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Tesla Electric Roadster “Signature One Hundred” Series Sells Out
16 August 2006
The limited-edition “Signature One Hundred” series Tesla Roadster (earlier post), the first high-performance electric car manufactured by Tesla Motors, has sold out in three weeks.
The electric-powered Tesla Roadster can accelerate from 0-60 mph in about four seconds. It offers the equivalent of 135 mpg and a range of 250 miles on a single charge, a combination heretofore unseen in a mass-produced electric vehicle.
(Performance numbers are still preliminary. Tesla converts from electric consumption to gallons of gasoline equivalent is calculated using the EPA conversion factor documented in the Federal Register: June 12, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 113), Rules and Regulations, Pages 36,985-36,992.)
Our goal in designing the Tesla Roadster was to build a car with zero emissions that people would love to drive. Each of our Signature One Hundred customers could drive any flashy, fast, gas-powered car they wanted. Instead they did the right thing, investing in an attractive car that uses no oil and is responsible for far fewer greenhouse gasses than the alternatives.
—Martin Eberhard, Tesla Motors co-founder and CEO
Each customer made a $100,000 deposit to join the Signature One Hundred Club and reserve their Signature One Hundred special edition Tesla Roadster. The Signature One Hundred edition includes a commemorative plaque in the cockpit personalized for the customer and signed by the company’s principals, a special Signature One Hundred trim package and all available options, including a state-of-the-art navigation system and a hard top. Deliveries of the Tesla Roadster are expected to begin mid-2007.
Some of the initial buyers include actor George Clooney, actor Dennis Haysbert, Jim Marver of VantagePoint Venture Partners, Jeff Skoll, formerly of eBay, as well as Martin Eberhard and Elon Musk, chairman of Tesla Motors. Musk led or co-led all three rounds of investment resulting in $60 million in funding.
August 16, 2006 in Electric (Battery) | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBack (0)
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...and now we wait to see if they deliver.
Posted by: Ron Fischer | Aug 16, 2006 12:56:13 PM
With $60 million, I don't think delivery will be a problem. I say good job and good luck to them! They're doing something many others thought impossible and if the claims are at least 85% on target, they have a real winner of a product there which can lead to lower cost, lower performance versions in the future.
Posted by: Sid Hoffman | Aug 16, 2006 1:15:12 PM
I'm impressed and ecstatic that such big names as George Clooney have stepped up to the plate. He has already made waves with the Tango, and he doesn't actively plug that car. Let's see if Tesla delivers so that pricing can come down for the rest of us for the future releases of product. Good Job Tesla.
Posted by: Richard | Aug 16, 2006 1:46:00 PM
Just goes to show that innovators can still be rewarded today in this market. Shame on GM for canceling their EV-1. I think it was about time for new blood in the automotive industry. If Detroit won't buil'em silicon valley will.
Posted by: Jim | Aug 16, 2006 3:25:09 PM
Perhaps in this century, SV (Silicon Valley) will take the place of GM in providing transportation to Americans. One never knows. Companies are born, make profits and then sometimes fade away while others take their place. It is my belief that the leader of any company holds the most important task of guiding their company to success. If the vision of the leader is faulted or the product offered is not suitable, then one must expect the demise of the business sooner or later.
adrianakau@aol.com
Posted by: Adrian Akau | Aug 16, 2006 4:51:54 PM
Perhaps in this century, SV (Silicon Valley) will take the place of GM in providing transportation to Americans. One never knows. Companies are born, make profits and then sometimes fade away while others take their place. It is my belief that the leader of any company hold the most important task of guiding their company to success. If the vision of the leader is faulted or the product offered is not suitable, then one must expect the demise of the business sooner or later.
adrianakau@aol.com
Posted by: Adrian Akau | Aug 16, 2006 4:54:21 PM
I recall that the Tzero from www.acpropulsion.com accelerated pretty well and has been available for years. It shows what good marketing can do for an idea that has already been done.
Posted by: sjc | Aug 16, 2006 7:53:48 PM
except that the tzero looks like crap....
Posted by: Tim H | Aug 16, 2006 8:38:19 PM
The TZero was based on some sort of obscure, older kit-car, so in a sense it was little more than a conversion. Only three TZeros were made, two of which had lead-acid batteries and were sold to customers (and yes, I heard rumor that Jay Leno was one of them), and the third was outfitted with Li-ion batteries for use as a testbed and technology demonstrator.
The TZero was never meant for mass production, but it spawned a family of spin-off designs -- of which the Tesla Roadster is one. Tesla licensed the motor technology from AC Propulsion. I'm pretty sure AC Propulsion also provided motors for the Wrightspeed X1 and the Venturi Fetish.
