Saturday, March 31, 2012

The car that caused Top Gear the subject of legal proceedings for defamation and malicious falsehood

Tesla vs. The Stig

This is the car that caused Top Gear the subject of legal proceedings for defamation and malicious falsehood brought by Tesla Motors Ltd and Tesla Motors Inc against the BBC. It's called the Tesla Roadster. It was an electric sportscar produced from California and it was based on the Lotus Elise. Overall it looks good but Tesla said it was nippy. When this one was featured on Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson on it, this single-gear EV roadster armed with just an electric motor with the size of a watermelon trounced the petrol-powered Lotus Elise on the straights, when suddenly the car's batteries are running flat after 55 miles of heavy use. What is it then this Tesla Roadster?

Wave good-bye to dial and welcome to
the world of Broadband motoring!!!

Tesla Motors was established in California's Silicon Valley in 2003 and this car was made as an announcement back in 2006 that shocked the world where electric cars went through its knees. The first time it was featured was on the 2006 San Francisco International Auto Show held since November 2006 and soon it gained recognition in Los Angeles, Detroit, and Frankfurt. The first Tesla was delivered in 2008 to the brand's co-founder, chairman, and product architect Elon Musk. They produced about 500 units through June 2009 and on the following month, production for the 2010 Tesla Roadster commenced.

Jeremy Clarkson told us that a normal G-Wiz (the one that is slower than a table) comes with old-fashioned batteries that has a speed of a horse but the Tesla is powered by a battery that comes from a laptop. About 6,831 laptop batteries that Clarkson once said. We kinda refer it to the Lithium-ion battery and a three phase AC motor. That motor generates 245HP of power and 198.9 ft-lb of torque. It will do 0-100kph in about 3.7 seconds and top speed limited to 201kph. A fully charged Tesla takes about 3.5 hours long using the High Power Connector which supplies 70 amp, 240 volt electricity; in practice, recharge cycles usually start from a partially charged state and require less time. A fully charged ESS stores approximately 53 kWh of electrical energy at a nominal 375 volts and weighs 992 lb (450 kg).

Jeremy Clarkson told us that it would took about 16 hours when it was charged at the 13 amp socket, which nuclear power generated this. What's the point of this? Perhaps I have no idea that the libel suit by Tesla really pierced through the BBC even though as of now, the High Court in London rejected Tesla's libel claim.

Volt-head vs. the Petrolhead!

Despite all that battle between Tesla and Top Gear, I was kinda more than happy of taking part of the Tesla Roadster, the only electric car that is definitely fun to drive even though it's a RWD. With traction control off, this is so completely bonkers to drive, even in Gran Turismo 5. The sound of sporty silence really broke my silence when my foot is on the pedal of the Tesla and it converted me from petrolhead to volt-head. No wait, make that BIRIBIRI!!!!

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