My Tesla Arrived!

Look, now people are on their knees in front of you with this car =P
Nice batNANOmobil ; )

Ho and...Is it me or is their something written in sanskrit-संस्कृतम here.... ; )

SHOTGUN!!! I called it!!

Woo-hoo! They just delivered it tonight. Excited beyond words…

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Comments

tifotter says:

Cool! How is it? Having fun?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Jaako says:

ohhh man....

hating you a little bit right now. =)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

AGrinberg says:

Giving rides to all your Flickr friends? :)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

aminorjourney says:

I dig the color choice. Nice. :)

Enjoy driving it and please don't wrap it around a tree, or offer to jack up a Mercedes! ;)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

The Sage of Shadowdale says:

Pfft... Big deal. I've got 3 in my garage already. :D
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

rrelam says:

What is the actual range, and how long does it take to charge via household plug?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

ravenwoman_9 says:

Great score!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Tayne says:

New mechanical toys are always good.
I'll assume that since its engineered by Lotus then it will be great to be drive.

As others have asked, I would also like to know how it performs day to day, in terms of running costs, charge time, range, whether range is dramatically effected by having the radio on or such like.

I love the fact that you've put in solar panels to charge it. Do they only run only to the car? Are they the only source the car has? Do you mind me asking whta that set up cost? I'll understand if you don't want to say.
Thanks
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

schoschie says:

Congrats!
There were some short reports about it on TV here in Germany lately as the first ones have been delivered to Europe. Waiting for the day I can spot one here.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Ramones Karaoke says:

Cool. Is that officially the Thousand Yard Grin? I have a meeting with Tesla next week, looking forward to that. I'll ask how demanding their lead customer was ...

It does look *GREAT* you know. Like a really good Lotus. And I've had a really good Lotus and a really bad Lotus!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Emily Kay Photography says:

Congrats! I'm jealous! Have fun with your amazing car!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Pedro Duarte Jorge says:

yey!!!! lucky guy!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

mantruc says:

wondefrul, congrats!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

« Joseph » says:

Beautiful Steve! Been watching these guys through the tumultuous journey to get this far, and I'm still convinced (despite the rough spots) that they're going to be a (*the*?) leader in the paradigm shift.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Shamagu says:

Congrats Steve, wave to me in my white Prius as you blow by on the 280.

You are green with zero carbon emissions.
I am green with envy.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

aaron_f says:

congrats and Im so jealous now. why cant anyone make a decent electric car that is affordable? Im hoping the Think Ox comes out soon. oh and how much for a ride?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

xouroborus says:

awesome! maybe you can take me out for a spin someday?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

TEG2 says:

Enjoy it! The wait is finally over!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

j_silla says:

Nice. Happy for you. I was curios about how many movies has this roadster been in and found a database, that had listed 2: The Iron Man and a doc: Who Killed the Electric Car. www.imcdb.org/vehicles.php?make=tesla&mod el=
but Ford T come up over a 1000 times
www.imcdb.org/vehicles.php?make=ford+&mod el=t
The Tesla looks like a classic that should last as well.

Some interesting comments on the subject at the end of this article - www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_31/b 4044419.htm?...
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

benjiman says:

Nice. Congrats. Be careful with that...
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

firexbrat says:

ha ! I saw the title before I saw the pic and thought you had ordered a Tesla coil to make lightening for some reason. I assume the car uses some similar coil method?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

zenera says:

pretty!!*
what are you going to call it...
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Apollo 11 says:

I really can't express the depths of my envy! :) That is a cool car!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

~Reshma~ says:

Steve, is everyday like a Birthday for you? Excitement, surprise, presents, friends (like Obama)... :-)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

rocketmavericks says:

Where do we install the Q motor?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

menlo says:

Please keep us informed about the repair history.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

egoboss says:

beautiful - as one would expect, being based on a lotus elise!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Victor1 says:

no doggie tricks for this one please Steve ! (e.g. bmw) Looks Killer! Can't wait for a ride in it. Pedals on both sides?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

drona says:

congrats...now, your only challenge is going to be to keep it "between the lines"

:)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

thanks y'all. Gosh, I just love this car, and I think this is a new experience for me. I last felt something like this when I got my first Apple ][ in 1978. But never with a car. I was “happy” and a bit “excited” when I got other new cars, like a V12 BMW coupe a few years back, but it was a kinda like a fun first date that you just know won’t go anywhere long term. Not that I have dated much, but it’s the only analogy I can think of.

Victor, drona, xouroborus: I keep repeating to myself: "go for a spin, not a flip"

AshwinK: heh, I thought every day was Halloween....

zenera: looking for naming suggestions. "green machine" is a bit trite... Sequester... EVe... Beta... Sol... when I thought I was going to get the metallic red one: Ruby on Rails

menlo : glad to see you are perpetually sour. I was worried that you just hated Obama. =)

j_silla: Bob from the movie works for Tesla now!

rrelam and Tayne: The solar panels connect to the house and the car hangs off that too. One great option in California is net metering with time-of-day pricing. So the solar panels send power back to the grid during their peak hours (from noon to 6), and the Tesla charges at night... and the utility offers a 3:1 pricing ratio between those times. So three hours of charging at night only needs one hour of afternoon solar. The utility does the time shifting, and with a huge cost advantage to the consumer. So far, recharging has taken about 2 hours (but I have not driven long distances yet). The commute use case for me is compelling: I never worry about range since I plug in each night, and leave with a full tank of electrons each morning. Charge time could be 3x slower and it wouldn't be noticed by me.

Tayne: driving cost is free to me because of the solar. But if I was paying, the car's touch screen has a calculator (and all kinds of cool graphs) that shows that I use less than $1 of electricity per day.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Tayne says:

Did they give you a guarantee on how long the batteries will last?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Gone-Walkabout says:

you lucky dog
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

onesock05 says:

How about sharing any other pics?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

Waiting for the next one, en route to our parking lot, to arrive... I have a photo idea in mind...

Meanwhile, the best story so far came when I parked in a 2 hour zone. A meter maid drove up in her cart, tire-chalker in hand, and she just stopped and stared: “That’s just too beautiful for me to mark.”

And she drove by to mark the next car.

The Tesla made a meter maid friendly!!!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Jaako says:

now thats an accomplishment.

Actually, I'm curious about the batteries too.
How long do they last and whats the replacement cost?

I recently had to dole out hundred-something-$ for a new powerbook battery after three years. not horrible all things considered, but I can imagine that cost being a power of magnitude higher with the kind of batteries the Tesla runs with.

thoughts?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

We'll see how long they last. Laptop usage patterns (drainage cycles and temperature) are about as bad as you can get for battery lifetime. Tesla liquid cools the batteries and runs fiber optic sensors along all of them for longevity management. We may only have accelerated testing to guide us on ultimate lifetimes, and that may be biased if the temp is regulated. Your milage may vary. =)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )