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Warning! The following report will likely sound to many readers as though it comes from a fanboy. Perhaps I am, although I have tried to report on the problems and realities that Tesla faces as well as all the company's bold claims. Whatever the case, this car is one amazing ride, and one can't come away from it without a big s**t-eating grin. Onward...

One of the bright spots of the old GM EV1 was that it had good acceleration thanks to the immediately available torque characteristics of an electric motor and its light weight construction. Unfortunately, when it came to stopping and changing directions, the EV1 was more like a classic American muscle car thanks to its high pressure, low rolling resistance tires.

The Tesla Roadster that we have all heard so much about does not suffer this malady. On the contrary, if the old Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and Colin Chapman were around today they might create something very much like this car. As circumstances would have it, I was in Santa Monica, California for another event (that you can read about elsewhere on this site) at the same time as the Tesla Roadster validation prototype #10 (VP10). It was also the case that the car's schedule and mine happened to have equal open time slots in our schedules. With the entrance ramp to the Pacific Coast Highway only a couple of hundred feet away, how could we not take advantage of the opportunity? (continue after the jump)


All photos ©2007 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.