When most of us play video games, we never really think about how much work goes into producing one that is as close to reality as possible. Take car racing games for example – capturing sounds of tire screeches and engine noise seems like a tedious task since its difficult to isolate one from the other.

Thanks to the Tesla Roadster electric-vehicle, that problem has been solved. Microsoft recently borrowed the very silent Tesla Roadster to capture sounds including tire squeal and other audio components of driving without mixing any engine noise in the process.

- By: Kap Shah

Source: CrunchGear

If you’re one of the 900 Tesla Roadster owners out there you have to live with a very hard choice – you can either drive efficiently and show off how many miles you traveled on a single charge or you can throw the efficiency part out of the window and show off how you can go from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds.

Owner Simon Hackett decided to go with the first when he drove a total of 313 miles in his Tesla Roadster with his co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas during the 10th annual Global Green Challenge in Australia. The distance appears to have set a new record for a production electric-vehicle.

At the end of their trip from Alice Springs to Coober Pedy, Hackett’s Tesla still had 3 miles left on the charge.

Check out the press release after the jump for more details.

Tesla Roadster Travels 313 Miles in 10 Annual Global Green Challenge:

Press Release:

Tesla Roadster Travels 313 Miles on a Single Charge

Competing in Australia’s Global Green Challenge, Customer Simon Hackett’s red Roadster goes from Alice Springs to Coober Pedy with 3 miles left on the charge.

Coober Pedy, South Australia - (Oct. 27, 2009) – Tesla Roadster owner Simon Hackett and co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas completed 313 miles (501 km) in a Tesla Roadster on a single charge – a distance that appears to set a new record for a production electric vehicle.

Hackett and Prelgauskas are driving Hackett’s red 2008 Roadster as part of the 10th annual Global Green Challenge, one of the most high-profile rallies worldwide for production, prototype and experimental cars. Hackett is providing updates in real time on his blog.

The pair drove from Alice Springs, in the Australian Northern Territory, to the finish marker at a point 183 km north of Coober Pedy, in South Australia.

The previous distance record for an electric vehicle was set in April, when another Roadster was the only vehicle to complete the entire, 241-mile Rallye Monte Carlo d’Energies Alternatives. It had an estimated 38 miles left on the charge.

The Tesla Roadster is the first production automobile to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production EV with a range greater than 200 miles (320 km) per charge. Tesla has delivered about 900 Roadsters to customers so far.

Hackett sent Tesla the following note before going to bed last night:

“Emilis and I have decades of experience flying gliders competitively and we applied the same energy conservation techniques to our driving, with significant results! The car had about 3 miles of range left when the drive was completed. We travelled 501km on a single charge. Let that sink in for a minute.

“The security seal was applied to the charge port door when we started the journey. As this is being done as part of the Global Green Challenge, we have a full set of official verifiers here who will attest to the results and to achieving the outcome. We were followed along the journey by our support crew and a documentary film crew – so we have it on film.

“It’s late here and we have another 541k to drive (with an intermediate charge stop) tomorrow – and another two days of the event left after that. When we’re done, we will have driven over 3000 km’s in the Roadster over the course of only six days, from Darwin to Adelaide.”

- By: Kap Shah

An Autopia reader spotted this accident involving a Tesla Roadster, Volkswagen Touareg and the Toyota Prius. The accident took place earlier this week and as the story goes the Tesla was stopped behind the Touareg at a red light when a Prius rear-ended it and pushed it under the SUV.

According Tesla’s spokeswoman Rachel Konrad:

This was a customer car but the customer was not driving or in the car at the time. The driver stopped at a red light behind a truck and was hit from behind by a VW Touareg driving at 80km/hour at the time of impact. The Roadster driver walked away with minor bruises.

No word on others involved in the accident but we hope everyone is okay and made it out safe.

If you have any additional details about the crash, let us know in the comments section below.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Autopia

If you’re looking to purchase a sporty electric-car and live in the state Colorado, you’re in luck. With a special state tax credit, those looking to purchase a 2009 Tesla Roadster will receive a $42,083 tax credit bringing the base price of $109,900 to $67,800.

The tax credit ends on December 31 and offers Colorado residents a credit on their 2009 income tax for up 85 percent of the difference between the price of a alternative-fuel vehicle. That happens to translate into a generous 38.6 percent discount on the Tesla Roadster.

