CLUE CREW NOTES FROM THE ROAD: VISIT TO THE TESLA MOTORS FACTORY

Jimmy: The future is NOW!!

If you’re into cool cars then you’re in for a treat. When you tune-in to todays Jeopardy!, Sarah and I will take you inside Tesla Motors, located in Palo Alto, CA just outside San Francisco.

Tesla was founded in 2003, by a group of Silicon Valley engineers who set out to prove that electric cars could be awesome. The company’s name, Tesla, is homage to Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) who created the induction motor and alternating-current (AC) power transmission. According to the founders of the company, without Tesla’s vision and brilliance their car wouldn’t be possible. Tesla himself filed for more than 700 patents for everything from wireless communication to fluorescent lighting.

Designed from the ground up as an electric car, the Model S seen here provides an unprecedented driving range of up to 300 miles.

Sammy Hagar sang, “I can’t drive 55!” Well, Sarah can when behind the wheel of the Tesla Model S. Tune-in to watch her go from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds!

The body of each car begins with a giant 20,000 lbs. coil of metal, also known as atomic number 13. Do you know what metal that is?

The whole process from raw materials to finished Tesla vehicle can take from three to five days. This is what a Tesla vehicle looks like in the early stages of production.

Here’s Sarah doing her clue about one of Tesla’s key vehicle innovations, their unique battery technology. That’s the huge battery in front of her! It’s positioned at the bottom of the vehicle.

The factory is remarkably clean inside and extremely environmentally friendly. It’s hard to believe cars are actually being manufactured.

Posted by jeopardy