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ENLARGE
Bonanza Photo - Carrie Richards Tesla Test Engineer Andrew Simpson zips along the Mt. Rose Highway about 70 mph.
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ENLARGE
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The Tesla roadster performed as most sports cars would heading down Mt. Rose Highway. It sat low, hugging curves in the road like any Ferrari or Porsche as the lake and mountain scenery whipped by. The drive is impressive in a Ford Taurus, so the Tesla didn't separate itself from the others on the downhill section.
Then test-engineer Andrew Simpson turned the car around.
It shot back up the road without so much as a whine from the electric motor or lithium batteries. The car lived up to its billing, going 0-60 in fewer than four seconds and planting the occupants in the backs of their seats. Since it is an electric car there was no awkward shift-shock or grinding gears as the roadster powered back along the road, drawing stares and gaped mouths from cars headed toward Incline Village.
Then test-engineer Andrew Simpson turned the car around.
It shot back up the road without so much as a whine from the electric motor or lithium batteries. The car lived up to its billing, going 0-60 in fewer than four seconds and planting the occupants in the backs of their seats. Since it is an electric car there was no awkward shift-shock or grinding gears as the roadster powered back along the road, drawing stares and gaped mouths from cars headed toward Incline Village.
The silent engine accelerated to over 70 mph, the only audible sound being the wind flying past the car.
Tesla, the California-based performance car company, unveiled its roadster this week with a trip from San Francisco to Incline Village, accompanied by a Sacramento stop along the way. The car left San Francisco Tuesday, stayed the night in Sacramento and arrived in Incline Wednesday afternoon. The trip was meant to showcase the electric-only car, which uses no gas and has zero emissions.
"In all respects the car is consistent with the class of vehicles it competes with," said Tesla Director of Corporate Marketing Diarmuid O'Connell.
Tesla, the California-based performance car company, unveiled its roadster this week with a trip from San Francisco to Incline Village, accompanied by a Sacramento stop along the way. The car left San Francisco Tuesday, stayed the night in Sacramento and arrived in Incline Wednesday afternoon. The trip was meant to showcase the electric-only car, which uses no gas and has zero emissions.
"In all respects the car is consistent with the class of vehicles it competes with," said Tesla Director of Corporate Marketing Diarmuid O'Connell.
"The great thing about electric motors is that you have full torque at zero RPMs, which means that even when accelerating to 90 mph you maintain a very flat rate of acceleration, providing constant power."
The price tag is steep at $100,000, but the savings compared to the gas-eating Ferraris and Porsches are immediately apparent. Anyone interested in buying the roadster can order it from Teslamotors.com, which estimates its delivery date as July 2008.
The roadster requires a two- to three-hour charge according to Tesla Public Relations Representative Alli Goldstein. After that the charge lasts upwards of 250 miles, easily covering the 205-mile trek from the Bay to Incline village.
The price tag is steep at $100,000, but the savings compared to the gas-eating Ferraris and Porsches are immediately apparent. Anyone interested in buying the roadster can order it from Teslamotors.com, which estimates its delivery date as July 2008.
The roadster requires a two- to three-hour charge according to Tesla Public Relations Representative Alli Goldstein. After that the charge lasts upwards of 250 miles, easily covering the 205-mile trek from the Bay to Incline village.
That trip is exactly what Tesla is marketing its car around. In conjunction with Hyatt, Tesla is marketing the car first for Northern Californians making the weekend trip up to Tahoe.
According to Mark Pardue, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe's manager, the Tesla-Hyatt relationship sprang from a meeting of executives from both companies. Tesla approached Hyatt to house the recharging stations for their roadsters. Hyatt will provide charging ports for the roadsters at locations along the trip including San Francisco, Sacramento and Incline. The port is installed near the valet area of the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, just under the overhang.
"The thought is that someone can leave from San Francisco, stop in Sacramento for an overnight or to do business, and then head out to Tahoe for the weekend," said Jordan Meisner, senior vice president of field operations for Hyatt.
"Our customers are the same people that would buy a Tesla, so the synergy between the two is that we'd be providing a service to the same customer," Meisner said of the charging devices, which are now available in all three locations with plans to expand to Southern California and eventually nationwide.
According to Mark Pardue, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe's manager, the Tesla-Hyatt relationship sprang from a meeting of executives from both companies. Tesla approached Hyatt to house the recharging stations for their roadsters. Hyatt will provide charging ports for the roadsters at locations along the trip including San Francisco, Sacramento and Incline. The port is installed near the valet area of the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, just under the overhang.
"The thought is that someone can leave from San Francisco, stop in Sacramento for an overnight or to do business, and then head out to Tahoe for the weekend," said Jordan Meisner, senior vice president of field operations for Hyatt.
"Our customers are the same people that would buy a Tesla, so the synergy between the two is that we'd be providing a service to the same customer," Meisner said of the charging devices, which are now available in all three locations with plans to expand to Southern California and eventually nationwide.
