This is funny. It’s like an algebra nerd lining up next to a cocky track star to race, and everyone laughs and laughs, but then someone says “woah, that nerd’s on fire.”
Unfortunately, it won’t be doing much to help Tesla’s image. The embattled electric vehicle manufacturer is having enough trouble getting its car on the road without having to worry about (more) performance concerns. The Tango only beat the Tesla by a quarter of a second, and the Tesla had a higher top speed (so we can attribute this mostly to weight), but prospective buyers won’t be happy to learn that their ride has the same amount of pickup as a dorky econocar.
I think that “dorky econocar” actually costs about $85,000, which may be econo by comparison to the Tesla, but not by much.
You know what I mean! The thing looks like a smart car crossed with a forklift.
This thing isn’t a threat to the Tesla in the exact same way that the Zune isn’t a threat to the iPod. Specs aren’t everything.
1) The Tango does 0-60 in 4 seconds – that’s hardly “dorky econocar” performance. Same 0-60 time as a Ferrari F430. See http://www.commutercars.com/ for specs.
2) The Tesla in this video has the “1.0″ drivetrain with the transmission locked in 2nd gear.
3) The Tesla “1.5″ drivetrain – which is a free upgrade for “1.0″ cars and is in the more recent of the 100 or so Teslas on the road – does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds.
BTW, I don’t work for either company – just a fan.
Ahh, thanks for the informative comment. I meant that the Tango is dorky solely in looks, since obviously it’s an excellent performer. I didn’t know that about the tesla drivetrain, though, thanks for clearing that up.