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Then I hit traffic lights. I removed the Roadster’s rudimentary canvas roof before setting off, and the midday sun beats down as time ticks away. Green light, go. The acceleration of the Roadster is frankly ridiculous. 0-100kph comes up in 3.9 seconds and the nature of the electric motor means that peak torque is available immediately and I suspect that the engineers have actually had to reign the delivery in for fear of instantly melting the rear tyres. Even continuously variable transmissions have to adjust to put the power down, but this goes through a single fixed gear and there’s no delay. Putting the foot down at 20, 40, 60 or 100 gives the same response – really rapid acceleration. And it’s utterly linear. We motoring hacks use that word to describe amazing engines, but the Tesla’s gathering of velocity is linear on a digital level. It’s immensely fast.
But no sooner am I up to speed than there’s another set of red lights. And another. And another. In my rear view mirror, I see a train approaching, and as the track and road diverge, it’s ahead. I meanwhile am sat next to a Toyota Land Cruiser, my head level with the top of its monstrous rear wheel. The Roadster doesn’t exactly scream presence and I’m mildly concerned about being run over by Dubai’s plethora of giant SUVs.
Traffic is getting heavier as I head through older Dubai towards the port and I can hear all of it more than usual. Not that the Tesla is completely silent though. Sure, at low speeds all you can hear is tyre noise, but at higher speed there’s wind noise and a whirring, whining under hard acceleration, rising to a piercing whistle. It sounds futuristic, like something from Blade Runner or The Jetsons. It’s a weird kind of sound, but something we’ll no doubt get used to. A series of roundabouts gives me a chance to sample the handling. I’ll start with the steering, which is superb. For someone of my age, raised on cars of the late ‘90s onwards with thorough power assistance, the lack of power steering is a revelation and the feel is incredible. I can sense every little thing that the front wheels pass over, it’s so granular and textured and rich in my hands. Yes, it’s heavy, but it’s less of a problem at speed. The Lotus heritage means that handling is excellent. The Roadster is small, it’s light compared to most modern cars, and it’s nimble. There is a slight feeling of inertia during the changes of direction – it’s some 300kg heavier than a regular Elise thanks to the heavy battery cells – but it’s still lithe compared to other modern cars.
We were told in no uncertain terms not to turn the traction control system off, and putting power down while exiting a corner shows why: the traction control light doesn’t blink, it just goes on and stays on for some time until I lift off. I do wonder how insane the car would be if it wasn’t restrained by necessity.
Getting onto Jumeirah Beach Road, heading along the coast towards the Palm, I’m again stuck in slow moving traffic. While wondering where James is, I notice an unusual characteristic of the electric motor – a braking effect when I lift off the accelerator. Whether this is due to battery regeneration or it’s just a quirk of the electric powertrain I don’t know, but the brake lights come on when I lift off. The effect is much like engine braking in a combustion-powered car.
The stop-start traffic continues and I’m mildly concerned that James may have got ahead of me. He’s only had to make one change so far, but his biggest challenge will be getting from Nakheel station to the Palm Monorail, which is a decent walk and, as a newcomer to the city, could be his undoing. After half an hour of gliding, and with 110km left on the range readout, I turn onto the Palm and squeeze on the power, heading over large speed bumps with remarkably little crashiness for a car so stiffly sprung. I pass underneath the monorail tracks without seeing a train, under the tunnel to the end of the Palm, and cut through swathes of tourists to park up outside Atlantis.
James is not there. Victory!
As it turns out, I’ve comprehensively thrashed him. Although the Metro portion of the journey went comparatively quickly, he got confused by the transfer at Nakheel station and ended up getting a taxi to the monorail, arriving at Atlantis some 40 minutes after me. So on this occasion the car wins, and I’m very impressed with the Tesla. It’s a small volume vehicle from a small company but it’s a hell of a piece of engineering. Sure, I miss the noise of a rorty combustion engine but electric technology adds drama off a different kind. That instant response and power. It’s lightning shooting out of your fingertips rather than the blast of a gun, and it’s exhilarating.
However, the difficulty of getting in and out means I couldn’t live with the Roadster day-to-day, and if I had to do this journey everyday, I’d opt for the Metro and a book. The relatively short range and long charging time of the car would also put me off: roads worthy of the Roadster’s handling require a bit of a trek out of Dubai to reach, and I’m not sure an hour each way – plus a couple of hours of thrashing – would be within the battery’s capabilities. Use up the juice by lunchtime and the car is out of action for the rest of the day. In fact, we were supposed to do this race a day earlier than it took place, but we had to postpone because a previous renter of the Roadster hadn’t returned it on time, and it wasn’t fully charged up.
But things are changing. The Roadster in this guise is about to come to an end, as the deal with Lotus has expired, but the company is already developing a saloon and an SUV. Battery technology is sure to improve too. Time will tell whether the internal combustion engine is doomed, but with the Roadster, Tesla has proven that the future can be green and still great fun.
Full technical specifications available on page 3
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*Big thanks to Green Car Rental for the loan of the car. Contact them HERE or by calling +971 4 358 8488
