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Yesterday I wrote about spending some quality time with my friend's Tesla, today we push the car's limit a little more.
Roadster, Oh Roadster, Show Me What You Have! And this is where the fun begins. After a few hundred yards, you feel the irresistible twitch and urge and sink that heavy right foot to the ground, calling a direct shot of adrenaline up your spine... and Oh my, does it ever! The Tesla Roadster is relentless. Can I make a big enough point about that last part? Relentless! Press right foot, it pushes. Press more, it continues to push. Continue pressing, it still delivers all smiles on face. In fact, the Roadster does not let up until around 70mph or so. And even then...
Up The Hill, Down Again. Driving around Long Beach, California if fun. There are many roads where you can test the full potential of a car, from highways to very steep uphills, to regular traffic. The first test was the climb up Signal Hill. The slopes are anywhere from 15% to 25 grade. The first we took was the famed 25%. Stepping on the accelerator going up was a revelation of the EV's full potential. The old adage that electric motors cannot deliver going uphill simply does not apply here or anymore. The Roadster delivers almost as if it was on a flat surface. The only comparison I could make, for those who have tried Disneyland's Great Adventure roller coaster, the original acceleration is the closest I have ever felt on four wheels. The car was relentless going up the other hills from stand-still. Coming down was equally enjoyable. By letting the car "coast", it came to a complete stop at the bottom of the second biggest hill, all the while putting back some electrons in the pack I had cheerfully taken from.
Day -To-Day Traffic. The true test of any car is how you feel stuck in traffic in it. The Roadster is designed to take that into consideration. It is very well behaved and civilized in normal driving conditions. Slow accelerations can be achieved easily. The steering is heavy due to a small steering wheel and is not assisted. Parking will take 10mn off of your gym work out. Changing in and out of lanes is a typical Lotus experience with limited left rear view and reasonable on the right side.
Pushing The Car To Its Limits. While I cannot claim to have pushed the car to its limits, approaching them is a fun and safe experience. The low center of gravity makes it handle corners neutrally with minimal role. The nose has a slight tendency to lift under hard accelerations. If you do not try to push the Tesla into a hard acceleration, then you do not have human DNA, as far as I am concerned. The car understeers, which I suppose is what Tesla wanted to achieve in order to call back in line unexperienced and exuberant drivers. A tweak of suspensions can answer that tendency. In fact, the Sports version has remedied this.
Braking, Who Needs Brakes? The Roadster comes with substantial perforated brakes. It made me smile considering you have very little use for them in normal driving conditions. The estimated range is 75,000 miles before a change. I did however have to rely on brakes to slow the car down and they acted quickly. The brakes felt crisp but did not have an over bite. In regular driving conditions, you will only need them to lock the wheels at a traffic light.
The Tesla Roadster is in the Ferrari and high-end Porsche landscape. Many a driver sought to test the contemporary internal combustion engine, ICE exotics against, only to be left behind from stand still. For my gear head friends that always reply the same thing: "What about the sound of an engine, gear box and vibrations?" I reply the same thing. An EV is all about precise and the purest form of driving. There is no distraction. You accelerate with your right foot and steer with both hands, eventually brake with your left foot.
I have been driving performance cars for decades. I regularly drive a 1974 Alfa Romeo spider with a race engine, so I am used to swift accelerations. But after having spent some quality time with a Tesla Roadster, my little steroid spider almost felt civilized. What really struck me again is how limited ICE engines are. The torque curve is limited. The horsepower curve is limited. Without the use of gears, an ICE only delivers its best within 1,000 to 4,000 rpm range its potential. An electric motor delivers all sooner and later all the time. My friend was driving my spider as I was testing his Roadster. The difference is gigantic, almost anti-deluvian in nature. If a finely tuned ICE car is fun, you have to be on top of it, sharing your attention between gear selection, acceleration dosage, braking and steering. An EV is all about dosing acceleration and steering. It driving in its purest form. Yes, the EV grin is not a myth and it takes a long time to get rid if it.
Finally, once you have driven a performance EV, such as the AC Propulsion eBox, the Tango or the Tesla Roadster, you will have a hard time going back to the ICE age.
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