A trio of new Teslas dropped by my workplace today... those are verrry nice looking cars! Unfortunately I was in the middle of a busy day and didn't even think to ask if they were offering test drives... . But I did chat with the reps a bit. Apparently the cars are actually in production now, although it sounds like the only "customer" that has taken delivery so far is the company's owner. They're getting about 250 miles per charge on the new EPA drive cycle. Even better, apparently the Tesla doesn't suffer from a huge drop in fuel efficiency with more spirited ( ) driving as some of the older EVs did. Takes about 4 hours to fully charge. Top speed is supposedly 125 mph.

Of course I'd already heard the bad news... these cars are going for almost 100K each. Ouch! But I've pretty much decided that a two-seater wouldn't cut it for this single-car, two cat-carrier family anyhow. And while I'd love to have an EV as a second car, I don't think I'd buy one as an only car, even if a 200-mile range is sufficient for most of the driving I do.

Back in the day I had opportunities to drive both the GM EV1 and the Honda EV-Plus. As much as I love my MINI, there's nothing quite like the instant, smooth acceleration and quiet operation you can get with an electric car. Personally I think that more people would be sold on EVs if they could get a chance to drive one. So for me, it was wonderful to see those brand-new EVs out there!

BTW I might be willing to trade in my MINI when someone starts selling plug-in hybrids. Are you listening, MINI?

 

wow, that's cool. very expensive though!

i still see those hybrid In-Sights (was it called?) off and on in my area.
those were(are) kinda cool too.

 

I think Jay Leno has taken delivery of one.

Edit: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...tml?vid=229378

 

7guy, thanks for the link... great video clip, and I enjoyed reading comments posted on the forum.