Bob Bressler is a customer of Tesla Motors and owner of Bressler Vineyards, a small producer of super-premium Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. An expert in the Internet and networking technologies, Bob’s career prior to becoming a full-time vintner spanned executive positions at Sun Microsystems, 3Com and BBN. We asked Bob to share his perspective on […]

I’m taking a break from answering questions to tell you things about Nikola Tesla that piled on me this week. But before I start, here are a few quick answers:

Cost-effectiveness of owning a Tesla Roadster: No doubt about it, a Tesla Roadster never will pay for itself in dollars compared to (for example) a Ford […]

A bit about motors, magnets, AC and DC, and weird little widgets called IGBTs, all the while trying to answer some more of your questions. (And yes, we are opening a Detroit office, but that’s another story.)
Nikola Tesla was a strong believer in AC (alternating current) as a means of distributing electricity because it was […]

Elon and Martin both recognize the synergy between solar panels and electric cars. As Martin pointed out to Gov. Schwarzenegger, a million solar rooftops in California will not reduce California’s oil dependency by one drop unless we have electric cars also.
You have asked us quite a few questions about photovoltaic cells. Elon and Martin […]

This blog continues to attract some fascinating questions and perceptions regarding the philosophies of energy consumption, alternative fuels, well-to-wheel efficiency and other significant issues that affect us all. Then there’s the technology of the car itself with its lithium ion battery pack, onboard charging system, power electronics to handle the immense energy available and that […]

Many of you have asked me about hybrid technologies, forcing me to gather my thoughts on the subject. Let me start off by drawing a clean distinction between today’s hybrids (like the Prius), and “Plug-in Hybrids” as proposed by James Woolsey and others.
Today’s hybrids are purely gasoline-powered cars. Forget the hype from Toyota – the […]

Editor’s Post: Martin has been here, there and everywhere this week, presenting to a variety of audiences to spread the word about the new Tesla Roadster. Sadly for us, this means that he has not had time to write a blog article this week. However, all is not lost. I have taken a section from […]

Many of you have asked me about several alternative technologies and why they are not used in the Tesla Roadster. These technologies range from other existing battery technologies (e.g. lithium iron phosphate) to technologies that are on the horizon (e.g. ultracapacitors) to impossible technologies that ultimately boil down to perpetual motion. I will try to […]

Editor’s Note: As our Blog has taken off in popularity, we’ve come to realize the informal style of a blog isn’t the most responsible place to convey something as important as our most up-to-date information on battery safety. Thanks in part to our conversations with you in the blog, we have released several updates to […]

I know, I know. There are at least a dozen good topics from all your responses for this week’s blog. But I can’t help it – we had such a great time at the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach this weekend that I have to tell you about it.

We were originally invited to participate in […]