Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Tesla - Longer Range, Later Delivery

CNet is reporting some good and some not so welcome news about the Tesla Roadster. Seems the batteries are performing better than expected, and range is back up to about 250 mile per charge. But another delivery delay has been announced. Cars will not hit the road until early next year. Personally I'd trade range for earlier delivery, but of course it doesn't work that way.

Simply getting on the waiting list for the car once cost $50,000. Now, for only $5,000 you can tell your friends you're waiting for one. But don't expect to receive your car for at least a year.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The range is 252 miles city, 236 miles highway, 245 combined. That's with a nearly-new car after being "broken in" with 1,000 miles of driving as federal regulations specify. These range estimates were produced in an EPA-certified lab, so that's what will go on the window sticker.

In real-world driving, Tesla are reporting they've seen range as high as 267 miles and as low as 165 miles, depending on conditions and how the car was driven. As they say, "your mileage may vary".

The battery will gradually degrade over time and the range will reduce, until eventually the battery must be replaced. Tesla consider it good for at least five years, probably longer, but it ultimately depends on how you use the car and what is your tolerance for reduced range.

The car tested was the green VP1, which was the first car to get the new (Magna) transmission installed. Tesla have also been giving test drives in the silver VP9 car, but it still has the old transmission which can't be shifted without breaking! They have to keep it locked in 2nd gear.

I'm sure they will get the new transmission into VP9 and VP10 real soon now.