In December 2009, The Wall Street Journal editor Joseph White conducted an extended test-drive and determined that "you can have enormous fun within the legal speed limit as you whoosh around unsuspecting Camry drivers, zapping from 40 to 60 miles per hour in two seconds while the startled victims eat your electric dust".
In December 2009, Motor Trend was the first to independently confirm the Roadster Sport's reported 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) time of 3.7 seconds. ( Motor Trend recorded 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) of 3.70 seconds; it recorded a quarter-mile test at 12.6 sec at 102.6 mph (165.1 km/h).) Engineering editor Kim Reynolds called the acceleration "breathtaking" and said the car confirms "Tesla as an actual car company....Tesla is the first maker to crack the EV legitimacy barrier in a century".