The 2008 Tesla Roadster is a fully electric sports car developed by Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Martin Eberhard and electric motor inventor Nikola Tesla under the company name Tesla Motors. The car is assembled for Tesla Motors by Lotus at their plant in Hethel, England along side the Lotus Elise. The cars are then shipped back to Tesla’s plant in California for installation of the powertrain and other final components.

Despite being 100% electric, the Tesla Roadster is no wind-up toy! The little two-seater can travel 225 miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery back and requires only 3.5 hours to re-charge, very much like a cell phone. The car ships with a home charging station and costs only 2 cents per mile to drive. The 6,831 cell lithium-ion battery pack weighs about 1,000 pounds, more than a third of the weight of the 2,700 pound car, and gives off zero emissions. The battery is warranted for 100,000 miles or five years.

Although the Roadster’s body is made of light weight carbon fiber materials, the car has passed all of the required U.S. safety tests. The all-torque electric motor makes 248 hp and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds, topping out at 125 mph. The rear mounted engine redlines at 13,500 rpm with practically no noise at all. When did going green become so sexy!?!

The two-speed, rear wheel drive Roadster starts at $109,000 and comes in practically every color in the metallic rainbow. Air conditioning, heated leather seats, power windows and locks, cruise control, a single CD stereo with iPod interface, Homelink universal transmitter, and even a retractable cup holder are all standard. Safety features include four wheel anti-lock breaks, traction control, a tire pressure monitoring system, and dual front airbags. The Tesla sits on a set of high performance Yokohama tires mounted on 16” alloy wheels in the front and wider 17’s in the rear. A double insulated soft top is standard, but a removable, carbon fiber hard top is also available.   Other upgrades include a premium sound system, Bluetooth, satellite radio and touch screen navigation with voice guidance. You can even squeeze a set of golf clubs in the small, rear trunk.

If you’re thinking, “sign me up!” – get in line. All of the 600 cars that Tesla plans to produce for 2008 are spoken for, and they are now taking orders for the 1500 cars they plan to build for 2009. A mere $60,000 deposit is required to place an order. Tesla’s first dealership opened in the trendy L.A. neighborhood of Westwood, where Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Brentwood meet. Not surprisingly, Hollywood’s elite, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney and Jay Leno, were among the first to place their orders. The first Telsa Roadsters were delivered to their excited owners in late March. Lucky dogs!

Learn more about the Tesla Roadster at Jay Leno’s Garage!