sounds like a great car :thumbsup

Our car isnt green, but I use it on our tours. I thought we would use it on our latest site redesign also.

http://gspotcash.net/resources/sc.JPG :thumbsup

Top Gear, is bullshit.

Top Gear is a comedy show that happens to be about cars, and as they have done with other cars reviewed in the program, they fabricated issues with the car to cause drama and gain ratings.

Many people are calling Top Gear out on their fallacies including:

Edmunds.com:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradv...e-claimed.html

Tesla Roadster Reviewed by Jeremy Clarkson Didn't Run Out of Juice as He Claimed
Last week Jeremy Clarkson, Britain's most famous auto reviewer, reviewed a Tesla Roadster.

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Clarkson and crew pushing Roadster after it supposedly ran out of electricity.
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His test drive was recorded on video and appeared on Britain's Top Gear Web site, which is owned by BBC Worldwide Ltd. The video also appeared on YouTube as well as many dozens of automotive Web sites and blogs.

Why? For one thing, because Clarkson has attained celebrity status in many circles, but moreover because he claimed -- and the video apparently showed -- that the much-publicized $109,000 battery-electric Roadster ran out of juice after only 55 miles and then broke down!

Shocking! Outrageous! And sure to generate maximum exposure for Clarkson.

Except the Roadster, which its U.S. manufacturer claims can go 220 miles on a charge, didn't run out of electricity and didn't break down. Those two salient bits of information were fabricated. As in made up. As in didn't really happen.

OK. So Clarkson would appear to be more interested in his popularity than, say, the truth. And he would appear not to care that his reviews have financial consequences -- for the people who make, invest in, own or have placed deposits on the cars he reviews.

So Clarkson's a bum, some might say, for the reasons just mentioned and for tarnishing the reputations of Top Gear and the BBC. Some might say, Big deal, like tabloid journalism wasn't born in England!


Bad Journalism

But here's what's most distressing to real journalists and people who value good journalism: The BBC -- a supposed rock of journalistic excellence -- has done all it can to bury the story of its video.

We challenge you to find a copy of it on the Web right now (update: see Comments, below). It could be found all over the Web last week, but this week? Sorry.

Well here's what's up with that: If you want to get a company that doesn't own the copyright to a video to stop showing the video, you threaten to sue for copyright infringement.

And that's what the BBC has done. The video was widely posted on YouTube last week, but today this is all we were able to find in the YouTube spaces the video had occupied:

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by BBC Worldwide Ltd."

Now it is possible that the video still appears somewhere on YouTube -- and please tell us if you locate it -- but that sentence prompted by the BBC is all we could find (and we did see it multiple times) when we conducted our search earlier today.

As for the photo appearing here that was taken from the video? The one showing Clarkson beside the driver's door and other people at the rear of the Roadster pushing into a garage after it reportedly but untruthfully ran out of electricity?

Uh, huh. Sure.

A spokeswoman for Top Gear said the car was videotaped being pushed in order to show what would happen if the Roadster had run out of charge. That's interesting, because nowhere in the video were there words to that effect.

But if you believe her explanation, we've got a bridge we'd like to sell you.

Not to make a federal case out of this, but we did seek comment from Tesla about Clarkson's review. Company spokeswoman Rachel Konrad told us today that the portion of the review dealing with the short driving range and brake failure baffled the folks at the automaker's headquarters in San Carlos, California.

Each Roadster is equipped with a memory stick that acts much like a flight data recorder does, she said. That would be the so-called "black box" that accident investigators are always eager to get their mitts on when a jetliner goes down because it records systems information that might help them determine the cause of the crash.

The Roadster's memory stick works much the same way, constantly recording systems data when the sports car is in use. While Clarkson said the silver Roadster he was driving (he briefly tested a dark-gray one as well) had run out of power after only 55 miles, the vehicle's memory stick said otherwise.

Indeed, neither of the two Roadsters Clarkson drove had less than a 20 percent state of charge while the vehicles were in Clarkson's control, Konrad said, "So we at Tesla were all a bit perplexed as to why they aired footage of Clarkson and crew pushing one into a garage."

