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While U.S. Republicans and Democrats were fighting it out across the pond in late October, VP19 was busy creating its own political agenda in the United Kingdom.
Everyone agrees electric vehicles are the future — but Tesla is simultaneously proving they are also the right car right now. To show other people what we at Tesla have long known, we’re taking our cars to the people who can make a difference. And that’s how I found myself doing laps in Parliament Square in central London, with security clearing the way and flashbulbs popping all around.
At first blush it seemed like a great ego trip – but, alas, I’ve driven the Roadster long enough to know that people were really interested in the car. It’s an EV that holds its own among similarly priced internal combustion engine sports cars, and the Roadster’s performance, handling and styling exceed even the highest expectations. People are always delighted to glimpse it – and it’s a pleasure to show off.
In addition to thrilling people with its performance attributes, the Roadster is increasingly taking on a more sober role: It’s teaching legislators and other influences that EV’s are not pipe dreams.
There’s no question that, for many in the developed world, the automobile is a necessity – the critical machine they depend on for work, school, food, medical care and recreation. For the past century, governments have built roads, crafted domestic policy and even altered diplomatic relations to facilitate their use, resulting in a complicated infrastructure supporting gas-guzzling internal combustion engines.
But given the reality of global warming and energy security, many politicians are rethinking transportation infrastructure. The most progressive legislators want to create charging stations and encourage a robust energy grid to make way for the era of electric vehicles.
With that in mind, on Oct. 27 I had a date with Geoff Hoon, Britain’s Secretary of State for Transport. He did a lap around Parliament Square, visibly enthused by his stint behind the wheel. His only regret is that, as a minister of the government, he was in no position to explore the Roadster’s thrilling acceleration and unrivaled torque!
Next we drove to No. 10 Downing St. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, police divided the tourists so they could open the massive security cordon. VP19 drove slowly though the security check as security agents gaped.
After a brief photo-call, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, accompanied by Geoff Hoon and Lord Paul Drayson, Minister of Science in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (and an enthusiast of fast cars), greeted us. Gordon Brown was keenly interested to hear how Tesla Motors had succeeded thus far to bring the Roadster to production, whereas many others have failed. Geoff Hoon joked that maybe he should get one as a ministerial car.
Our jaunt on Downing Street coincided with a meeting in London arranged by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Transport, where officials discussed plans to accelerate the mass production and usage of electric vehicles. I have no doubt that VP19’s appearance added energy – some might say electricity — to the conversation.
After departing No. 10 Downing St., I traveled 90 miles north to Millbrook Proving Ground, a series of roads and tracks for vehicles ranging from the newest Ford saloons to the Scorpion tank. Automakers like this 700-acre facility near Ampthill in Bedfordshire for exploring vehicles’ handling techniques and dynamics.
The next day, politicians and VIPs lined up for drives in the Roadster around the high-speed bowl and the Alpine test track. The queue of people trying to fight their way into the Roadster got so out of hand we had to have our own security.
The event was a massive success, and VP19 performed flawlessly. The only unfortunate part of the trip was that I returned from Millbrook in some of most miserable weather Britain could have served up in late autumn: torrential rain, sleet and even snow. Happily, there was no water ingress in the cabin, VP19 got me home with confidence.
Beyond the fun and fame of my two-day outing, I hope my time in London and Millbrook showed UK politicians and automotive industry executives that an EV needn’t be a space-age fantasy, a whiny golf cart or a low-speed econocar. The Roadster doesn’t ask people to compromise or make a choice between high-performance and the environment. Quite the contrary: It enhances nearly every aspect of the driving experience – and it lets its owners bask in the green glow of its eco-halo. And it’s available now. What more could anyone ask of a car?
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Re: UK spin
It’s hard to tell from the photo but is the steering wheel on the left or right?
Peter J Hedge
Victoria, BC
Left - Ed.
“What more could anyone ask of a car? ” Higher volumes and lower cost. Yesterday.
An over unity ESS would be great too, but that’s getting into the realm of the absurd. :-p
Tim;
Back in the real world, the Roadster does the most important thing of all: it inspires GUILT-FREE DESIRE AND GREED! Those VIPs and pols are not immune!
Even though it’s got UK number plates, looking closely at the photos the steering is pretty clearly on the left.
For the UK model, will it have to be shipped from Lotus to Tesla in the USA to have the electronics added and then shipped back, or can the electrics be fitted in the UK (e.g. by Lotus) for non-USA destined vehicles?
I agree with Tim. Higher volumes of many different models and lower cost. Decades ago.
