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Living with the Tesla Roadster Sport: One week in an electric light orchestra

After finally getting myself situated in the back of the Boeing, I notice the lady to my left wearing a Tesla fleece. As fate, the alignment of the stars and unbridled dumb luck would have it, I was seated next to Rachel Konrad, Tesla's Senior Manager of Communications... for the next 10 hours. After exchanging pleasantries, discussing each other's plans for the Frankfurt Motor Show and getting acquainted, the topic of conversation naturally turned to cars, and the Tesla Roadster, in particular. "It's not just about performance," an overly animated Konrad told me. "What journalists ... Read More

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    Report: Lamborghini Aventador Roadster to use removable roof panel?
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    Forget cloth, the upcoming Lamborghini Aventador Roadster will use a removable two-piece carbon fiber hardtop, according to the Italian magazine Quattroruote. The weight-cutting measure means the convertible won't have to stack on the pounds just to include al fresco driving. The carbon fiber roof will weigh less than a cloth top and its underlying metal ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Official: Mini previews 2012 Life Ball Roadster
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    Mini has been involved with Life Ball, one of Europe's largest charity events, since the brand first bowed in 2001. This year, the automaker turned a brand-new Mini Roadster over to Franca Sozzani, chief editor of Italian Vogue, for a complete makeover. Sozzani dipped the convertible two door in matte Deepest Purple paint with contrasting rally stripes ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Geneva: Roding Roadster is fit for a role in The Avengers
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    The Roding Roadster 23 is here, and having been faithful to its renderings, it looks like it's come good. We knew it would have proper fenders from the latest drawings, but the red-and-black livery makes the little roofless coupe pop. Roding still hasn't decided to spill all of its secrets, not that it looks to have many, but we know there'll be just 23 ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Confirmed: Roding Roadster confirmed for Swiss reveal
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    The Roding Roadster 23 is one of the few complete surprises we'll expect at the Geneva Motor Show, the tiny Swiss company having managed to avoid getting its car snapped so far. In development for five years, the company's released a bit more info on it before the reveal: still limited to 23 examples, the turbocharged inline-six has been identified as a ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Report: Tesla libel suit against Top Gear fails again
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    Tesla and the company's lawyers are nothing if not determined. After a judge smacked down the electric vehicle manufacturer's libel suit against the BBC and Top Gear for comments made about the range of the Tesla Roadster, the automaker rallied with a second, amended lawsuit. It didn't take long for the the same judge to nix the new case, too, saying the ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Followup: Tesla bricked battery story may have a short circuit
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    Yesterday's outrageous attack on electric vehicles didn't come from the GOP (for a change), but from a seemingly disinterested blogger, one Michael Degusta. His charges against Tesla include suggesting that its cars will have "eventual, inevitable, catastrophic battery failure," lambasting the company for poor warranty service, accusing Tesla of tracking ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Report: Tesla Roadster facing 'brick' battery problems?
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    Here's a new worry for electric car owners: bricking your new, expensive ride. Using a word taken from the computer world, to "brick" an EV means to make your electronic device inoperable. In the case of an EV, it would mean to run the battery state of charge so far down that nothing works anymore, thus requiring an expensive flatbed tow and an even more ...

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    Report: Volkswagen BlueSport roadster still on-track after all?
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    The on-again, off-again Volkswagen BlueSport roadster is, well, on again according to EVO Magazine. The publication reportedly spoke with Uli Hackenberg, head of engineering with Volkswagen, who said the company's dealers are mistaken when they say there won't be a market for a vehicle like the BlueSport. Hakenberg said that the rise of hardware like the ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    First Drive: 2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster
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    Attractive New Roadster Prepares To Cannibalize Convertible For a brand that's only about 11 years old (since its modern rebirth, anyway), Mini is doing quite well for itself. Since the launch of the 2001 Mini Cooper, the BMW-owned automaker has now sold over two million vehicles in 100 markets, and over the course of the past decade, has expanded one ...

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    Tesla Roadster
    Official: 2012 Mini Roadster priced from $24,350*
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    Mini has officially announced pricing for the company's new Cooper Roadster. The tiny droptop will carry a base MSRP of $24,350 in the U.S., while the Cooper S Roadster will set you back $27,350. The top-of-the-line John Cooper Works Roadster, meanwhile, will command a sticker of $34,500 (*pricing exclude a $700 destination and handling fee). Should ...

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