Tesla will also open its new store in Boulder, Colorado on Friday.

- By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Green Car Reports

Tesla has announced a new mobile service program featuring house calls for customers in the United States and Canada. Known as the Tesla Mobile Service Rangers, mobile service squad will visit a Tesla owners’ homes, offices or parking garages to perform an range of procedures, including annual inspections and firmware upgrades.

“Customers pay $1 per roundtrip mile from the nearest Tesla service center, with a minimum charge of $100,” said Tesla in a statement. “For example, a customer in Portland, Ore., would pay about $350 plus parts and labor for mobile service from Tesla’s Seattle facility. Mobile service offers peace of mind – even for Roadster owners in Honolulu, Anchorage, Banff and other locations.”

The Tesla Mobile Service Rangers are based out of regional showrooms and service centers in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York. It will later be offered Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto and South Florida.

Tesla plans to have at least 20 regional sales and service locations in the United States within roughly two years.

- By: Kap Shah

If you live in California and drive a Tesla Roadster, than you’re in luck. SolarCity has announced that it has installed four charging stations along highway 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles that will charge your Tesla to a full capacity in 3.5 hours.

Taking it a step further, one of the four charging stations is powered from solar energy. As of right now, all four charging stations only support the Tesla Roadster. SolarCity plans to refit the charging station to work with other electric-vehicles in the near future.

“This charging station corridor demonstrates an important component of SolarCity’s vision for a carbon-free lifestyle,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. ”We’re combining clean, renewable solar power with all-electric transportation, allowing drivers to travel through California with zero emissions.”

By mid-October, SolarCity plans to have a fifth charging station in Goleta.

Tesla Roadster:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: DailyTech

Currently, Tesla Motors sells just one car – the $109,000 Roadster. The company has sold just 700 units of the electric sports car and hit profits for the first time in July; No biggie, the Big 3 and other automakers have nothing to worry about… right? Wrong, according to a report by AutoWeek, Tesla has plans to move into mainstream U.S. auto sales over the next 6 years.

The California company recently received $465 million in low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the production of its new Model S sedan. Tesla said that it will use $365 million from the loan to produce the electric-sedan, which will seat four and will start at $49,900 after a $7,500 U.S. federal tax credit. Tesla believes it can sell about 20,000 units a year.

What else does Tesla have up its sleeve? The company says that 5-years after the Tesla Model S sedan enters production, it will introduce a mass-market electric-vehicle for less than $30,000.

Other than that, Tesla Motors just leased a 350,000 square-foot building in Palo Alto, which it will use to produce electric-powertrain solutions for Tesla Motors vehicles and for other automakers.

- By: Kap Shah

Source: AutoWeek

The 248-hp Tesla Roadster is an already expensive vehicle with pricing starting at $101,500. However, it allows you to go from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, is 100 percent electric and allows you to travel 244 miles before you need to plug it in.

What’s better than a Tesla Roadster? A Tesla Roadster Sport. The “Sport” adds a total of 288-hp to the Tesla Roadster, increased winding density for lower resistance and higher peak torque, an adjustable suspension, Yokohama A048 Ultra high-performance tires and the ability to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds.

Based on Tesla’s Roadster 2, the Tesla Roadster Sport will run you an additional $19,500 for a total of $128,500. Worth it? Of course – if you have close to an extra $20,000 laying around under your mattress.

Click through for the high-res image gallery.

Tesla Roadster Sport:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Tesla (via AutoblogGreen)

One thing that angers most car buyers are the additional features that automakers add in the mid-life-cycle update of a vehicle that they end up missing out on. So while you Tesla Roadster owners are driving around thinking you’re so special for helping out the environment, Tesla Motors is about to burst your bubble.

According to DrComputer over at Tesla Motors Club forums, Tesla Motors is planning some upgrades for their Roadster. Someone named Ted at Tesla told DrComputer that the company is planning to insert Wi-Fi cards into the Roadster which will allow Tesla to “download firmware remotely, gather statistics, unlock doors, know the cars exact location, etc.” The feature will eventually allow iPhone/Blackberry apps to be written to interact with the car.

Also in the works is better cooling for the power electronics, improved air-conditioning with variable speed fans and glove box locks.

