54 AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 1 2007
H E A D L I N E
We can’t do it in five years. But that’s our
goal over time.”
So far, the reviewsof the$100,000Road-
ster are glowing.
Time
named it one of the
BestTransportation Inventionsof 2006.
PC
Magazine
called ita “dreamcar.”And
Forbes
named it one of the best cars of 2006, even
though itwasn’t yet on the road.
“Tesla is remarkable in a number of
ways,” says Chelsea Sexton, a marketing
expert and the executivedirector of Plug In
America, a coalition that advocates plug-in
vehicles. “Theproduct is one. The company
is another. It’s definitely the best-equipped
small company I’ve seenmake a go at this.
Ever. TheTeslaRoadster dispels every golf-
cartmyth
[
about electriccars
]
out there. It’s
wicked fun todrive.”
Over the past year, Tesla has built a buzz
about its plans, and especially about its
snug two-seat sports car. This is not your
neighbor’s Prius. The all-electric car has an
extruded-aluminum chassis pioneered by
Lotus, and itwill go forabout200milesbe-
fore needing a recharge. Siry says he’s glad
environmentalism has gone mainstream,
but Tesla, based just north of Palo Alto,
The TeslaRoadster looks like and acts verymuch in accordance
with its pedigree, part Lotus and part Silicon Valley wild child.
It races from zero to 60 in four seconds and can reach a curve-
hugging top speed of over 130mph. There’s just one thingmiss-
ing: the keening roar of exhaust escaping a gas combustion en-
gine.
•
That’s because the Tesla is the
fi
rst automobile tomarry
sports car performance with a silent, instantly responsive, elec-
tric power train. And if you think of an electric car as a gussied-
up boxy golf cart, think again. The TeslaRoadster is as cool and
mind-bendingasitiscleanandgreen.
•
TeslaMotors,thecompany
that created theRoadster, is the brainchild
of three SiliconValley entrepreneurs, Mar-
tin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, and Elon
Musk, who have turned the idea of the
electric car — and of building an automo-
tive company— on its head,much theway
Appleonce jolted the computerbusiness.
“Wehaveagrandvision; it’sanambitious
vision,” says Darryl Siry, Tesla’s vice presi-
dent of sales, marketing, and service, and
someone who qualifies as a start-up long-
timer; hehad fourmonths on the jobwhen
we spoke.
Audacious
is the word Eberhard, Tesla’s
chief executive office , uses often to de-
scribe the company’s ambitions. Eberhard,
who has been a car nut ever since hewas a
teen inKansas, conceived the idea of using
lithium-ion cells (like the ones in laptops)
asbatteries. “We intend tobecomea real car
company, thenext greatAmerican car com-
pany,” he says. “We can’t do it in two years.
