[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Tesla's torque curve

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Tesla's torque curve
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1164648626.shtml


   Via [1]Slate

     I've always marveled at how long the antique internal-combustion
     engine has survived. By 2006 standards, my car's power plant is a
     noisy, heat-blasting, poison-spewing monster with way too many
     moving parts. One spin in a Tesla made me realize that the gas
     engine might finally be on its last legsâand not because electric
     cars will help wean us from Saudi oil and save us from global
     warming. Rather, the Tesla Roadster is a rolling demo that proves
     electric cars now outperform their gas-guzzling counterparts in
     comfort, convenience, and, best of all, speed...

     ..It's one thing to know this stuff in theory. It's another to
     experience it on Highway 101. That's where I hitched a ride with
     Martin Eberhard, the Roadster's inventor. Eberhard got behind the
     wheel of a Tesla prototype and put the pedal to the metal. I was
     flabbergasted. In the passenger seat, I was wrapped in an
     all-powerful force that launched me forward with a perfectly even
     push. I've been driven this fast before in high-end European cars,
     always with a mix of excitement and omigod we're all going to die.
     But as Eberhard zoomed around slowpoke trucks and shot into traffic
     openings, I never once flinched with worry. I thought I'd miss the
     sexy rumble of a well-honed engine, but I didn't. In the silence I
     felt less distracted, more alert on the road...

   My offer to represent the blogosphere and do a [2]test drive still
   stands.

References

   1. http://www.slate.com/id/2154425/
   2. http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1153578469.shtml