I went for a ride today in a friend’s Tesla Roadster. Wow! again Wow! I have been awaiting the ride since I first found out that he had made the deposit required to get on the waiting list. Well he finally got the car a couple months ago and he says it was very worth the wait. It goes 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and I wasn’t counting but I am pretty sure it did that. I have to say, as I was driving, my conversation wasn’t much more than Ooooo, wow!, holy crap! oh man this is cool, but he did bring up a good point. He said that he had met a handful of other buyers at a couple events that were held by Tesla and found it refreshing to hear how many of them were buying the car to A) help unleash the U.S. from the bondage of foreign oil or B) to minimize their carbon footprint. What I like about the argument in favor of electric cars is that it can address both people’s political leanings. I know, I know, this is a very expensive car and not realistic for the masses but it takes something spectacular to move people at times. The sedan that Tesla is planning will be half the cost and seat seven apparently. I personally do see electric cars as the future because electricity is the common platform which the world uses to do work. Once the finite oil supply is gone the game will become who can produce electricity the cleanest and cheapest.
6 responses so far ↓
1 dustin // Jul 16, 2009 at 4:01 pm
She’s a beaut’ Clark!
2 dan // Jul 17, 2009 at 7:08 am
Wait, is Clark the friend with the Tesla? I want to go for a ride too!
Though, I’ve got sporty transportation more efficient than that Tesla. Want to go for a ride? Bring your own, my bicycle only seats one, but it’s way cheaper!
3 Brody // Jul 19, 2009 at 5:33 am
Sounds like justification for buying a $100,000 car to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cool car and all, but the price tag is in no way worth the ‘eco-friendliness’ of it.
4 Micah // Jul 20, 2009 at 8:53 am
No it isn’t Clark’s. I told the friend I wouldn’t disclose that info. I agree it is obviously not available but for the privileged few. But I don’t think it is justification because most people don’t need to justify themselves. The reality as I see it is that it is very expensive to develop emerging technologies and this is a prime example. The market will need to develop a more affordable “for the masses” model but I am sure the first lightbulb cost a fortune.
5 Gerard // Aug 4, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Hey well said Micah!
No these aren’t for everyone, but they represent a TOTAL sea-change in HOW cars are developed, how long it takes, and who can do it. They parlayed that beautiful high-concept car into what will soon be the first real practical consumer-end electric cars… real entrepreneurial stuff.
There’s a bunch in the bay area doing the same thing for motorcycles right now – Mission One.
They just had their 150-mph superbike in the first ever all-electric GP TT race on the Isle of Man. Exciting stuff – I hope they too can parlay this forward into a decent-priced consumer end electric motorcycle.
6 Gerard // Aug 4, 2009 at 1:39 pm
http://www.ridemission.com/
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