Sum Up

Last summer, Automobile Magazine editors had the opportunity to interview Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, as the company launched its all-new electric sedan. A well-known industry insider warned us not to fall for Musk's smooth talk. "Don't bring any cash," he said. "Because you'll be offering to give it to him twenty minutes into the interview."

Let's get one thing clear at the beginning. The Tesla Model S sedan is an extremely radical vehicle, even if it doesn't particularly look like it. It is one of only two specifically designed battery-electric cars on the market today and the only one created from the ground up as an electric, as the Leaf uses many existing Nissan components under its unique skin.

Elon Musk, billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, cannot have a frozen yogurt. After he explained with some excitement that SpaceX headquarters has its very own stand, his assistant delivered the bad news: said stand closed at 7 p.m. and it is now 7:10 p.m. Visibly disappointed, Musk settled for an ice water and turned to our conversation.

If the Tesla Model S lacks any conspicuous electric-car characteristic -- no obvious charging port, for example -- it's by design. The five-door Signature Series sedan, which heavily subsidized Tesla Motors began delivering in small quantities on June 22, looks rather conventional in the same appealing vein as recent Jaguars and Audis. It has a long and low hood, a virile stance on 21-inch wheels, and a fastback sweeping to a subtle spoiler on the high tail. If this is underwhelming, without a hint of the self-obviousness of General Motors EV1, for instance, that's too bad.

At board meetings, on test tracks, and in design studios, decisions are being made today that will influence what you drive tomorrow. Automakers are hard at work creating the next generation of automobiles -- cars that are faster, sexier, more efficient -- while trying to keep their development secret. Like you, we are nosy as hell. Unlike you, we have a vast network of snoops, gossips, and disgruntled former employees who have helped us uncover the information we present here. Our annual Sneak Preview feature contains the industry's future products -- as far out as 2019 -- that are worth saving your milk money for.

The Tesla roadster has captured the hearts of all environmentally friendly car buffs. It offers something truly unique in a world where car models are often differentiated only by the sheet metal that covers them or a few dozen maximum horsepower. The Tesla Roadster is the first true electric sports car. It is loosely based on the Lotus Elise platform but in place of its engine, it sports a powerful electric motor. This motor is powered by a 7000 cell lithium ion battery pack.

If small cars are particularly adept at changing direction, you might assume that small car companies can react to customer demands quickly, too. In the case of Tesla Motors, that assumption is correct. A host of updates to the Tesla Roadster addresses almost every concern we had after spending a week with the electric sports car - this Silicon Valley company is clearly listening to what people have to say.

Tesla appears to have finally cleared the major hurdles in getting cars out the door, but the biggest challenge may still be looming. Henrik Fisker hasn't sold a single car yet, but he intends to build his products right in Tesla's niche.

The assignment was simple, or so it seemed. I'd spend a week driving the Tesla Roadster, using it as I would any other car, to see if it was compatible with the lifestyle of someone who has gasoline running through his veins and whose entire identity hangs on the cars he drives.

Electric cars have their supporters. Want proof? How about the so-called EV Corridor that now links Los Angeles to San Francisco. There are now five (!) 240-volt, 70-ampere stations spread out between California's two most major cities. Wow! Great! Right?

A couple years back, the New York Times ran a front-page story on the Toyota Prius, then America's best-selling hybrid vehicle. In typically thorough fashion, the Gray Lady took a long, hard look at the green-machine cult, aiming to discover what makes hybrid owners tick.

Before we could drive the 2009 Roadster, a brief tour of the HQ and "factory" was provided. Two curious things about the HQ's location; the first was that it's in Menlo Park. Thomas Edison did much of his most notable work in Menlo Park--only Edison's Menlo Park was in New Jersey.

No one is bringing good, solid design into an environmentally friendly vehicle," says Franz von Holzhausen. "We either get strange, quirky vehicles that the general public isn't ready for, or we get iterations of the Prius. Nobody would buy a Prius if it were a normally powered car. My opportunity is to create a brand that revolves not only around clean, environmental stories, but also around awesome design. We are past the idea of an environmentally friendly vehicle needing to look different. As the idea becomes more mainstream, the quirkiness of the product will go away. People won't want to sacrifice anything, including style, to own an efficient car.

With their headquarters and heritage already established in Silicon Valley, executives from electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors today told California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 'they'd be back' to build future products in-state.

The future of the automobile comes into sharp focus as I shiver on the shoulder of a damp road in Northern California, waiting for technical editor Don Sherman to make his first 0-to-60-mph pass in a Tesla Roadster - a preproduction version of the svelte, $100,000 electric two-seater powered by 6831 laptop-computer batteries and the collective enthusiasm of an intrepid band of Silicon Valley engineers and green dreamers the world over.

My admiration for Nikola Tesla has nothing to do with any of the reasons Don Sherman, our crusty technical editor, absolutely worships him.

ON SALE: NOW / $98,950

All that Martin Eberhard really wanted was an electric car that was at least as practical and convenient as the succession of old, wretched $500 clunkers that he'd driven as a young electrical engineer, such paragons of automotive efficiency as the Lincoln Continental Mark III, the Chevrolet Caprice Classic, and even the Renault Le Car. Unfortunately, no one could build him one, although he dangled a substantial bit of the personal fortune he made as a Silicon Valley innovator in front of anyone who promised to do the job.

All that Martin Eberhard really wanted was an electric car that was at least as practical and convenient as the succession of old, wretched $500 clunkers that he'd driven as a young electrical engineer, such paragons of automotive efficiency as the Lincoln Continental Mark III, the Chevrolet Caprice Classic, and even the Renault Le Car. Unfortunately, no one could build him one, although he dangled a substantial bit of the personal fortune he made as a Silicon Valley innovator in front of anyone who promised to do the job.

All that Martin Eberhard really wanted was an electric car that was at least as practical and convenient as the succession of old, wretched $500 clunkers that he'd driven as a young electrical engineer, such paragons of automotive efficiency as the Lincoln Continental Mark III, the Chevrolet Caprice Classic, and even the Renault Le Car. Unfortunately, no one could build him one, although he dangled a substantial bit of the personal fortune he made as a Silicon Valley innovator in front of anyone who promised to do the job.