"Now we have an answer," she said.

Here's a few more:

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson under fire over Tesla electric car test drive
The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008...a-electric-car

Etc,

AutoBlog:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/22/b...ar-complaints/

Etc,

Jalopnik:
http://jalopnik.com/5115617/shocking...n-out-of-juice

Etc...

It really sucks when people in a position of influence lack credibility.

I hardly ever watch Top Gear but next time I do I'll take it as entertainment and not being informative.

Cool, congrats :thumbsup

My irony meter just broke.

You see that's the biggest turn off for me personally. I get that it's quick and doesn't look *too* bad.

Sound is the biggest thing about a car. I spent the entire weekend welding up a new exhaust for my car - nothing quite sounds like a V8 on full song :2 cents::2 cents:

Deplented batteries are great for enviroment.

Top speed is 125, which is an electronic limitation. From 0-60 it's in the three second range, which is blazing fast.

There's no waiting list anymore. They are now in mass production mode. Any model and in any color, delivered to your door in less than 6 weeks (or so the promise goes).

I know what you mean. I own a 2010 Camaro and love how it sounds, but sometimes I wish it was quieter.


The car actually does make some sound. When you're driving fast, you can hear a slight "whirrrrrr" coming from the rear motors. Not sure why, but it reminded me of the movie "A.I.". I felt like I was suddenly in the future. Dumb I know, but..

I didn't think that the lack of sound was a detraction in any way. Instead, it added to to the Cool...

For $100k :)

the thing about this car that concerns me the most is if it has been adequately crash tested.

i'd hate to be sitting on top of over 6000 li-ion batteries that explode via short-circuit resulting from a crash.

No, Fucksakes, I got to DRIVE the car (and for almost 45 minutes too).

As for the boat, no I didn't.

And to me it looks like your cute son got all the attention while you only got to take pictures.

Nice ride!! :thumbsup:thumbsup

Yep..

I wish it was $60. It's a nice car but ... $100k? $60 is a more attractive price.

Good question. I'm not used to small cars like that and I was a little nurvous speeding around.. but they couldn't sell the car if it didn't pass the usual tests that other cars have to pass. And to make the car legal in Canada requires a few extra mods like slightly better bumpers, daytime running lights, etc etc...

What I have a hard time believing in are those "Smart Cars". Now THOSE are tiny cars! They look like all they need is 1 bump from a garbage truck and you'll be turned to shmooosh...

The batteries are guaranteed to last 3 years, with real-world lifespan of 5 years (30% loss of ability to retain charge).

I don't know the math, but a typical driver converts several tanks of gasoline into pollution each month. At least batteries have a smaller footprint and can be recycled.

how much is that thing?

yah well when you have kids its no longer all about you.. could you see me having my 4yr holding my blackberry to take pictures of me standing with chicks..

just teasing about you driving the car.

thats a badass ride

Never heard of someone make no power steering sound so good. Sorry I still don't buy it though, even though go carts were fun as a kid if I am spending a ton of money on a car I would prefer to have power steering.

What is it with people and sound. It isn't enough that you drive a nice car, you have to make a lot of noise so everyone with in 2 miles will turn their heads to see you driving a nice car? Harley bike riders are the worst. One of the best southpark episodes ever nailed it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=nY6h-D6Dvm4

How much time does it take to fully charge the batteries?

Most fully electric cars are a joke right now, give it ten more years to develop properly.

Cool little gadget though.

I'm sure its a pure energy saving move. Power steering takes power (!) but also ads more weight to the car, lowering its range. Maybe also because since it requires power steering fluid, it makes the car a little less green.

In the short time that I drove it, I didn't miss the power steering at all. The only time you need power steering is when the car is stopped or moving slowly, like parking between cars. The rest of the time its pretty useless.

