

I test drove a Tesla - astrec
http://wilshipley.com/blog/2008/09/tesla-v-supercharged-lotus-elise.html

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PStamatiou
As a car nut that has spent time on a race track (exhibit a:
<http://flickr.com/photos/pauls/sets/72157594286920410/> ) in various sports
cars, I see a strong dichotomy between Tesla owners/gawkers and real car guys.
Yeah the Tesla accelerates faster than most people will have ever experienced
before and it's neat with its whole 1 gear thing, instant torque and of course
being all electric. But it will be the laughing stock of any track day.

First off, as Wil pointed out, it doesn't like staying at 100mph+ for very
long. That naturally makes it not a track friendly car. It will get passed up
easily on the straightaways at some tracks (ex you can hit 140+ on the back
straight at Road Atlanta). And the brakes will get roasted and it will run out
of battery after just a few sessions. Not to mention that there's no fun in
driving a car and not shifting gears and toying with the clutch, and of course
being deafened by the loud sound of a free flowing V-8,10,12,whathaveyou

Okay, just my little rant. In summary the Tesla is not a car guy's car, it's a
SV show-off car.

~~~
DabAsteroid
_Yeah ... it's neat with its whole 1 gear thing, instant torque_

...The same as a Corvette ZR1 (and also the same price) in third gear.

[http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9212...](http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92125)

 _2009 ZR1 . Max rpm 6500 . Tire Dia 26.4 . Tire Circumference 6.9115' . Rear
End 3.42_

    
    
      Gear  Ratios  Max speed(mph)
       1     2.29        65.2
       2     1.61        92.7
       3     1.21       123.4
       4     1.00       149.3
       5     0.81       184.3
       6     0.67       222.8

~~~
PStamatiou
I could have given a massive list of examples of cars faster than the Tesla
but figured "most people" covered me there. I was at NAIAS 2008 during press
week and watched Jeff Gordon unveil the ZR1 at GM Style. pics elsewhere on my
flickr account.

~~~
DabAsteroid
I was referring to the Tesla's wide torqueband -- "its whole 1 gear thing". It
is not an exclusive feature. A ZR1 can _also_ be driven _in 1 gear only_ and
still achieve both 0-60 in 4 seconds _and_ a top speed over 100 mph.

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nazgulnarsil
If one of my startups is ever successful this will be one of my very few "I'm
rich bitches" purchases.

~~~
mtw
I'm not sure about the point of having a car I'd drive only 10 days in a year.

Why not creating a company that leases Tesla cars? and the company would also
have a racing circuit nearby. Now, that would be fun.

~~~
wilshipley
I'll drive the Tesla every day, as I do with my Lotus. Why drive a boring car
to work?

-W

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schtog
Tesla is incredibly awesome. First electric-car-project that I believe in.
Deisgn is awesome. I have never even been interested in cars but I really want
a Tesla.

------
jmtame
I hold a lot of respect for Elon Musk. He's making a lot of great
contributions with the work he's doing, and it's exciting to see someone
addressing some serious issues.

------
froo
My brother used to race his Porsche, so after reading the article I found
myself wondering "How long til people start trying to circuit race these
things"

Anyone care to put an estimation on a time frame? I'm thinking somewhere
around 2010-2012.

I think someone putting some serious effort in trying to set up a series would
help in a greater adoption of the electric car.

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jasonlbaptiste
Let's also give Wil tons of credit. No VC it seems and a great piece of
software with delicious monster.

~~~
jamongkad
I'm surprised he can even afford a Lotus Elise. But do you think he was able
to afford those cars by Delicious MOnster alone? Or were they a purchase from
his earnings at Omni?

~~~
there
a lotus elise isn't that expensive a car; brand new they're only about
$45-50k. my lotus exige was only $57k new.

though the tesla roadster, while initially based on the lotus elise chassis
and body, is about double the price of an elise. i'd be more surprised if he
was actually able to find one for sale since i thought all 2008 models were
spoken for. though i don't think his article actually said he was buying one,
just that he took one out on an autocross course.

~~~
jonny_noog
Well, he did say:

"The Tesla I drove was an engineering prototype but is said to be very close
to the one I'll get next year."

So I guess he's getting a 2009 model or something.

~~~
menloparkbum
In an another post he mentions getting on the Tesla waiting list, quite some
time ago. So long ago I can't be bothered to dig it up out of the archives.

~~~
tlrobinson
At TED a year and a half ago:
<http://wilshipley.com/blog/2007/03/ted2007-days-3-4.html>

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Prrometheus
I guess it's Elon Musk Day today. Good news from his two most ambitious
projects.

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vaksel
The whole quiet thing creeps me out about the Tesla. Its a sports car you are
supposed to hear the engine roar. + the whole quiet thing greatly increases
your chances of some soccer mom side swiping you

~~~
corentin
So I assume smug geeks are immune against bad driving?

