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That's Jason at the wheel - Photos by CK Sample III

Our old buddy Jason Calacanis is at again with Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster. He borrowed the Tesla Chairman's car for the weekend and Friday he took a bunch of his employees from Mahalo out for rides. Later he and someone named Conrad went out for a drive with Jason's Nokia N95 streaming the event live over a service called Qik. Needless to say, Jason and Conrad were mighty impressed with the ability of the electric sports car to pick up velocity. After driving it, Jason doesn't seem to have any second thoughts about ordering one.

Like Tesla founder Martin Eberhard, Calacanis is installing solar panels on his house to charge the Roadster and he seems completely committed to the idea of getting his transportation needs free of the grid and imported oil. While Jason is correct in his comments about the the vast majority of car trips being less than the the 220-mile range of the Roadster, he is a little off the mark when he describes the car as being free of compromises. The Roadster is an outstanding performer but as I said in my driving impressions back in January, it is most definitely not for everyone. Anyone with more than one passenger to haul around can forget it, as could anyone of more than modest stature. This is definitely not a car for everyone. The battery technology still has a way to go as well. Even in this little car, it takes a 1,000lb battery to get 220 miles. In a car that can take your family to dinner it would take up a lot of space and it will be interesting to see how WhiteStar is packaged. Check out the video after the jump.





[Source: Calacanis.com]