Tesla Roadster - The most fun you can have without fuel [Jay Leno reviews plug in electric car]

timesonline.co.uk ^ | July 8, 2007 | Jay Leno

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[Red Badger]

Ping!

[miliantnutcase]

ghey

[gridlock]

I could see commuting in that. I would have to keep the gas burner for interstate travel, of course...

[Bladerunnuh]

Wow these things are great! I like the way they run off of solar power and free up all that gas. Hey, wait a minute, you have to charge the batteries using coal or oil-fired power plants. Hmmmm nevermind

[JamesP81]

I guess this sort of thing is the future, but I’m sure going to be miss the majestic roar of a 350 small block chevy.

[DeFault User]

Is this the one with the Lithium batteries? Quite a number of them too, if I recall correctly.

[ishabibble]

Jay Leno is a classic car junkie. Why would he ever say these things unless Hollywood is clamping down per the Goracle? Nobody would come on the Tonight Show if they weren’t loyal to Gore? Poor Johnny Carson, he’s spinning in his grave...Jay, man up or lose every last bit of integrity you ever had, Heeeeeeeeere’s Johnny is looking down and watching! Seriously, don’t you owe that man something?

p.s. No “big” name would be caught dead on O’Reilly (the Hollywood moonbats are so original) and yet, he manages to capture the lion’s share, every single night.

[Little Pig]

Ok, but what class does it race in under SCCA autocross rules? And how well does it do?

[reagan_fanatic]

I've got a 350 small block in my '57 Chevy and I just love the way it sounds. Beats the pants off those rice burners with the fart cans on the exhaust pipe any day of the week :P

[TWohlford]

“CO2 n/a”

Yeah, no CO2 in our electricity (from our coal-fired power plant)...

[grundle]

I don’t know those numbers. But it goes from 0-60 in 4 seconds, and has a top speed of 130.

[Jeff F]

I thought he did a good job. Not a whole lot of eco-proselytizing but instead a straight forward piece based upon his own experiences with the good and bad of electric cars. He is even honest about these sort of cars currently being a rich man’s toy.

[grundle]

You could also use nuclear power.

[JamesP81]

I've got a 350 small block in my '57 Chevy and I just love the way it sounds. Beats the pants off those rice burners with the fart cans on the exhaust pipe any day of the week :P

My dad has a 96 Corvette, a Silverado, and he's restoring an old K5 Blazer. All three have 350 small blocks. It might be the best internal combustion engine of the 20th century.

And you're right; it owns the rice burners. Not that I can talk too much about rice since I drive a Nissan Sentra, but I just haven't saved the money yet for something more interesting. I'd like to get a C4 Corvette, but that's the sort of thing you really need for the weekends. I'll probably settle for a Silverado.

[grundle]

Yes - over 6,000 lithium batteries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster

Tesla Roadster

# Cell type: lithium ion, 18650 form-factor (18mm diameter by 65mm length). Most laptop computer batteries already use this type of lithium-ion cell.

# Cell count: 6,831

[TWohlford]

okay, from the top:

1. There are O2 emissions, unless the electrical power comes from nukes or wind. If it comes from nukes, then you’ve got strip mining and all that goes with uranium production, along with storing spent nuke waste. Wind power is, percentage-wise, negligible ‘cause it’s so inefficient.

2. The manufacturing of batteries is very hard on the environment, and the replacement of the batteries causes a decision to scrap the car far sooner than its diesel counterparts.

3. Charging batteries takes time. To charge a 100AH to 80% in 1 minute with a 220v connection, you’d need around 4800 amps. You’d need 480 amps for a 10-minute 80% charge. That would mean that a “filling” station would probably pull 10MW or more — the average power generation station produces around 500 to 2000 MW.

4. Your electric car flips upside down. The batteries are normally under the passenger’s compartment. Now would be a great time to discover prayer, and pray that the contents of the batteries don’t leak out on you, or that the electricity doesn’t catch something on fire.

BTW, it’s tough to screw up a new Lotus, no matter what the drive train. There are more than a few people putting together replicas of the Lotus 7 (aka “Caterham” or “Clubman”) using forklift electrical components.

[Semper911]

you have to charge the batteries using coal or oil-fired power plants

Exactly. Electricity is the very least green type of energy we have. But the greenies don't see or smell the coal/oil emissions in their driveway, so they think it's all good and clean.

My neighbor was going on about the new weed whacker he got. He was all happy that it is so good for the environment. I just nodded and tried to stay neighborly while I was thinking, "How the *bleep* do you think they make that electrictiy that's running through that nine-mile extension cord you are dragging around your yard?"

[Grunthor]

Good news on the alternatives to gasoline. Now if they could just make one affordable to us middle-class folks that didn’t look like it’s *ss had been cut off we’d be in business!