Tesla Hits The Road With Its All-Electric Roadster

Tesla cracked open the doors to its first dealership, near the University of California last week. The all-electric Roadster, which has a shocking sticker price of $109,000, is a zero-emission, Ferrari-esque sporty two-seater that runs on a 6,831-cell lithium-ion battery pack.

The battery pack on the vehicle is more than one-third of its total weight, and allows the vehicle to go as many as 225 miles on a single charge. The car's recharge cycle lasts about 3.5 hours, has a top speed of 125 mph and can hit the 60 mph mark in just four seconds.

Among the list of the 600 or so purchasers of the first model year are California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney and Kelsey Grammer. Delivery is expected to take about 15 months and the company's initial production run is already sold out. The first Roadsters will be outfitted with a temporary transmission, and will be retrofitted with a newer, more efficient model in 2009. The company has said that it anticipates being able to produce 1,500 2009 models.

To give the average driver a break, Tesla is planning a five-seat sedan that will be less expensive. The company expects to have a family vehicle in production by 2010. The company has not indicated how it expects to price the sedan.

Source: AP, via PhysOrg
Image courtesy of Tesla Motors