6-23-2008 @ 11:18PM
Martin Eberhard said...
Doug,
Both the tzero and the Fetish were indeed conceived as performance EVs, and in this sense, Tesla follows in their footsteps. But only Tesla was conceived as a *production* high performance EV. From the beginning, I was obsessed with making the right trade-offs that would deliver sportscar performance, but also meet DOT requirements (like airbags and proven crash performance), cost and schedule targets, quality specs, mass-producibility (there's a word that makes the spell checker barf!), and everything else that makes a production car.
On the battery front, the three cars are more closely related. When I met the dwindling team at AC Propulsion back in 2003, the tzero was a lead-acid car. I personally invested in AC Propulsion to convert their one remaining car into a lithium-ion car.
It seems that Al Cocconi and I had independently come the the conclusion that lithium ion was the way to go. But because of the sudden demise of the Zero Emissions Mandate, they were in serious financial trouble, and could not even build a prototype, let alone make payroll. I funded this program in part to rescue AC Propulsion, but largely to prove lithium ion would work. And I am no rich guy!
And then AC Propulsion built the battery pack (as well as the motor and inverter) for the fetish. So all three cars are cousins, and AC Propulsion deserves a fair amount of credit for their role.
Funny thing - if AC Propulsion had any inclination to build production tzeros, I might well have bought one for myself and never founded Tesla Motors. Heck, I might even have applied for a job there!