A lot of people don't realize what a huge stretch it is from cobbling together some kind of hand-built electric go-cart (like the TZero, or Tango, or Wrightspeed, or Evette) to actually getting in the car business alongside Ford and GM. Clever designs for electric cars are like weeds, always popping up, but Tesla is almost unique for producing a "real car" that has a roof, power windows, heat and A/C, leather seats, a stereo, airbags, is crash-tested, has a bumper and headlights meeting US standards, and will have dealerships and service centers, etc. It's a huge undertaking and requires huge resources to attempt.
Posted by: Zobeid | Aug 16, 2006 9:06:09 PM
while tesla is doing very significant work, comparing them to GM is silly. at this point, they are much closer to a kit car company than they are to a real car manufacturer.
their motor and controller are from acpropulsion (which built the tzero as an example of what is possible to encourage companies to buy their motors and controllers) and their chassis is from lotus. kit car companies, like noble and factory five racing, take the motor and running gear from one company and build or design their own chassis to mount it in. tesla didn't even do this, they took the motor and controller from one company and the chassis from another company, leaving them as a systems integrator.
i'm not saying this is a good or a bad thing. it may well be the model of the future and result in more efficient, dynamic companies. i'm just saying that they aren't a manufacturer, so comparisons to GM don't make any sense. comparisons to kit car companies would be much more accurate.
as for the EV-1 that is often ranted about here, several of them SPONTANEOUSLY CAUGHT ON FIRE because of design problems. so, some of them were recalled. when the leases were up, GM's lawyers said that there was no way to let people keep them. they had no choice but to cancel them.
Posted by: shaun mann | Aug 16, 2006 10:51:39 PM
EV-1 catching fire? SHow me the documentation. I saw "who killed the electric car" and I never saw anything like that. GM recalled them because they did not like being told what to do by the California Air Resources Booard, they did not wear out sufficiently fast thus needing few parts or maintenance, and they made more money selling Hummers. Tesla just got on the market. You can't expect them to be huge like GM overnight. Looks like GM ain't doing to good either.
Posted by: Jim | Aug 17, 2006 12:47:02 AM
Here is the only comment I could find about EV-1's catching fire:
A few weeks after obtaining the EV1, a problem was found in the Gen1 EV1s where the charging port could overheat because a component was selected that wasn't big enough to handle the current. As such, supposedly, they could catch fire. GM, then, immediately ordered a full recall of all Gen1 EV1s - not just to repair the missing component but to take them all away from the leasees (have you ever heard of a car company doing this with any other car?).
So after a month of enjoying driving the EV1, we had to watch a tow truck come, pick up our car, and take it away. As consolation for losing the car (I guess GM hadn't decided they hated their EV1 customers yet), GM offered us 2 choices: wait for a fix for our Gen1 EV1 or get on the list for the Gen2 EV1's
(http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/29/115329.php)
I would hardly say then, that this was a big design problem as you have insinuated. But rather a minor flaw that could have readily been fixed. And of course ICE's have never caught fire. Wasn't it the Pinto that had such a bad reputation (I remember my brother in law joking about painting flames going backwards from the rear) I guess what I am saying is do better research before you post.
Regards
Jim
and PS if you don't think Silicon Valley is capable of introducing revolutionary products and exploiting them you better check out the whole reason Silicon valley came into existence. I often think that there are actually only very few visionaries in this world. Without whom we would never have gone to the moon, or maybe we would think the world was still flat.
Posted by: JIm | Aug 17, 2006 1:03:43 AM
http://www.kaffeinebuzz.com/filmbuzz-whokilledtheelectriccar.php
Posted by: Jim | Aug 17, 2006 1:08:09 AM
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=38040
"GM said 16 EV1s have been serviced for heat damage to the port over the past few months but no injuries or property damage has been linked to the vehicles"
"The defective part of the EV1 is a 10-pound piece that would have to be redesigned, GM said."
So all 1999 EV 1's were okay and the piece was redesigned safely for the EV-2
Posted by: JIm | Aug 17, 2006 1:17:19 AM
Heck, if GM equipt the EV1 with lithium ion batteries, they would had 250-400 mile range.
Posted by: allen Z | Aug 17, 2006 5:53:56 AM
Tesla is not GM? Well, no, but then neither is GM GM, if the standard is making all of the parts that go into the product. GM buys large numbers of parts and assemblies from other companies. Today everyone is a systems integrator; the differences are only a matter of degree.
Meanwhile I'm saving to buy the next generation Tesla.
