0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds - and it's ELECTRIC

[hammersley]

Get rid of ALL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES... ... . screw the oil companies AND the Middle EAST!!!!!!!!!!!! These are a beautiful car... ... .....



Tesla Motors







Acceleration & Torque

Instant Freedom



How powerful is the acceleration? A quick story to illustrate. A favorite trick here at Tesla Motors is to invite a passenger along and ask him to turn on the radio. At the precise moment we ask, we accelerate. Our passenger simply can't sit forward enough to reach the dials. But who needs music when you're experiencing such a symphony of motion.



How far can the Tesla Roadster drive between charges?



Actual range depends on driving style and conditions. During testing of prototypes cars, Tesla Motors has seen between 170 miles per charge for very spirited driving to 267 miles per charge for city driving that makes use of the Roadster's regenerative braking. Our most recent EPA driving cycle tests, conducted November 26-30, 2007, at an EPA-certified facility, resulted in the following numbers:



230 mi EPA city

211 mi EPA highway

221 mi EPA combined (city/highway



200 MILES would do the job for a HUGE PERCENTAGE of our needs!!!! NOW why can't we have this in a TRUCK!!!! Can you say COORPORATE GREED?????

 

[Axion]

I agree, awesome car. But at $98K a little pricey for me.



Now, I'm not an expert but I see a few other problems with mass producing a similar truck. That car only weighs "around 2690 lbs". A little different than powering an 8000 lb truck. But I guess if you take my Cummins out, the weight would be reduced by a bunch. These guys AC Propulsion would be happy to sell you bits to drive four wheels on a truck. But at $25K for each driven wheel, not including batteries, etc, the pricey part comes into play again. Then you have to charge the thing. Widespread use of electric vehicles would have a huge impact on the grid. With California already seeing rolling blackouts in the summer, you're going to have to hope your neighborhood doesn't go dark while charging or you get to walk to work. If the electricity production can be ramped up to meet demand, how much of the increase is going to be "clean" electricity?



Again, don't get me wrong, I am all for alternative fuels, I would love to be able to run WVO in my truck. But when its -30 it would cost me more to warm the WVO to the point it would even flow than it would save. I am willing to pay somewhat of a premium to be environmentally friendly but I have my limits. Even if a "Tesla Truck" were available, I don't think I could afford the $150K or $200K it would cost. Often "Easier said than done. " applies. Maybe someday we'll see electric vehicles on every corner but I fear it won't be in my lifetime.

 

[hammersley]

Actually very little impact to the grid.....

as the vast majority of the recharging would occur at non peak times..... and the charging is NOT at a very high rate..... so HOMES and infrastructure would require esssentially zero change AS COMPARED to a HYDROGEN ECONOMY... and look at what MASS production would do to the battery packs..... IF WE HAD A NON OIL PRESIDENT and CONGRESS - maybe we could get a National Defense Strategy to get us off this CRAP... ..... and consider the maintenance of these vehicles - not much at all... ... about as bulletproof as you can get... ...

 

[DZLROKET]

And you could, God forbid, put a couple of solar panels on your roof to do the charging!!

 

[Simplysmn]

Somebody is off there Rocker if that thing is worth 98 grand thats alot of fuel you could buy . NOTHank's I will stay with buying fuel .

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

IF WE HAD A NON OIL PRESIDENT and CONGRESS

This isn't a political issue - where is the energy program that Bill Clinton put in place - or the guys before him? And while memory fades fast, our decline down the road of energy problems began LONG before ANY of the Bush's hit the White House, with NO proposed or enacted programs aimed at heading off where we are today!



Do any really think an Obama, Billary or whoever the GOP offers, will be some sort of miraculous "Power Messiah", ending all, or even a significant portion of our energy ills?



DREAM ON, Not hardly!

 

[Dl5treez]

Do any really think an Obama, Billary or whoever the GOP offers, will be some sort of miraculous "Power Messiah", ending all, or even a significant portion of our energy ills?

Not in the least... . but it's mighty amusing---and just a bit scary--at how many "educated Americans" are following right down the road behind them.



(help)

 

[RDMueller]

True, the Tesla Roadster is PRICY! But, it doesn't have to be so just because it is an electric car. Remember the EV1? If not, go out and rent "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Heck, if you haven't seen it, go rent it anyway. Very interesting how the people who drove the EV1's loved them and hated to give them up when GM decided to terminate the leases on them. Was it the perfect car for everyone? No, of course not. But for a daily commuter who's commute is less than about 100 miles round trip, it actually was a sensible and very economical car.

 

[Matt400]

Whats really nice about this car is the looks & performance, someone decided it wasn't necessary to be ugly & slow to be electric.



I like it and saving 1800 per yr in operating costs looks enticing, the 98K blows the idea all up. Bummer...

edit The battery is good for 100,000 miles, wonder what a new one costs?? It would be a shame to park it after the 98K price tag

 

[Petethewicked]

I'd like to see that car haul a truck load of scrap metal, dirt, camper, or anything else I stick in or behind my cummins

 

[JDiepstra]

How much does it tow, can I plow with it, and how much can it hold in the bed? Also, does it have 4X4 and can it make smoke?

