Tesla Motors has the venture funding and the chic beautiful Roadster ... but GM is trying to fight back with the Volt. We talk to both Elon Musk of Tesla and Bob Lutz of GM and get a good idea of what's going on in Silicon Valley, Detroit and elsewhere in the race for the electric car.

Filed under: tesla, volt, and electric car

Another review of the Tesla Roadster, this one of Martin's personal car, delivered at last, by one of the most active posters on the independent Tesla forums.

Filed under: tesla motors, martin eberhard, and

Today, the Lightning car company of the UK introduced a new electric supercar, in many ways similiar to the Tesla Roadster. There are two great things about the new entrant.

First, it has absolutely stunning styling - it looks like those absolutely stunning long-hooded Jaguar XK coupes you still see floating around and falling apart.

Second, you can charge it in an instant - under 10 minutes - which is a huge advantage compared to the multi-hour charge regime required by the Tesla.

But there are two little problems.

First, the price of 120,000 pounds seems in line with the Tesla's 110,000 US dollars ... until you realize a UK pound is worth about $2. So the LIghtning costs a whopping $240,000. Ouch.

Second, the ten minute charge is only if you have 480 volt three phase power, which you have in your home only if it's one of those giant compounds on ten acres in the Malibu hills. Alas, if you have a more normal 110 or 220 volt service, a charge will take about as long as a Tesla.

The company wants to offer public charging stations in Tesco stores, but given that their car is $240,000 it doesn't seem like the company wouod be interested. (Tesco is a large-scale grocery chain, a bit classier than Wal*Mart but the same basic idea.)

So this looks like a very interesting entrant into the elite electric car stakes. I wish both them and Tesla the best.

Filed under: tesla, lightning, electric car, and sports car

This is a story I've been following for what seems like years. Tesla Motors, the innovative Silicon Valley startup that promised to deliver a no-excuses electric sports car, has finally delivered Production Model 2 to founder Martin Eberhard.

Martin put his heart and soul into the car and was then tossed out by the main investor Elon Musk when they couldn't come to terms on the company's future direction. I thought Martin's management was first rate. Of course he made some mistakes, but surprisingly few for a project where nearly everything was new and original.

But like Jim Jannard of RED Digital Cinema, Martin and partners founded Tesla largely to build the car of their dreams, and now Martin drives his dream. A brilliant achievement, and I hope he can get back into the car biz soon.

Filed under: tesla, tesla motors, martin eberhard, and cars

So what are they like, the available electric cars? WhatCar magazine decided to do a group test, between a Fiat, a NICE Mega City, a G-Whiz and a Smart.

The Fiat wast most car-like and had the best range, but blew a fuse or two on the way and was by far the most expensive at 30,000 pounds, or almost $60,000. Top speed is a nearly civilized 75mph.

The Smart was easily the best built, garnering very good crash ratings, had the second best range (but that's only 71 miles) and reaches a top speed of 60 mph.

The other cars made those figures look good.

A video of the test is at the link. The testers clearly looked forward to the more advanced American products, the Tesla Roadster and the Chevy Volt. Either car would make those look laughable, but unfortunately the Tesla's production line seems to have stalled, and the Volt won't be ready for another two years yet.

Filed under: smart, g-wiz, nice mega city, fiat doblo, electric cars, test, and tesla

The AMP, a Saturn Sky converted from gas to electric power, doesn't have the thrilling statistics of the Tesla Roadster. 0-60 in 6 seconds instead of 4, for example. But my S-Class Mercedes does 0-60 in 6 seconds too, and it sure does feel fast, so that might not make that much difference.

What might make more difference is that it's half the price of the Tesla - $50,000 instead of $109.000. And as a less complex project, delivery snags might - hopefully - be less of a problem. After two years of development, Tesla only recently delivered its first car - that's singular - to a customer.

A lot of potential Tesla customers were looking at that price point, so I wonder if the lesser acceleration time and the shorter range - about 150 miles instead of about 225 - will scare away buyers.

Hopefully not - the converted Saturn still looks very nice, and this segment could use more competition.

Filed under: tesla, saturn, and AMP

I normally try to post positive, uplifting stories on amazing.com, but this one's close to my heart.

Martin Eberhard, founder of Tesla Motors, is not being treated well. He was kicked out of the company by financier Elon Musk, despite having attracted numerous fans as the company's open and genial public face. Martin created the whole conception behind the company.

During the employment negotiations, he was promised Roadster #2. Even after his firing, he recommitted his order for Roadster #2 and was told it would ship as the second production prototype.

Tesla appears to have broken that promise by shipping serial number 3 to a happy new owner but #2 has yet to leave the Lotus factory on its leisurely way to the US.

The whole shameful story is at the link. Not so amazing, but an interesting clash of egos over what is still said to be a wonderful car, well worth your interest ...

if the company survives long enough to build it for you.

Filed under: Tesla, Tesla Roadster, and Martin Eberhard

This clip, from WGBH's NOVA, shows various electric car alternatives including Click and Clack's sadly brief drive in a Tesla Roadster.

For those who are not aware, the Tesla is the world's first production electric sports car, an amazing feat of derring-doo and engineering. Over a year late, Teslas are only now starting to dribble off the assembly line in agonizing slowness, but at least they are coming.

The film seems to have been back in the good old days when Martin Eberhard was in charge, since he is featured and it looks like both Martin and the Brothers were driving prototypes.

Filed under: tesla motors, sports car, click and clack, wgbh, and tesla

One of the most pleasing aspects of electric vehicles is the noise ... or rather, the lack of same. Other than a surprisingly pleasant whine coming from the motor, electric vehicles are almost entirely silent. A couple of days ago (scroll down for it), we had a video from a giant electric trash truck, which was barely audible except when trash was being dumped.

Unfortunately, pedestrians and bicyclists depend on hearing a vehicle to know it's there. The nearly-silent Tesla Roadster (see picture) might be impossible to notice on time.

There is a bill before Congress that would require the Transportation Department to establish safety standards to solve this problem.

Despite this, I would really hate to see electric cars lose their silent mojo. Perhaps we can find some other way to make them noticable, like make all of them look like the Tesla Roadster instead of a tiny box?

Filed under: electric car, noise, and tesla roadster

Volvo is testing what it calls a hybrid garbage truck in selected Swedish cities. They supplied a video, which you can see at the link. It shows virtually silent operation - no more loud diesel engine to wake you up during the uncivilized hours in which trash trucks rule the roads.

Unfortunately, the loading and dumping of the trash is as annoyingly noisy as ever, so you can't have anything. But this vehicle is still very impressive, if only for the hum that sounds remarkably similar to a Tesla Roadster at speed.

I'm not sure where the hybrid aspect of this vehicle comes to play - it seems like it's running entirely on electricity in the video. Perhaps the diesel runs only at high speeds or on the main road? They don't tell us.

Filed under: tesla roadster, electric, and trash truck