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Tesla electric sports car ready to hum onto highways
Associated Press ^ | 5-2-08 | JOHN ROGERS

Posted on 05/02/2008 8:58:21 PM PDT by kingattax

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To: CindyDawg

The honest answer, Cindy, Who knows?

The Hummer was determined to be more efficient and had less of an environmental impact then the Toyota Prius. So day to day cost and use or conversion of energy to the proper power format for this thing in the article above is not nearly the whole picture as it was with the Prius.

But will it cut dependence on foreign oil? At the pump, Yes.


41 posted on 05/02/2008 9:58:32 PM PDT by JoeSixPack1
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To: umgud
Will battery acid spill on me if I crash and end up upside down?

No. The battery pack is made of cells that look like large AA batteries. There is no "battery acid." The electrolyte in the battery is not a liquid ... it's more like a paste ... and the cells (all 6831 of them) are individually sealed in steel containers which are in turn enclosed inside the battery box which is enveloped by the frame and body. Upside down, sideways, right side up or tipped on a corner, there's nothing to leak out of the cells ... even in a crash.

42 posted on 05/02/2008 9:58:38 PM PDT by Dimples
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To: kingattax
Amazing...



Here's Jay Leno's 1907 Baker electric.
43 posted on 05/02/2008 10:02:42 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life)
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To: CindyDawg
I’m not exactly sure how it works but don’t we need fuel for electricity?

As the Democrat governors are prohibiting nuclear and coal electric stations, each buyer will be given a windmill to place on top of the vehicle to recharge it.

44 posted on 05/02/2008 10:04:03 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Ted Kennedy - Codename -> "Bobber")
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To: MadelineZapeezda

Tesla rocked. I want to see his notes.
I want to drive his gravity powered car!
(and no, that doesn’t mean it was great at going down-hill.)


45 posted on 05/02/2008 10:05:50 PM PDT by getitright
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To: Dimples
It has a 50kWH Battery Pack that recharges from a home charging station from 240V at a 70A.

50 kw-H X 10 cents/kw-H = $5.00 on your power bill. I don't believe the 225 mile claimed range if that's the actual size of the battery. A paid up AAA membership and a cell phone will be most wanted accessories.

46 posted on 05/02/2008 10:06:28 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Nowhere Man
It appears that it takes 70 amps at probably 240 volts to charge it in 3.5 hours. Or about 59 kWh of electricity. So if you electricity cost 20 cents a kWh the total cost to fully recharge it would be $11.80 or about 5.4 cents a mile. Cost of electricity varies widely. In some places it is closer to 10 cents a kWh. Where I'm at I regularly pay about 37 cents a kWh.
47 posted on 05/02/2008 10:08:54 PM PDT by DB
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To: Myrddin
A back of the hand calculation indicates that the 225 mile trip over 3.5 hours with a couple 150 lb passengers will eat up about 395 kw-hr.

... Hmmm ... I don't follow your math ... you seem to be high by a factor of 8.

The car has a EPA range of about 225 miles ... yes, your mileage will depend on how you drive ... but a 225 mile trip that consumes the entire 50kWH energy store consumes 222WH/mi. If it takes you 3.5 hours to make the trip (64 mph), then you consume a little over 14kW/hr. Remember that you are not accelerating the full mass at full throttle ... you're freeway cruising with enough throttle to overcome air and rolling resistance.

48 posted on 05/02/2008 10:16:52 PM PDT by Dimples
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To: kingattax

This is going to end up being a disaster for anybody who buys one. I just know it.


49 posted on 05/02/2008 10:19:05 PM PDT by gunservative
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To: Myrddin
Believe what you want, the battery pack is indeed 50kWH. And the range is over 200 miles ... EPA certified. And, yes, if you actually pay 10 cents per kWh for electricity, then you'll "fillup" for about 5 bucks. (In CA we pay more like 35 cents)

And yes, if you're foolish enough to run out of juice far from a charging station, you'll get stuck.

50 posted on 05/02/2008 10:22:26 PM PDT by Dimples
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To: kingattax

Electric cars? In California?!

