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  1. #1
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    Tesla Motors opinions?

    http://www.teslamotors.com

    Will it change the world or waste $40mil of VC? Thoughts, Opinions?
    I think it looks pretty freakin cool and wish I had $85k to spend on one.

    Roo, you need to go test drive one of these and report back.
    "Great barbecue makes you want to slap your granny up the side of her head." - Southern Saying

  2. #2
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    I saw that in the NY Times or CNN recently.
    I still haven't figured out why they don't put solar roofs, hoods, and trunk lids on them.

  3. #3
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    I have no idea if it'll change the world be hopefully it'll change some people's opinions on what an electric can be and can do.
    Just 250 miles on one charge if a huge step in the right direction and 0-60 in 4 sec. ain't too shabby.
    There's a lot to be said for nowhere.

  4. #4
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    now just make it in a shape i can use. like say a subaru-esque design.

    just a guess, but solar panels probably add a significant amount of weight to the car

  5. #5
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    Finally an electric car that doesn't look/act/sound wimpy. They are also marketing it to the right crowd (rich, eco-friends). I think this car is the best bet to make electric cars stick. However, 250 miles per charge, although a big improvement on past designs, is still way behind what a gas car can do and the average consumer doesn't want give anything up. I hope it works though.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by LegoSkier
    waste $40mil of VC?

    Roo, you need to go test drive one of these and report back.
    Yes, that one.

    I'm guessing Roo is too deep in the Infernal ustion Engine/Peetroleum camp to give anything else a fair look-see.

    ...Remember, those who think Global Warming is Fake, also think that Adam & Eve were Real...

  7. #7
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    Hmmm, sounds good. But can it still go 250 miles after going from 0-60 in 4 seconds?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by MeatPuppet
    Hmmm, sounds good. But can it still go 250 miles after going from 0-60 in 4 seconds?
    Yes, in marketing terms. Mostly, in real terms.

    http://www.teslamotors.com/performance/performance.php
    “Efficiency. Performance. Pick Two.
    Gone are the days when sports cars demanded a choice between efficiency and performance. Now it’s no longer a zero-sum game. Instead, you get peak performance at every moment, with little mileage penalty.”
    There's a lot to be said for nowhere.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by squirrelmurphy
    now just make it in a shape i can use. like say a subaru-esque design.

    just a guess, but solar panels probably add a significant amount of weight to the car
    Only if they're designed to make steam.

  10. #10
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    I like it.


    That site will be down as soon as Chevron Texaco gets wind of it, though.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by squirrelmurphy
    just a guess, but solar panels probably add a significant amount of weight to the car

    Weight? Probably not so much...

    Cost? LOTS... conformal panels would be expensive, fairly easy to damage (talk about an expensive fender bender), and probably wouldn't provide the range boost to make it worth their while. An electric car is expensive already! Of course their usefulness is subject to the time of day, the weather, and what direction your car is pointing. If you garage your car or park in a garage or in the shade (or it snows), you won't be able to solar charge your batteries while the car is off.

    Also, it kind of limits the color schemes...

    I wonder how much that car costs (without solar ;-))
    I wonder how long the battery lasts before needing to be replaced. I wonder how much that will cost.
    Quote Originally Posted by blurred
    skiing is hiking all day so that you can ski on shitty gear for 5 minutes.

  12. #12
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    "I wonder how long the battery lasts before needing to be replaced. I wonder how much that will cost."

    i emailed them that exact question, will post the response

  13. #13
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    I know those electric cars that GM made a few years back (EV1 maybe?) had a range of 100 miles, so 250 seems like a vast improvement. However, on a cold winter night the EV1 only had a range of around 15 miles, so on the same scale the tesla cars could go around 40 miles, which wouldnt get me home from summit county without a tow truck.

    I hope the technology keeps improving, but I dont think i'm interested.

  14. #14
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    I'm quite sure the EV1 was designed to fail from the beginning. Lame design, ugly as piss, the worst marketing of a car ever, and a requirement that you must give it back to GM, no option to buy and keep it.

    Opinion on Tesla Motors? It's a cool car, I hope they do well and become a force in the automotive industry.
    Last edited by Chainsaw_Willie; 07-27-2006 at 11:22 PM.
    ...Some will fall in love with life and drink it from a fountain that is pouring like an avalanche coming down the mountain...

