Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sports/GTs, Green, Porsche
Porsche on the waiting list for Tesla Roadster
Click above for high-res image gallery of Jason's Tesla Roadster
Electric vehicles... they're so hot right now. And none are hotter at the moment than the Tesla Roadster, which looks positively sublime in Very Orange paint. Even Porsche, the longtime purveyor of some of the world's best sporting hardware, is interested in the little electron powered machine. In fact, rumor has it that the German automaker is much more impressed with Silicon Valley's first ever sports car than it is with the lithium ion-powered E-Ruf electric 911. Is it too slow; too heavy; too expensive? Nobody knows for sure outside of Stuttgart's engineering offices, but we do know that the German automaker has placed an order for a Tesla Roadster of their very own for closer scrutiny. We'd imagine that the EV's dissection could offer some enlightening revelations to Porsche, rumored to be hard at work on an electric sportscar of its very own. Considering Porsche's recent history with other automaker's wares, this could get very interesting.
Gallery: Jason Calacanis' Tesla Roadster
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rygar 9:37AM (11/25/2008)
From that angle (main post pic) and that color, I could easily see the Tesla re-badged as a modern all-electric Porsche 914.
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MajorGeek 9:55AM (11/25/2008)
Was thinking the EXACT same thing +1. I have wondered why no one has bought Tesla out. Porsches design and engineering teams would make for a killer car, since most of us can't afford either one, seems like a good way to dominate the early electric car wars.
Greg 10:50AM (11/25/2008)
I came to the comments section to say something nearly identical.
Maybe they've noticed all the DIY'ers with electric 914s on YouTube and have some intentions of giving it a go.
914
914-6
and now a 914-0?
arturo 1:53PM (11/25/2008)
I ll rather have a home base company, that can showed ford,GM, and Chrysler how things are done. who knows tesla might be our next mayor car company.
Red 9:51AM (11/25/2008)
I like the summary:
"We suspect this is a case of Porsche engineers simply being upset over the "not invented here" aspect. They'll get over it and build the best lithium-ion racer ever."
Pretty much. Whine about it, then go out and try to one-up whoever they're whining about.
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Joel 1:56PM (11/25/2008)
Funny enough, Ferdinand Porsche made the first electric racer and the first hybrid.
el dorko 9:56AM (11/25/2008)
I like how you guys post all kinds of negative news against Tesla until Daddy Jason appears with one for you to drive. What a joke.
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Fau Veh 10:23AM (11/25/2008)
Perhaps they are just trying to prove that the e-Ruf 911 is faster around the Nurburgring than the Tesla Roadster.
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ajprice 10:27AM (11/25/2008)
If they make an electric car themselves, I bet it looks like a 911, even if its a small roadster or a big 4x4 or 4-door luxobarge.
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PJE 10:34AM (11/25/2008)
A couple of points.
1. 75% of the car was designed by Lotus. Only the power train was done by Tesla. If you load the Ruf motor/etc in a Lotus Elise you'd get pretty close to the Tesla.
2. It's standard practice in the automotive industry to get copies of any vehicle which can be seen as a competitor. Normally, this is done by swapping cars between manufacturers. Due to Tesla's size, and output, they couldn't do this otherwise the only cars on the road would be driven by other manufacturer's engineers, and their factory would look like an exotic second hand car lot.
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Avinash machado 10:36AM (11/25/2008)
Maybe Porsche could buy Tesla. It help them in meeting CAFE requirements and might help them get a bit of green cred too.
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cray 10:51AM (11/25/2008)
1. Tesla sends test driver to show them how to drive the car.
2. Tesla sends an Engineer to assist them building their own EV.
:P
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arturo 1:58PM (11/25/2008)
whichever company is not investing in green technology is falling behind quick. Kudos to Tesla, it seems to be getting the attention it deserves.
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irina clement 2:40PM (11/25/2008)
This electric car crap is going to take away all the fun out of driving and the pride of owning a exotic car. What makes a exotic car speicial is the internal combustion engine and the noises it makes, be it a six, eight, ten or twelve cylinder,and the feeling you get when you take the car out on a sunny day and hear and feel that engine power on the road, but it will not be there, just a high powered golf cart feeling completly souless and forced upon us by the green left wing. I hope porsche sticks with it does best, Pistons
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SimbaDogg 11:23PM (11/25/2008)
so you'd rather have a car that sounds fast...than actually have a car that is fast? you sound like the type of person that would put the biggest intake, and fart can exhaust exhaust on a sport compact, or sedan (better yet a wagon) and then say "hey the other day i ran a 16.4 at the track!"
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