100% Electric Car Looks Like Porsche, Accelerates Like Ferrari, Consumes Only Electricity

Discussed before on ATS, but now we are on the eve of actual production.

This no longer can be called a flash-in-the-pan. An all electric car which has a range of 200-250 miles, can be recharged using a universal charging port in as quick as 3.5 hours. Top speed: 135Mph Acceleration: 0-60 in 4 seconds. Only snag: It will cost you $92.000 to get one.

Zero emission. (Almost) Zero maintenance. Estimated Lithium-ION battery change: every 100.000miles.

Check out their website at www.teslamotors.com over 500 sold already.

Tesla Motors are working on a second model which will be a sedan. Alas no plans yet to export to Europe yet!

I thank them for this invention and for naming it after Nicola Tesla.

Here the ABC report on the Tesla Roadster:



[edit on 13-9-2007 by Truth4hire]

Tesla Roadster = Awesome!

I read somewhere that the only complaint people had was that it was too quite. Also apparently because of this the company plans to include artificial "engine roar" into the sound-system that can be customized like ringtones

Is that true, though?

Electric vehicles.

Gotta love them.

Then, gotta ask :

Where does the electricity
come from ?

Coal-fired power plants,
mostly.

But, you may say "the car
produces no emissions!".

Correct. But, the power plant
has to produce more electricity
to provide the power.

Nothing is free.

Regards,
Lex

reply to post by Lexion


How much is the sun and wind charging these days?

[edit on 13-9-2007 by kleverone]

135 mpg equivalent looks very efficient to me. However considering that if you already have solar panels on your house the price is free if you have had those panels for a number of years and paid the hardware cost.

Originally posted by kleverone
How much is the sun and wind charging these days?

If systems are dedicated to charging cars this would be viable. On the grid however, not so much. The last estimate I read was that all currently available alternative energy sources could only replace 15% of fossil fuels. That's if exercised to their maximum potential, which they most definitely are not.

Something like the recharging stations featured in the EV1 documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car, for example.

To hack a phrase coined by UM_Gazz: Save the Planet. Go Nuclear!

There is a standard converter which comes with the Tesla Roadster, but you can plug it in any outlet to charge it´s Lithium-ION bank.

Cost: $ 2.50 per charge which will give you up to 250 Miles of road time.

Do the math. How much Kwh is two bucks fifty worth?

If given the choice, would you rather fill your tank with $ 25 worth of premium or use $ 2.50 worth of regular household current?

@ one cent per mile the choice seems obvious to me.

Unless you are working for Exxon that is.

I think you might as well face the end of the combustion engine for road transport is near, and we will witness it in our lifetime.

How exciting!

EDIT: The convertor is actually a "supercharger".

Hyatt is installing Tesla chargers in three of their hotels already...

Read more on Google News

Spread the word please!

[edit on 13-9-2007 by Truth4hire]

I stand by my post.

What produces the power
to charge the batteries ?

When THAT becomes fossil-
free, I'll kneel.

Regards,
Lex

Originally posted by Lexion
When THAT becomes fossil-
free, I'll kneel.

Well, there are lots of ways to (almost) get off the grid these days... Ranging from high end solar panels to windmills to even earth batteries (if you have the land for it). The essential thing is that you replace the need for fossil fuel for road transportation using relatively small amounts of electricity. Small amounts which could be easily obtained via solar panels with the right amount of storage (capacitators) I might add.

Maybe Tesla Motors could strike a deal with a major solar panel manufacturer to create self supporting charging stations for every owner and/or public places... Come to think of it, not a bad idea!

Someone should email Tesla Motors about this!

[edit on 13-9-2007 by Truth4hire]

Technology for a self supporting charging station is already there. Just need large capacitator banks and a Tesla charging port. I´ll ask them, hopefully they´ll reply and I will post it here.

Originally posted by apc

Originally posted by kleverone
How much is the sun and wind charging these days?

If systems are dedicated to charging cars this would be viable. On the grid however, not so much. The last estimate I read was that all currently available alternative energy sources could only replace 15% of fossil fuels. That's if exercised to their maximum potential, which they most definitely are not.

We then must take that one step further, who is benefitting from fossil fuel? Who is keeping those alternative engery sources from being fully exploited? It is not a matter of cabability, but accessibility. There is more than enough wind and sun to power the world, the means to allow that to happen has not been fullfilled, too much money loss as stake. All we need are more solar panels and more windmills, problem solved. The problem is, there are not enough built yet and there won't be until the everyday man really starts to become effected in a HUGE way, its starting to happen. I give it less than 15 years. Has anyone else noticed the New BP gas stations arriving on the scene? It's a small step in the right direction.

A lot more. Solar electricity efficiency is pathetic at best. There's new technologies that are significant improvements, but so far I have yet to see anything published that claims more than 50%. Solar is far more economically utilized for thermal energy.

Wind has limited potential, but only if the Ted Kennedy's of the world don't mind spoiling their countryside view. And there's the same problem as with solar... it takes up space.

