GENERAL
The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle sports car that was produced by Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) in California from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway legal serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production all-electric car to travel more than 320 kilometres (200 mi) on one charge. It is also the first production car to be launched into orbit, carried by a Falcon Heavy rocket in a test flight on February 6, 2018.
The Tesla Roadster provides 100 percent of its available torque all of the time, from 0 to 14,000 rpm, allowing it to accelerate from standstill to 62mph (100km/h) at break-neck speed. In addition it can travel up to 244 miles (400km) on one charge, maxes out at 125mph (200km/h), and doesn’t require a single drop of gas.
Still, the Roadster isn’t perfect. Like the Lotus Elise, with which it shares some components, the Roadster’s interior cabin lacks comfort, luxury, convenience and cargo room. However, most drivers won’t mind. «We can easily deal with any of the Roadster Sport’s minor faults because this car is so blessed fun to drive,» writes Autoblog. «This isn’t some concept vehicle made out of unobtanium. It’s available today (well, there’s a three month backlog in Roadster orders), and it certainly won our hearts again just as it did the first time we drove it.»
Tesla announced an optional upgrade to current Roadsters, the Roadster 3.0 in December 2014.
It will have a new battery pack from LG Chem, with capacity increased by 50% to 80 kWh.
Another improvement is a new aero kit designed to reduce drag, and new tires with lower rolling resistance.
Awards & Achievements
Time: Best Inventions 2006 ? Transportation Invention
Forbes: Best Cars 2006, New car that best lived up to the Hype
Popular Mechanics: Breakthrough Awards 2006
INDEX: Award 2007
BusinessWeek: Best Product Design of 2007, Ecodesign
CarDomain: People's Choice: Most Exciting 2007 Car Launch
Time: Best Inventions 2008 ? Transportation Invention
2009 Best Green Exotic, duPont REGISTRY
Global Green USA: 2010 Product/Industrial Design
Tesla Roadster Home Charging
0-100% charge*
NEMA 5-15
120 volt / 15 amp / 1.4 kW
38 h
Standard american
socket-outlet
NEMA 14-50
240 volt / 32 amp / 7.7 kW
7 h
American socket-outlet
for electric oven
* We recommend to keep the battery charge level between 10 - 90% in order to prevent battery degradation.
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