Green Wombat

photo:  squiddphoto
The Tesla Roadster hits the highway later this month for the electric sports car’s first public road trip, a 200-mile journey from San Francisco through the Sierras to Lake Tahoe. Sure, it’s a publicity stunt but one designed to demolish the perception that electric cars are short-range put-put mobiles more suited to suburban cul-de-sacs than the open road. As the Silicon Valley startup gears up for production of the zero-to-60-in-four super car this fall, it will use the final prototype of the Roadster for the August 29 road trip. The Global Hyatt hotel chain is sponsoring the event and the Roadster will stop at Hyatts in Sacramento and Incline Village, Nevada, on Lake Tahoe. Hyatt is considering installing charging stations at some properties – Tesla in May won a $561,000 grant from the state of California to develop charging stations that can be deployed at hotels. While this is the first public road trip for the Roadster, Tesla has put the $98,000 car through its paces during long-distance testing, says Tesla public relations director David Vespremi.

Green Wombat recently had an opportunity to take a ride in the Roadster with Vespremi while reporting a story on electric cars ("Have You Driven a Fjord Lately? in the August issue of Business 2.0). The test car is a "fusion red" prototype that screams sex and speed.  Vespremi – like other Tesla employees, he’s a gearhead – backs the Roadster out of the garage at Tesla’s Silicon Valley headquarters and turns onto a busy thoroughfare. We cruise at about 40 mph for a bit and then he punches the accelerator and the car shoots forward into the traffic. I’m pushed back into my leather seat,  subconsciously bracing for impact as we silently rocket straight toward a tractor trailer ahead.  David flicks the steering wheel and the car effortlessly swings around the truck and heads toward the entrance ramp to the 101. It’s rush hour and the metering lights are on. He hits the accelerator and we rocket up the ramp at 90 miles an hour, gliding around the traffic as we merge onto the freeway. Green Wombat briefly considers taking out a second mortgage and adding his name to the wait list. The drive back to San Francisco in the Zipcar Prius is anti-climatic, to say the least.