If you're one of the 27 people who already own a Roadster, Tesla will be offering a free retrofit come next month. Now that the gearbox is all figured out, the company expects to start producing 10 new Roadsters every week, ramping up to 40 per week by early 2009. [NextAutos via Jalopnik]

Update: Jalopnik says it's going to have 225 miles per charge. Wowzers!

Update 2: Tesla head Elon Musk also made statements that they want to get prices down to $30,000 within four years, but Jalopnik says take that with a grain of salt. It doesn't seem like a $60k to $30k drop in four years is out of the question if you strip out some luxury items, but we'll see.

The Mercury News says:

In a typical scenario for a 2.8-kilowatt system, Rive said, a customer with a $150-a-month electric bill before installing solar would end up with a $60-a-month electric bill, an $80 or $90 monthly lease payment to Solar City, and thus "positive cash flow" of as much as $10.

To fill the design gap and move things along, Tesla got some of the guys at Lotus to step in and massage the body design. Man, I thought people designing green tech were out there to help people and keep us from dying in crazy "Day After Tomorrow" freak weather. Not you know, actively undermining each other for their own selfish benefit. Capitalism at its finest. [NYT]

The electrode in the pic above was attached to a rotating apex, once turned on, the revolving surface was fed by an electricity supply, which gave rise to the effect above via a multiplier. Using various photography techniques, the images above were captured. Disconcertingly, the hot electrode was quite close to the user's face, maintaining a constant distance away by only a few centimeters. We have to ask; when will this madness stop? Electrocution is not cool. [Tesladownunder]

Automobile Mag:These guys start by doing a brake stand launch to 60, noticing the electric motor's instant torque of 211 foot-pounts straining the brakes from 0 RPMs. Sounds like a warranty buster to me. Clearly, we've known its fast. What's interesting is that Automobile puts away all concerns about the 1000-pound battery pack consisting of 6831 3.7 volt lithium ions affecting the handling of the lotus based chassis. There is a fair amount of oversteer in the system, but "with 65% of the weight at the rear and no stability control, this probably isn't a bad idea." It sticks, even if it can't touch the handling of an Elise. It's setup for grand touring: The car's circuit protection systems, suspension and overall weight make it better for long drives, although the range of the vehicle is only 200+ miles. (Even factoring in the car's regenerative braking.)

But its not all gravy. Telsa's powerful drive system is destroying transmissions and they've gone through two designs. The first was a single gear setup, which forced the 13.5K RPM car to choose between fast off the line times and top speed. The second had two gears to handle this, which caused an unmentioned problem, so they're onto a third design which will probably have to be shipped out and swapped into the cars of the first batch of customers. Also, the editor here couldn't tell whether or not the car was on at first start, but that ends once you drive. He found the high-pitched RPM, squeeks and rattles annoying.

Road and Track: The R&T guys found the same gentle understeer in handling, but commented on how precise the electric accelerator peddle felt underfoot. Another benefit of an all electric powertrain is that the traction control can be entirely motor based, eliminating the need for the traditional intervention of brake modulation. They also investigate the differences between the Lotus Elise the Tesla shares its space frame with, and realize its bigger in almost every dimension, including the now leather and carbon fiber adorned cockpit. Here's a video of the car, set to some terrible rock.

Motor Trend: MT gave an entire history lesson on Nikolai Tesla, glancing his beef with his old boss, a little known inventor by the name of Thomas Edison. As far as driving particulars go, they complained about the drive lash when you snap off the accelerator, like the kind of deceleration you get when you lift fast off a stick shift, but exaggerated to nasty heights. That's likely from the regen system aggressively scavenging kinetic energy. Brake feel is good and old-fashioned, they say. Oh, here MT discovers the reason why the second-gen two-gear tranny is being replaced: They're breaking after only a few thousand miles under the full-torque-at-a-standstill electric motor. No gas engine has ever tested a gearbox like this.