I’m waiting to see how the Whitestar turns out and hopefully you guys will hurry up the cakes on the Bluestar!
Great to see more world leaders taking notice!
Sign up any more high profile customers that day?
Very glad to see our PM taking an interest and that he was able to be photographed with the car this time.
Let’s hope that having seen first hand the real potential for EVs that people can aspire too, the government can make money available to establish a true *fast* charging infrastructure in the UK (not these 13A trickle charge hookups). Three-phase chargers at the motorway service stations please - and some tax incentives would be helpful too.
You should definitely aim to supply the Prime Minister with a Model S, that would be great PR for both sides.
Yes - Yes - Yes - Tesla is that important - stay on track !
Sincerely a European Supporter
That must have definetly scored a big goal.
Considering the assembly is going in UK, I think they should be really proud as well.
Great car, company and concept.But what is missing is e-mail addreses of the right people.How do I communicate a break through idea ?
Kapil Vaidya:
Read Balance in the Think blog www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=24
A lot of people have said that they have a great idea. Most turn out to be not practical. I’ve even proposed some myself, but after posting, I discovered that I was the only person that thought it was a great idea. If it is really a true break-through, patent it. After registering your patent, you can talk about it openly. If it is about using some known technology or process, just post it.
I agree completely that one of the Roadster’s most important functions is to get the eye of the influential and provide them with proof that EVs which meet high expectations for quality and performance are not a pipe-dream.
But the best news in this whole article was the offhanded confirmation that the Roadster drives well in extremely bad weather while keeping the interior space dry. Many people worry about EVs in wet or stormy weather. So this brief indication of the Roadster’s storm-worthiness may have more impact than Mr. Cochrane might have assumed when writing it.
thanks for the great idea of patenting.But do you think ideas itself can be patented ? If yes, then it would be a much shorter route.
Maybe one day Tesla will get the recognition he deserves. It is truely scary how the decision of few control the future of the masses. The name Tesla should be right up there will Ford and Edison, but what happened? You have chosen to carry this name and hopefully you can carry to the top where it belongs…starting in the UK was a wise idea. Sorry I could go on and on but that wouldn’t help any. The major motor companies will hopefully fall and make way for change. True change. Like changing from DC to AC or feet to meters…
Tesla, I wouldn’t be too worried about if Tesla (company) success or not, change is inevitable now. Gasoline cars are simply outperformed by electric vehicles. It is no longer “green idea” that drives the change, it is just the simple fact that EV is better in every single way. Only thing that still keeps gasoline cars on the roads is network of gasoline stations.
Even in F1 racing cars they are starting to make “regenerative braking” -systems and EV is being used in modern rally cars pretty much similar way to capture braking energy (saving brakes) and then used to accelerate (giving over 170HP extra for some time) and only EV is being used in transition sections which will save fuel and engine.
Necessary links:
www.auto123.com/en/racing-news/other/citroen-unveils-green-c4-wrc-hymotion4-rally-car-at-paris-motor-show?artid=101790
www.autoblog.com/2008/10/10/citroen-unveils-hybrid-rally-car/
www.autobloggreen.com/2008/10/02/paris-2008-citroen-c4-wrc-hymotion4-hybrid-rally-car/
Soon when battery tech advances a bit further and we get charging stations gasoline engine will be entirely obsolete.
As a pioneering company I hope that Tesla stays strong.
I wonder if Tesla would be able to build fast charging stations somewhere near owners of Tesla Roadster. If I calculated right building one for 10 Roadsters a day with 20minute charging from empty to full would require about 80000$ or less one time cost for flywheel and building itself and other costs. I don’t know if you can turn that to viable business idea, but 80000$ one time cost is not that much for charging equipment for 10 cars a day. Maybe several owners of the Roadsters could buy portion of the station and rest of the users would need to pay (a lot) for service. For ten owners 8000$ isn’t that much, but it would give you only one station. To really extend the range you would need to buy several, lets say five for each user. That sounds much but when there start to be a lot of EV owners their needs start to overlap, and then that starts to be profitable, or at least possible.
I used flywheels in this because they need nearly no maintenance for years and don’t have any loss of capacity during charging cycles. There are several much cheaper techs for one time cost, but they would need maintenance much more often which would bring in staff salary in the picture, and people cost money. A lot of money.
