TAG Heuer's Tesla Roadster gets pictured on the road
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 15th 2010 4:47AM
posted March 15th 2010 4:47AM
posted March 15th 2010 4:47AM
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what's with the different colored mirrors? But seriously, T-Rode, (aka Tesla Roadster, T-Rode is more hip doncha think?) you are beautiful.
@Brent1700
Not just the mirrors but the brakes too.
@Brent1700 Not only mirrors - brake calipers too!
@midnightblade Arrrrrgh! Damn, you're fast!
i presume it's tag heuer's insignia colors
@Brent1700 The different colours are taken from international boating standards. Boats have red and green representing the Port and Starboard sides Left = Port, Right = Starboard. When you see a boat at night and can see both colours you know its front on. if you can only see green you know its right (starboard) side is facing you so you know what side to pass it. I don;t know how they think it is suppose to work for the car???? It is tag heuers colours but they have used them logically on a car to show the sides. Well done I say
it does not look symmetrical, so there shouldn't be any need to differ colors. but why, really?
How much??
@KGB
For 100k you can get the most overrated car ever. I hope you know how much 100k is in car terms.
I fail to see the point in spending extra for a few cosmetic changes; reminds me of the Bugatti Veyron & their ridiculous editions like the Sang Blue. Which was a nice colour but ridiculously expensive.
@Wil2Win
Seems like you are confusing need/want/can.
Which is best filtered by: having none/lots/too much money.
Dear Tesla,
Make this car cheaper instead of producing specialty editions for the unnecessarily rich.
Signed,
Everyone
@SolidSnake
Dear Everyone,
At this time we are producing cars for people who can afford gas cars with a gas mileage of 5MPG.
Please get back to use when you are one of those people.
Signed,
Tesla.
@SolidSnake
Dear Everyone,
At this time we are producing cars for people who can afford gas cars with a gas mileage of 5MPG.
Please get back to use when you are one of those people.
Signed,
Tesla.
@KGB
Dear Tesla,
:(
Signed,
Everyone else
Dang it, double posted.
YAY!
Electric Vehicles for All!
OOOPS! I meant...
Electric Vehicles for the Elite Super-Rich!
YAY!
@ KGB, joebob, newdna, and anyone else who wants to put down Tesla for the price of the Tesla Raodster
First off, just to let you know, I am NOT one of "those people" who can afford "5MPG cars". You need to remember that this is not JUST an electric car, but a PERFORMANCE electric car. How many other electric cars do you know of that can do 0-60 in 3.7 seconds, has an equivalent fuel efficiency of 120MPG, a battery efficiency of 92%, and a single-charge distance range of well over 200 miles (the Tesla Roadster holds the world record for distance on a single charge, of 311 miles).
In regards to your complaining about the price of the Tesla Roadster, if you compare its price to the prices for any of the kits for other performance electric cars (by "kit", I am referring to a complete kit, and not a conversion kit for an already-manufactured car), you would find that they cost approximately the same as the Tesla Roadster...with one BIG exception - with the kits, you have to either put the car together yourself, just as you would with any kit-car, or you would have to pay someone else to put it together for you, adding who-knows-how-much to the overall cost.
BTW, in regards to KGBs comment about "5MPG cars", maybe you should learn a few things about them before you start spatting quotes you know nothing about. If you were to read an automotive magazine, such as Road & Track, you would find that the production car with the lowest mileage, that being th3e $1.7million Bugatti Veyron 16.4, with its 1001bph V16 engine, still gets 9MPG, almost twice your stated amount. Moving to a couple of "more affordable" cars, the Lamborghini Gallardo ($250K) gets 10MPG, the Ferrari F430 ($248K) 12.2MPG, * Corvette ZR1 ($117K) 12.2MPG.
The moral of this story is...
Before you start spouting off,
make sure you have all the facts,
Otherwise, you may make others think,
you could be nothing but an a**.
Just as a very quick add-on, I thought I'd list some additional cars, along with their mileage, that are in the same price range as the Tesla Roadster, just to prove these are not "5MPG" cars:
BMW 750i, $110K, 15.9MPG
Dodge Viper SRT10, $93K, 14MPG
Jaguar XKR Coupe, $99K, 17.2MPG
Maserati Gran Turismo, $118K, 16.6MPG
Porsche 911 Carrera S, $95K, 19MPG
@Panther1968
Please panther. You don't know anything. Don't pull off some MPG's off the government website. This is a car that costs 100k. No matter how you slice it, its gonna cost a helluva lot and the only reason anyone would buy it is because it is well known for being an all electric and its well known for being relatively fast. No one would show up at the track with this or take it out on a mountain drive because it doesn't work in real life.
This car just doesn't work. If you drive aggressively you will get only 50MPC. My acronym for Miles Per Charge. With only a 16 hour downtime you will be able to get another 50 miles. The test for the max range of 311 is probably done at the salt flats driving at 2 miles per hour.
I drove behind a tesla once and have seen many lotus exiges and elises around my neighborhood and i know your point is that the price reflects its performance and technology which i'll agree. But put yourself in defense of the tesla roadster saying that it is a good car is just ridiculous. I laughed at this note here:
(the Tesla Roadster holds the world record for distance on a single charge, of 311 miles).
What are you trying to say? HAHA. You can't possibly think that it will get even 125 miles. If you are on a freeway that is probably the max you will get.
And! people are trying to make the point that it is expensive for its practicality. No one is arguing that it isn't worth the price. The 100k is worth the price of the car. But the 100k is not worth the price of waiting for the car to charge.
The porsche 911 looks much more impressive by far anyway. There is no need to be bothered by the thought of gasoline when it comes to nice cars, not here.
@questionexclamation
You need to get YOUR facts straight. First off, with 220V charging, which IS the standard method of charging, a complete charge takes approximately 4 hours, NOT 16 hours. The 16-hour charge is only when charging off a traditional 11V household outlet. Seriously, how many people (idiots not included) would be dumb enough to charge from a 110V outlet, when they can plug into the 220V outlet in the garage, which, BTW, is included, and installed (free of charge, I might add) by Tesla. As for your "aggressive driving" statement, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, because, as you so clearly stated just before that comment, no one would take the car to the track, thus contradicting yourself.
As far saying the Tesla is a "good car", not once did I say that. I think it's a great idea, yes, but poorly implemented. Truth-be-told, even if I could afford one, I certainly wouldn't want one. I'd MUCH rather have the Lotus. The things I said was not so much in defense of the Tesla as it was in defense of the things certain "people" were saying, proving that, as I clearly stated, they didn't know what they were talking about. As to your comment about the 311 mile range being done at 2MPH, if you knew anything about how electric vehicles run, you would know your statement is just as off as those made by the others. You do NOT get the best distance in an electric vehicle by driving on the freeway, as you so incorrectly assume. The best distance of ANY electric vehicle, be it all electric, or a hybrid, is in stop-and-go city driving, for it is the braking that helps to recharge the batteries, through what is known as "regenerative braking". maybe you should read up on this, so that you, as with the others, could learn a few things. Again, learn the fact before you try and quote things you know not.
As for price reflecting performance, as you put it, no, that was not my point. I was using price comparisons to reflect mileage comparisons. mileage and performance are two entirely different things.
Finally, in regards to the Tesla Roadster, I believe neither that the $100K is worth the price of the car, or that the car is worth the $100K price (even if delivered the same day, which we all know is impossible, with their 2000+ long car waiting list, which is ridiculous). I'd take the original non-S version of the Exige, or Elise, over the Tesla, hands down...half the price, same top speed, and 1000% more fun to drive (as they say, been there, done that).