2009 Tesla Roadster

The Tesla Roadster was beginning to look like vaporware. Silicon Valley failed to deliver its first car on time. The traditional auto industry was sniggering. But let's cut Tesla some slack. Does Motown always get its stuff onto the showroom floor dead on schedule? Especially its paradigm-shift products? Of course not.

And now the Roadster is here. Orders are being fulfilled, which is just as well as recent retrenchment by the company shows they need all the revenue they can get.

The car we drive today has the final single-speed transmission. Earlier press testers used a two-speed unit, often locked in second because it had durability issues. The single-speed finally realizes the dream of the electric car: absolutely progressive, smooth, transparent acceleration.

And boy does it deliver. The powertrain is now so intuitive that I seldom thought about it. Repeat for emphasis: I've driven a car with performance better than a Corvette Z51, and I hardly thought about the propulsion. The performance is an extension of your brain: the amount you've squeezed your foot is directly related to the proportion of its surge the motor delivers. No need to make sure you're on boost or on the cam, or in the correct gear. Nothing to think about. All to enjoy.

2009 Tesla Roadster Rear Three Quarter View
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And it's not just accurate and progressive, it's instant: as fast as you can stretch your foot, this thing delivers. So don't floor it until there's clear air in front of you. Lots of clear air.

Doing without a transmission of any kind has other advantages over combustion-engined machines. Compared with a manual there's no clutch to burn, no interruption to the power flow, and no need to do any work or suffer any delays while you find the right gear. Compared with an auto, you never get that frustration of realizing the trans has selected the wrong ratio.

But do you miss the rumble of a V-8, the wail of a V-12? Yes, I guess you might. But on the other hand, you have no need of such sonic cues to time your gear changes.

Even driving in the traffic thrombosis of an urban crawl, this thing is easy. No need for clutch pumping: they've even digitized the creep of a torque converter auto. OK there is a very tiny amount of lash as you roll on and off the accelerator pedal, but beyond about 20mph it's not noticeable.
MR.KAKAR