The Tesla Roadster is an electric car powered by over 6,000 lithium-ion batteries. The California-manufactured coupe gets about 200 miles per charge, and will cost you just over $100,000 to take home, pricing out all but the wealthiest of treehuggers. Oh, and it will document your every move you make while driving it, a discovery made by a guy that had to hack into the computer on his own car.
Many vehicles record some brief bursts of data in their onboard computer systems, which can easily be accessed by owners with some auto store tools. But the all-electric Tesla Roadster keeps far more extensive track of itself, taking a snapshot of the vehicle’s driving and brake regeneration every second, minute and hour its driven, along with details of its charging cycles dating back to when it left the factory. –Jalopnik.
I’ll just come out and say it: electric cars, as they stand today, are a joke. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love nothing more than to never visit a gas pump again, but this recent surge of environmental awareness this prissy hipster vibe that makes me want to burn a giant pile of plastic. These “green” cars powered by coal-burning electricity aren’t cost-effective enough to be rational buys for the average consumer. Having Big Brother riding shotgun just makes it worse. At least this car doesn’t look like a Viagra pill on wheels. Nobody wants to see that.
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“These “green” cars powered by coal-burning electricity aren’t cost-effective enough to be rational buys for the average consumer. Having Big Brother riding shotgun just makes it worse.”
Preach!
Is your vagina all itchy this afternoon Punte?
@AB: must be all the coal dust
couldn’t agree more with this post
Your electric company will also love you. The meter will zip around faster than the damned car.
I guess they don’t pay you guys (do they even pay you?) to have business sense.
The obvious goal is to sell the roadster to rich hippies and collect data all while inspiring venture capitalists.
Data + sales revenue + investment capital = cost effective technology
With cost effective technology comes cost effective cars.
I know starting a car company isn’t as hard as writing for a c-grade blog but it does take a carefully calculated strategy. Oh yeah, and cash.
Ya Bill, I think you got him. You crushed him with your might intellect. Nice photo nutsack.
I don’t care what you say*, Tesla’s Love Song is bad-fucking-ass.
*no one remotely said anything of the sort
@Sports
What is “might intellect”?
Anonymous internet tough guys are fun.
Go take a another bong rip loser.
Unlike say, affordable Hummers.
Bill, your girlfriend’s forehead is gross.
Trivia: Tesla’s lead singer was driving a concrete mixer truck before he joined the band.
And per mile, electric cars pollute a hell of a lot less than gasoline-burners: even though coal-burning plants produce a lot of crud, it’s a lot less per mile than internal combustion engines (even if a hefty carbon tax ever gets added in).
Factor in increasing “green” electricity production, and there’s no contest.
Hey Bill, you look awesome in that photo. Anyway, just a little bone to pick with you about your equation…
Your equation doesn’t make any sense.
Venture capital = money used to start businesses in which the venture capitalists get a stake.
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that Tesla Motors trades on the Nasdaq under TSLA… meaning it’s a public company… meaning the venture capitalists made their money some time ago and are out of the company… meaning it’s not part of the equation… meaninng you’re an idiot.
I like how you just tossed “sales revenue” into this equation too and then called the result “cost effective technology.”
That was cute.
Bill, I hope Punte call you at work.
*calls
Sup. My name is Bill H. I have a girlfriend and a ton of business sense. Deal with that. I’m going to drop some lingo on you. Check it: stocks, revenue, cost effective, sales, and data management. I went to B School at very large in state university and graduated. I have a girlfriend but that don’t stop a playa from playin. I have a job at a call center for Computer Discount Warehouse. In 18 months I’ll be promoted to service manager, overseeing a group of five new hires. You wish you were me. I’ve got it made.
Punte, I agree that it is very expensive to own one of these, but it is a cost effective way to drive. Given the average car has 20 mi/gal, and average gas at $3.00/gal, it costs right around $.15 per mile. Using average electrical rates, it costs about $.03 per mile using an electric car. That would save you $12,000 over the span of 100,000 miles.
Obviously that doesnt justify a $100,000 price tag, but its atleast its a start.
Oh, also its 70 degrees in Chicago today, so I think I am going to keep my gas guzzlin’ SUV running all day. I love global warming
Just what we need. A car with a full-blown black box. And the same car requiring that you are a home owner to plug it in. An item completely missing in the e-car debate is what apartment dwellers (and condo owners) are supposed to do. The electric car is inherently eletist. I’d like to take that Tesla Roadster, put a 500lb bomb in the trunk and blow up the inventor’s house as he sleeps. Blow him up good, like a bunch of disco records.