 

[RDMueller]

How much does it tow, can I plow with it, and how much can it hold in the bed? Also, does it have 4X4 and can it make smoke?

0; No; Nothing; No; No :-laf:-laf:-laf



Don't think one could ever take the place of our trucks, but with gas at $4. 00/gal, something like the EV1 could be a decent car for the daily commute. Now for the Tesla Roadster, I guess it doesn't really have any good use, but it sure looks cool! In any case, it's just nice to see the technology developing. Plus, put a whole fleet of electric cars on the road, demand for oil drops, and maybe it won't cost $150 to fill the truck:{

 

[hammersley]

Please tell me you can think OUT of the BOX!!!!!

This article talks about the future - be careful - some of us sound like it might just be 1907... . when we are trying to keep our buggy whips (our beloved CTD's) when the horseless carriage is just around the corner.....





Parallel hybrids are powered by an electric motor, an internal combustion engine, or both at the same time. General Motors used a parallel powertrain in the discontinued ‘mild’ hybrid GMT 800 Chevrolet Silverado. The truck shut its gas V8 engine off at full stops, running internal systems off a small electric motor, until the truck started moving again solely on V8 power. Toyota uses a parallel system too, for its Hybrid Synergy Drive cars, like the Prius and Camry. It's a sophisticated version of parallel technology, where the electric motor or conventional engine solely powers or moves the vehicle, or both motors work together, depending on engine load conditions. But parallel hybrids only swap or pair engines in low-speed driving conditions, like city traffic, so they are also called single-mode hybrids.







Two-mode hybrids use an advanced automatic transmission that determines whether to use an electric motor or the conventional engine, or both at the same time during low-speed and highway driving - which is why it's called two-mode. This allows the vehicle to behave like it had a continuously variable transmission (CVT) so it can achieve optimal fuel economy at all times while driving. GM’s new GMT 900 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV uses a two-mode hybrid powertrain because the system doesn't compromise much of the vehicle's all-around capabilities. It can still tow up to 6,000-pounds, only 1,000-pounds less than a conventional Tahoe. We'll see a new Chevrolet Silverado two-mode hybrid pickup by December 2008.



Serial hybrids use an electric motor to drive the wheels, while a conventional (e. g. diesel) or non-conventional (e. g. fuel cell) engine powers a generator. The generator either powers the electric motor directly, like a locomotive, or is used to charge a battery pack, which powers the electric motor. Using a battery in a serial hybrid does three things. Batteries can be plugged into the energy grid for recharging, making the vehicle a 'plug-in' series hybrid, like GM's Chevrolet Volt concept. Batteries enable driving for some distance without burning fuel, and they let the generator engine run only at its most efficient point, and any time the generator is running it’s charging the battery. This is unlike an idling locomotive, stopped at a train station and burning fuel without purpose.





The advantage of a serial hybrid over the parallel and two-mode versions is that, within the battery’s charge range, the vehicle is emitting zero exhaust and not using any oil. It also has fewer moving parts, even counting the generator, which means less vehicle maintenance and lower lifetime operating costs.



Mr. Wright favors the plug-in serial hybrid approach for heavy duty pickups.



"The Volt is where it's all going to go, eventually. It's the right development path. Of course, it doesn't have enough power (for a truck). It would be great if it had enough scale for a pickup truck," says Mr. Wright.



It's one thing to power a small family sedan, like the Chevy Volt, off a serial hybrid powertrain. But the large size and demanding power requirements of heavy duty pickups make it a more challenging proposition for use in a truck application.







PickupTruck. Com: Is An Electric Heavy Duty Pickup In Your Future? Ian Wright Says Yes.

 

[Headshot zod]

Electric cars are nice for second vehicles, but when the blackout hit Florida recently 7-800 electric cars were effected I believe. Something to think about as the nation's electric grid falls apart.

 

[hammersley]

No question the PRIVATE Electricity GRID in the US

Electric cars are nice for second vehicles, but when the blackout hit Florida recently 7-800 electric cars were effected I believe. Something to think about as the nation's electric grid falls apart.

Is falling apart - however here in the Pacific Northwest we don't have that problem as we have the best power grid in the World - Federal Generated Hydropower from the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Rlamation - Transmitted via the Bonneville Power Administration - (public) and in my case a Public Utility District... No overpaid CEO's or stockholders - and State of the Art Power System!!! - NOW if we did that with the OIL SUPPLY on Federal Lands - instead of allowing the greedy Oil Companies to rob us blind - Then we could get fuel at a reasonable $$$ and NOT SEND it TO CHINA!!!!



Now about the grid going down and you have no power for your electric car - HELLO - if teh grid is down - there's a much larger poblem - How do you ger fuel from a station with no power - they don't have hand pumps and they won't let you dip it out #@$%!