Photos: Tesla's electric sports car

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  • Tesla Roadster

    Tesla Roadster

    The Tesla Roadster is an all-electric sports car. It costs $90,000 and doesn't come out until next year, but it cooks. The car and its technology were unveiled this week at a promotional event in Santa Monica, Calif.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Musk, Eberhard, Arnold

    Musk, Eberhard, Arnold

    Tesla Motors Chairman Elon Musk, center, and CEO Martin Eberhard, right, discuss electric cars with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It's terrific," Conan said.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • front view of roadster

    front view of roadster

    Front view of the Tesla Roadster. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, investors in Tesla, have each signed up to buy one.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • full frontal of roadster

    full frontal of roadster

    Two production models of the Roadster have been produced.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • side view

    side view

    The Tesla Roadster can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in four seconds. It tops out at 130mph.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • cockpit

    cockpit

    There is no room for a kid's seat in the Roadster's cockpit, but it does have one cupholder.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • back view

    back view

    The Tesla Roadster's transmission does not have a reverse gear. Rather, the motor reverses direction to propel the car backwards.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • open doors

    open doors

    The car is fast and makes little noise. Because it's fully electric, it jumps off the line.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Arnold takes a test drive

    Arnold takes a test drive

    Who is the girlie man? Schwarzenegger takes a test drive before jetting away in an SUV.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • chassis

    chassis

    Here is the internal chassis of the Tesla Roadster. Tesla Motors designed the car but is farming out manufacturing jobs to other plants.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Musk talks battery pack

    Musk talks battery pack

    A lot of the work on the car involved developing a good battery pack. "The challenge is the pack, not the (battery) cell," said Telsa Motors Chairman Elon Musk.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Eberhard

    Eberhard

    CEO Martin Eberhard stands next to one of the two production-level Tesla Roadsters. So far, 30 people have signed up to buy the electric car.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • roadster comes in for photos

    roadster comes in for photos

    The Tesla Roadster comes in for photos.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • rear view

    rear view

    Can the Tesla spit gravel? A test drive says yes.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • electronics

    electronics

    Here are some of the electronics behind the Tesla Roaster.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • first motor

    first motor

    The first motor produced by Tesla (on the right) is coupled with a transmission.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • autographs

    autographs

    Here we see autographs of the engineers who worked on the project.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • the engine

    the engine

    This is an assembled Tesla engine. Electric engines were neck and neck with gas engines at the turn of the 19th century, but the proliferation of gas stations, combined with the fact that gas-motor companies figured out how to make electric starters, killed the electric car, says Tesla Vice President Malcolm Smith.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • power plug

    power plug

    Fill 'er up. This is the electric outlet--the equivalent of a gas tank--where you power the car. The car runs on about a penny's worth of power per mile, say Tesla backers.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • special chargers

    special chargers

    If you plug these cars into a regular socket, it might take anywhere from a few hours to all day to charge. So, Tesla will install these chargers, which concentrate power, in your home. That way, a recharge will take only two to three hours.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Tesla mule

    Tesla mule

    The Tesla Mule, a prototype.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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side view

The Tesla Roadster can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in four seconds. It tops out at 130mph.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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