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We're happy to announce that the electric sports car has gone commercial. Tesla Motors started commercial production of the Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car, on Monday.
The car isn't in mass production yet -- Tesla is actually only putting out about one or two cars a week right now -- but it will increase production and hopes to be producing around 100 cars a month by early next year.
So far, more than 900 people have put reservations in for the car, including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Roadster costs $98,000 (around £50,000), but for that you get a two-seater car that will go zero to 60mph in just under four seconds.
Tesla has dealerships in Los Angeles and Northern California, and delivered its first car to company chairman Elon Musk. But it's not like that counts as a commercial release.
The company has helped revive interest in electric cars -- rather than try to come out with an economy car like some other outfits that have tried to sell electric cars, Tesla decided to start at the top-end and first release a sports car. In hindsight, it made sense. Batteries cost quite a bit, and one of the advantages of electric engines is acceleration.
Tesla showed off prototypes in July 2006 and laid plans to come out with a car by the middle of 2007. Technical problems with the transmission, among other components, caused delays. The company also revamped its management in late 2007.
To solve some of the technical problems, Tesla created its own single-speed transmission, though the first cars coming off the line will have the older one, which doesn't allow for that four-second 0 to 60 sprint. But anyone who gets the older transmission will be encouraged to return to Tesla and get the new transmission for free.
Assembling the car is a global affair, unfortunately. The lithium-ion battery cells come from Japan and are packaged into an ornate battery in the US. Meanwhile, the body and chassis come from Europe. Final assembly -- which largely involves putting the battery into the car -- takes place in Silicon Valley in California.
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