I make my car audible to me because *I* enjoy the sound. Couldn't give a rats about trying to get anyone else to hear it. I love prodding the gas and hearing a nice crisp v8 sound :2 cents:

exactly.

i've got aftermarket exhaust on all my vehicles- car, truck, harley and ducati.

it's not about others hearing it, i want to hear it. when i want to annoy a retard like will76 when driving, i'll crank my 2200 watt sound system. people like him ask for it.

:1orglaugh

how long do the batteries last? 15 mins?

I would hope you like to hear it since it is blasting in your ears 24/7 and only in mine for a couple minutes at most. However, I would bet 9 out of 10 people with all of that extra loud shit like to make sure everyone else hears it as well because they suffer from the "look at me - i am cool" syndrome. You might be the exception, but it most cases its people like i am explaining.

It doesn't annoy me as much as I think it is funny and pathetic.

i'm an aural type, i grew up with my ears stuffed into heads phones cranked so loud my dad would come into my room and tell me to turn that shit down, he could hear my headphones in the other room.

just because you don't understand doesn't mean your blanket statements are valid. your harley comment is proof of that. and to validate it by pointing to a south park episode is beyond silly and misses an underlying theme of that episode anyway- stereotyping.

How long they last depends how far you drive and how you drive. According to their website http://www.teslamotors.com/electric/plugging_in.php a single charge lasts 245 Miles, but a record of 315 miles was recently set.

One of the displays of the car shows you how many miles to go before a recharge is required of course, but it also shows you how much you can expect to get based on previous driving habbits, and even how gain miles by driving differently. Cool!

I can understand the sound system. I love music and listen to music all the time, especially when driving. You have to pay more to get good sound in a car.

Making your car louder just because you enjoy it to the distress of everyone around you isn't really cool. Sure, some motorheads may appreciate it, but to most others it's just annoying.

Anyway, it's not always about how LOUD your car is, it's about the exhaust note. The coolest gas cars, to me anyway, understate their power. Who cares about how loud your car is when it can have its ass handed to it by another quieter car?

The salesrep told me that he laughs his ass off any time he pulls up to a red light, and someone next to him revs his noise maker to race, and beats them every time.

0-60 Miles Per Hour in 3.5 seconds.
For an Electric Car.
Sorry, but that's pretty fucking cool.

It's cool because:
- It's fast
- It's cheap ('ish)
- It's quiet
- It's safe
- It's legal
- It's ELECTRIC (no gas, no oil, woohoo!)

Seriously, I'm now convinced that my next car will be electric (and not a hybrid). There's just too much wrong, and too much OLD, with gas cars. Sorry..!

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

He's a fucking sales rep, probably still uses brille cream in his hair a string leather tie and gold bangles on each wrist.

Wonder what the resale value will be. Imagine trying to sell it in 5 years with 6000 dead batteries. I do love the idea of 100% torque the instant you press the accelerator.

i never said it wasn't. so i am unsure why you are saying that about me.

look, there's shitheads in every group. harley riders, sport bike riders and car owners with an exhaust and/or sound system are no exception.

but to make blanket statements about the entire group based on the few assholes of that group is sophomoric, at best.

i can assure you, as much as i ride my motorcycles and participate in mc activities, i am around A LOT more loud-pipe shit asses than will76 and i do not appreciate the stereotyping/assuming.

Nice ride.

Mark I saw the new Camaro black as I was leaving the race this weekend, that rumble with red headlights was so very sweet!

www.porngavememyfirstcar.com :thumbsup

Not really... he's in his 20's and pretty smart. I asked him lots of questions about not only the car, but about the batteries, electrical system, safety...

And the car is freaking fast. It's definately faster than all the usual Shelby Mustangs, Camaros, Porsches and even beats many high end exotics..

Anyway, if you like cars, you should really check it out. If you're a real cynic, try drving one... You may not love it but it'll definately make you question your beliefs.

Cheers!

The coupe they are planning on releasing looks amazing too, and its almost half the price.

http://www.solarpowerwindenergy.org/...9/03/types.jpg

http://ecologichomemakers.files.word...esla_types.jpg