You could also make that part of other business, like roadside restaurant, and make gasoline car users buy portion of that equipment for each meal they eat there >:-)
I heard the CEO’s from the big 3 all got on their private jets , flew to washington , sat down before congress holding out the tin cup so they could pay up to their union obligations .. Congress saw through that . Would have been funny if Elon had shown up and congress cut him the check for that $25 billion . Imagine seeing the salty looks on there faces as he walked away . I do think if i thought that money was gonna really get to the workers i’d support that bailout . Guess we’ll see what happens in january if Obama gets sworn in. Lookin kinda shaky . A Ford Dealership just closed its doors and emptied its lot in the town where i work . My first thought was all those people who lost there jobs because of several factors beyond their control. Arrogants and mismanagement maybe. Tuff times are ahead , still have have Hope for Tesla . Do what you guys gotta do to keep the lights on and batteriies charged in these days of darkness.
It’s really unfair to build a car for George Clooney but not for his bosom buddy Brad Pit and his huuuuuge family!
When I saw the groups of auto company executives in Washington DC begging for money, my thought also went to Tesla, wondering if they (Tesla) could qualify for any of this “loan guarantee money” as an American automobile manufacturer. Certainly any money given to the “big three” should be done in some manner that is merit based and not a direct hand-out from the government to a particular company… just ’cause.
Then again, this is politics and nothing is really fair or reasonable here. It just looks like Tesla recognized the recession a little bit before anybody else did…. which speaks volumes about the skill of Tesla’s management in a positive light. It also gives the advantages of a smaller company without a bureaucracy in the way to stop huge changes that will keep the company profitable. Who knows… Tesla may outlast GM as an automotive company.
Europe seems to be hitting the recession just as hard as America, but now is the time to build the relationships and get the market penetration going… while the competitors are struggling just to make ends meet. I certainly hope that Tesla is able to meet EU standards and get the opportunity to vehicles in that market… which may end up being larger for at least Roatsters (and perhaps all of Tesla’s future products) than the US market. It certainly is nice to see some progress from Tesla along these lines!
I, too, have wondered if there might be an European final assembly for vehicles that are intended for delivery within the EU. I understand the need for shipping the cars from England to California in terms of sales to American customers, but it doesn’t make sense to me for Tesla to in turn ship those vehicles back to England for something that certainly could be accomplished there using European labor. Well, perhaps an assembly plant in Ireland (with lower taxes and labor), but still something there on that side “of the pond”.
Design Improvements Required:
In the spirit of excellence-
1 The screen graphics on the dash are lame. They look like they were and after tought and some ex-windows designer chipped in.
2 What’s with the circular gas cap. This is like car body manufacturers referring to themselves as ‘carriage works’ - enough with the anacronistic details, let’s move on.
3 The one image of the seat headrest looks cheap. There are so many new fabrics that could be used - go with an IDEA.
neil, it’s not a gas cap, it’s a socket for the charging cable — which is round. Duh?
About the ‘bailout money’. Tesla shouldn’t need or want it. I comes with all sorts of nasty sticky Congresscritter strings attached.
Congrats
more pictures would be nice 
hope Brown gets his car 
Hope this come’s to france with the new law here all new houes in 2012 will have to make the same power it uses way not just add the car as well
Anyone else than me thinking the Whitestar project is basically having too much on Tesla´s plate at the moment?
I would much rather see a three-seater similar to Matra Bagheera.
Have you considered a matching sports trailer that could hold a small generator ( about 10 - 15 Kwatt) motor set with gas tank that would extend the range of the Tesla Roadster for long trips. It could also provide some added luggage space. An example of a nice sports trailer can be found at www.trekkertrailer.com/sport-car-trailer.php. This product could be built to Tesla spcifications by an Alternate Supplier. It would require a control / charge cable connection between the Tesla Roadster and the trailer.
Yowza! Focus Fusion has just received the start deposit of ongoing funding, at last. Within 5 years, or thereabouts, it should be possible to supply the WORLD with clean electricity at ¼¢ / kwh! For the Roadster, that would be about 10 miles per cent ( 10mi/¢ ).
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Nikola Tesla would have been proud to see electrics in the UK and around the world as common place that was one of his dreams…but at £100.000..i???? what you need is a £10.000 electric car
they are expecting an event in the next 3-4 years that will render every transformer in the world useless. They are desperately trying to find a solution to the problem. If they don’t, the entire global electrical system will go down. I know this fits in with some of your research. Have any of you heard about this.
What an awesome picture out the front of downing street. You are so correct in saying that everyone knows electric cars are the future, when they are the way of now. Conratulations Don and team, keep pushing and hopefully more people will take notice of what you are doing.