Tesla Roadster: Dream car or too good to be true? 
The Tesla Roadster is a completely new type of all-electric car, powered by 6831 lithium ion batteries like those in laptops. A true sports car, it can go from zero to 60 in under 4 seconds and attain speeds of 120 miles per hour.
Tesla Motors co-founder Martin Eberhard told NBC News, "We are the only high-performance sports car that's also completely green." The Roadster travels 225 miles on a single charge and reportedly has an energy efficiency equivalent to 135 miles per gallon.
With a base price of $98,000, however, so far the only buyers are well-heeled celebrities like George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the founders of Google. Even they are having to wait until remaining bugs are ironed out, with delivery of the car now being promised for early next year.
Co-founder Eberhard himself was recently ousted from the company, after having stepped down some months ago as CEO. According to chairman Elon Musk, "Tesla has operational problems that need to be solved, and if the board thought there was any way that Martin could be part of the solution, then he would still be an employee of the company.”
Eberhard himself complained, "I have also signed a nondisparagement agreement with Tesla, so I must, by contract, be a bit careful about how I word things. But I am also not going to lie about it. I am not at all happy with the way I was treated, and I do not think this was the very best way to handle a transition–not the best for Tesla Motors, not the best for Tesla’s customers (to whom I still feel a strong sense of responsibility), and not for Tesla’s investors."
Attempts to found new car companies from scratch have generally not fared well. "It's doable," one automotive expert told NBC. "It's not easy."
The following video is from NBC's Nightly News, broadcast on December 26, 2007
| 
del.icio.us 
.gif)
