For the long weekend we were up in Collingwood hiking the Bruce Trail, swimming and kyaking in icy cold Georgian Bay, and enjoying just not being in Toronto and fighting road construction and traffic. Is it just me, or is road construction particularly rampant this year?

While turning onto highway 26 I happened to notice a big canopy covering a snappy red sports car. Now I don’t really know or have a lot of interest in cars, but this was the Tesla. I have read a lot about the Tesla, but I have to admit, I’d never seen it. And trust me, it really is an eye-catching car.

Tesla Motors Roadster Sport

Tesla Motors was created by a group of Silicon Valley engineers “who set out to prove that electric vehicles could be awesome.” The first electric car debuted in 2008.

One note: The website says their cars are “emissions free.” I hate to be picky, but that’s not entirely accurate. It depends on how the electricity to charge the cars is generated: whether it’s from coal-fired or natural gas plants, giant hydro, nuclear, solar or wind.

A little about the Tesla:

• It’s a 100% electric car. There is no back-up fuel system.
• It costs about $6 in Ontario to fully charge the car’s battery and takes about 6 hours. It uses 220 V system.
• A fully charged battery can take the car 400 km before it needs to recharge.
• The average commute is about 40 km/day so it takes about 10 days of driving before you need to recharge.
• For long trips you need to plan your route accordingly by finding a trailer park or, as the two salespeople told me, asking a nice motel if you can borrow their dryer outlet for about 20minutes.
• Partial recharging does not wear down the battery.
• Battery warranty is for 3 years.

This car can be yours for the low, low price of $125,000!

Tesla is coming out with a sedan model in 2012 and the estimated price is $60,000.

Needless to say, as demand increases, prices should become a little more realistic.

For more information, visit Tesla’s website.