Elon Musk is chairman of Tesla Motors, but his interests do not lie solely on the highway. Musk co-founded SpaceX, which develops launch vehicles, and once planned on setting up greenhouses on Mars. AutoblogGreen is most interested in his clean car technology pursuits, though, and after the unveiling of the Tesla Roadster last week, Musk agreed to sit down (in a remote, email sort of way) with us. In this detailed back and forth, Musk talks about Tesla Motors, the future of electric vehicles and why the Prius is a gas-guzzler.

ABG: How would you describe the initial public reaction to the Roadster?
Musk: Seems to be extremely positive. Most people like the car when they see it, but are still skeptical. That skepticism turns to enthusiasm after they take a ride. The proof is in their willingness to put down hard cash. We have 100 collector's edition cars for sale that require a $100,000 up front deposit for purchase and only a few units are left. The buyers are a who's who of Silicon Valley, Hollywood and Forbes 400 members. Next year's Academy Awards will see a lot of Tesla Roadster's being driven. Compared to the Roadster, the Prius is a gas-guzzling hog!

ABG: When did you first ride in the Roadster? What was your drive like?
Musk: Well, I first rode in an early prototype car called the T-Zero from AC Propulsion over three years ago. Although it was very primitive from an automotive standpoint, the T-Zero convinced me that the technological pieces were in place to make an electric car without compromises. Since then, I've driven various stages of the Roadster development, each one better than the last. I consider the Roadster to be the most exhilarating car I've ever driven and I own a McLaren F1! The torque latency of an electric motor is so much better than an internal combustion that it is hard to appreciate without taking a test drive.

ABG: Does the Roadster live up to your expectations? If not, what will be improved in future versions?
Musk: Actually, the Roadster has exceeded my expectations. The big challenge is making all the little pieces work well, as we want this to have zero bugs when it gets delivered to customers. For example, the car has no external door handles or keyholes and instead uses an electronic touchpad on the inside of an aero feature on the door. It looks really cool, but making sure the latch always opens without sticking is surprisingly tough. At some point, we will probably do a GT version of the Roadster. Making a car with 2.9 second 0-60 mph would be awesome :)