After Hours

Photos: Tesla's sports car drives for a penny a mile

By // July 25, 2006, 3:27 AM PST // billdetwiler

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  • The Tesla Roadster is an all-electric sports car. It costs $90,000 and doesn't come out until next year, but it cooks. The car and its technology were unveiled this week at a promotional event in Santa Monica, Calif.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Tesla Motors Chairman Elon Musk, center, and CEO Martin Eberhard, right, discuss electric cars with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It's terrific," Conan said.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Front view of the Tesla Roadster. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, investors in Tesla, have each signed up to buy one.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Two production models of the Roadster have been produced.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • The Tesla Roadster can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in four seconds. It tops out at 130mph.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • There is no room for a kid's seat in the Roadster's cockpit, but it does have one cupholder.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • The Tesla Roadster's transmission does not have a reverse gear. Rather, the motor reverses direction to propel the car backwards.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • The car is fast and makes little noise. Because it's fully electric, it jumps off the line.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Who is the girlie man? Schwarzenegger takes a test drive before jetting away in an SUV.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Here is the internal chassis of the Tesla Roadster. Tesla Motors designed the car but is farming out manufacturing jobs to other plants.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • A lot of the work on the car involved developing a good battery pack. "The challenge is the pack, not the (battery) cell," said Telsa Motors Chairman Elon Musk.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • CEO Martin Eberhard stands next to one of the two production-level Tesla Roadsters. So far, 30 people have signed up to buy the electric car.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • The Tesla Roadster comes in for photos.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Can the Tesla spit gravel? A test drive says yes.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Here are some of the electronics behind the Tesla Roaster.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • The first motor produced by Tesla (on the right) is coupled with a transmission.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Here we see autographs of the engineers who worked on the project.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • This is an assembled Tesla engine. Electric engines were neck and neck with gas engines at the turn of the 19th century, but the proliferation of gas stations, combined with the fact that gas-motor companies figured out how to make electric starters, killed the electric car, says Tesla Vice President Malcolm Smith.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • Fill 'er up. This is the electric outlet--the equivalent of a gas tank--where you power the car. The car runs on about a penny's worth of power per mile, say Tesla backers.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • If you plug these cars into a regular socket, it might take anywhere from a few hours to all day to charge. So, Tesla will install these chargers, which concentrate power, in your home. That way, a recharge will take only two to three hours.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

  • The Tesla Mule, a prototype.

    Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

The Tesla Roadster is an all-electric sports car. It costs $90,000 and doesn't come out until next year, but it cooks. The car and its technology were unveiled this week at a promotional event in Santa Monica, Calif.

Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com

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By Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...