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 Amid the roar of Adelaide’s high-octane Clipsal 500 race, Internode’s managing director Simon Hackett has introduced the first fully electric, high-performance sports car, the Tesla Roadster, to Australia.
With the assistance of the organisers of the Clipsal 500, Simon arranged for the sleek and silent sports car to be air freighted from Tesla’s California factory in order to show it first at the Clipsal – a race more associated with petrol fumes than electric power. One of the first South Australians to check out the innovative vehicle was State Premier Mike Rann, who was at the Clipsal 500 to announce the Global Green Challenge, the latest evolution of the widely acclaimed World Solar Challenge http://www.globalgreenchallenge.com.au/ .
Costing about $160,000 the Tesla Roadster has supercar performance. It accelerates from 0-100 km/h in less than four seconds, has a top speed of 200 km/h and can travel about 400 kilometres on a single charge. The Tesla Roadster is on display at the Murray Walker’s Extreme Machines pavilion in the Clipsal 500 race area, at the eastern end of the Adelaide central business district.  Internode, Australia’s largest privately owned broadband company, is using the Tesla Roadster as a bright shiny demonstration of the fact that it is possible to be both “green” and high performance. Last year, Internode achieved CO2-free status for its entire operation after undertaking a major greenhouse gas emission audit and the purchasing the required carbon credits. Since September, Internode has used 100 per cent “GreenPower™” throughout its operations. The purchase of 100 per cent GreenPower™ – generated from sources such as wind and solar – is supplying all of the electricity used by Internode offices and data centres nationally.
“I have been passionate about electric vehicles, since I drove a GM EV-I electric car in California in the 80’s,” said Simon. “One of my aims in bringing the first Roadster to Australia is complement what Internode already does in terms of green initiatives,” he said. “The point of the exercise, for me, is to work towards busting the notion that you can't be both green and high performance. You can. Like a Roadster. And indeed like Internode. "If I can obtain permission to drive it on public roads, which will be hard because it’s a left-hand drive car, then I'll realise my dream of it being my ‘daily driver’. Otherwise, that'll have to wait for Tesla to make a right-hand drive car in the future. In the meantime, I will show people - by demonstration - what the future of cars looks like. I strongly believe that electric vehicles are the future of motoring and this was the most concrete way that I can personally contribute to educating people in Australia about just how real they are.” The next confirmed appearance of Australia’s first Tesla Roadster is at the Greenfest event (http://www.greenfest.com.au) in Brisbane in June. More information about the Tesla Roadster is available at http://www.tesla.on.net About Internode www.internode.on.net Internode is a first tier IP carrier committed to using broadband technology to redefine the national telecommunications environment. The Australian-owned company is a trailblazer that delivers broadband services to individuals and businesses throughout Australia. Internode PR for media assistance: Impress Media Australia www.impress.com.au Call John Harris on (08) 8431 4000 or email
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