And those teeth-eating launches? Drama-free, too: "There's no wheelspin, axle tramp, shutter, jutter, smoke whiff, cowl shake, nothing. I'm being eerily teleported down the barrel of a rail gun, head pulled back by a hard steady acceleration. Bizarre." [Automobile Mag, Road and Track, Motor Trend, photos from these pubs as well]

Essentially, the new REVs will have a battery that is continually charged whilst the car is being driven. The range of the battery is usually around 40-50 miles, but this is charged by the gas motor's output during a journey, which extends the longevity, (hence the name.) The modification will be made to the Whitestar sedan, which will be able to achieve 150 - 200 miles on a single charge, using this technique. The Tesla Roadster will be capable of a similar distance, but it does cost the best part of $100, 000. The Whitestar REV will be expected to retail around $50,000 - $70,000, depending on customization options. [CNET]

This sort of destruction should not make us feel good, but the pictures are awesome and we can constantly hear Edward Norton's cold, monotone voice saying, "I felt like destroying something beautiful," as a slim justification. We should really speak to someone about Edward Norton's psychotic comments repeating themselves autonomously in our insane membrane regions. [Tesla via Valleywag]

The way Solar City figures it, if you have a daily commute of 40 miles, you'll require 500 square feet of solar panels on your house's roof to power the Tesla Roadster for a 40-mile commute each day. Install a 20x25-foot array of solar panels, and then you're on your way to carbon-neutral driving.

But cost is another matter. The Tesla roadster will be $100K, and though Solar City's not talking price just yet, add another, say, $10K for these panels, and energy will be about the only thing you're saving. But if you can get rebates for such things where you live, and it's always sunny there, this just might be worth it to you. [Autoblog Green, via Ecotality Life]

Star detail.
[tesladownunder]

Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI. The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software.

Because Tesla coils can't actually shoot long, single bursts of lightning at a target, wires were strung between the coil and its targets to act as a path for the energy to move down. The coil then sent out three-foot bursts along the wires. By using the longer exposure, the bursts all strung together to look like a continuous shock.

As for the figures, they're all handmade, from the cutout of the zapped Allied soldier to the Tesla soldier to the engineer. Be sure to check out the project page for a detailed breakdown of how it was completed with plenty of photos. [Project Page via Neatorama]

Other winners included the Tongue Sucker — a cheap first-aid device that sucks the tongue into its maws and opens up a breathing passage for anyone who may be seizuring in your general area — and the Solar Bottle, a device that optimizes a method of disinfecting water using sunlight and plastic bottles. Life saving technology aside, we'd like to salute the Tesla Roadster and admit we're a little attracted to it. [Reuters]

Not right away. It's not too late to plunk down a $50,000 deposit, which gives you the right to buy your shiny new Tesla by next July, or if you pay a $30,000 deposit, you'll be in line behind the $50,000 depositors. Oh yeah, you'll have to pay the balance on the final price of $102,900 plus any tax and delivery charges, and that breaks down to $98,000 for the car, and of course you'll want to add a $1200 navigation system, a carbon fiber hard top that matches the body color for $3200, and then there's that $500 mobile charging system. All of those options sound like necessities to us.

It does look like a great car, but we're reluctant to buy anything that's in a such a limited edition, and especially since it's version 1.0. We'd rather let others be the beta testers for this fire-breathing electro-rocket. [Mercury News]

Gizmodo has done a fair few posts about electric car company Tesla in the past, but none have moved me quite as much as I'd like these vehicles to move me. And you all know how much pink products make me feel normally (nausea, intense anger, psychosis...). Well, not these. Firmware Engineer Greg Solberg has posted pictures of a pair of motorized pink bunny slippers that he and partner Lisa have created together. Details and a pic of Bunny Control after the jump.

The 7.5-foot slippers are each powered with a 36-volt system that uses six YellowTop 12-volt optimas. The two front wheels are driven by a 7-inch brushed DC motor from Advanced DC motors. There is a welded steel and plywood frame, covered with pink flokapi rugs that were sourced from Hollywood Love Rugs. Let's hope they weren't second-hand, eh? There is a caster wheel at the back for steering (apparently only fork-lift trucks use this system) and the driver sits on a tractor seat. Top speed is 15 mph. – Ad Dugdale

Tesla Motors - hear [Tesla Motors]

But becoming a superhero is no small feat. More often than not, radioactive waste makes appendages fall off instead of making them bigger stronger.That's why we've assembled the essential gear you need to become a superhero—and the best part—it all exists right now. Apart, these items are troublesome. Together they culminate in nothing less than a Captain Planet–style ass whooping (without the water, fire, earth, etc powers).

