In this video, CNET's Brian Cooley heads to Menlo Park, California, to check out Tesla Motors' new store and get a closer look at the 2009 Roadster. The car is fully electric, its 400V motor powered by 6,800 lithium-ion batteries. The results are impressive: 276fp of torque and 240hp available from rpm 1.
The cars are made in partnership with Lotus right here in England and then transported to the US where the power train is added. The back section of the car houses the liquid-cooled batteries, which power the car for a distance of roughly 245 miles on a full charge. The Roadster has a charging time of about three and a half hours when plugged into a specially installed high-current charger -- on a lower-current charger running on 24 amps, the process will take overnight.
The front part of the car houses an aluminium-finned radiator with two cooling fans, as well as the world's biggest travel adaptor. If you opt for it, you can get JVC's Chameleon unit installed inside the car, which hooks you up with nav, satellite radio and connection to pretty much any audio source.
The car feels smooth and fast -- although the speed registers differently because it's all torque. This sexy, eco-friendly ride will set you back around £80,000. Currently there is close to a 12-month wait for these cars, although Tesla hopes to speed up production in the next year.
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