We last heard from the all-electric K.08 from Ken Okuyama Cars at the Geneva Motor Show but as the months slipped by we started to wonder whether the car was still a go. Finally, news has started to trickle in. First, we learned that Ken Okuyama Design had hired long-time Chrysler designer Michael Castiglione, who penned the Dodge Challenger Concept, to do some work on future cars and furniture. Now we've learned that Okuyama-san held a press conference in a Tokyo parking garage yesterday where he was accompanied by the gas-powered and topless K.07 as well as the K.08. The talk centered mostly around the K.07 which has buyers for the entire 2008 output of 24 vehicles. The queue for the 99 units to be built next year will officially start forming on the 1st of November. As for the K.08, the prototype at the conference lacked both battery and motor which is not to say it won't be built but will likely take some more time to get the electric drivetrain together. Hopefully it won't take too long since the K.07 is also supposed to be available in an all-electric version as is the upcoming K.09 to be unveiled at the next Geneva Motor Show. So, what's this car have to do with the Tesla Roadster? Believe it or not, they both share British DNA from the Lotus Elise.



[Source: Autoblog / Autocar]

Matthias Willenbacher runs this German green energy company called Juwi and like others in his position, had a strong interest in a car that could be powered by renewable energy. He somehow not only got hold of a Tesla Roadster to try out, but also some green sports car consulting expertise in the guise of one Heinz-Harald Frentzen, fellow countryman and former Formula 1 driver. We recently noted Heinz-Harold has his own hybrid racing team which employs the greener version of the Gumpert Apollo.

Apparently the test drive went quite well, if our ability to translate French is accurate. Although the Roadster wasn't likely to impress the racing car driver on the Autobahn with its 125 mph top speed, the quickness with which it arrived there must have. According to Le Blog Auto, Mr. Willenbacher has ordered up 11 of the electric beauties. Why 11? We don't know. If it were us, we'd have definitely gone for an even dozen. When the cars are finished being built they won't all be delivered to the Willenbacher estate but rather to his company headquarters (which, incidentally, produces more energy than it consumes), where they will serve as official company vehicles. We expect Juwi may soon be flooded with applications from eager thrill job seekers.

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

A couple of weeks ago we told you that Tesla was talking to the producers of Top Gear about having Jeremy Clarkson try out the Roadster. At the time Darryl Siry told us nothing had been finalized yet and we don't know if that has changed. What we do know is that the "other British car show," Fifth Gear, has already driven the Roadster. During the Goodwood Festival of Speed last July, Fifth Gear presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson strapped on a Roadster for the big hill climb event. Much like everyone else who has driven the Roadster, she was impressed with the immediate torque and the silent operation. I can't wait to see the Stig take this to the track. Check out the video after the jump. Thanks to Andy for the tip!

[Source: YouTube]

It looks like the wait might soon be over for aspiring Tesla Roadster owners as the company has just announced that it has completed validation of the upgraded drivetrain 1.5. Tesla has so far delivered 27 cars to customers with the interim drivetrain and another 23 cars are in progress. According to Tesla SVP Darryl Siry, 11 more cars will have the interim drivetrains installed for initial delivery. From that point on, within the next 2-3 weeks, the company will start installing the new drivetrains - including the upgraded motor, power electronics and single speed gearbox. For production, veteran transmission manufacturer BorgWarner will build the gearboxes for Tesla. Over the last several months, Tesla has been testing cars with the same transmission design manufactured both by BorgWarner and in-house at Tesla but ultimately chose BorgWarner.

Now that the powertrain is ready, Tesla will ramp production starts from four cars per week to ten per week. By next March, Tesla hopes to be up to 40 cars per week. The upgrades mean the Roadster's motor now goes from 211 to 280 lb-ft of torque, while the range also increases by ten percent to 244 miles. Over the coming months, the 38 cars that are delivered with interim powertrains will also be retrofitted with the new hardware. Sounds like it's time for another Tesla Roadster drive.