HAL 5 Robo Suit
Primary Function: Super Strength
Secondary Function: Looking Cool
Throwing a bad guy across the room is tough work. But throwing half a guy? Twice as easy. That's why our first recommendation is Cyberdyne Systems' HAL 5 (hybrid assistive limb) Robo Suit. This device has made its way around the Internet and back, but luckily the technology has yet to fall into the Wrong Hands. Weighing about 33 pounds, the suit will nearly double your strength autonomously by tracking electrical nerve impulses through your skin via electromyogram sensors. Translation: you punch and it punches with you. Couple that with some steroids (this ain't baseball, people...it's fair) and you'll be in business. Price: $60,000

Tazer Gloves
Primary Function: Shocking
Secondary Function: Dishes
The Tazer Gloves are more for the do-it-yourself superhero. (We suggest farming the work out to a loyal butler or loving mother.) Running off AA batteries, you can put out 300+ volts using tin foil contacts. But with a few modifications (maybe hooking up to a real Tazer) and a little black market exploding lithium ion power, the sky is the limit. Price: $20

Thermal Vision Binoculars
Primary Function: Spotting Bad guys
Secondary Function: Recreational Stalking
Night vision seems like a good idea until some punk drops a smoke bomb or a flare. That's why we only go thermal with our vision aids. Detecting heat signatures up to half a mile away, you can see even greater distances if you send a naïve sidekick ahead to scout. Price: $18,000

M-7 Spy Ear
Primary Function: Super Hearing
Secondary Function: Fitting in with old people
Don't let the model fool you—he is an ex-marine/ninja/power lifter. Having blown all your money on useless suits and vision, we thought we'd save some money on the super hearing. And since it's tough to hang from a building while holding one of those massive satellite dish things, we opted for the old guy in-ear design of the M-7. Price: $30

ATLAS Powered Rope Ascender

Primary Function: Scaling buildings
Secondary Function: Mysterious exits
Adding roughly 30 lbs to your load, the ATLAS Powered Rope Ascender may not be for all superheroes, but then again, you can't really be considered a superhero if you can't make it to the top of a building. And this device will pull loads up to 250 lbs 10 feet per second. Price: Call for more information.

TAC700 Automatic Pepper Ball Gun

Primary Function: Making men cry
Secondary Function: Scaring bad guys who think you have a real gun
We know what you're thinking: "I'm fighting demon spawn and you give me a freaking paintball gun??" First off, the TAC700 shoots harder ammunition that hurts like hell. On impact, this ammunition explodes into a cloud of choking, burning pepper gas. Then realize you can shoot 6 rounds/second from up to 150 feet away (at 380 feet/second). Unless you are in Texas, this is about the best you can do legally. And besides, superheroes can't kill people. And we're not falling for the "shoot the leg" philosophy for a second. Price: $890

Tesla Car...Not That One

Primary Function: Just LOOK at the thing
Secondary Function: Cruising with WonderWoman
Bottom line: whether you are battling a mutant lobster or a giant robodinosaur, your car will scare the living **#& out of them. Price: Write the inventor really nicely and ask/beg/use your supersuit on him.

Congratulations. Assuming you purchased everything on our list, you are now you are a full-fledged superhero. You can officially stop hanging out at your local nuclear reactor waiting for an "accident" to happen. And while you're at it, put down that gerbil. Because gerbil powers suck. Always go insect unless you are Jeff Goldblum.
– Mark Wilson

Not a huge deal, but you've got to assume that some of those people who have agreed to drop $100,000 on a Roadster are feeling a little disappointed about this situation. Think anyone will ask for their deposit back?

Check the whole letter from Tesla after the jump.

Media Briefing - April 12, 2007 Darryl Siry VP Marketing Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors has achieved some significant milestones recently. The first of our Validation Prototypes (VPs) recently arrived in San Carlos. This car represents a significant step forward toward real production cars as it implements corrections to problems discovered in the Evaluation Prototypes (EPs), hard-tooled components for all body panels, production headlights and taillights, nearly-production interior components (including much more comfortable seats), and many other subtle changes.

We continue to test the Roadster prototypes, and recently performed our first actual driving range tests on an EPA-compliant dynamometer. Based on the results of these tests, we need to revise our initial range estimates downward. We now anticipate that the range of the Roadster will still be greater than 200 miles, but will not meet our original target of 250 miles.

Martin Eberhard, CEO, recently communicated this news to our customers, and we will continue to provide them with updates as we continue development of the Roadster. We think it is appropriate to always communicate to our customers first, and then more broadly to the media and the public.

These are the key factors for the revised expectation:
We made a significant number of design changes to maximize safety and durability of the Roadster, both in its chassis and in its battery pack. These changes added several hundred pounds to the weight to our original design.

We deliberately chose lithium ion cells with a slightly lower capacity because they have better long-term durability and higher tolerance for abuse.
I also think it is important to keep members of the media up to date on our progress to provide you with the context and background necessary for you to do your job. To that end, I am providing some additional context in this briefing.

