This was a hot drag race. The chaps at Top Gear did a drag race between a Tesla Roadster and a Lotus Elise. The Tesla Roadster was originally based off of the Lotus Elise design. In fact, every Tesla Roadster comes from the Lotus factory (England) without the gas engine, then has the batteries and electric motor installed in California. Top Gear reviews the Tesla Roadster Peak Oil Garage
But have you seen the circuit race? The Tesla with its extra weight and LRR tyres is at a disadvantage around corners. It looked rather unstable actually. Although on watching the video it did well in the hands of a tamed racing driver.
But the Tesla Roadster always takes them side by side in the straight area. The extra weight from the battery is clearly an issue in the turns compared to a lighter sportscar. But most people just want the thrill of the 0-60 speed. In fact, Tesla has the fastest acceleration time ever recorded from 30 to 70 mph. That is the sweet spot.
Please don't get me wrong, the Tesla is a sexy car, and overall it was an outstanding effort to be equal to a Porsche around their track as a first effort, awesome!! I guess to be constructive I could say I think some work by Tesla to lower the centre of gravity will reap major rewards. I was also a bit miffed that they hammered the car for 50 miles then expressed surprise that the battery ran out of juice. They did this without reminding the viewer that any other car would have run out of fuel before a 1/4 or it's normal tank range if driven the same but made a big deal of the charging time. It isn't a long range tourer, we all know that, but a stylish commuter and fun car, too right it is!!
its easy to see that the Tesla would be parked most of the time if driven that way around here... drive it like a maniac, get busted spend night in jail...by the time i get released on OR in morning, Tesla would be fully charged, so i go out, drive like a maniac, get busted...
Some of the cars beaten by the Tesla around the top gear track: Porshe 911 GT3 RS BMW M3 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X FQ-300 Subaru Impreza WRX STi Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mercedes Benz CL65 AMG Lamborghini Murcielago
The last line he uses, "In the real world it doesn't seem to work." When did Top Gear ever do a real world test? Anyone here drive like that in the real world?
Toward the end he says it's "the first electric car you might actually want to buy." Not true! I'd have wanted to buy an EV-1. But GM would not sell me one because I didn't live in CA. And I wanted to buy a Xebra sufficiently that I did actually buy one and it's now my primary car. However, I recognize that guy as the same one who did a piece on the P50. So I'm willing to cut him some slack because that was a great piece. (At the very end he answers "Yes" when asked if the P50 is the best car they've ever had on Top Gear.)
The P50 video is amazing. Watching Jeremy Clarkson drive the car inside of the building is hilarious.
The link to that P50 video was posted here on PC a long time ago. Don't remember who posted it. But I figured it was worth posting again. Note the great cloud of smoke the car leaves behind. I'm guessing they had some trouble convincing the BBC to let them drive it inside the building, and there were probably a lot of windows opened pretty quick. I love the way he drives it into the elevator, and then has to ask for a push to back it out 'because there's no reverse gear.
They then go on and point out that the Honda Fuel Cell car is the one that will make all electrics obsolete. For some reason, they didn't race the Honda with the Tesla for that "real world" info that we all need.