[Source: Tesla Motors]

Ever since Tesla Motors started letting outsiders actually drive the Roadster late last year the reviews of the over-the-road experience have been largely favorable. In recent months, Tesla has been taking the Roadster on a European tour trying to drum up sales on the continent. One of the people who drove the Roadster was Guido Reinking, editor of Automobilewoche. Reinking praised the performance saying "the car offered the emotional, heart-pounding ride of a street racer." However, he also highlighted powertrain and battery issues we haven't heard about before, aside from the well-documented transmission issues.

Of the three cars available for the test drive, one apparently didn't run at all, while a second reportedly emitted smoke from the battery compartment. Reinking uses these issues to highlight the problem of battery reliability and why the Roadster might not be ready for mass production. However, we checked with Tesla SVP of marketing Darryl Siry who was also on hand for these 16 days of media and prospective customer drives. According to Darryl, two of the three cars on hand were equipped with the new 1.5 drivetrain while the third had the 1.0 interim drivetrain. Siry tells us that the car that wouldn't go had a faulty parking pawl sensor. The parking pawl is essentially a locking mechanism for the transmission that keeps the car from rolling when the gear lever is in park just as it does on a conventional automatic. The sensor erroneously detected park being engaged and prevented the car from moving. Read on after the jump for more on the "smoky" battery.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click on the image above to enlarge

What do the Tango, Tesla Roadster and Wrightspeed X1 all have in common? Easy, they are all ridiculously quick and sporty electric cars. And now, they've all gotten together for a quick photoshoot and some lunch. While we'd love to snag a ride in any and all of these awesome electrics, a lucky Tesla Motors Club Forum member who goes by the handle 'TEG' has scored a ride or drive in at least two of them. Yes, we are totally jealous. But, at least TEG was nice enough to share some experiences of both Martin Eberhard's Tesla Roadster and the (now blue) Wrightspeed of Ian Wright. He says, "If the Tesla feels like a trapdoor opened and gravity took over, the X1 feels like you were shot out of a cannon. Also in many sports cars you explore the limits of the suspension, but the X1 seems so connected that you are really just exploring the limits of the tires." Yeah. Did we mention that we are jealous?

[Source: Tesla Motors Club Forum]

The lead mouth-piece at Top Gear, the incomparable Jeremy Clarkson, has a mixed record when it comes to greener vehicles. He did great with a round trip from London to Edinburgh in an diesel Audi A8, averaging over 33 mpg. However, his more recent encounter with the electric G-Wiz ended less favorably. The UK daily The Independent is reporting that on the next series of the best car show ever created, Clarkson will try again with battery power. This time around he will be going a little more upscale as he is to sample the Tesla Roadster. We checked with Tesla's SVP Darryl Siry to find out which version of the Roadster that Top Gear would be driving, drivetain 1.5, 2-speed or interim single speed. Siry was unaware of the British report. He confirmed that Tesla had been in contact with Top Gear producers but nothing has been scheduled or confirmed yet. He did tell ABG that "You can bet it will be with our best foot forward," implying that when the test happens it will be with the upgraded drivetrain 1.5.

Clarkson's a fairly big guy so it will be interesting to see how he fits in the car when the drive does happen. He will no doubt be pleased with the performance of the Roadster, and it will be interesting to see what kind of range the Top Gear crew will be able to muster when the Roadster is driven in their usual manner. It will also be interesting to see what self-improvement recording the Stig listens to as he takes to the track in the Roadster. Thanks to Jamie for the tip!

[Source: The Independent, Tesla Motors]

Tesla's SVP of marketing Darryl Siry has been on another sales tour of Europe filling in the magazines over there on the company's future product plans. For the most part there was nothing new that we haven't already reported on here over the past year. The upcoming Model S (formerly known as WhiteStar) will not be sharing a platform with any existing vehicle. That doesn't mean every single component of the car will be completely bespoke. It wouldn't make financial sense to build every single part just for this one car, so parts like brakes, steering hardware and perhaps even some suspension bits will be borrowed from other cars. According to Siry, the Model S design is about 90 percent done.

