Top Gear Flogs A Tesla -- And Breaks It

Top Gear Flogs A Tesla -- And Breaks It
By Chuck Squatriglia December 15, 2008 | 8:30:53 PMCategories: Tesla Motors


Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson beat the snot out of a pair of Tesla Roadsters, and while he was blown away by the EV's ungodly acceleration and technological prowess, he ultimately decided the car looks better on paper than it does on the track.

Clarkson couldn't contain his glee as he stomped on the accelerator for the first time, exclaiming "God Almighty!" as the Tesla smoked a Lotus Elise off the line. "Not bad for a motor that's the size of a watermelon," he said. The car's ample acceleration - 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds - was enough to make him forgive the car's somewhat clumsy handling, something Clarkson attributed to the huge battery pack.

Things were going swimmingly until the cars ran out of juice after 55 miles, needed 16 hours to recharge and broke down. That was it for Clarkson.

"The Tesla is an astonishing technical achievement - the first electric car you might actually want to own," he declared. "It's just a shame that in the real world, it doesn't seem to work."

questions persist

The point about the break by charging only $200 a month is well taken. It amounted to an $1100 a month break for the MDAC swim team! There WERE NO breaks given to the swimmers! They were charged the same. It was money in the swim teams pocket. That $1100 break came straight out of the Springs taxpayers pocket into theirs. Is it possible that some of that $1100 a month wound up in anybody elses pocket? Is it possible that little Timmy was a Springs kid? one of the six? which would make the count for current active Springs kids even lower. Good work tracking that down. Any Optimists out there know anything about the Optimist connection?

pool info needed

I too, went to the swim meet and found they had between 320-350 swimmers on Saturday. There were swimmers from Rockway Swim team, Goulds, Hialeah Gardens and various other clubs ie Neptune, etc. The estimate was roughly 750 people if you count the parent and friends. Apparently all were volunteers, so the costs were minimal. It was great seeing all the kids swimming, as its probably THE healthiest sport around. It was NOT financially healthy for the residents of MS tho, as we took a proverbial bath. We do not need to make a huge profit, BUT we shouldnt take a big loss either. We should AT LEAST cover our expenses. What revenue did we take in? Did it cover our expenses? If not, why not? Being a fundraiser for a private swim team should NOT mean we should NOT cover our expenses! Not at THIS meet, or the rest of the year by keeping the pool open for team practice. At the very LEAST we should break even. WHY arent we breaking even? Also a LOT of recyclable plastic bottles and aluminum cans in the garbage-apprently because Mr Gorland is not really concerned with recycling and never told the staff to fill up the available, almost-empty bins in front of the gym. There were easily 20 bags of garbage thrown away yesterday. 80% of garbage is normally recyclable- was that just an oversight? or a total lack of concern about recycling? There are several meets in Broward and Palm Beach that recycle, why not us? When will City officials become aware of the environment and the effects of recycling? EVER?