Electric sports car

[allaircooled]

I like the looks of this one. Has anyone heard of it before? Due out next year.

www.teslamotors.com/

[Z-man]

My comments (as already expressed on the NNJR PCA forums):
Back in the early 70's there was a guy out west promoting a new car / car company. It wasn't a Briklin, but IIRC, the car looked similar to the SV-1. He had press kits, and even a 'proto-type' car that he took around the nation to get folks to buy into his company.

Turns out his prototype car was a shell of a car with a plywood interior, no engine, no chassis - just a shell. I'm not saying he was a scammer - his ideas for a car simply never took off. And investors never saw any profit - only losses.

Then there's the Tucker...

This new Telsa sounds too much like the upshoot car maker of the 70's that never occurred.

While I would LOVE to see a 100% electric car that does 0-60 in 4 seconds, gets 250 miles to a charge, and costs $0.01 to operate - I doubt this car is real. The numbers don't seem to add up.

Then again, if the car's not 'up to speed,' it would sure make for a cool looking golf cart!

-Z-man.

[Moses]

0-60 in 4 seconds? Wow! I LOVE the torque of electric motors. I like the design of the Tesla, too.

[Z-man]

It's probably more like 0-60 in 40 seconds, and 25 miles on a charge.

[kaisen]

There's no reason that electrics can't be quite fast. But the batteries to run them fast FOR MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES can weigh more than a gasoline motor (300+ lbs), and be just as expensive ($5000+).

E

[Moneyguy1]

It does not use lead acid batteries. IF the technology is as advertised (I saw it on TV with Ahnold as a passenger), then there may be a market for it in the near future. Battery technology is evolving. And, electric motors deliver max torque at startup, not at some range in the thousands of RPMs.

BTW...the Tucker was a viable car, with a load of "advanced" features, and for the 911 lovers, a rear engined design. Too bad it failed.

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by kaisen
There's no reason that electrics can't be quite fast.

This was on CNN.com today...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/25/paul.commentary/index.html

[Mr_Wizard]

Found a couple of the RAV EV for sale but with a price tag of 42K - 44K, they are a little out of my price range. It would be nice though, I only drive about 40 Miles a day to and from work.

[Aurel]

Originally posted by Z-man
It's probably more like 0-60 in 40 seconds, and 25 miles on a charge.

Electric cars can be fast. Scary fast. If you want to see one take a Ferrari F350 and a Porsche GT2, watch this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3624337653720181416&q=electric+car

Aurel

[lendaddy]

They can be fast for short periods of time, they do make a lot of heat during high output though. But.... since electricity comes from moonbeams the lack of pollution really outweighs these few issues.

[Aurel]

Originally posted by lendaddy
They can be fast for short periods of time, they do make a lot of heat during high output though. But.... since electricity comes from moonbeams the lack of pollution really outweighs these few issues.

Those minor drawbacks can be easily fixed, since we know that they are entirely G.W. Bush`s fault

Aurel

[kaisen]

The technologies are there. The major manufacturers have been testing those technologies for a LONG time. It will take a good nudge before they dive in.

The question is: will the nudge come from governmental legislation, or consumer demand?

These technologies are expensive if done in small batches, but with the power of a 16 million unit marketplace, the economy of scale can bring the cost down significantly.

Consumers have somewhat embraced the 'hybrid' idea where they get the benefits of both (range and economy). Maybe this will allow the big manufacturers to justify developing technologies that will help smooth the transition to pure EVs.

We've spent 100 years (or more) developing the internal combustion engine. I think we can iron out the kinks of electric.

[Z-man]

Originally posted by Aurel
Electric cars can be fast. Scary fast. If you want to see one take a Ferrari F350 and a Porsche GT2, watch this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3624337653720181416&q=electric+car

Aurel

Indeed, they have terrific torque right from the start. The issue at hand is having that kind of torque AND a 250 mile range.

-Z.

[Aurel]

It is not a car issue, but a battery issue. What is difficult is to make batteries that a very high energy density and a very high power density at the same time. Li metal batteries have the highest energy density, but too dangerous. Li-ion have good compromise of energy and power, but still dangerous. Ni-Cd and Ni-MH are safe, good power, but lower energy density, etc...down to C/C supercapacitor that have up to 10kW/kg of power but are only good for a 1/4 mile.

Aurel

[FrayAdjacent911]

Well, they did it, and it works. I'm sure the 250 mile range is under just the right circumstances, which would probably exclude going from 0-60 in 4 seconds more than a few times.

I think it's pretty great seeing something like this car making it to market. Quite seriously, I don't think we can keep using gasoline internal combustion engines for EVERYTHING FOREVER. I don't think we'll get completely away from them, but for a pure commuter vehicle, and electric car with more than 100 miles range would be perfect for many of us.

I read an article by Burt Rutan recently, in which he talked about hybrids, and how they are pretty much backwards. What would be much more efficient would be a car that runs primarily off of electric power, and has a small IC/generator so it can regenerate itself. He speculated you could end up with a vehicle that could go probably 1000 miles on about 7 gallons of gasoline, but that could be plugged in to charge for local commuting. How could THAT be bad?

[competentone]

Note on the investors page:

http://www.teslamotors.com/media/investors.php

the names:

Larry Page

Sergey Brin

Google's founders. I've heard that Page is into Tesla stuff (as in Nikola Tesla), but didn't notice anything on the Tesla Motors site that suggested this car is being powered by any of Tesla's "lost inventions."

From what I skimmed on their employment page, it sounds like any production is a long way away. They have the "concept," now they need to find the people who can actually built it (that's the hard part).

Aurel identified the difficulty: "It is not a car issue, but a battery issue."

[competentone]

More details on the blog:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog1/

Sounds like it's just a Lotus with a battery pack and electric motor.