NY Times 2/16/2010

Oh-So Quick and Even Carbon-Free

Great article, loaded with statistics about the Tesla...got me to thinking about my car v. a Tesla...my Honda Civic Hybrid averages about 35 miles/gallon, so I'm getting about 11 miles for every dollar at $3/gallon, whereas the Tesla averages 2.8 miles/kWh of charge, so it gets about 28 miles for every dollar at $0.10/kWh. (I'm not ready to line up my Civic H in a drag race with a Tesla though...it goes 0-60 in under 4 seconds, where my car takes about a minute and a half to get up to 60...)

As for carbon pollution, my hybrid produces a little over 0.5 lbs (0.57) of CO2/mile (20 lbs CO2/gallon of gas), while the Tesla would produce a little under 0.5 lbs (0.39) of CO2/mile (here in Austin, our generation portfolio gives us about 1.1 lbs CO2/kWh).

So, the Tesla is cheaper and cleaner to operate than the Civic Hybrid, but its a hell of a lot more expensive - you could buy six Civic Hybrids for the price of one Tesla - and a hell of a lot faster.

But, who's counting? Is my math right?

Using the standard charging connector (15 amp capacity) plugged into a typical 120-volt outlet, the Roadster needs an hour of recharging for every five miles of driving. If you drive it 40 miles — the typical daily use, according to research by the General Motors engineers developing the 2011 Chevrolet Volt — you can replenish the battery pack in eight hours. If you top off overnight at off-peak electricity rates, the Roadster is cheaply and fully charged by morning.

If you drive far enough to deplete the Roadster’s battery pack, it can take up to 36 hours to recharge it using 120-volt household current, at a cost of about $5, according to Tesla. Refueling is quicker when a high-voltage circuit, typically used for appliances like electric clothes dryers, is available.