Born in the minds of a group of Silicon Valley millionaires, financed by Elon Musk, a PayPal billionaire, the Tesla Roadster Sport is the first electric car, a supercar at that, with real commercial potential. It is an unusual motoring start-up founded not by a motor enthusiast but Californian software engineer Martin Eberhard.
Eberhard wanted to create a car that could run entirely on electricity but unlike all its competitors, was practical enough to use every day. But he soon discovered why it had not been developed before, it was far too difficult to develop the technology and put it in a car everybody could afford. So they didn’t; they decided that the first car would have to start out like the high tech gadgets, hyped-up, over priced and rare, becoming cheaper with time and volume. This would mean that the development of the company would be subsidised by the first line of consumers.
The bodies were designed by British racing legends Lotus and were shipped to California where the engines were installed and charged which brought the final cost of the car to $100,000. Most would argue that its modest price for a supercar and many would agree it’s a steal of an investment into a company that could hold the future for the motoring industry.
Musk has strong ties to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the movie industry so as soon as production began, there was a’ who’s-who’ of the rich and famous on the waiting list as jumping on the eco-wagon is becoming increasingly fashionable.
When officially tested, the Roadster was found to be capable of achieving 0-60 in 3.7 seconds with a limited top speed of 125mph. This meant the first electric supercar could out-perform a Ferrari while keeping you pinned in your seat from the instance you touch the pedal, all in absolute silence.
Tesla also plan on selling the intellectual property for their engines to some of the European car giants which could create a huge supple of affordable electric cars, meaning even if your next car isn’t electric, the one after probably will be.
Even though the Tesla is limited to 125mph, you will still need a driving offence solicitor for any speeding offence you may commit.
.jpg)
