Tesla Roadster Versus Chrysler's Dodge EV Concept: Plenty to Like About Both

Tesla Roadster Versus Chrysler's Dodge EV Concept: Plenty to Like About Both

By Scott Doggett November 28, 2008

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

If Tesla's Roadster and Chrysler's Dodge EV Concept provide a glimpse of the future, sports cars made after the internal combustion engine exits production might outperform their predecessors.

At a glance, the Tesla and the Dodge could be variants of one another, the Roadster being the convertible version, the Dodge the hardtop. Both of the zero-emissions vehicles are based on Lotus platforms, the Tesla on the Elise and the Dodge on the Europa S.

Spinning the rear wheels of both cars are electric motors receiving power from lithium-ion battery packs. The battery pack in either car can be fully charged in less than four hours.

After that, the pair differ significantly. For starters, the Roadster is in production. As of today, 70 have been delivered to customers, according to Jeremy Snyder, general manager of Tesla's Los Angeles showroom.

The Silicon Valley company is completing final assembly of the vehicle at the rate of 10 a week, Snyder said. That rate will double in early 2009, he said, adding that more than 1,200 people have placed deposits on one. Recent recipients include George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Dodge may never enter production. Chrysler has made three EV concepts--an electric-powered Chrysler Town & Country van, Jeep Wrangler and the Dodge--and Chrysler insists that one of them will enter production in 2010. But the automaker isn't saying which one quite yet. 

The Tesla was designed to be an electric vehicle from the ground up. Not so with any of the Chryslers.

The Roadster is based on the Elise platform, but the chassis is completely different, having had its exterior sheet metal replaced by a carbon-fiber composite and a styling that is unique to the Tesla. The chassis is built around a longer, stronger version of the Elise's aluminum frame.

Indeed, Tesla used carbon fiber wherever possible to reduce the weight of the Roadster to increase travel distance between charges and to improve the vehicle's nimbleness (or handling, if you prefer). Only 7 percent of the Tesla consists of Lotus parts, Snyder said.

Based on Europa S

The Dodge is basically a rebadged Europa S--a grand tourer unveiled in 2006 and not available for sale in America--that has been fitted with an electric drivetrain. Although about the same size as the Roadster, the Dodge weighs 3,000 pounds--or 300-plus pounds more than the Tesla.

The extra weight helps explain why the Dodge, although packing a 200-kilowatt (268-horsepower) motor to the Tesla's 185-kW (248 hp) motor, isn't as quick. The Dodge reaches 60 miles per hour in just under 5 seconds, while the Tesla does it in just under 4.

Regardless, both are a thrill to drive as I discovered earlier this month.

Parking Lot Test

Chrysler made the Dodge available to autowriters to drive in a parking lot outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Unfortunately, we were limited to one lap on a short, flat track, which severely restricted our observations.

The first thing anyone but a dwarf would notice about the Dodge is that getting in and out of the car is challenging. Maybe I exaggerate. Perhaps a limber person no taller than 5 feet 8 inches and weighing no more than 150 pounds could do it with relative ease, but for the rest of us, entering and exiting the Dodge is no fun at all.

The Europa S, as some of you no doubt know, was designed to complement the Elise and takes its name from the legendary Europa of the 1960s and 1970s. The Europa S actually has easier cabin access than the Elise due to lower chassis sides and a higher roof line. Fortunately, Tesla found the Elise's cabin access unacceptable and had Lotus develop a larger opening for the Roadster.

The Dodge's size issues don't stop with cabin access. The driver's footwell is tiny. In fact, the accelerator was so close to the brake pedal that I couldn't drive the Dodge with my shoes on; the soles of my size-11 shoes were sufficiently wide that when I had my right shoe on the accelerator, the sole of that shoe was also on the brake pedal.

Barefoot Driving

In my bare feet, the Dodge was a blast to drive in the limited time and space I had in which to drive it. Because electric-powered cars have instant torque, acceleration was quick and uniform from zero to 62 mph--the speed I was able to reach in the parking lot (the car has a top speed of 120 mph).

Easing up on the accelerator produced a sensation like braking or downshifting. That's due to the Dodge's regenerative braking system, which captures some of the vehicle's energy and sends it back to the lithium-ion battery pack.

The Tesla is also equipped with regenerative braking, which I thoroughly enjoyed in the real-world driving I did in West Los Angeles a few days later. On a long, curvaceous stretch of Sunset Boulevard, I repeatedly found myself racing up behind other vehicles that were stopped at a red light.

But instead of applying the brakes as I bore down on them, I'd take my foot off the accelerator early enough so that the "drag" of the regenerative braking system slowed the Roadster down enough that it would come to a stop just before reaching the vehicle in front of me. That was fun.

No Shifting 

But it wasn't nearly as fun as shoving the accelerator to the floor. Because the Roadster has only one gear, no shifting was required. It just went--and it went damn fast.

And unlike, say, the Porsche 911 Turbo, which can reach 60 mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds, the propulsion is linear--not unlike a peddle fired from a slingshot. The result: Full-body giddiness, an overwhelming desire to stomp on the accelerator over and over, and expressions of awe and envy from other motorists.

The Roadster came with traction control and Yokohama tires, which allowed the 2,690-pound car to track true and grip hard in corners--just like a Lotus, but faster than a Lotus.

And--and this is a big and--because all Tesla Roadsters are convertibles, getting in and out can be facilitated by taking the roof off.

Inside, the electronic components include everything you'd expect from a new, high-end vehicle, including a premium sound system, air-conditioning and a state-of-the-art navigational system, plus many features you wouldn't expect, including lots of ways to track your fuel economy, heated and cooled seats and a function that prevents valets from joy riding (a la the scene in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off").
 
The only thing not to like about the Roadster is its price, which starts at $109,000. (Chrysler isn't saying what the Dodge EV might cost.) But if you've got that kind of money to spend on a ride, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more exciting sports car--and a greener one at that.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.