MARYSVILLE — Caden Hrabak would make the ultimate sacrifice for any teenager just to drive a Tesla Roadster — he’d give up eating.
“I’d rather not eat for a week if I could drive this car,” Hrabak said.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Hrabak did not have a chance to drive the all-new electric coupe, but he did recently get a chance to sit in it.
The Tesla Motor Car Company of Seattle brought up two Roadsters — one gray and one yellow — to the Marysville Arts and Technology High School on Friday, Jan. 22.
The vehicles were shown by the school’s STEMM Team — science, technology, engineering, manufacturing and math — as part of a partnership with local organizations, colleges and companies.
Students have been working on solutions and projects to answer the question: What happens to society when the oil runs out?
Teenagers got a chance Friday to see an example of alternatively fueled vehicles in the sleek Roadster, which can go from zero to 60-miles-per-hour in just under four seconds and can travel 244 miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack.
“It’s way better than a (Toyota) Prius,” said Hrbak as he stood next to the gray Roadster Sport. “I wish I had my camera — I want this so bad.”
Students began to gather around the two Teslas just before noon. Yellow police tape surrounded the cars, but instructor Mike Fitzpatrick offered students “pit passes” for individual students to sit in the two rides.
Students who were not allowed in the cars mostly snapped photos on their cell phones.
Kelci Rogers, a senior advanced manufacturing student, said that her classmates and she have been working on a number of green projects for their classes.
“Being able to see these and see how they work is a big boost for us,” she said.
Rogers said she drives a 1996 Volkswagen Cabrio, and seeing the Tesla Roadster puts her car in perspective.
“My car cost me $2,000,” she said. “It’s literally 50 times more expensive.”
Senior Katie Johnston was also interested in the car, but said she’s not much of a car person.
“I’d definitely get a pink one — no question about it,” Johnston said.
