Test Drive of the Tesla while in LA

Filed in Autos, Hard on the Pocket Book, Industry News, Reviews on Nov.09, 2008

I was in the neighborhood, and am looking to possibly burn some money, so I decided to check out the Tesla dealer on Santa Monica Blvd.  Having spent a lot of time in a Lotus Elise, I expected that I was not going to be impressed.  I was however pleasantly surprised.  The Tesla is a bigger car, I didn’t feel squeezed into it.  I’m not saying I’d want to try getting in and out in a tux, and there is no way your date would get out in evening wear.  Kyrstin however new how to make it look graceful.  She clearly had practiced a move by which she pulled her foot close to the seat, placed her hand on the door, and stood up almost balerina-esque in her movements.

The Tesla has a suspension that doesn’t shake you near as much as the Lotus, and the position of my head was such that I was in the car, rather than in the lotus where my head is above the roll bar.  The Tesla’s styling is less aggressive than the Lotus, but also less kiddie.  The lotus looks like a hot wheels car.  The Tesla looks like it was designed by someone with refinement.

For as many high points as the vehicle has it does lack some refinements I would expect in such a high end car.  The JVC audio system looks stuck in.  Like if you replaced the beautifully integrated sound system and computer from my Mini with one from Walmart, and did the install yourself.  There is also the lack luster suede seats.  They just look and feel Lancer, not Porsche or BMW.  Interestingly some features which are not on a Lotus because they add to the weight, are power windows and air conditioning are included on the Tesla.

The fast 0-60 in 4.7 seconds is faster than my Mini (5.6), but the 125 mph top speed is well short of the 146 which I have been clocked at in the Mini.  The price of fuel per mile on the Tesla work out to a 70 mpg equivalent versus the 32mpg that the Mini gets.  But I would have to put 500k miles on the car to recoup the difference in sticker price with the difference in gas prices.

I asked about track days, something that I really think justifies the extra money of a sports car.  Taking the Tesla to the track is discouraged.  While the Tesla is fast, and sporty, it just isn’t designed to run all out for long periods of time.  The motors, the power cells, and the cooling just aren’t adequate to running 30 laps at Leguna Seca.

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