For the Model S and future programs, Tesla's engineers have reconfigured the battery pack to make it more practical for different body configurations. The Roadster's pack is upright and sits in the middle of the car behind the passenger compartment. For the new car, a low-slung pack that fits under the floor will be used. When we contacted Siry he declined to comment on whether Tesla would continue to use the laptop type cells for the new pack or switch to one of the new larger format cells being designed for automotive use. The under-floor setup mirrors the configuration being used by many other EV manufacturers. Continue reading after the jump.

[Sources: AutoCar, CAR, Tesla Motors]

Well, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that a Tesla Roadster, number six it seems, has been crashed in San Francisco. The good news is that the machine is likely not totaled and its battery pack is undamaged. So, the owner of the car hopefully won't need to go too long without his black beauty. According to eye-witnesses at the scene, the Roadster went rather unnoticed due to its silent operation, which may (or may not, who knows?) have contributed to the accident. This is the first customer car to be involved in an accident, though you may recall that Founders Series car number two, which was to be handed over to Martin Eberhard, was damaged in transit to its new owner. Fortunately, that car was also repaired and has now been delivered.

Though the airbags did not deploy, the unfortunate Roadster was wedged underneath a Mercedes-Benz in front after being rear-ended by a Toyota Camry. The police report has yet to be seen, so we have no idea who was at fault. Thanks to all who sent this in!

[Source: Hey.com - photo: Alex Volkov]

Click above for more shots of TEG's Tesla drive

There's a new Tesla Roadster review making its rounds on the interweb. So, what makes this particular review special? After all, it's not like we haven't read numerous reports from those lucky enough to find themselves in the drivers seat of the stunning electric roadster, including one from our very own Sam Abuelsamid. This particular ride report comes courtesy of Mr. Martin Eberhard, who just recently got the keys to the Roadster he'd been waiting to receive seemingly forever. The lucky driver goes by the name TEG, and it sounds like he very much enjoyed his time with Martin and the brand spankin' new EV.

Not everything with the car is perfect, of course, with entry and exit being the main usability complaint. Also, Martin's car is still fitted with the first-generation drivetrain, meaning it only has use of second gear in the two-speed transmission. Production Tesla's will get what's known internally as drivetrain 1.5, which features a single gear with a slightly more powerful motor. Check out the entire story here, and feel free to watch a quick video of the encounter after the break.


[Source: Tesla Founders Blog]

The freshly unveiled all-electric Lightning GT we showed you yesterday is certainly garnering a lot of attention and video tape at this years British International Motor Show. We received a message from British electric-car vlogger, Danny, telling us he had footage of the hi-tech silver beauty having its shroud publicly removed. We rushed to watch it and happily discovered he also had his own mini Q & A session with Lightning Car Company representative, Chris Dell. We got to hear some very interesting tidbits that answer some of the questions we've been getting. For instance, the range is less than we hoped for at about 150 to 180 miles (this should come as no surprise since the Altairnano batteries only have half the energy density of the cells used by Tesla). However, the size of the 36 Kwh battery pack can be increased. Mr Dell informs us the "nought to sixty" time should be under 4 seconds with its top speed limited to 130 mph. Just as impressive as its Tesla-challenging numbers was the way it looked with its linen removed, spinning on the turntable.

Another comment we heard a lot yesterday was that it's still vapor because it's not driveable. Our second video, though brief, dumps a lake full of cold water on this assumption. From RockaboxMedia comes teaser footage of the Lightning GT looking quite at home on a length of track. In true teaser fashion, most of the clip is soundless and in slow-motion but they promise they will bring us a full documentary on the creation and launch of the car. Unfortunately, they aren't sharing the embed code so you must go to YouTube to see it.

The last video we want to bring to your attention today is an Al Jazeera news piece that seems to hold the spotlight on the Lightning GT. We are briefly shown the NICE Mega City but most of the report seems to be spent contrasting the Tesla Roadster with the new UK contender. Find out which vehicle the British-accented presenter prefers as well as Danny's video after the jump.