~~~
vaksel
when a guy crashes its because he is in the process of doing something stupid.
When a woman crashes its because she isn't paying attention.

Women are just horrible drivers from my experience. I've been hit 5 times and
members of my family were hit 3 times. In ALL but one cases the other person
was a woman. And that doesn't count the hundreds of times I had to scramble to
get out of the way because some woman suddenly decided that she liked my lane
better

1-side swipe w/o her using any turn signals. Usually not a problem since I'm
used to this, but this one was dodging rear ending another car

2-sitting at a red light and the woman thought the light turned green, caused
about 4 grand in damage(she must have had the pedal to the metal)

3-entering driveway and the woman thought my turn signal was flashing the
other way, so she decided to pass on a shoulder and t-boned me as I was
entering

4-t-bone in a parking lot because the woman decided to look back at her kids
and hit gas instead of brakes

5-rear end at a red light because the woman thought I'd run the red light and
didn't

6/7-2 major hits at a parking lot because the woman didn't slow down enough
entering the space

the one time I got hit by a guy it was when we were both pushing the limit at
the racetrack, and was due to him understeering.

Until I modified my car's exhaust I had to avoid careless women almost daily.
Now that they can actually hear me thats been cut down to once a week. An
aftermarket exhaust is the best investment you can make to avoid major repairs
to your car.

~~~
run4yourlives
See, this is one of those cases where an anecdote does not render fact.

If women actually did cause more accidents; hence they are worse drivers, they
wouldn't be paying less for insurance than us males now would they?

~~~
vaksel
Thats because most of their accidents are less severe. A guy's accident
usually happens when they go beyond their limit and they end up totalling
their cars. For women most of their accidents are due to carelessness and
usually happen at a much lower speed. All of the accidents I had, were done at
less than 10 mph.

\+ I think the whole insurance industry is lagging, it'll probably be another
decade before they adjust women's rates.

I mean right now the whole thing is unfair as hell when it comes to insurance.
When I was in college, a girl I knew had 8 at fault accidents. She totaled 3
cars and the rest were fender benders. Her insurance paid out close to
$150,000. And her insurance was STILL lower for full coverage for a new 330ci
than what I paid for liability on my old Civic. And I had a clean record, no
at fault accidents or points on my license. Not exactly fair.

------
cbrinker
I love my 335i coupe, but I think I would trade it for a Tesla in a heartbeat.
I am so excited that a company is embracing alternative fuels (electricity
especially) in aims of making a supercar.

Gear shifting slows down a vehicle, regardless of how fast it is, since you're
disconnecting the engine from the powertrain. It also is another thing you
have to bother with while driving.

~~~
axod
"It also is another thing you have to bother with while driving."

It still surprises me how few manuals you see in the US, It's as if people
aren't interested in driving + getting the most out of the car. If you don't
enjoy driving, why not get a driver. If you enjoy driving, you want a manual.

Nothing worse than speeding up an on-ramp, and the car refusing to budge out
of 2nd.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
In about twelve seconds from a standing start, my 350Z will get me to "lose
your license" speeds. Even if I had an automatic transmission, I would still
never be able to get the "most" out of the car without taking it to the track.
Anyway, I agree that manual transmissions are outdated and sequential shift
should be standard equipment on sports cars. Motorcycles have had clutchless
shifting forever, why not cars?

OTOH, I live out in the country and about 5 miles of my commute is on winding
gravel roads. Turn off Traction Control and I have a blast without ever
exceeding the speed limit!

~~~
DabAsteroid
_Motorcycles have had clutchless shifting forever_

There is a motorcycle model with clutchless shifting?

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
Guess it depends on your definition of "motorcycle" but my Honda Foreman 400
(a 4-wheeler) and so do many others.

------
jksmith
That black roadster is a black swan. 1) We've been duped into thinking the
technology was not practical, 2) The only reason it's not massively disruptive
is its price, and 3) Years from now new drivers will find what we have to do
to maintain our current rolling crap completely ridiculous.

------
swivelmaster
I am so jealous. Not only that he test drove this but that he can afford it.

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nadim
Carmack's cars: <http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic85593.htm>

See links in the comments for pictures.

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wschroter
I'll stick with my gallardo and continental gt. nothing compares to listening
to a v10/12 rip the road apart! although admittedly, I do miss a stick shift.

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schtog
How is the recharging done by the way? Do you need a recharging-station at
home? How long does it take? I couldn't find that info on the homepage.

~~~
swilliams
It will plug into a standard wall socket, but if you can plug into a 220v
socket (like a washing machine) it will charge in half the time.

~~~
schtog
Cool, how long is that time?

~~~
swilliams
I think it was around 8 hours for an empty to full charge on 220v.

~~~
schtog
Does the battery need to be completely empty before recharging?

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DabAsteroid
_And, in Seattle, runs off hydro power._

...Nuclear, largely, if the charging is done at night.

[http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states...](http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states/stateswa.html)

