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Tesla MotorsLOS ANGELES -- It's safe to say Jeremy Snyder gets a charge out of the two-seat Tesla Roadster whenever he pulls one off the lot - and not because it's equipped with an all-electric engine.
The car goes from 0 to 60 mph in just under four seconds and tops out at 125 mph. It goes 225 miles on one charge and can be fully recharged in 3.5 hours, which Tesla officials say should allow most people to drive it to work and back and recharge it at night like a cell phone.
Plans are in the works for a family-style sedan as well.
What's different about this electric car design is that it uses only ONE battery, instead of many. That one battery is also Lithium-Ion technology, rather than Lead-Acid. They estimate a 100,000 mile life for the battery, and only 3.5hrs charge time when dead. That's a huge improvement over electric cars of ten years ago.
Now, in this particular model, it's obviously a sports car - which is not something we'd all want. I do understand the logic behind introducing this one first, however. Most people believe an electric car can't have the performance of a gas-powered sports car. This one obviously proves that wrong. Now, to make a more tame family version becomes a viable option for buyers. After all, if the design is suitable for a sports car, it will be more than enough for a family car.
The problem is price.
This model is going for over $100G. Obviously, not cheap enough for a stingy ham like me!
However, as this catches on more, and manufacturing improves, presumably a family model can sell for around $50G to $60G, which is exactly where many cars sell for now. If you still think that's too much, consider that if you spend $40G on a car today, how much does the gas cost you after 100,000 miles?? You could buy TWO or more of these Teslas after all that gas, especially at today's gouging prices.
In that respect, you pay more for this car, but considerably less to drive it.
So the question is, assuming the cost of one can come down to about half what it is now, would you buy one?
Poll
