Elon Musk gave electric car fans one of the best Christmas presents ever this year - an announcement that the new Roadster 3.0 prototype will have a more efficient battery and nearly twice the range of the previous model.
Announcing the new prototype on Twitter on Christmas day, the company's founder explained that the car will drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco - a distance of almost 650 kilometres - on a single charge.
This gives the Roadster 3.0 the longest range of any other electric car on the market, and proves once more that electric cars really do have the ability to replace fuel-powered vehicles. And when combined with renewable energy sources, they offer a far more sustainable transport alternative.
Tesla explained in a release the next day that the new model roadster will be able to achieve such a great range thanks to an improved lithium ion battery, which is now 31 percent more efficient than the original model and has an output of 70 kWh.
The company has also added an aero kit onto the Roadster to reduce drag by 15 percent, and a new set of tyres that will improve rolling resistance by 20 percent, as Ty Pendlebury reports for c|net.
The prototype will be tested in the first weeks of 2015 with a non-stop drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Tesla also announced last week that a battery swap program will run between Los Angeles and San Francisco for its Model S cars. While that doesn't sound super exciting, it means electric car drivers will be able to get a freshly-charged battery in less time (and for less money) than it takes to fill up a take of petrol.
We haven't even checked out of 2014 as yet, but we're already pretty excited for what the next 12 months will bring for the future of travel.
Source: c|net