Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/904009
maltatoday, SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017 MIV Motoring Tesla catches motoring world o guard with surprise electric Roadster THE futuristically styled four-seater sports car was revealed at the launch of the electric car manufacturer's new lorry, and is said to be capable of hitting 60mph in 1.9 seconds with a top speed of more than 250mph. Performance comes from a 200kWh battery pack, which Tesla claims will give the Roadster a range of 620 miles. Currently, the top-spec Model S has a 100kWh battery pack with a range of nearly 340 miles. It will have three elec- tric motors – one at the front and two at the rear – to give it all-wheel drive. The California-based company will help raise $250 million (circa €212 mil- lion) capital to build the car through 1,000 'Founder Edition' vehicles, which are likely to be fully specced-up models. They will cost $250,000 (circa €212,000), but customers will have to pay full price to reserve them, unlike the base car which will cost $200,000 and requires a $50,000 deposit. At the launch of the Tesla Semi lorry, the Roadster unexpectedly rolled off the back of the truck, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk saying: 'People have asked us for a long time, 'When are you going to make a new Roadster?' We are making it now. 'The Tesla Roadster will be the fastest production car ever made.' With regard to the subject of the impressive statistics, Musk said: 'These numbers sound nutty, but they're real.' Musk says the Roadster will go on sale in 2020. However, his company will first have to overcome the "production hell" it has faced in ramping up production of the Model 3, its first mass market car, as well as hitting a 2019 target for its new truck. The original Roadster was Tesla's first production vehicle and was based on a Lotus Elise. However, it is likely that the new car will sit on a shortened version of the company's bespoke platform used in the Model S saloon and Model X SUV. Tesla has caught the motoring world off guard by revealing an all-new version of its all- electric Roadster sports car, claiming blistering performance and a highly impressive range. No surprise Italians vote for Ducati V4 IT comes as no surprise that theDucati Panigale V4 1409won thevote for the most beautiful bike of theEICMA motorcycle show in Milan, making it five years in a row for the Italian company. Ducati has won the coveted "most beautiful bike of the show" voted by visitors since 2013 with the Monster 1200 S. In 2014 Ducati won with the Scrambler, Diavel in 2015, SuperSport last year and now the V4. No surprise here! And it is no surprise that fellow Italian company MV Agusta won in 2012 with the Rivale 800. All great-looking bikes and all Italian. Similarly it is no surprise that BMW usually wins best bike vote in Germany's The Ducati V4 won with 61% of the 16,000+ votes, making it Ducati's ninth win from 13 shows. We're not so sure about the V4, though. It looks a little plump to us, but to each their own. We think there are some more beautiful bikes in the show, some of which come from Japan … surprise surprise! But no Japanese bike is ever going to be voted most beauti- ful bike at an Italian show.