tell him to mind his own business, then make a quick right turn to avoid him. I could go on. In fact, of all the times I've gotten a look at the driver, it was a woman driver very few times. To use a word I saw here recently, my anecdata contradicts your anecdata.
- PStamatiou 18y agoAs a car nut that has spent time on a race track (exhibit a: http://flickr.com/photos/pauls/sets/72157594286920410/ http://flickr.com/photos/pauls/sets/72157594286920410/ ) in various sports cars, I see a strong dichotomy between Tesla owners/gawkers and real car guys. Yeah the Tesla accelerates faster than most people will have ever experienced before and it's neat with its whole 1 gear thing, instant torque and of course being all electric. But it will be the laughing stock of any track day. First off, as Wil pointed out, it doesn't like staying at 100mph+ for very long. That naturally makes it not a track friendly car. It will get passed up easily on the straightaways at some tracks (ex you can hit 140+ on the back straight at Road Atlanta). And the brakes will get roasted and it will run out of battery after just a few sessions. Not to mention that there's no fun in driving a car and not shifting gears and toying with the clutch, and of course being deafened by the loud sound of a free flowing V-8,10,12,whathaveyou Okay, just my little rant. In summary the Tesla is not a car guy's car, it's a SV show-off car.
- iigs 18y agoI agree that it's not going to hang with a lot of normal gasoline cars, but considering how far electric cars have come in such a short time (momentarily exclude the fact that there were electric cars in the early 1900s that were an evolutionary dead end), I think that may change before too long. Also, I believe that monkeying with a manual clutch is a misfeature (witness twin clutch type sequential manuals) and that loud engines are also just a matter of opinion, or only so popular because of the fast cars they represent, not the other way around. I think if/when electric cars are the fastest thing around there will be a lot of car guys who want nothing to do with the current side-effect of performance. (Also, big ups for track time. I haven't worked up the courage to get out there with mine yet.)
- nazgulnarsil 18y agoyou don't have to be a track guy to be a car guy. some people genuinely enjoy cars that are terrible track performers.
- DabAsteroid 18y agoYeah ... it's neat with its whole 1 gear thing, instant torque ...The same as a Corvette ZR1 (and also the same price) in third gear. http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92125 http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9212... 2009 ZR1 . Max rpm 6500 . Tire Dia 26.4 . Tire Circumference 6.9115' . Rear End 3.42 Gear Ratios Max speed(mph) 1 2.29 65.2 2 1.61 92.7 3 1.21 123.4 4 1.00 149.3 5 0.81 184.3 6 0.67 222.8
- cbrinker 18y agoI love my 335i coupe, but I think I would trade it for a Tesla in a heartbeat. I am so excited that a company is embracing alternative fuels (electricity especially) in aims of making a supercar. Gear shifting slows down a vehicle, regardless of how fast it is, since you're disconnecting the engine from the powertrain. It also is another thing you have to bother with while driving.
- PStamatiou 18y ago"It also is another thing you have to bother with while driving." I think that's what makes driving fun.. you have greater control of your cars actions and are in touch with it. I could never see myself driving something where I never have to touch the shifter once its in a forward gear. As for the speed issue, you're right, it is slowing it down. (granted new paddle systems make that 60 milliseconds like the F430 Scuderia) But the Tesla only has 1 gear, which doesn't like going much past 100mph.
- kirse 18y agoI agree wholeheartedly. There's nothing like the thrill of attacking some twisties and pushing it to the limit. Nobody here is Michael Schumacher, but a manual car with a good sound will damn sure make you feel like him.
- DabAsteroid 18y agothe Tesla only has 1 gear, which doesn't like going much past 100mph. It is a 2-speed car. Tesla is planning on performing a recall to upgrade the transmissions of all of the delivered 1-speed cars to 2-speed. http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=803 http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=803
- wilshipley 18y agoNo, they originally delivered 2-speed cars that were locked in 2nd gear -- and now they're replacing that gearbox with a one-speed gearbox that's a lot stronger. They increased the power of the engine while waiting to fix the gearbox, and found the car now accelerates fine with only one gear. -W
- schtog 18y agoHow is the recharging done by the way? Do you need a recharging-station at home? How long does it take? I couldn't find that info on the homepage.
- swilliams 18y agoIt will plug into a standard wall socket, but if you can plug into a 220v socket (like a washing machine) it will charge in half the time.
- DabAsteroid 18y agoAnd, in Seattle, runs off hydro power. ...Nuclear, largely, if the charging is done at night. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states/stateswa.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states...
- jksmith 18y agoThat black roadster is a black swan. 1) We've been duped into thinking the technology was not practical, 2) The only reason it's not massively disruptive is its price, and 3) Years from now new drivers will find what we have to do to maintain our current rolling crap completely ridiculous.
- nadim 18y agoCarmack's cars: http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic85593.htm http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic85593.htm See links in the comments for pictures.