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Vulcan introduced two new members into the fleet this week– The Tesla Roadster & The Lamborghini LP560-4. I’ll be honest, I was ready to HATE the Tesla. It just doesn’t resonate with what I love about cars– combustion, rumble, torque, balls. After a little coaxing I decided to hop in her and go for a quick spin– what a trip. First off, you can’t even hear it start. Secondly, the controls are very bare bones and simple– Drive, Neutral, Reverse. There are no gears to shift– it’s a motor that just keeps winding, so it accelerates smooth as glass & fast as lightning (0-60 in 3.9 seconds). It was a blast, and the fact that it’s in a beautiful British racing green made a lot of sense– it’s a green car, no fossil fuel consumption & no emissions. Just a trunk full of laptop batteries and a motor wrapped in a tight Lotus designed, all carbon fiber body, that screams when you step on the pedal. Pretty cool– but I’ll stick to the Cobra just the same. Old School.
Oh, I totally have to give my buddy Nick Maggio major props for inspiring me with his wicked photography– I’m a devoted disciple. I’m definitely no Nick, but I’m having a blast. Thanks bud.
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Vulcan Motor Club's Tesla Roadster-- Green Machine
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Vulcan Motor Club's Tesla Roadster-- Green Machine
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Vulcan Motor Club's Tesla Roadster-- Master of Lightning
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Vulcan Motor Club's Tesla Roadster-- Plug In, Turn On, Drive Off.
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Tesla Roadster-- Snug Fit, Clean Uncluttered Function
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The Selvedge Yard 
OMG I just fell in love. Thanks (not) for tickling my hidden obsession for sportscars. Ugh.
What… it’s just a smidge over 1ooK, I have a feeling your worth it. Go ahead, treat yourself.
Nice quote– The Little Prince was James Dean’s favorite book.
Cheers.
JP
I really enjoyed the pictures, especially the charging cable that plugs into what looks like a gas tank. Welcome to the future!
I don’t want to come off as an environmental puritan, but its not completely accurate to say that the Tesla Roadster has no fossil fuel consumption. Where do you think electricity comes from? At least right now, in the United States, even in California, the majority of electricity still comes from fossil fuels.
Zach,
You’re right about that– unless of course the owner used solar power to generate the electricity. That would be ideal naturally.
Solar, wind, biomass, microhydro, renewable methane recovery, solar hydrogen electrolysis…there’s tons of ways to produce electricity from renewable sources. No matter where you live, there’s some kind of nonpolluting resource available. At issue is the cost, but the incentives now on offer provide ridiculous assistance. It’s a good time to go green.
BTW, the Tesla folks offer a solar option where you can finance enough of a photovoltaic system for your home or garage to meet the charging needs of the car. They discuss all this in the white papers on their site. The Fisker is still my favorite though; the gas engine virtually eliminates range anxiety. And not to toot the horn, but here in DC we just partnered with Nissan and AeroVironment to purchase a fleet of electric cars, plus some charging stations that the general public can use for a small fee. In a couple of years, electric will be a viable option once battery tech is sorted out.
$100k for a car that goes 0-60 in 3.9 that’s green? sounds like a bargain- for someone with that kind of cash, that is…
saw a red Tesla in Columbus Circle on Friday afternoon. “What….. is that?!” Living vicariously through your test drives has become common practice for me. X
We do not need Chrysler or GM, they need to go away because of their corrupt practices, bribes of elected officials to create situations that only benefit them and their “ownership” by the oil companies. There are 35 electric car companies that the US, British and Italian governments have been forcing to stall or go out of business since last year. These companies can more than save the auto industry, yet the politicians have been ordered by the lobby groups for oil and detroit to not give them their money, a task that would take 3 weeks in the worst case scenario. When they handed detroit bags of money without even asking any questions, almost overnight, and they have made the new car companies wait endlessly until they die from lack of funds, you KNOW they are trying to kill them off, ie: Tesla, Fisker, Zap, Bright, Apterra, Venture Vehicles, Eco Vehicles, etc. These companies can replace all of the lost Detroit jobs and more, provide better cars , at a lower cost that do not cause lung disease.
Parker Gor
I do like the lotus styling. Regretfully, I think I’d miss the shake and rumble of the engine. I get the green movement, but I think the whole point of a sportscar on some level is how impractical it is. I don’t know, maybe it’s my inner old man, but I love gasoline and combustion engines…
really good