I guess they must of taken care of their electricity shortage problem already!


51 posted on 05/02/2008 10:25:56 PM PDT by TheMightyQuinn
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To: Myrddin

Plus a gas(less) tax, in addition to the fuel tax we already now pay on electricity, probably..


52 posted on 05/02/2008 10:27:49 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: DB
Where I'm at I regularly pay about 37 cents a kWh.

Holy Tomale! Gadzooks!

37 per KWh!

Up here, in Wa. state. I'm paying 5 cents per KWh!

Gotta Love that Hydroelectric juice!

53 posted on 05/02/2008 10:27:56 PM PDT by JDoutrider (No 2nd Amendment... Know Tyranny)
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To: DTogo

Tesla was one of the greatest inventors of all time. He invented the multi phase A/C motor!

The basic design has not changed much in 75 years. It was a giant leap from the DC motor it is hard to explain.

The high voltage transformer in all CRT displays are modified Tesla coils. Before this making high voltage was almost imposable.

We had DC power lines with short range and no easy way of changing voltage before Tesla proved that A/C was better.

I hope the Tesla motor car company does well and I’m sure they will with all the 2008 cars sold and I bet when people start seeing them around many more will be sold.

Thy do plan on making a lower priced 4 door electric but the coup need to sell well first.

They have a nice website.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

It’s rare that I wish I were rich.


54 posted on 05/02/2008 10:32:59 PM PDT by Goldwater and Gingrich
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To: All

A ZAP PK can be purchased fo about $9500 after the Calif Reabate.
It wont go 0-60 in four seconds but it only costs Two cents a mile to drive.
And you can buy one right now no waiting list.


55 posted on 05/02/2008 10:36:12 PM PDT by troy McClure
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To: kingattax

To me the reason I didn’t like electric vehicles before was the range limitation. On previous models was something like 100 miles, but more like 80 in practice.

If you carry extra people and cargo, it affects range significantly. Cruising at say 65+ miles an hour really kills the range also.

The batteries have improved a lot now, they say 200 miles for this model. But it’s an incredibly lightweight car, with almost no cargo room. Where you would expect to put cargo in even this small car, I bet it is taken up by more batteries.

In a few years batteries get even better, then maybe it is appealing to more people. Yes the power is produced by big plants, but those big plants might produce less pollution per unit than a typical gas engine. $5 a “fillup” isn’t bad.


56 posted on 05/02/2008 10:39:16 PM PDT by Mount Athos (if water boarding was a sexual preference, they'd be teaching it in public schools)
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To: CindyDawg; Arthur McGowan
how much will it cost to charge?

I read somewhere that it would cost about the same as if you were fueling it with gas at 30 cents a gallon.

57 posted on 05/02/2008 10:40:38 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: JDoutrider
"Holy Tomale! Gadzooks!"

That's what I was thinking, I'm in Oregon and and the last electric bill had about 3.3 cents for the actual electricity and about 3.3 cents for distribution. That's about 6.6 cents per KWh where I'm at. I'd love to have one of these as my commuter. I only put on about 50 miles a day so I'd really only have to plug it in every couple of days given a 225 mile range on a full charge.

58 posted on 05/02/2008 10:43:48 PM PDT by rednesss (Fred Thompson - 2008)
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To: CindyDawg
Well if they could add some hidden wind blades...we could recharge on the highways.

"A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture, are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity at the illiteracy of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the law of entropy. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is about the scientific equivalent of: 'Have you read a work of Shakespeare's?'"

-- C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures

59 posted on 05/02/2008 10:44:02 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: rednesss

This Tesla roadster, is a true game-changer. Sure it’s a bit expensive still, but so too, were the first desktop personal computers...

It is precisely, the sort of first step, which will begin to offer consumers actual choice.

It is ... Competition. To the old-school model of everyone on earth, driving a vehicle powered by something sold by terrorists.

This is a very, significant announcement.

I want one!! :)


60 posted on 05/02/2008 10:50:39 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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