If you haven't heard from me lately, it's not because I fell off the face of the planet, but rather am out on the road working, and have to pay WAY too much money to use internet at the hotel.
However, I have OFFICIAL WORD that I will be seeing a Tesla Roadster tommorow.
Unfortunantly, my camera got left at home, but I will have to make sure to get a photo of it with someone elses camera.
I took some photos, however, MY camera was left at home, so I had to use somebody elses. That somebody is not around right now, nor is his camera.
I will load the photos onto my computer when I get a chance.
There was also a Tesla rep there, who was pretty cool to talk to. He did pop the trunk, but I didn't get to see under the hood. I could see through the big slits in the hood that there were two big fans under there.
The whole vehicle is sort of strange.
It's a sports car, which is really more designed for looking cool than being aerodynamic. It does have a FULL belly pan. Too bad they didn't have a mirror under it to show that off.
It looks shockingly like a gas car. The charger plugs in to what would otherwise be a gas cap. (Apparently it is a Lotus frame)
It doesn't have any giant letters saying ELECTRIC on it anywhere. The only real hint that it's electric is no tailpipe and the bellypan.
The gear selector is interesting. There is a two-speed gear selector. Just gears one and two like on a POLE POSITION arcade machine, plus reverse off to the side.
The rep told me that this particular car has the two speed gear selector, but the motor is actually in a single fixed gear, in a ratio closer to what was second.
The trunk is TINY as it is a sports car. The motor, batteries, and power electronics are all in the back. Motor is air cooled, but batteries and controls are liquid cooled.
Most of the car is carbon fiber.
I wish this car could have been out on a race track. I think it's hard to appreciate an electric car when it's just parked in a hotel lobby.
Here's a funny bit. There were two other cars there, both hybrids. They were at the event a couple of days before the Tesla. Both had drip pans underneith them. I mentioned to somebody that since the Tesla is all electric, it wouldn't need that, because there was nothing to drip!
Sure enough. When it showed up, there was nothing under the Tesla but floor.
I wasn't around when they brought it in, so I have only seen it PARKED.
No, it isn't being moved out to a racetrack, only into a ballroom (over carpet, no gas to leak!)
I will not be the guy to move it, but it should still be pretty cool just to see roll under its own power.
The guy whose camera I used to take photos the other day left on a flight and didn't let me get my photos first. I have e-mailed him asking for one, but I don't know when I will get it.
I got to see it drive when it was moved into the main room from the lobby. Tires are squeeky on brick and dead silent on carpet!
I also got to talk some more to the Tesla Rep. Nice guy. Younger.
In the front of the car, it has sort of a big air scoop. This makes air flow into the huge radiator and then out through the giant slits in the hood. That radiator runs the coolant for the power electronics, batteries, and air conditioning.
If you peek through in the bottom back, there really isn't much to see. You can tell where the motor must be, and that's about it.
Ah yes, did I mention I got to sit in it? Too bad I couldn't take it for a spin!
PS: Notice how you can park an electric car on carpet, with electric lights under it, and not need a drip pan to catch petroleum.
Yea, I've wanted one of these things before they even had a working prototype made. At the time, their goal for top speed and millage seemed skeptical to many, but, in the end they managed to do it. It's not only a great car PERIOD, it's also a great looking car. It looks to be about the size of a Lotus Elise or Mazda Miata, would you say that's about accurate Bennelson?
Cant wait for pics
