Gran Turismo Photo Dump: February 2018

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Tesla Roadster 2008

A certain Tesla Roadster is in the news right now... so here are some quick pictures of a 2008 Tesla Roadster found in Gran Turismo 5.

And this is it - an instance of the 2008 Tesla Motors Tesla Roadster.

Here the car is at San Gimignano - Town Square.

The in-game description goes on like this {no mention of anybody called Elon's Musk}:

"The EV sportscar born in Silicon Valley, the centre of information technology."

Established in California's Silicon Valley in 2003, Tesla Motors announced a car in 2006 that dropped the jaws of many automakers in the world who were still struggling to produce an electric vehicle. This was the announcement of the 4-seater EV sportscar with a midship layout, the Tesla Roadster.
A CFRP body was matched to an aluminum bathtub chassis based on the Lotus Elise. It also shared other components with the Elise, and is assembled at the Lotus Factory in the UK, so it's no wonder that their styling and package is similar. However, this car is powered by lithium-ion batteries and a three-phase AC motor.
Delivery began in 2008, and the initial commercial model produced a maximum output of 245 HP, and 198.9 ft-lb of torque. 0-60 mph is 3.7 seconds. The top speed is limited for safety, but still reaches 125 mph. Obviously its performance is in no way inferior to a gas-powered car, it even has a driving range of 244.2 miles per charge, which was another surprise to many.
The performance of the sports model released in the beginning of 2009 was raised to 284 HP/295.1 ft-lb. This roadster had been the focus of attention long before its release, and even though the price tag was high at $98,000, orders were placed for well over 600 cars immediately. Its final release was slightly delayed, but the initial sales were good and delivery started in Europe beginning in 2009.