Auto Trends

Mrs. Claus is a hot mama with a red Corvette, originally uploaded by karrelbuck

Santa has always been pretty cool in our book. Yeah, he’s getting a little dated at at least a couple hundred years by our calculation, but he seems to keep up with technology pretty well each year. He is also pretty eco-conscious, being that the worst pollution he puts out each Christmas Eve is no more than eight or nine gaseous reindeer, and possible Santa himself depending on what he had for dinner the night before.

He is no doubt in need of speed with such a hectic schedule, so he wouldn’t want one of those putsy Smart cars or tiny NEV’s (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles), of which he would quite frankly be lucky to squeeze his left butt cheek into anyway. Yeah, the Corvette has always been a favorite of his and Mrs. Santa (pictured above), but with the oil related problems of the past year (importing gas to the North Pole is like a kick where the snow don’t fall), Santa would have no doubt parked the Chevrolet and be looking for an alternative.

Originally uploaded by Mhuang

From a little start-up company in California has come some pretty big accomplishments. So far the Tesla has gained quite a bit of ground and despite some financial difficulties, has emerged as a contender in the super sport car market. Their all electric drive Tesla roadster is a beautifully built vehicle. This is one “green car” that can actually get away with the “red car” attitude.

This baby features an air-cooled 375 volt motor that pumps out a burst of 250 horsepower and 275 ft-lbs of torque at its discretion. While taking a bath with a hair dryer would be bad enough for your health, you would not want to slip into a jacuzzi tub with a 375 volt Tesla battery. These batteries are actually quite impressive with a claim of 244 miles per charge, which is a good 200 miles of coverage beyond most EV’s (Electric Vehicles) currently in production.

One of the best sport features of the zero-emissions electric car is its ability to have complete power and torque on command. There are no combustion chambers, valves or pistons that need to be revved, so instead of a torque curve which builds with the rpm, you get 275 ft-lbs or torque weather you just pulling out from a red light, or are cruising the open highway at max speed. Now 275 ft-lbs may not seem like a lot, but it is enough to catapult the 2,700 pound Tesla Roadster (1,000 lbs of that being pure battery) from zero to 60 in less than 4 seconds.

A fat man in a sleigh with eight or nine magical reindeer might even have a hard time keeping up with that kind of a solid launch… So this year we proudly nominate the Tesla Roadster as the car most likely to be driven by Santa.

You disagree? Give us your own nomination…