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Let’s face it; the new Tesla Roadster is sexy. It’s damn sexy. It does 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds, and can go about 220 miles on a single charge. That’s almost a trip from the dealer in LA to the Bellagio in Vegas.
The Tesla has zero emissions, zero motor oil and only one moving part in the watermelon sized motor. That means no lubricating oils, filters, coolant, clutches, spark plugs and wires, a PCV valve, oxygen sensors, a timing belt, a fan belt, a water pump and hoses, a catalytic converter, a muffler, etc - all items requiring regular service. And that little motor is so efficient! It’s 85-95 % efficient at converting electric energy to rotational energy instead of heat. This way the precious stored energy of the battery ends up propelling you down the road instead of just heating up the trunk.
Speaking of stored energy, can you say regenerative braking? It recovers and stores the energy usually lost when you slow down, extending your battery charge even further, and delivering higher miles-per-charge on in-town driving. Whenever you slow down, you send a charge back into the battery making traffic lights a little less annoying. But just a little.
The battery can be charged from completely dead to full in about 3.5 hours. Most people won’t drain the battery though because it’s just so easy to plug it in every night like your cell phone to let it charge. And if you happen to be away from home; you just take your mobile charging kit out and you can plug into any standard outlet. Even with the demands of charging and discharging the battery pack on a daily basis, the batteries in the Tesla will give you more than 100,000 miles of peak performance driving. After that point, the battery will see only gradual drops in performance over time.
More fun perks:
* Single-occupancy access to all carpool lanes
* Income tax credit (awaiting new legislation)
* A luxury car that’s fully exempt from the luxury car tax
* Free parking at charging stations at LAX
* No parking meter fees in an increasing number of major metropolitan area
Now I could spout off numbers and specs at you all day to tell you how awesome this car is, or you can test drive one in LA. I’ll meet you there.
I sooooooooooo want to test drive it. That zero to sixty time is just drool worthy.