Tesla Sorts Through Roadster's Transmission Troubles

As the months tick by, Tesla Motors' famous electric Roadster has fallen

The famous electric roadster will get its gears rolling when production begins in March. (Photo: Tesla)

into the damning category of vaporware, when something is hyped and promised for production, but doesn't appear. Well, there's good news for Tesla fans. After company founder Martin Eberhard was unceremoniously sacked, and the restructuring of the company addressed, plus transmission troubles rectified, Tesla appears to be making headway with the Roadster.

The main problem with the Tesla's transmission was that it couldn't cope with the power of the electric motors that were supposed to be able to rocket the two-seater to 60 mph in the four second range. In addition, Tesla just couldn't work out the cooling either. Their solution has been to switch to a two-speed unit with limited performance capability that meets the original specs for durability and drivability. Unfortunately, in this switch overall performance has been decreased significantly, and the car will only be able to hit 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. Sure, that's quick for an electric car,

The solution is an interim transmission. The new unit capable of delivering 100-percent of claimed performance will be available later this year. (Photo: Tesla)

but it isn't close to what was originally advertised.

Tesla will deliver these first generation Roadsters (called P1) shortly, as production of the roadster is scheduled to start on the 17th of March. The good news is that this is just an interim solution and that the company isn't giving up on matching its claims. A one-speed transmission plus a more powerful powertrain system will be fitted to the second generation (P2) cars to make back the performance losses.

And what about all those folks who bucked up for the first-generation car? When the second version hits the roads, those with the first transmission will be able to upgrade theirs free of charge. When the full-performance version will be ready is anyone's guess, but Tesla says that things should be good to go sometime this year.

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