Lotus Elise Vs Tesla Roadster, is the Roadster an electrified version of Elise?
Lotus Elise Vs Tesla Roadster, this is a discussion that is necessary to clear a big misconception of people. Also, argue with the Tesla hater as a Tesla lover to save the reputation and provide the true specification and beauty of the Roadster. Specifically, the Lotus Elise is a wonderful car itself that is ruling its base for years.
On the other hand, the tesla roadster is one of the best electric vehicles in history with satisfactory mileage. Both the brand and car are completely different from each other. Furthermore, one should have a look below to find out more.
Lotus Elise Vs Tesla Roadster
The popularity of the stanched car is growing dramatically and in near future, the demand will be at its peak. While it is to choose the two-door and two-seater, stylish, more racing vehicle, they prefer either the Roadster of Tesla which is electric or the Elise series of Lotus which is manual. Both of them manufactured powerful and stylish vehicles of different genres.
However, in the automotive industry, there is a misconception that Tesla Roadster is the electrified version of the Lotus Elise. Most probably, people have this misconception because of the style and design of these two cars.
If we start from the origin, Tesla manufactured and launched the roadster back in 2008. The concept was an electric sports vehicle. Moreover, this series was the legal vehicle that can lithium-ion batteries on the highway. Also, this one was the first electric vehicle that can travel 320 miles at once.
On the other hand, lotus launched the Elise series started with a rear-wheel drive mid-engine roadster back in 1994. Specifically, the starting body part of the car was fiberglass. Over time, they have redesigned the car with different engines and transmissions. Also, the performance and speed of the vehicles get change over time. The misconception of the people actually came from those body similarities and roadster tags.
To clear that issue tesla themselves came in front and talked about the issue. According to them, the roadster is completely different from Elise. If one tries to find a match specifically in the parts they will hardly find 6% to 7% of the match. They have also illustrated that if someone counts the similarities by parts value then it will be too less than this.
One can state that the roadster is similar to Elise but they will have a different drivetrain, body panels, aluminum tub, rear sub-frame, brakes, ABS system, HVAC, rear suspension, and many more than one will lose count. Putting the fact that Elise is a gas-powered car and the roadster is an electric vehicle, let’s illustrate the differences between these two cars to find out the truth?
| THE FACTS | Lotus Elise | Tesla Roadster |
| Layout | Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive | Mid motor, rear-wheel drive |
| Engine | In-line 4-cyl, 1794cc | AC induction motor |
| Max power | 217 bhp at 8000 rpm | 248 bhp at 4500-8500 rpm |
| Max torque | 156 lb-ft at 5000 rpm | 280 lb-ft at 0-4500 rpm |
| Actual Weight | 914kg | 1283kg |
| Power to weight | 241 bhp per ton | 196 bhp per ton |
| Weight distribution | 38:62 and front: rear | 34:66 and front: rear |
| Basic price | $35039 | £92,000 |
| Top speed mph | 148 | 120 |
One can see how different both of the cards are in technical specifications as well as price. While the Elise is $35039, the roadster is three-time more than this. So, the price difference is huge more than one can imagine. Not only this, the performance of this will be too different along with the materialistic differences. Therefore, it is proved that the Tesla Roadster is not an electrified version of the Lotus Elise.
What are the technical specifications of the Roadster?
To add more information to the argument, one should know all the specifications of different models of the Roadster series tesla. They will find out how many differences all the model of the roadster shares with Elise.
| Tesla Roadster | Tesla Roadster 1.5 Standard | Tesla Roadster 2.0 | Tesla Roadster 2.5 base | Tesla Roadster 2.5 Sport | Tesla Roadster R80 | |
| Introduced | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2010 | 2010 | 2014 |
| Power | 185 kW or 248 hp | 185 kW or 248 hp | 215 kW or 288 hp | 215 kW or 288 hp | 215 kW or 288 hp | 215 kW or 288 hp |
| Torque | 244 N⋅m or 180 lb-ft | 370 N⋅m or 273 lb-ft | 380 N⋅m or 280 lb-ft | 380 N⋅m or 280 lb-ft | 400 N⋅m or 295 lb-ft | 380 or 400 N⋅m or 280 or 295 lb-ft |
| Battery | 53kWh | 53kWh | 53kWh | 53kWh | 53kWh | 80kWh |
| Range | 320 to 400 km or 200 to 250 mi | 372 km or 231 mi | 393 km or 244 mi | 393 km or 244 mi | 393 km or 244 mi | 640 km or 400 mi |
| Cd | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.31 |
| 100 km/h | 5.7 seconds | 4.0 sec | 3.9 sec | 3.9 sec | 3.7 sec | 3.7 sec |
| Curb weight | 1,305 kg or 2,877 lb | 1,237 kg or 2,727 lb | 1,237 kg or 2,727 lb | 1,237 kg or 2,727 lb | 1,237 kg or 2,727 lb | |
| Top speed | over 130 mph or 210 km/h | 201 km/h or 125 mph | 201 km/h or 125 mph | 201 km/h or 125 mph | 201 km/h or 125 mph | 201 km/h or 125 mph |
| Base price | $80,000–$120,000 | $98,950 | $109,000 | $110,950 | $128,500 | Car+ $29,000 |
All the trims of this series have huge differences mainly in the price of the Lotus Elise. It is because of all the features and benefits one will get from the roadster that one will not get from the Elise.
Conclusion
Hopefully, all the misconceptions reading the issue are all clear after reading the discussion. One can be sure that the cars do not have any connection. Also, the price difference between these two series is insanely huge. So, one should not make a mind that they can or deserve a near price range as the Elise from the roadster. Now, one can be into the argument of Lotus Elise Vs Tesla Roadster and they are not related to each other.