Tesla Roadster's touchscreen interface

By Martin LaMonica and Rory Reid on 31 July 2008

London Motor Show 2008 You may have heard about the the 6,831 lithium-ion batteries that power the all-electric Tesla Roadster. But what about the user interface from the driver's seat?

It turns out that the Roadster has a small touchscreen to control battery charging. It provides people with the temperatures of different subsystems, and it gives a read of how the batteries' charge translates into range and performance.

It also lets people schedule the charging for late at night, when rates can be lower because demand on the power grid is lower — a very handy feature.

A Tesla representative at the London Motor Show said that the Roadster, which has just started shipping in the United States, is scheduled to come to the United Kingdom in May 2009. This means that the Roadster will be built in right-hand drive, leaving us with one big question: is it coming to Oz?

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