Tesla Roadster:

- By: Kap Shah

Source: Tesla Motors Club (via AutoBlog)

Tesla Motors has confirmed that they will be launching a right-hand-drive version of the electric Roadster in Europe in 2010. CEO Elon Musk said that the re-engineered right-hand drive version would arrive early next year. He said that the cost of re-engineering to a right-hand drive was “not prohibitive.”

Musk said that the right-hand drive Roadster would be exported to other markets including Japan, India and Australia.

The more powerful Roadster Sport version is also being planned for other markets.

Musk recently said that the cost of developing a Roadster has dropped to about $80,000 from $140,000. That should help Tesla reach profitability as early as this month.

Tesla Roadster:

- By: Stephen Calogera

Source: AutoCar

There you are – looking to go green but still wanting to stay cool. After looking over the limited choices you have for electric-vehicles, you narrow it down to the Tesla Roadster; however, the only problem is you don’t have the $109,000 it costs to purchase the Tesla.

Well, Bank of America has come to your rescue. Tesla Motors announced yesterday that it is offering financing for the Roadster through Bank of America.

“Owning a Roadster can result in a lower total monthly cost than a gas-guzzling sports car with a similar sticker price,” Tesla said in a statement. “Thanks to the low cost of electricity vs. gasoline, the Roadster costs roughly $4 to fully recharge – a bargain even when gasoline costs less than $1 per gallon.”

Bank of America will directly finance, document, and service vehicle loans for customers, providing a very easy online interface for these services. All agreements and payments will be between the customer and Bank of America.

Tesla said that it also plans to offer financing for the Model S sedan.

Tesla Roadster:

- By: Stephen Calogera

So now that you’ve made your millions, you’re kicking back thinking about who you want to spend your life with and how you want to make the world a better place. Well, a company by the name of 4M Club can help you to do both at the same time. 4M Club, a millionaire matchmaking agency, is throwing in a new Tesla Roadster sports car (custom-built for the client) with a purchase of their high-end dating package.

For $250,000 you’ll get a date from 4M Club’s network and a new Tesla Roadster to take your new lady on the ride of her life.

“I drive a Prius with all the bells and whistles, but when I saw the all-electric Tesla, it blew me away,” says Chris Stelmack, 4M Club owner. “I thought, why not do something nice for the client and help them save the environment, too!”

Post your thoughts and comments after the jump.

Take a look at the press release after the jump.

Tesla Roadster:

Press Release:

Rich Bachelors Get the Girl and Car with Millionaire Matchmaking Club’s Promo

4M Club, a boutique millionaire matchmaking agency, helps rich and busy bachelors find a beautiful woman for marriage or long-term-relationship. 4M’s Rolls Royce matchmaking program is the crème’ de le crème. The 4M Club has other programs for the not-as-rich, but the mega-millionaire gets the girl and super ride of his life, when he buys 4M’s unique Rolls Royce plan.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) June 3, 2009 — Now through 2009, the 4M Club are throwing in a Tesla Roadster electric sports car, custom-built for the client. If the bachelor doesn’t need the car (but still wants the girl), the matchmaking fee is negotiable.

Why a car promotion?

Says 4M’s owner, Chris Stelmack, “I drive a Prius with all the bells and whistles, but when I saw the all-electric Tesla, it blew me away. I thought, why not do something nice for the client and help them save the environment, too!”

Qualified bachelors begging for an extraordinary matchmaking search opt for the 4M Club’s established Rolls Royce plan. Much like hiring a private chef or personal trainer, these guys want their own exclusive matchmaking pro.

One-on-one matchmaking isn’t new. It’s been around for years and is finally socially acceptable, especially in the advent of Internet dating.

4M’s Rolls Royce plan is for the multimillionaire bachelor tired of hanging out and spending holidays alone. He’s looking for the love-of-his-life, but doesn’t have time or know where to find her. He doesn’t date co-workers anymore for obvious reasons, so it’s tough finding the soul mate he craves.

He’s discovered dabbling online is labor intensive with little or no rewards. Most have found Internet dating counter-productive and quickly give up.

Enter 4M Club, an eight-year-old private matchmaking club for the rich — they scour the planet for a Rolls Royce client, until a perfect match is found.

For a cool quarter million dollars, the Rolls Royce program affords clients the luxury of working directly with 4M’s founder and relationship expert, Christine Stelmack. Rolls Royce clients are one of a handful she takes on during the year, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Stelmack states, “I want to work with the most sincere of the bunch, even if he’s 72-years-old.” She quickly adds, “As long as the older client isn’t looking for a 25-year-old, we’ll be in good shape.”
Prospective clients meet privately with Stelmack and learn how she’s going to tackle one of the most important investments of their life — finding the right partner-in-life.

The 4M Club’s headquarters are in downtown Seattle, but interview onsite in the client’s own city or wherever they wish. 4M works with clients throughout the U.S. (and accepts clients worldwide, too, if time permits.)

“Anything can be negotiated. If an interested bachelor from abroad really needs our help, we’ll pull all the guns out. As long as it doesn’t take away from someone else,” declares Stelmack.

The 4M Club, known for serving a very picky clientele, gets the job done and enjoys a healthy mix of engagements, marriages and long-term relationships.

Stelmack asserts, “When a client looks me sincerely in the eye and says, ‘Wow, I’m marrying one of these gals,’ they’ve gone and done it.”

Fees at the 4M Club start at $15K (including an “economic stimulus” Trial Offer currently available, as of this release.) Fees are also dependent on clients’ specific needs and dating challenges.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: 4M Club (via TCC)

In Tesla Motors’ blog, CEO Elon Musk took some time to set the record straight over the much talked about lawsuit filed by co-founder Martin Eberhard. As “twisted and wrong” as it may be, Musk felt he needed to set the record straight. However, the whole blog post wasn’t about Eberhard’s allegations in the lawsuit; Musk gave us some insight as to where Tesla is headed and how soon the electric-car startup will reach profitability.

“With the release of the Roadster 2 this month, we are finally at the point where Tesla has a solid supply chain and a unit cost that allows us to operate the Roadster business line profitably,” Musk said in his post.

He said that the material cost of the Roadster has been dropped to about $80,000 from as high as $140,000 in the summer of 2007. That should help Tesla reach profitability as early as next month. The car has a starting sticker price of $109,000.

“Combined with a steady production volume of 20 to 30 per week in the third quarter this year and a good take up rate of the higher priced Roadster Sport, we expect to cross over into profitability next month,” Musk said.

Interested in what Musk had to say about the Eberhard lawsuit? Head over to Tesla’s blog to read his lengthy post.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Tesla Motors (via MSNBC)

Speaking at Wired Business Conference, Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk said that he is “anti-tax” but “pro-carbon tax.” Gasoline “should probably be $10″ per gallon Musk said.

“I’m not paying for the true cost of gasoline at the pump…since nobody’s explicitly paying for the CO2 capacity of the oceans and atmospheres, it’s getting consumed. We will pay for it down the road, but we are sort of ignoring it for now.”

Taking a shot at the Toyota Prius, Musk said: ”A Prius is not a true hybrid, really,” he said. “The current Prius is like, 2 percent electric. It’s a gasoline car with slightly better mileage.”

Tesla recently delivered the 500th Tesla Roadster to an entrepreneur in New Jersey. The company is now working on getting its Tesla Model S sedan on the road by mid-2011.

Tesla Model S:

- By: Mo Eladawy

Source: CNET Green Tech

Alright, so to change the pace a little with our ‘Miscellaneous Thoughts’ posts, we thought we’d put together a full video edition. So here you go…

Ferrari F430 catches fire after accident: A Ferrari F430 went up in flames after an accident in Sibiu, Romania. No one was seriously injured but the car was a total loss. – WCF

Tesla Roadster Rally: Tesla Motors hosted a road rally this past weekend to commemorate the company’s 500th Roadster delivery and the one-year anniversary of its first retail store. You can check out photos from the rally over at Speed and Motion.

Edmunds drives the Hennessey Camaro HPE550: The folks over at Edmunds took a spin in the 562-hp Hennessey Camaro HPE550. Check out the video after the jump. – Edmunds

- By: Mo Eladawy

Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla Motors, is now one of the aftermarket entrepreneurs of Tesla electric-cars. When Eberhard left Tesla in January of 2008, he said that he planned to start another company entirely in the green tech field.

