The history of the automobile is full of insane studies that first inspired and then disappeared. This time: the AC Propulsion Tzero. Without the almost forgotten electric car prototype, Tesla might not even exist.
It is well known that Elon Musk likes to be the center of attention. But he obviously also has a feeling for when truthfulness is appropriate. In a tweet on December 9, 2018, he announced that the Tzero electric sports car was “the inspiration for the Tesla Roadster”. “Without this prototype, Tesla wouldn’t exist, or at least it would have taken a lot longer,” tweeted Musk.
Tzero? Even if hardly anyone knows the bold vehicle, of which only three prototypes were built – it is actually the nucleus of all modern electric cars.
The handcrafted car first rolled onto the stage of the auto world in January 1997 at the Los Angeles auto show. The main purpose of the two-seater was to publicize a new electric drive from the Californian company AC Propulsion. The company from San Dimas, founded in 1992, was already developing electronic components for the automotive industry.
However, the electric two-seater did not attract attention until three years later. The Tzero competed in quarter-mile sprint duels (approx. 400 meters) against a Ferrari F355, a Corvette C5 and a Porsche Carrera 4 – and each won a superior one. A measly electric car disgraces three supercars! An e-machine with 160 kW made brute six- and eight-cylinder combustion engines look old! There had to be something to this new electric drive technology. The Tzero combined lightweight construction, high-tech, driving fun and dynamism – and it did so almost silently and without exhaust fumes. Was that much more than just a technology demonstrator from a small company on the outskirts of Los Angeles?
How Tesla got rolling
Another three years later, in 2003, the Tzero triggered the impulse that was to fundamentally change the automotive world. In a nutshell, the story goes like this: Martin Eberhard, a 43-year-old electrical engineer and computer entrepreneur from California, heard about the car. Because he also noticed that AC Propulsion was not planning any series production of the car, he took matters into his own hands: Together with Marc Tarpenning, he founded the Tesla company.
The rest of the story is well known. Several investors, including Elon Musk, got into Tesla. Eberhard had to leave the company at the end of 2007, and Musk took control in his place. Meanwhile the seeds of the Tzero were growing. The Tesla Roadster, which was presented in 2007 and formed the cornerstone of what is currently the world’s most valuable automotive company, was created on its technical basis.
“Origin of modern electric drives”
Pete Gruber, the German-born U.S. entrepreneur operates the Gruber Motor Company (GMC) in Phoenix, Arizona, which specializes in the maintenance and repair of Tesla models. When a picture of the bright yellow Tzero was faded in during the online conference with Musk, Gruber’s curiosity was aroused and he went on a search.
Indeed, he found a Tzero owner willing to sell the car. From then on, Gruber also drove Tzero in addition to the Tesla Roadster. And his employees, who specialize in digital Tesla drive technology and lithium-ion battery packs, have now been able to get to know their origins: an analog electric drive powered by a total of 28 lead-acid batteries. Only in the last of the three prototypes did AC Propulsion replace the lead-acid batteries with a total of 6800 lithium-ion laptop batteries, as they were later also used in the Tesla Roadster.
An electric car with this power delivery, this range and this driving experience did not exist until then. The Tzero also had a recuperation system, which could even be adjusted continuously – which was later no longer possible with the Tesla Roadster. The Tzero also anticipated the basic concept, namely integrating an electric drive train into a lightweight sports car frame. At that time, AC Propulsion opted for the kit-car roadster Piontek Sportech, Tesla later used the Lotus Elise as the basis for the Tesla Roadster.
Gruber had big plans for the Tzero. Appearances at car shows, campaigns with electric car fans, promotion for his company. But after just a few weeks, these plans literally went up in flames: While work was being carried out on a Tesla battery in the GMC hall, a fire broke out on May 5, 2017, in which seven Tesla Roadsters, three other electric vehicles and the Tzero were destroyed.
There are contradicting information about the two remaining Tzero models as to their whereabouts and condition. For Gruber, the electric pioneer’s special driving experience was irretrievably lost as a result of the fire – the memory of the “original Tesla” lives on.
