2009 Tesla Roadster | PH Review

We drive one of the few electric Teslas already delivered in the UK

It was a sharp but bright day when I arrived at ecurie25 to pick up the Tesla Roadster offered to members via their fleet - an early US prototype-spec version, and only the 15th UK Tesla to arrive in the UK.

While the car is not the most up-to-date model, I was pretty excited about a chance to drive the first all-electric sports car in the world, plus being an automotive engineer in a previous life my interest in the techy aspects of the Tesla was peaking too. The Geek is strong in this one.

First impressions? Well, it just looks like an Elise, doesn't it? Okay it does, and with good reason being based on the lithe Lotus, but I find it looks different enough to have its own style about it. It certainly has a more American look to it, but I think being Elise based it was going to struggle to be ugly. This example is in a rather uninspiring colour choice of silver with black wheels which doesn't help either. The red and black interior spices things up a bit, but it's when you open the doors and peak in that the Elise origins really shine through. It truly is just a Lotus with a bit more leather - same none adjustable steering wheel, same wide sills, same letterbox-sized door opening to clamber through and the same poor all-round visibility. (Later UK cars have a different interior to the Ecurie25 version.)

Okay, so I'm not exactly small at 6'3", but I'd forgotten how awkward getting into an Elise (or derivative) with the roof on is. One does not have the option to stay looking cool. Luckily it was a nice enough day so off came the roof and I stepped in and slid down into the nicely padded seats. It's a shame that ecurie25's example is LHD, but Tesla won't deliver the first RHD drive cars until next month.

The first bit of oddity happens now. Seatbelt on, key in the ignition, depress brake pedal, turn to 'On' position. No noise. Pull gearlever (there is only one gear, but P, D or R are all selectable) into Drive. No noise. Lift foot off brake pedal - car creeps forward. Hardly any noise. Very spooky.

As I head out onto the streets around Kings Cross it all feels rather surreal, cruising around with the only noise being some tyre roar and the general creaking, rattling and crashing commensurate with an Elise. But it's only when the first of many pedestrians blindly walk out in front of me that I realise two things. Firstly - the car might as well be silent and I need to be more aware of that fact. Secondly - the brakes aren't very good.

There is a huge amount of retardation when you come off the accelerator, which takes a lot of getting used to in town - it's about equal to pressing the brake pedal about 30% down in traffic. Definitely caught me out the first time. So - this car is teaching me a few things already. I get a couple of chances to squeeze the accelerator in town, but traffic is pretty thick. I head out of town towards Surrey to do a bit of silent hooning and come across my first dual carriageway.

Coming off a roundabout, 25mph, straight open road in front of me, floor the throttle pedal. There's a relentless surge of acceleration, followed by an eerie noise a little bit like a washing machine on fast spin. The acceleration is really surprising - not only is this a seriously quick car, but it's the way it does it that really boggles the mind. There are no breaks in the internal organ punishment, just one long surge of G-force, and all of a sudden you look down and you've broken quite a few laws. When I say it's quick, I think I should make an attempt to quantify it somehow. After considerable thought I'd say the feel, the way the acceleration feels on your body, is somewhere between a 997 Turbo and a Gallardo. It's that quick.

When you get to the twisty bits it all goes a bit pear shaped though. It may look like an Elise, but it weighs 1238kg, and about 400kg of that is battery pack, which is above the rear axle, just below the engine cover. Not the best place for all that weight, and it really shows in the corners as the Tesla rolls a lot more than you would expect. It understeers a lot too, but the constant availability of 100% torque is always there if you want to turn under into over. When it does break free at the back it's quite progressive, and easily gathered up. Just don't rely too much on the brakes on your way into a corner, as they aren't really up to the job. Lacking in feel and a bit spongy, on this particular loan car at least they don't inspire confidence. I think it's down to the fact that at town speeds it barely needs its brakes. The steering is good though, straight from the Lotus part bin so it's razor sharp.

Of course, there's one thing you can't escape when driving the Tesla - the constant eye-flick down to the power gauge. When I picked it up, it said 250 miles left. I'd done about 45 miles and now it was telling me I had 125 miles left. Does not compute. Better rethink my route then, as that means I've only got another 45 miles left by my current driving style. You start to think "Hmm, should I plug in my iPod? Should I use the heater?"

My route happily took me past PH towers, so I called in for a cuppa and a chinwag. Whilst there, Chris-R informs me that they have an electric car charging point outside and it's 3-phase too so I should be able to top up my juice. Unfortunately it shows up a slight failing - the charging cord isn't long enough to get from the charging point, past the parked cars, to the Tesla. So I'm still stuck with less than 50 miles range, but at least I've had a brew...

So after a bit more driving I arrived at my stopping point for the night and plugged the Tesla into a normal domestic power supply for a 14hr wait until it was full of juice - although owners get a 32amp charging point which does the job in six hours. This left me with plenty of time to ponder this anomaly of motoring. The eco-friendly, zero-emission (yes, yes, forgetting where the power came from) sports car.

My main question was this: who on earth is going buy a Tesla? Electric cars are best in town, for short journeys. For this the Tesla is useless, as it's crashy, uncomfortable, hard to get in and out of and you can't see a thing while driving. Sports cars are for driving, taking down your favourite roads and cross-country drives at 5am on a Sunday, but the Tesla can't really do this very well either. Not a good enough steer and certainly not a good enough range. So it's for those who want to be seen in 'the right car'. The one which will get talked about over their tofu salad with their friends. It's for eco-poseurs.

Another question one must ask is whether the Tesla is the future of motoring? Doom-mongerers tell us the days of the combustion engine are over, that electric cars are the way forward. I hope that isn't the case, as for me the Tesla is too many compromises in a fancy frock.

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Beefmeister

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