Tesla Test-Drive: The Silver Bullet

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Malibu, with puffy white clouds left over from the rain, I had the opportunity to test-drive drive the Sterling Silver Roadster VP10. After driving down from Santa Barbara in my Mitsubishi 3000GT Spyder (which the Roadster will replace, shown below), I met three Tesla representatives: Zak Edson, Darryl Siry, and Aaron Platshon, and we spent a while chatting about the Roadster, with the occasional interruption from googly-eyed Pepperdine undergrads. One particularly noteworthy detail: the 3.5-hour recharge time is dictated not the battery pack itself, but rather by the 70-amp limit of the home charging unit. With an industrial-strength charger, the Roadster's input could theoretically accept over 200 amps, and top off in about an hour! This is brilliant news for those of us pondering roundtrips between LA and SF, presuming Tesla can make such a charging station available. Back in Malibu, I first expected to be taken for a short spin to get used to the car, but instead, Darryl simply tossed me the car keys and said "go!"

So, with Darryl riding shotgun, we drove up Malibu Canyon past Pepperdine, and along twisty Mulholland Drive. Zak and Aaron followed behind in their silver 328i chase car. My driving soon became more aggressive, and the car's handling soon felt natural. The Roadster was pleasure to drive, even without first gear; there was plenty of acceleration (0-60 in about 5.6 seconds, compared to the theoretical 5.3 for my Spyder), and I can only imagine what first gear will feel like! The acceleration off the line was a thrill, and I found several opportunities to test 0-60 on a straightaway, as well as the motor-mediated 60-0 braking. The braking felt somewhat different from my other car; less of a friction-based grind, and more the sensation of a spring being wound up, which is more or less the case.This made the brake feel slightly over-controlled, but I'm sure this will be tweaked for the production models. On the regeneration front, my preference would actually be for less regen; when I take my foot off the accelerator, I expect and prefer the feel of efficient coasting, particularly at highway speeds. (Too much regen makes me constantly feel like I need to upshift.) One size obviously doesn't fit all in this department, and I hope Tesla finds a way to incorporate user-adjustable regeneration settings; or perhaps have it adjustable at the dealer during servicing.

Compared to my familiar Spyder, the most noticeable handling difference was the steering wheel itself. The Roadster lacks power steering, and this fact, when combined with the Elise-vintage 12" steering wheel, made twisty roads feel like the Teacups at Disneyland: Oodles of torque, applied to a fairly small disc; resulting in dizzying changes in direction. I suppose that this goes with European sports-car tradition (by contrast, my Japanese-made Spyder has a power-assisted 15" steering wheel, decidedly on the luxury-sport side), and it's obvious that a short time with the Roadster will do wonders for one's arm strength, let alone motion-tolerance! Still, this didn't prevent me from cornering hard enough to feel the computer limiting the throttle as I accelerated into the turn; the car is over a thousand pounds lighter than my Spyder, and felt incredibly responsive and well-balanced both in turns and on straightaways. The driver's seat, though non-adjustable, was surprisingly comfortable, particularly compared to the red EP2 prototype I squeezed into at the TED conference last March. Even after forty miles of high-speed twists and turns, my body felt fine, though my head was definitely spinning... Nice job, Tesla!

No car is perfect (though the Roadster comes impressively close), and my most prominent area of concern was with the driver-side blind spot. Preparing to merge left, my reflexive over-the-shoulder glance yielded an expansive view of the B-pillar and not much else, giving an oddly claustrophobic sensation (and I am 6'0"). As a conscientious driver, I don't like to rely on mirrors exclusively while changing lanes, especially in unpredictable city traffic (and particularly in LA, where the crazy drivers are out in, er, droves). I'd prefer it if the Roadster had slightly larger, wider-angle side-view mirrors (e.g. Multivex Mirrors), or perhaps some sort of active warning system (e.g. Volvo's BLIS) to compensate for the limited rear views. I'm sure Zak would say that the blind spots are small enough that only another Tesla could fit into them (which may be fine THIS year, but what when it's the most popular car out there??)... Come to think of it, it might be appropriate for Tesla to offer a training course to emphasize safe lane-changing techniques, as well as proper mirror adjustment. The Roadster feels different enough from the average car to warrant this, and these skills should NOT be learned by trial and error!

Naturally, no test drive would be complete without a thorough shakedown of the car's audio system, soft-top, cruise control, bluetooth cellphone integration, carbon-fiber hardtop, A/C controls, night-driving ability, iPod connector, wet-weather performance, heated seats, navigation system, low-gear acceleration, and cup-holder! To this end, I must humbly request a follow-up test drive, posthaste... ;-) My color choices are locked in (Thunder Gray, with red and black interior leather), and I eager await the day I can ease my very own Tesla Roadster into my red-carpeted driveway!

Special thanks to the Tesla team for such a wonderful opportunity,
-Ben