[Source: Danny's Contentment / YouTube]

Over at the Tesla Motors blog, future Roadster owner Ken Jacobs has written a guest post about his recent visit to England. While he and his wife were in the UK, they hopped over to Hethel, the home of Lotus and primary assembly site of the Roadster. They were given a tour of the factory and the assembly line where Lotus employees take the thousands of bits and pieces that comprise a Roadster and bolt them together. The regular Elise assembly line has been modified to simultaneously accommodate both the Roadster and the Elise. At the moment, Roadsters are still only being started at the rate of around 4 cars per week, although that should increase rapidly later in August as Tesla prepares to switch over to the updated drivetrain. Lotus assembles "gliders" whose motor and battery get installed once the rolling chassis arrives in California. Tesla is ships the cars by boat from England, a trip that takes several weeks.

[Source: Tesla]

Over at the old gray lady, Joe Nocera has cast a jaundiced eye upon the phenomenon that is Tesla Motors and comes away with the conclusion that the Chevy Volt will come away as the winner. In fact Nocera seems very skeptical that pure battery electric cars will be a viable mainstream prospect anytime soon. Certainly based solely on the example of Tesla, it does not seem likely that a start-up will succeed in producing an EV for the masses profitably anytime soon. As I've said here many times building an affordable mass market car is actually a lot harder than building a high-dollar sports car, and Tesla has clearly shown that even that is no easy feat. Tesla hopes to build the Model S sedan in about two years at a cost starting at $60,000. The model S is unlikely to match the nominal range of the Roadster at the base price, especially when you consider that it will be a much larger heavier car made of aluminum rather than carbon fiber (over an aluminum structure). Even the Roadster only achieves a little more than half its nominal range of 227 miles when driven hard. Contrary to Elon Musk who thinks hybrids and ER-EVs are a red herring, Nocera feels that the Volt is a far more viable candidate for success.

What Nocera doesn't touch on is the small Japanese EVs that are coming from the likes of Mitsubishi, Subaru and Nissan. Mitsubishi in particular seems extremely confident about the iMiEV. Only time will tell.

[Source: New York Times]

Tesla Motors held the grand opening of its Northern California dealership in Menlo Park Saturday evening. A slew of valet parkers greeted. Then, I walked down the red carpet past an orange Tesla Roadster to the large showroom. Beyond the gazpacho cocktails and first of three full bars one entered the even larger service area where the Elon Musk and Ze'ev Drori mingled among the hundred or so invited guests.

Conversation with various Tesla personnel revealed that founder Martin Eberhard received his repaired Roadster earlier in the day. Presumably his blog will shortly contain his first impressions. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was told, will be delivered his Roadster within a few weeks, although the color remains top secret. Once he and the state's First Lady Maria Shriver spend some time driving this powerful and impressive electric car one can only hope state policies will begin to reflect the near-term role that plug-in cars can play in carbon and petroleum reduction.

click the photo of Eberhard and his car for a high res gallery

We are now happy to officially confirm what yesterday seemed a likely fait accompli. Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla Motors, has now happily received his very own "Founders' Series" Tesla Roadster. The car,shiny gray with double orange stripes and a matching interior, was silently delivered by Tesla employees early on Saturday morning to Eberhard's solar panel-equipped home. After signing off on all the paperwork and getting the official walk-through of the Roadsters special features, Martin and his wife, Carolyn, were left holding the keys as the rising sun highlighted the orange accents of the beckoning electric sports car. Time to go for a ride!

The trio spent the morning together traveling the very roads for which the Tesla was designed. We suspect Martin's grin only grew wider every time a slower-moving vehicle appeared in his cars sights, giving him yet another opportunity to experience the "never-ending torque" the Roadster delivers while overtaking. You can read all about Martin's first day with his roadster at his blog, Tesla Founders Blog. Bookmark it, as he promises to update that space frequently now with more photos and Roadster observations.


[Source: Tesla Founders Blog via Tesla Motors Club]