A first-hand account: Drag racing the Tesla Roadster
The man behind the wheel of the bright orange Tesla that was spotted at Infineon Raceway whilst it was setting an impressively quick 12.7 second quarter-mile time has written about the event. As you might imagine, Iain Morrison, a Test and Validation Engineer at the fledgling automaker, had quite a good time sending the electrified Roadster down the good 'ol 1320, and we're feeling quite envious. Mr. Morrison mentions the poor reaction time that he posted during his first run but points out that it doesn't affect the timing of the run any, so the timeslip stands.
The driver also mentions how repeatable the Roadster's performance happens to be... just slam on the gas at the right time and don't let up 'till the end. How could it be any easier than that? For this reason, the Tesla Roadster with drivetrain 1.5, and any other single-speed electric vehicle for that matter, will be an excellent bracket car. Unfortunately, only one timed run was completed before Iain was asked to leave. It seems that track safety personnel didn't believe that the car had a roll bar, which is required for any convertible that's as quick as the Tesla. Now, any Tesla Roadster owners out there willing to try and beat Iain's time?
Gallery: Orange Tesla Roadster
[Source: Tesla Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tankd0g 11:54PM (11/12/2008)
1 speed transmission drag racing. Exciting.
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