Mything the Point

I am here to let you know the rules have changed. It is time to say "Good bye, EV1. So long, GEM. Sayonara, honorable Prius." Make room for the new king of the road, the "next big thing", the "must have" vehicle of the future!  I have seen the future and Tesla himself would weep with joy to have been honored with this sleek, sexy, powerfully hot bitchin' machine loaded with torque!  Lemme take you for a test drive and blow your socks off....

It's all American but it ain't from Detroit, baby.  Tesla Motors is going into production with a roadster that goes from zero to 60 in four seconds! To put that in perspective, the new Porsche 911 goes from 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds.  The Tesla Roadster has a top speed of 135 mph and can go for more than 200 miles between charges.  

And did I mention it looks Sweeeet?  Look at this puppy and tell me you don't love it:

What? you don't want it in black you say? No problem:

Between you and me, my favorite color of the twelve they offer is Hunter Green. But no matter what color you choose, if you can't get laid driving this whip, you're not trying.

Now for the good news.  This car is slated to hit the show rooms in 2007 and there is already a waiting list for the bad boys, so don't expect them to offer any incentives to lower the $100,000.00 sticker price.  But don't despair.  This isn't just a plaything for the rich and famous.  Some serious coin is getting tossed into the company by Silicon Valley royalty.

Tesla Motors got $60 Million to put these on the road and they got it from the Google guys, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, along with executives from eBay and PayPal.  We're talking winners here.  People who know how to create value and dominate the market.  People who know how to create major industrial changes that impact millions of people.  People who have deep pockets and won't fall prey to the DeLorean curse of too little capitalization and too big a dream.  We're talking "ready for prime time" baby.  This first run is proof of concept.  Expect the next generation to be in the range of most families.

And here's more good news.  They are not the only game in town!  Kids from West Philadelphia High School Electric Vehicle Team have built a 300 hp biodiesel car that won the 2005 Tour de Sol for fastest car. It goes from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds also!  50 mpg on soybean oil! For some local TV news coverage, check out this News 4 video report. If you can't open the streaming video, just feast your eyes on this honey:

The cost to build the prototype?  15,000 bucks for the body kit from Slovenia and lots of sweat equity from lemme say it again for all you Public School Haters...KIDS FROM WEST PHILADELPHIA HIGH...that's right an urban public school located at 47th and Walnut baby! Who are these wizards? Glad you asked. I figured we should give some props to the boys and girls who make this stuff happen. Here's some of the team:

So next time you roll up behind a Hummer, or an Escalade, or any other gas guzzling dinosaur lumbering towards its rendevous with destiny....wave and smile as you pass em in style....  I have seen the future and it is SWEEEEET!!!!!.

The message all progressives should drive home:
Clean energy, clean environment, clean politics, CLEAN HOUSE!

# posted by background n015e @ 3:21 PM