"Last fall (2008), Tesla began making the only highway-capable E.V. now available: the Roadster, a $109,000 sports car that goes from zero to sixty in less than four seconds and has a range of two hundred and forty-four miles. Powered by a lithium-ion battery—the kind used in laptops and cell phones—the Roadster was designed to prove that E.V.s can not just compete but excel. (Lithium is lighter than lead and releases a lot more energy.) Having gained “first-mover advantage”—which is particularly prized in Silicon Valley—Musk plans to cut the price for each of Tesla’s succeeding models more or less in half and seize the market from the top down."