Why is the Tesla Roadster the only electric car made for people who actually like cars?

Question

all the rest are tiny, odd-looking and very very slow, as well as having very limited range.

No i haven't seen 'who killed the electric car'

Answer 1

It's not.  It's going to be the first electric car with good range and top speed to become commercially available since the EV1, but there will soon be others.  For example, the ZAP Alias, ZAP-X, Miles Javlon, and Phoenix SUT.

http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx...

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/04/03/...

http://phoenixmotorcars.com/

And all of these will have a much lower price tag than the $100,000 Tesla Roadster.

The Roadster was the first to make the leap forward in battery technology, but it's also the most expensive of the lot.

Answer 2

Batteries.......

The roadster uses several hundred Lithium Ion batteries that are very expensive-- which added to the Tesla's expense.  Also, it is engineered with many one-off parts and made with expensive carbon fiber components which are unrealistic in terms of mass production.

Remember, mass production is the key to bringing low cost products to the masses.  

Other electric vehicles use heavier, less efficient, LESS EXPENSIVE batteries.  They are cheap to manufacture and are cheap to put in electric vehicles when compared to the laptop batteries in the Tesla.

If it was inexpensive to make the Tesla Roadster, and could be manufactured at a reasonable cost.......by all means, it would be marketed on every other TV commercial.  The fact is, at this time, it isn't.

The electric vehicles that ARE relatively inexpensive to make, don't have the range.  Remember---the EV1 was a VERY expensive vehicle to make, and GM paid millions to manufacture the limited run.  GM would have had to charge very high prices to sell them to make a profit.

Everything boils down to money.  If it doesn't make money, it won't happen.  If it does make money.......electric vehicles will be in driveways.