Wave farms are neat. I think there's a lot to be found there.

But there's no doubt in my mind that nuclear, fission or fusion, is the way to go for at least the next hundred years. Advanced geothermal comes next, but first we need to figure out how to get to the mantle without melting our drills.

Harnessing the energy of the planet must come first. Then look to harnessing the energy of our star.

And there's the same problem as with solar... it takes up space.

Actually Wind and Solar have completely different problems. Solar takes up a lot of space but has the advantage of outputting the most electricity when demand peaks though even then it's inefficient. Wind has the disadvantage of only producing electricity when its actually windy out, though the footprint is so tiny compared to solar panels, you can stick a bunch of these in a farmers field and still use the field for crops and stuff and plus the bigger they get the more efficient they become and the safer they are to birdlife(turbines turn slower the bigger they are). They're popping up all over the place in Ontario, one farmer I talked to about his turbines cleared 50,000 a year just from the lease agreement.

Harnessing the energy of the planet must come first. Then look to harnessing the energy of our star.

I don't see why we have to prioritize. We don't know which technologies will mature first. Frankly I believe that 99.9 % efficient Solar Panels will be here far sooner then abundant fusion energy. Add that with mandatory appliance efficiency requirements as well as much tighter building codes and you can take care of a really huge chunk of the problem. Of course this will only be a green plan if it's retrofitted onto existing houses rather then tearing down the old and putting up new houses.

My point is, it's gonna take a variety of complimentary strategies depending upon the local climate and culture.

Originally posted by kleverone
reply to post by Lexion

 

How much is the sun and wind charging these days?

[edit on 13-9-2007 by kleverone]

How much does it cost to build those pylons and generators and turbines and solar panels?

Nothing is free

The only viable alternative to fossil fuels, despite what people think, is Nuclear Power

Love it or hate it, its the only real answer. There is a case for windpower and I would suggest that rural communities be provided with sufficient wind turbines to power the village, but, long term, its Nuclear

They have a good website.. unfortuantely they are about 100K

Originally posted by sardion2000
Wind has the disadvantage of only producing electricity when its actually windy out, though the footprint is so tiny compared to solar panels...

I mean you can't crowd them. On the ground they have a small footprint but you can't stick them within a few inches of eachother without compromising efficiency.

I don't see why we have to prioritize. We don't know which technologies will mature first. Frankly I believe that 99.9 % efficient Solar Panels will be here far sooner then abundant fusion energy.

They would have to utilize thermal energy as well then, as that is where most of the sun's energy is. As far as practicality I think thermal solar generator stations are more viable than purely electrical solar stations. Less wasted energy.

I don't see anything wrong with attempting to capture what little energy we can from the suns rays that land on Earth. But to really optimize efficiency we can't be restrained by limited land and surface area... we need something in orbit. A lot of something in orbit. I just don't see it being practical to invest the resources needed to establish such a system until we've fully utilized the plentiful energy that is available right here.

Either way what we're talking about here is offsetting grid demand introduced by fleets of electric vehicles. Setting up independent stations using alternative sources dedicated to vehicle charging could work. Supplementing the grid sounds a lot like purchasing carbon offsets, and look at how big of a joke that is.

Originally posted by Chorlton

Originally posted by kleverone
reply to post by Lexion

 

How much is the sun and wind charging these days?

[edit on 13-9-2007 by kleverone]

How much does it cost to build those pylons and generators and turbines and solar panels?

Nothing is free

Lets see how do you spell that?? Well you could spell it G-R-A-N-T or T-A-X-E-S. Either will do How about a anynomous donation that would eventually pay for iteself.

Tesla is off to a great start. Baby steps are needed to ween us off oil for reasons beyond actual energy needs. Oil wars are nothing new but with peak oil upon us they will only become more problematic. These wars distract us from accepting our destiny which is to live in harmony with the planet rather than raping it to survive.

I agree that something in orbit is required in the long term. Something between us and 'our star' would enable us to control and direct the energy to reduce the effects of global warming and provide clean energy to the species. Of course, it would require international cooperation on a scale never before seen. With the current corporate controlled govt. of greed in the U.S. nothing will happen unless somebody's pocket is getting lined. This is the childish world we live in.

Originally posted by kleverone
Lets see how do you spell that?? Well you could spell it G-R-A-N-T or T-A-X-E-S. Either will do

Ah... so the solution is to have the Government pay for it?

So if the venture fails, which is quite possible considering this is an unproven technology therefore high risk, the taxpayers are left holding the bag? I think I'll pass.

They're already going to be fighting to find some way to tax vehicle recharging to make up for lost fuel tax revenue. I don't want to give them any more opportunities to rape the taxpayer.

I'd like to see someone like BP Alternative Energy (what new BP stations were you talking about, btw?) sponsor charging systems integrated into parking garages or wherever else profitable. The cost could be metered directly to the parking fee.

Fitness gyms would be a great place to have charging stations. Just strap generators to all the stationary bikes!