It’s official, I’ve caught the bug. The more our firm gets immersed in the sustainability space the more I learn about the interesting technologies that are bubbling to the surface in this area. The technology that has caught my eye and left me reeling lately is the emergence of EVs or electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles have been gaining momentum lately because unlike traditional fossil-fuel powered vehicles, they emit almost no air pollutants. That only begins to tap the surface of why these vehicles are superior to those powered by an internal combustion engine. They are also more efficient, have less vibration and have the ability to generate additional power through regenerative braking. A few companies like Fisker Automotive are even experimenting with solar roof panels to regenerate energy.

One of my favorite manufacturers that it taking a lot of the spotlight (even though GMs PR machine is also commanding much of the attention) is a company out of California called Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors is an amazing little company with a product that I believe will truly put EVs within reach to the average American consumer. It hasn’t happened yet, but I think we’re on the cusp.

The Tesla Roadster is a spectacular little sports car. While the aesthetics of the car might lead you to think it was designed with the Lotus Elise in mind, Darryl Siry the company’s VP of Marketing and Sales, will assure you that it actually shares only a very select few innovations with the Lotus. Even still, the looks of the car (like the Lotus Elise) are stunning.

And then there’s performance. In a world where thoughts of electric vehicles conjure up images of the pedestrian Toyota Prius, the Tesla Roadster’s performance numbers are shocking. This vehicle is capable of going from 0-60mph in under 4 seconds. If you’re counting, that’s about the same as a Porsche 911 Turbo, which as you’ll recall is one of my favorite cars EVER. And it does that while earning the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon. Ridiculous!

Here’s a pretty cool promotional video I found:

The Tesla Roadster is on sale now, and can be had for around $100,000. It might sound like a lot, but when you consider that you’re buying a vehicle with incredible technological advancements, insane performance and a tiny little carbon footprint, it just might be worth it. Stay tuned for a new sedan coming out soon from Tesla as well.

In the mean time, check out their “Think, Feel, Touch, Hear” blogs at www.teslamotors.com/blogs.php

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 5:22 am and is filed under Blog Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.