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2008 Tesla - All Electric Car

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The Tesla Roadster is not your normal car. While it may appear a little complicated at first glance it really is a simple machine. And on the other hand, it is like nothing else that you probably have driven before. Even though it appears to resemble a Lotus, it is a great little car all on its own, something quite unique indeed.

I think that the first thing that one notices with the Tesla is that it is a very sleek and fast looking car, unlike most other electric vehicles. It is a little larger and wider then a Lotus Elise. This vehicle definitely looks adult, and not go kart looking at all, it also feels more like a real car then one would think that an electric car would.

The carbon fiber hoop that goes over the car is very attractive, and catches your attention right away. That part is dipped in lacquer with twenty layers, it looks almost three dimensional. The rest of the car is very detailed. The plug in port is cool, because it has the LED lights to help in charging it in the low light situations. The plug that charges the car is quite large. In the rear hatch reveals a large panel over the controller and AC/DC/Charging computer that runs the whole show, and which extends the width of the car. There is no longer any sign of an internal combustion engine anywhere to be seen.

There is many cooling fans and coolant being used and cooled under the hood as well. That is to keep the charging system and all related items cool so they do not have any issues. There is a lot of carbon fiber used in the car, it is up front as well, where the heater option for the car is located. This system is also located near the normal looking brake booster.

The interior space inside the Tesla is not very roomy. It can accommodate an average man or woman, with not much room to spare. Once you are in the Tesla you will see that all the instruments fall nicely into place. The air conditioning system does not blow very hard or much, but with the top off and cruising down the road who cares anyway.

There is a terrible blind spot behind your left shoulder, that is actually very large. But the quietness that is there when the key is turned on is very nice. No sound(s) of an engine that is burning fossil fuels. The other noises that are associated with automobiles like wind and tire noise, and gear changing are all there, just with the absence of engine and combustion being expelled. The handling is very nice as one would expect from Lotus. However the car is 900 pounds heavier then the Elise, and longer too. There is no power steering in the Tesla either, so three point turns are a little harder the one is used to with power or power assisted steering.

The main issue about the Tesla is that there are not many charging ports available around to recharge the car. You would have to have a charging port at your home and charge it overnight. You would also have to make sure that wherever you go, you have enough power to return to your home where the charging port is, or you will have to be towed back. This vehicle uses a different type of charging system then the GM one that was trying to be implemented and introduced a while ago. The many electric charging stations dispersed throughout Los Angeles don’t work on this car, since they use the older induction style charging circle (like GM’s EV1) whereas the Tesla uses a conductive metal to metal plug.

Like any car, the harder you drive it, the less range you get. While Tesla has perhaps the most sophisticated battery and charging system ever put into a road car, the very nature of this little beast is to want to go. You find yourself mashing on the go pedal every chance you get just to feel the smoothness of the ferocious acceleration, which is supposed to get better with the new Powertrain 1.5.

There is talk at Tesla of using removable battery packs in its next vehicle, those batteries could charge in as little as 15 minutes. Though 15 minutes seems long compared to a gas fill up, most people would charge their vehicles at home, using a filling station only on longer trips.

Driving the Tesla All Electric vehicle will put a huge grin on your face, and to know that you are making the world a better place at the same time you are driving is something that can't be beat.

About $100,000
 

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Welcome to the Eco Vehicles section of Fast Cool Cars. Here I will add many different vehicles that are likely candidates for people transportation in the future. The future starts now, not in a week or a month, or in the next few years, but in the next moment, that is the future. It is our responsibility to cut down on the emissions that the vehicles that we drive are putting into our air that we breathe. Along with lowering the emissions we also need to increase the amount of miles per gallon that the vehicles that we continue to drive are getting while we make the transition from fossil fuels to other fuel and energy sources. It is time for us to start thinking out of the box, and start thinking about other ways to move the vehicles that we are building.

We also need to start thinking about other materials that can and should be used in the building process of any and all future vehicles. By this I mean there are many materials that we can be using to help with weight issues in new vehicles. Carbon Fiber is not a new product, but is not used as much as it can be in the automobile production industry. Carbon Fiber is very strong, and better yet it is lightweight, therefore less weight requires less power to move it. This along with lots of other metal composites and engineering changes can greatly help to reduce the overall weight each vehicle weighs, and in turn it will raise the amount of miles or hours a vehicle can travel.

I will be adding new vehicles to this section regularly and staying on top of the newest, most modern and technologically advanced vehicles. Check back here occasionally and see what the world has to offer to the public. There are many automobile manufacturers that are very concerned about this topic. Maybe not particularly for the same reasons that you and I are. But never the less they fortunately are doing  what is needed to be done, mostly by the government raising the bar to make them produce better, more reliable, and most importantly, more efficient vehicles.

Most of us probably think of Honda when we think hybrid vehicles, some may think of Toyota, but be assured that most every vehicle manufacturer is or has at one time given thought to other alternative fuels and more efficient vehicles. What this means is that not long from now most all automotive builders will be building vehicles that are eco friendly. This could also mean that we will more than likely be fading out the fossil fuel vehicles and introducing new alternative types of energy. Who knows, we may be able to find new solutions to switch over our current vehicles to a newer type fuel that doesn't produce any pollution, or at least a lower amount.

We, as a world, need to look at our situation as a collective. We need to have a better understanding of  what we have done to our earth in the past, and make corrections to reverse the impact that we have made on the Earth. While we are doing what we can and making the transition from what we drive now to the new and more efficient vehicles, we can try and make what we have now more efficient. By this I mean doing things that will lessen the impact that we make upon the earth, leaving a smaller carbon footprint. What I am talking about are things like combining all of your trips planned for one day into one trip, therefore being more efficient in getting your errands and things you needed done completed. I have a list of other things that can and will help to save fossil fuels and lower your gasoline bill while treating the world better. Click Here to see other Fuel Saving Tips.

I realize that some will think that they alone can't and won't make a difference on the impact that the earth is taking. But be assured that everyone that does do what is good, and has the intention of making the Earth a better place to live will get just that. We all inhabit this planet together, it does not matter if you are in China, or the United States, neither does it matter if you are in the country many miles from town, or live in the middle of Boston, MA. We all have a duty to keep our world a beautiful place. One of the easiest and best ways to do that is to educate ourselves on the possibilities of what is available to us as consumers. Another choice we have is to not use things that are not good for the environment. There are usually always other choices, and if there is not, then we need to find new choices.
 

Article by: Ron Landry - FastCoolCars.com - You may reproduce any part or all of this article, with a link back to this page on fastcoolcars.com

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