Eberhard now writes over at his blog at http://www.teslafounders.com. In a recent entry, Eberhard said that he is busy building mobile chargers for the Tesla Roadster.

“I originally intended to build one for myself,” Eberhard wrote. “Then for a few friends. Now I am swamped with requests from Roadster owners who want a more flexible mobile charging solution. I plan to write a blog about my little charger one of these days. But then there is my ‘real’ job that already takes 110 percent of my time!”

We’re excited to see what Eberhard comes up with.

Tesla Roadster:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Tesla Founders (via Inside Line)

Tesla announced yesterday that it will open a total of seven regional sales and service centers this summer. In the United States, Tesla plans on opening a store in New York, Seattle and Chicago in June. Following those three stores Tesla will open up shop in Miami. 

Later this month, Tesla will open a store in London, followed by Munich and Monaco.

“Tesla takes its showroom cues from Apple, Starbucks and other customer-focused retailers,” Tesla said in a statement. “Tesla stores provide a welcoming spot to surf the Web, test drive cars and learn more about Tesla, the only production automaker selling highway-capable EVs in North America or Europe.”

“We are rethinking almost every aspect of the automobile – from the powertrain to the customer experience, both online and in our stores,” said Tesla CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk. 

Earlier this week, Tesla announced that it delivered its 500th Roadster in the United States. The California-based automaker will begin producing the $128,500 Roadster Sport later this month. 

It has also received over 1,000 reservations for the Model S sedan.

- By: Omar Rana

Tesla Motors announced today that a New Jersey (our home-base) philanthropist has taken delivery of the 500th Tesla Roadster. Martin Tuchman, former chairman and CEO of Interpool, plans on charging his Roadster partly with solar energy with photovoltaic panels he helped install throughout his hometown of Kingston, NJ.

“My Roadster drives like a dream — it’s amazing,” said Tuchman. He plans to use his twilight blue Roadster as his primary commuter car.

Tuchman will be taking advantage of the HOV commuter lanes on the NJ Turnpike while he enjoys a $7,500 federal tax credit.  Zero-emission vehicles are exempt from New Jersey sales, use and luxury taxes as well.

Click through for the press release and the high-res image gallery.

Tesla Roadster:

Press Release:

Tesla Motors Delivers 500th Roadster

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A New Jersey philanthropist was the 500th person to take ownership of a Tesla Roadster, an important milestone for the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer.

Martin Tuchman, former chairman and CEO of Interpool, is chairman of The Tuchman Foundation and a board member of The Parkinson’s Alliance and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He plans to charge his Roadster partly with solar energy thanks to photovoltaic panels he helped install throughout his hometown of Kingston, NJ.

“My Roadster drives like a dream — it’s amazing,” said Tuchman, a former automotive engineer and owner of a 1967 Mercedes 250 and a 1993 Jaguar convertible. Tuchman converted his 1937 Chris-Craft into an electric boat so he could take it on nearby Lake Carnegie, which prohibits gas-powered boats. He plans to use his Roadster as his primary commuter car.

Tuchman took delivery of a Twilight Blue Roadster last weekend, a few weeks before the anticipated opening of a Tesla showroom in New York’s Chelsea Art District. Greater New York is Tesla’s largest market outside of California, and local EV owners enjoy numerous incentives.

Zero-emission vehicles are exempt from New Jersey sales, use and luxury taxes. Single occupants of alternative-fuel vehicles may also use the high-occupancy commuter lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike. These incentives are on top of a $7,500 US federal tax credit, which fully applies to all Tesla Roadsters.

Tesla will also soon be opening stores in Chicago, London, Seattle, Miami, Washington, Monaco and Munich. Tesla will begin deliveries in Europe this summer.

San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla is the only production automaker selling highway-capable EVs in the United States or Europe. The Roadster beats nearly every other car for acceleration yet is twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius. It costs roughly $4 to refuel and can be completely recharged in as little as 3.5 hours.

Michael van der Sande, Tesla Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Service and Marketing, called the 500th delivery an important symbol for the world’s newest production automaker.

“We now have more than 500 real-world customers providing valuable feedback on our cars and contributing to Tesla’s spirit of continuous improvement,” van der Sande said. “We intend to leverage our first-mover advantage and continue to build brand loyalty for years – from our 500th to our 500,000th delivery.”

- By: Kap Shah