It is important to note that at greater than 200 miles, the Tesla Roadster will still have the highest range of any production EV in history by a large margin, and we will be working hard to deliver even better range in the coming months.

The original premise of this groundbreaking car was that its range would be high enough that you would not have to worry about charging during a typical day, even if you have a long commute, take the car out for dinner and chores, or even take the scenic route home. Once home, you plug it in - just like you would your cell phone - and by the time you're ready for another day, your Tesla Roadster is fully charged and ready to go. We believe that this premise is still intact with a range above 200 miles.

Our communications strategy is intentionally conservative: we don't want to communicate any further revisions to range unless they are upward revisions. That's why we decided to say that the final EPA-certified range will be greater than 200, rather than try to communicate where we think it will actually land at the end of the day. When the final tests are performed by EPA just prior to start of production, we will communicate final numbers to customers, the press and to the public.

After extensive testing of our EPs, we are confident that we will achieve a final EPA-certified range above 200 miles. Now that we have completed cars and an understanding of the testing methodology, our future range estimates will be based on empirical testing, not simply modeled estimates. This is an important distinction that should be taken into account when comparing Tesla's estimates for range to other companies' claims. Since Tesla has undergone significant testing on our EP cars that have lead us to this revised expectation, I would suggest that these numbers cannot be compared apples to apples with range numbers that are expressed by other companies as aspirational goals or modeled estimates.

In the years that we have been working on the design and development of the Roadster, we have learned an enormous amount about the challenges of electric drivetrain development, including battery system management, power electronics and motor development. We have also learned a great deal about the challenges of developing a high quality electric vehicle for mass production. We expect that other companies in this emerging sector will also experience this steep learning curve when they move from concepts to prototypes or when they attempt to mass produce cars for the marketplace.

The original assumptions and models that lead to the claim of 250 miles were made in good faith based upon the knowledge available to us at the time and our anticipated design specifications for the Roadster (including a lower weight than what we have today.) Our customers who have reserved a car know that they are reserving a car that exists today in prototype form and that is subject to further development and validation. That is one reason that we chose to make the reservation payment fully refundable so that if customers decide to change their mind based upon how the program develops, they can give up their spot and receive a full refund.
As a leader in the field, we expect that we will often be the first to learn from experiences along the way. We plan to continue to be as transparent as we can about our progress (within reason for a company in a competitive marketplace.) That's why we have chosen to communicate this revised expectation as soon as was practical after the conclusion was known to us.

Bad news from Tesla: Original range target won't be met! [Autoblog Green]
Tesla Motors [Jalopnik]

If you live in NYC, Chicago, Florida, Northern California or Southern California, you're in luck. They hope to open more dealerships soon after, as they're able to pump out more product. Is this the start of the age of the mainstream electric car? We sure hope so. –Adam Frucci

CNET [via Mobile Mag]

When are the first hack-shops coming together for the mechanically simple electric cars? And when will Tesla tackle the minivan segment? All that torque has to be useful for hauling around today's McNugget-fed preteens.–Brian Lam

Tesla EV [Treehugger and Dvorak]

It's quite safe to be in the car although my son was apprehensive. This was a hire car (as I don't own one) and it still works. I did get extra insurance "in case".

Hit the jump for more incredible pictures.

– Mark Wilson

Tesla Down Under [via neatorama]

Called a high-performance micro sports car, it has side-by-side seating for three and is just 10.5 feet long. Obvio says it will be available in the last quarter of 2008, when the company will also offer a 160MPH non-electric multi-fuel car with the same body for a US price of around $28,000.

Check out five more wild exterior and interior pics:

Look at that—there's a carputer in there, too.

The way things are going, looks to us like by 2010 (if not sooner) there will be quite an impressive collection of multifueled and electric sports cars from which to choose. Bring it on. – Charlie White

Product Page [Obvio, via Jalopnik]

It's about time someone started bringing these electric cars to market in mass quantities. Big electric car fans, we're still holding out for a Tesla, which sings the body electric in style, not to mention its zero-to-60 time of four seconds. – Charlie White

Mitsubishi Working up Electric Car for US Market [Jalopnik]

People have already plunked down deposits for the company's first 100 cars, which are due out in 2007. Their money, all $100,000 of it, guarantees that they will get a car as soon as they silently roll off the lot. – Jason Chen

Electric sports car maker sells out its first round of cars [CNET]

Are Lithium-Ion Electric Cars Safe? [Technology Review via Jalopnik]

Tesla Guide [deepfriedneon]