Posted by: richard schumacher | Aug 17, 2006 5:57:45 AM
The great thing about reality is that it's real. If Tesla is going to overtake GM, then they're going to do it. If reality is that it will take 30-40 years for EV's to really achieve market penetration, then reality is that it will be 30-40 years before we see the major proliferation of EV's. I think it's ignorant to say that one failed project (The GM EV-1) means they're incapable of ever making an EV again and that some kitcar startup is going to overtake them.
Posted by: Sid Hoffman | Aug 17, 2006 8:52:43 AM
What is really encouraging is the statement from the CEO,implying that a more affordable car will eventually be produced, with similar range. this sport car may the solution to market reluctence about EV.
Posted by: K Can | Aug 17, 2006 8:57:40 AM
A full 100 cars? Wow, and you only have to put down $100k? Look out, Detroit, there's a new kid on the block. Sorry... my sarcastic impulse got the best of me. George Clooney? He acts in some pretty good movies, but isn't he a bit unbalanced? That's what I hear...
Posted by: Roy | Aug 17, 2006 3:35:46 PM
This is why fuel cell reserach is going so strong. This car has a 120 mile range from home. Now if it even had a relativly small fuell cell and a light tank then when you wanted to go farther or needed to you could top it off.
Getting a fuel cell to handle the other side of transportation is what will carry te electric car from the niche market to the mass market.
Posted by: wintermane | Aug 17, 2006 3:42:35 PM
I realize Tzero is not Tesla...I just wanted to get a bit of lively conversation going.
Posted by: sjc | Aug 17, 2006 10:26:31 PM
Let's see GM is not currently building an electric car right? So that leaves silicon valley to be building them right? Isn't Toyota earning well into the green by embracing innovation? Isn't GM losing money as their SUV's and pickups sit idle in the sales lots? Didn't GM have to lay off 35,000 workers while Toyota is opening a camry plant here? Doesn't a significant amount of manufacturing for GM now take place in Mexico?
Goodbye Detroit. Those upper management in GM have let their workers and engineers down by stifling innovation and putting all their eggs into one basket. One thing for certain as China and India demand more of the economic payoff for their growth and more and more demand vehicles which run off gas the less and less it will be available to us at a cheap price.
Posted by: Jim | Aug 17, 2006 11:01:59 PM
Is Detroit struggling? Yes. Have they struggled before? Yes. Are the Japanese and Koreans coming on strong? Yes. Kinda sounds like an interview with Donald Rumsfeld, you know?
But, I wouldn't however write off GM or Ford just yet. YTD through July 2006 car and light truck sales:
GM: 2.84 million
Ford: 1.97 million
DCX: 1.55 million
Toyota: 1.33 million
Honda: 0.84 million
Posted by: Roy | Aug 18, 2006 3:31:48 PM
... from last post...
Sales in the US.
Posted by: Roy | Aug 18, 2006 3:33:39 PM
It will be nice to see internal cumbustion go away
Revelations 9:13-20
Rev. 9:1-12;21 = People of pro-choise and the torrment of the unsealed or unborn if you please.
Singed,
A Mad Man
Posted by: Dennis | Aug 19, 2006 5:44:10 PM
Procedure of loading batteries of an electrical vehicle by Aeolic system
The recharges of batteries, which supplies energy to the electric motor of a vehicle, will be carried out through an Aeolic System composed by the following elements:
-rotor
-generator,
-controller with load
-rectifier
The vehicle, being left over, will always have some air amount whose speed will be directly propertional to the same speed of the vehicle.
The air will enter in the autobody by the embrasures placed in the frontal part of the vehicle, and it will canalized towards the rotores.
The rotores could be one or more and they will be placed inside the auto body in a way not to hinder the advance of the vehicle creating friction.
The Permanent Magnet Generator (PMG) concurs of extracting the maximum
power by the rotor.
The controller with loads serves to prevent the damaging of the batteries.
The generated current will be “alternating current trifase” (AC) and will be converted from the rectifier in “direct current” (DC).
The generator, the controllers electronics, the rectifier and the batteries will be placed into the vehicle.
The direct current, finally, will be canalized, by a power cable , towards the batteries and it will recharge to them.
It will be also possible to load the batteries when the vehicle is stopped.
This is possible because the wind, investing the car from several points, will be put towards a rotor that will create described energy.
Purposes of the plan and advantages:
* to produce energy to cost 0 and 0 emissions, bringing a remarkable
economic, ecological and social advantage.
* the energy produced in march feeds the same march of the vehicle and there is no need to stop for the refueling.
* development of an innovative system based on rotators and generators placed into the autobody.
We are looking for patnership
cav. Salvatore Forzisi
via bezzecca 2
40139 Bologna
tel.(+39) 051 6233600
mobile(+39) 3465048310
http://energy1953.blogspot.com/
Posted by: salvatore forzisi | Apr 10, 2008 10:08:34 AM
