AC Propulsion

Anyway, so I was somewhat dismayed by that.

When I learned that there was a small company in Southern California called AC Propulsion that had done a prototype, just a very sort of rough prototype of an electric car called the T-Zero, I got a test drive in the car.

It was It clearly showed that the timing was right to create a compelling electric car.

The advent of lithium-ion really being the key enabling technology.

The original Roadster story actually starts with a different car, the T-Zero that we had in our first video in this series.

They were built in a small San Dimas, California shop by AC Propulsion, hand-built fiberglass body.

It looked like a kit car because it was a kit car.

started life with lead acid batteries, but then it switched to lithium ion, which is why it took number one on this list.

The result was a homemade electric car that ran zero to 60 in about three and a half seconds and can go a couple hundred miles on a charge.

In 2003, when most electric cars were like little golf carts with a license plate on them.

AC Propulsion wasn't interested in putting it in production, but Martin Eberhardt and Mark Tarkpanning were.

In July 2003, they incorporated Tesla Motors.

And they went out, they literally would.

So they started this company called AC Propulsion.

And they would take their car out to airport runways and to drag strips, and they would drag race against anyone.

So they've drag raced against Dodge Vipers and Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Corvettes, and they never lost because suddenly they were able to go 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

I mean, do these guys have the patent on this? Or does Tesla have that now, too? Or is there a patent?

Well, there is a patent on their motor.

So AC Propulsion was the company.

And there is a patent on their motor.

We didn't build the T Zero.

The T Zero was a, a car that was built by AC Propulsion.

Uh, it was a sort of hobbyist ...

It's, AC Propulsion had the most advanced electric drivetrains at the time, and we did a lot of research.

Remember we st- ...

How did, how are we gonna ...

You know, we, we're a bunch of software people and hardware people.

How are we gonna make electric cars? You study everything and you look for everyone that's doing anything interesting.

And Donnie said, "It's crazy how he's just straight up lying.

If he took two seconds to look it up, he'd know that Eberhard and Tarpenning got their technology from AC Propulsion." He went on to say, "More to the point, if he thinks lithium batteries generate torque, he's an idiot.

Also, Eberhard and Tarpenning certainly did not invent them." Donnie said, "I mean, he's literally a conspiracy theorist claiming space lasers won Trump the election."

Elon said, "That one is a banger, to be honest.