Toyota president Akio Toyoda recently let it slip that Toyota is currently creating an electric car that uses a Tesla battery pack. The interesting tidbit came out while he was answering inquiries regarding the Tesla and Toyota relationship.
While Toyota currently has a joint venture with Panasonic who is building their larger car batteries, Toyoda indicated that they are definitely interested in seeing what they can do with the Tesla 18650-format cells that are generally the type of battery found in laptops. By way of example, the Tesla Roadster battery pack uses 6,831 of these cells to power the electric sports car.
The likelihood of seeing Toyota cars using Tesla battery packs will all depend on how well they perform in these prototype tests which will look at the their ability to function past large scale accumulated mileage and extreme weather conditions.
As you may have noticed, the Tesla Roadster made an appearance in the first Iron Man movie. The association has continued, deepened slightly even. In Iron Man 2 Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk makes a cameo appearance as himself.
This isn’t the first time Musk has been involved in a Hollywood film as he was a producer on Thank You for Smoking in 2005 and as well as new film coming out this year called Dumbstruck.
But what is most interesting of all is the impact Musk had on the Iron Man script, simply by being who he is. When Iron Man Director Jon Favreau confided in lead actor Robert Downey Jr. that he had no idea how to make the main character, genius billionaire Tony Stark, real. Downey told him, “We need to sit down with Elon Musk.”
The electric car that put Tesla on the map and gave the electric car movement a shot in the arm when it needed it, is getting the plug pulled on it barely after it was plugged-in, so to speak.
As Tesla Motors goes public for the first time, a disturbing bit of info has come out in its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The Tesla Roadster will cease to be produced in 2011 for the simple reason that Tesla won’t have anywhere to build the high-end electric sports car.
“We do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster,” the company write in its IPO.
Since the Tesla Roadster is built by Lotus, they are probably talking about the factory in Hethel, England getting changes that will prevent production there.
The Tesla Roadster is slated to see production again, but it won’t be until 2013 at the earliest. And since we all know how these things go, that’s probably a very generous estimate.
The Tesla Model S will be launched in 2012, but that still leaves two years without any cars going out and it’s based on the assumption that everything goes as planned and production deadlines are met perfectly.
Let’s put it this way, if I were in the market for a $100,000 electric car with a 244 mile range and can go from 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds , I’d probably pick one up sooner than later.
It was over half a year ago that Tesla announced an amped up version of the Tesla Roadster would be made available in the Tesla Roadster Sport.
Since then we hadn’t heard much of the Sport and we had seen even less. In fact, the new images that have just been released, mark the first official pictures of the high-powered electric vehicle to be made available to the drooling public.
The Tesla Roadster Sport (pictured above finally), boasts a hand-wound stator that helps eliminate resistance while increasing peak torque, as well as a set of ultra high performance Yokohama tires. The Sport also boasts a few other little Lotus-inspired components which can be tailored to the purchasers choice.
The Tesla Roadster Sport costs a little more than its standard counterpart with a base price of $128,500.
If you’ve been dreaming of a Tesla Roadster sitting in your driveway, or better yet, ripping through the countryside like a silent, emission free torpedo, but don’t quite have enough to pay cash for the over $100,000 electric sports car, you might be making a trip to the Bank of America.
Bank of America has worked out an agreement with Tesla Motors to offer financing for the Roadster.
While the terms of the Roadster financing hasn’t been stated, we can assume it still won’t be cheap since for the same price you could probably buy four homes in Detroit and a couple condos in Las Vegas.
Thinking of buying a green home in France? Well now might be a good time to do it since Welcome in France is offering a free Tesla Roadster for each of its new ecological luxury-home developments.
The eco-friendly housing is located on the outskirts of Paris, makes use of solar panels, geothermal energy, private water treatment facilities and presumably a place to park a brand new Tesla Roadster.
The developments have not been completed yet and the weak economy has reduced the number of perspective buyers. Presumably, Welcome in France is looking for all the hype behind the Tesla Roadster to help garner their developments more attention and potential buyers.
While there hasn’t been any word on the price of the developments yet, they are presumably fairly pricey considering that a Roadster is going to go for $109,000 USD.
It’s not easy trying to take over the world, but what’s even tougher is being told the Tesla Roadster you ordered is going to cost a lot more. In yet another re-captioning of the German film Downfall, we are introduced to a Hitler passionate about electric vehicles and the environment and heartbroken that many of the parts that were supposed to be part of the original Tesla Roadster price will now cost extra.
I think he takes it about as well as everyone else who had a downpayment down on a Roadster.
California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger is covertly trying to get rid of his Tesla Roadster. There’s nothing wrong with the car – but the sheer mass of Arnie is giving him grief. Yes, you read correctly. Arnold is having trouble getting in and out of his sporty, all-electric vehicle and is hoping to quietly return it without giving the Tesla bad press. Because of the company’s financial troubles, Tesla executives have asked Schwarzenegger to hold off on returning the vehicle, fearing bad publicity.
Gawker reports, “So why doesn’t Schwarzenegger like the Roadster? Built on a Lotus Elise body, the car is not easy to get in and out of, especially for someone with the former bodybuilder’s robust frame. ‘He’s more of a Hummer guy,’ one tipster tells us.”
A big advocate for Tesla and even appearing with Tesla CEO at various events, Arnie probably should have taken the cute, sporty electric car on a test spin before getting one.
Tesla Motors has just announced that the Tesla Roadster will be sold in Canada. While Canucks won’t be able to get their mittens on this high-end electric car until the fourth quarter of 2009, they can be purchased now.
While people in cold northern climates might have some concerns about a vehicle powered entirely by batteries, there are some videos of the Tesla Roadster on ice that make it look fairly promising.
The price point for the Roadster in Canada hasn’t been set yet but the U.S. cost is set at $109,000.
The Tesla announcement for the Roadster’s sale in Canada included some points about the increased environmental value of owning and operating an all electric car in a country that relies on cleaner electricity.
“An EV recharged from the current Canadian grid, on average, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 85 percent compared to an equivalent gasoline-powered vehicle. In hydro-dominant British Columbia, Quebec and Manitoba, the reduction would be an impressive 98 percent.”
Tesla Motors, manufacturer of the soon to be released Tesla Roadster, have just announced a showing of their more affordable electric vehicle, the Model S sedan.
A street-ready prototype of the all-electric Model S will have its show on March 26.
The Model S will see a price point similar to the Chevy Volt at around $60,000. A far cry from their much-hyped electric sports car the Roadster. The Model S is a four-door, all-electric luxury sedan, which should see production in two years.
While money troubles have dogged Tesla Motors, they are reporting that this won’t be an issue for the Model S production. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has stated that Tesla expects to receive $350 million in Department of Energy loans that will go to building a Model S factory within four to five months.
Regarding the Tesla Roadster, Musk says that it is sold out for 2009.
