Tesla Roadster
Posted on 07/02/2008 8:27:24 PM PDT by Flavius
With all the news yesterday around Tesla Motors signing a deal with Governor Schwarzenegger to manufacture its next electric sedan in California instead of New Mexico (see video), a potentially much bigger deal slipped by almost unnoticed. German magazine AutomobilWoche is reporting that Tesla will be supplying lithium ion batteries to Mercedes. The German car maker plans to make electric versions of its A- and B-class vehicles, as well as its Smart cars as soon as 2010. When I called Tesla for confirmation, the spokesperson there had “no comment,” but did not deny the report either.
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our governor that owns a half dozen hummers.
he actually had more before he met Maria, but her tree-hugging mentality obviously rubbed off on him.
I wouldn’t mind having a sporty electric car as the tech improves. A family member has the hybrid V6 Camry, and it is very fast, with gobs of torque of the line.
We have a Tesla Meeting Room. (He doesn’t make alot of FR threads)
Good. Build more electric plants and switch it all to electric. Fine by me. Maybe I’ll get a Tesla roadster if the price ever drops.
Check out Quantum Fuel Research (QTWW). They will soon sur-
pass Tesla in a few areas. Chevrolet Volt, Fisker Karma, etc.
All we need is cheap electricity. Where are the nuclear power plants???
There are so many places to plug in an electric car. Your neighbor’s outdoor outlet. WalMart. Most train stations. As electric cars proliferate this will become a huge security issue.
Nikola Tesla invented tomorrow!!!!
The trip and fall ambulance chasing lawyers are already marking off their territories for accidents involving plug-in hybrid extension cords on private property.
Very nice looking car. I too might consider it if the price was right.
Yes he did. Very good history and future he gave us. :^)
The Tesla makes much more sense right now than a heavily subsidized electric car for the masses.
Have early adopters pay a premium for the research, then build a financially viable third generation cars for the mass market.
If the LiIon batteries are actually made by Panasonic, Sanyo, etc., what's the point of striking a deal with Tesla to supply them?
Tesla developed the technology to prevent the batteries from bursting into flame while in use. It took a lot of R&D to convert lap-top batteries into traction batteries. I suspect that that’s what they’re selling to Mercedes.
If they get it perfected, we are talking about normal sized batteries that will fit in a car and give a several hundred miles on one charge and Tesla speed.
What you will not read is how these hybrid cars batteries take up an insane amount of energy to make and properly destroy, all of which are more then the energy saved in better gas mileage over the life of the vehicle.
2009MY Roadster base price: $109,000 (see 2009 spec sheet for more details)
Availability approximately 12 months
$5000 refundable reservation fee starts the process and locks in price
Additional $55,000 to lock in a production slot and delivery timeframe.
0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds
Top Speed 125 mph
Range About 220 miles
Full Charge in About 3.5 hours
I still find it ironic that a car that runs on DC is named after Tesla.
He and Edison are probably both spinning in their graves!
Do you have a link for that? I have an environmentalist whacko friend who’s so smug about his Prius, I’d love to shoot that info over to him.
Now what we need is some super capacitors connected to lightning rods on our roofs to collect all that free lightning. Collect it and convert it to home use.
It really doesn’t matter whether it takes “energy” to produce hybrid batteries.
What matters is we use less oil.
Which is purchased, from terrorists.
That’s what matters. Not some hypothetical net/net “energy” equation.
It uses an AC motor, 3-phase, 4-pole. DC is used for the battery system as there is no way to store AC.
Tesla pioneered the AC induction motor which is type used in the Tesla Roadster.
Thats correct, a DC motor would be too big and inefficient.
I bet now would also be a good time to invest in solar cells and alternative electrical generating plants like a small hydroelectric generator one could use if their is access to a running stream, also is wind power.
The rural towns can definitely survive the future in a new age of electric vehicles, with acreage its more easily done to create your own energy grid to recharge your new fleet of electric cars, lawnmowers and even boats. Build a wind, solar cell and hydro station, sell units of amperage to neighbors well below what the local utilities want.
You said, “It really doesn’t matter whether it takes “energy” to produce hybrid batteries.
What matters is we use less oil.
Which is purchased, from terrorists.
That’s what matters. Not some hypothetical net/net “energy” equation.”
The net/net equation does matter if you use OIL to produce the electricity.
In addition to the oil burned to build the battery to begin with, what’s the point in replacing some quantity of “terrorist oil” burned in a car engine with an even greater quantity of “terrorist oil” burned in a generating plant?
U.S. Electric Power Industry Net Generation, 2006 
Electric Power Annual
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html
“I bet now would also be a good time to invest in solar cells and alternative electrical generating plants l”
Check out Quantum Fuel Research Technologies (QTWW). After
a bit of thorough DD, I believe this is the best $3. stock
out there in the AE category. Many high profile projects in
the works. (see Fisker Karma, Chevrolet Volt, etc.)
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