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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by squirrelmurphy
    "I wonder how long the battery lasts before needing to be replaced. I wonder how much that will cost."

    i emailed them that exact question, will post the response
    their website specifies 100,000miles
    whatever that means

  16. #16
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    I've been reading a bunch about it in Wired and Business 2.0. My first thought is if I was dropping 85k on a sports car like that I would want to test drive it and give it some consideration. From the pictures I saw the interior looked a little rough for an 85k car but with that kind of performance I don't think it's a huge deal breaker. One of the stats I read was that there was only one production car faster in the 0-60 and that was the Bugatti Veyron at something like 1.1 million. It will be interesting to see how it goes but I'm thinking they're approach has a lot of potential behind it.

  17. #17
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    Right now one of my largest performance quibbles with the tesla car is the torque curve.

    If you notice, sure it has a ton a low end, but the curve drastically falls off.
    This will have the feeling that even though you can speed up, the car will feel slow at higher speeds and rpms.
    And since there are only a few gears, most likely youll be stuck at a higher rpm at a high speed.

    I once talked to the engine designer for the mazda miata a few years back and he said his primary goal wasnt a top number, but rather a nice smooth INCREASING torque curve such that the faster you go the faster you can accelerate making the car feel really fast and sporty.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by pechelman
    Right now one of my largest performance quibbles with the tesla car is the torque curve.

    If you notice, sure it has a ton a low end, but the curve drastically falls off.
    This will have the feeling that even though you can speed up, the car will feel slow at higher speeds and rpms.
    And since there are only a few gears, most likely youll be stuck at a higher rpm at a high speed.

    I once talked to the engine designer for the mazda miata a few years back and he said his primary goal wasnt a top number, but rather a nice smooth INCREASING torque curve such that the faster you go the faster you can accelerate making the car feel really fast and sporty.
    yeah - with a manual trans it matters alot (bmw follows the same philosophy), however this electric car has some oddball transmission that based on the description on the website I can only assume is simlar to a CVT transmission, therefore a torque curve will have less impact since there is no gearing. But I agree, I dont like the idea of an engine getting weaker at high RPMs.

    disclaimer - I'm pretty drunk right now.

  19. #19
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    oh i guess i missed the point about the cvt
    it could potentially be alright then.

    but then its still kinda odd why they would even both showing a torque curve to 13000rpm

  20. #20
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    they had an article about it in autoweek this week. just got the issue yesterday.

    its a great car, but at that price it wont do anything in the marketplace. no ones gonna spend 85k on an electric car. no one that cares about the environment will spend 85k on any car, and anyone that has 85k to drop on a car wont be looking at electric.

    and it seems like everyone is all gung ho on hybrid, instead of committing to an actual clean energy solution.

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Knight
    disclaimer - I'm pretty drunk right now.

    That's not an excuse.
    Quando paramucho mi amore de felice carathon.
    Mundo paparazzi mi amore cicce verdi parasol.
    Questo abrigado tantamucho que canite carousel.


  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by AbsolutStoli
    its a great car, but at that price it wont do anything in the marketplace. no ones gonna spend 85k on an electric car. no one that cares about the environment will spend 85k on any car, and anyone that has 85k to drop on a car wont be looking at electric.
    Actually, I think these cars will be very popular with the country's leadership (read Hollywood).

  23. #23
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    Most gas cars out there that do 0-60 in ~4 probably get 250 or worse from a tank. Seems about par for the course in that niche...
    Kansas - First Of The Rectangle States

  24. #24
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    The biggest problem with the range thing is that you can drive your high powered sports car that only goes 250 miles on a tank to a gas station, spend a couple minutes fueling up and you're on your way for the next 250 miles. This electric car will require more than a few minutes to recharge.

    On the upside, it's a great commuter vehicle and rich yuppies who live in urban areas, buy only organic produce and fair trade coffe, and are tired of their boring hybrid will find such a car to be a great way to commute to the office and run some errands after work and on the weekends. I think it definitely will find a niche and saying that anyone with enough money to buy it doesn't care about the environment isn't necessarily true. Wealthy people have the luxury of caring about some things that poor folk who can only afford an '89 Chevy Caprice don't.
    ...Some will fall in love with life and drink it from a fountain that is pouring like an avalanche coming down the mountain...

    "I enjoy skinny skiing, bullfights on acid..." - Lacy Underalls

    The problems we face will not be solved by the minds that created them.

  25. #25
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    what kind of power plants are the batteries going to be being charged from?

    hydrocarbon consuming plants? nuclear? renewable source?
    Balls Deep in the 'Ho

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