Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Search results

  1. T

    Ken/Kent/Kerry Beauchrt/Beuchert/Beuchrt/Biker/Rider/Krider

    "Are there any cost advantages to making a EV as opposed to an ICE vehicle? Does an electric engine costs less to produce than an ICE? " They are called electric motors, not engines. The biggest cost item for an electric has always been the batteries. Aside from that any electric vehicle...
  2. T

    Ken/Kent/Kerry Beauchrt/Beuchert/Beuchrt/Biker/Rider/Krider

    The development program is on schedule, regardless of any disappointment you might (for some unknown reason) experience. The car is on the road, and has been videotaped. Interior details are plentiful. I don't know how you missed them, not that the interior is all that important. I have no...
  3. T

    Ken/Kent/Kerry Beauchrt/Beuchert/Beuchrt/Biker/Rider/Krider

    We all know that level 3 will be required for public stations. We also know that gas stations are the only locations that make economic sense - that's where they're all going to end up anyway. Why on Earth should we throw away all that infrastructure just because cars get electrified? Are...
  4. T

    Removable / swappable pack options?

    I'm not familiar with the design of the Model S batttery pack, but if it were me, I would provide for three sections, one occupied for 160, two for 230 and three for the 300 mile range option. I think battery technology and lowered costs has made both the Chevy Volt and Better Place totally...
  5. T

    Charging Station standards

    Looking ahead, it's obvious that the place for fast chargers is at gas stations. There vandalism will not be a problem. Slow public chargers will become obsolete so soon that installing them these days is mostly pure politics or PR. Slow chargers at places of work probably make sense, but I...
  6. T

    It's the Batteries, Stupid!

    " In 1999, General Motors used NiMH batteries in the EV-1 electric vehicle, giving the car a range of 140 miles." Sorry,but the EV-1's battery pack wouldn't go 100 miles, let alone 140. And that battery pack cost a bloody fortune, and weighed a ton, making the car impossible to sell - GM...
  7. T

    Renting an extended range battery...is it an option?

    Latest I heard was 5 minute swap, but the rental idea is a good one. If Tesla was actually planning such a thing, you'd think perhaps they would have designed the battery pack so that it would simply be extendable, so that you would only be renting an extra so many cells. Another possibility...
  8. T

    Ken/Kent/Kerry Beauchrt/Beuchert/Beuchrt/Biker/Rider/Krider

    The Leaf is already getting a lot of bad press for its laughably inadequate driving range - less than 70 real world miles (the EPA tagged it at around 65 to 70 miles or so). Remember,Nissan originally promised 100 miles, no great shakes, either. I wouldn't look at a car that could only go 100...
  9. T

    How will Tesla be profitable selling an electric 7-series for $57k?

    The JP Morgan analyst claimed the breakeven point for the Model S to be 10K units. He also quoted a price range I believe of $57 to $70K, the latter an upper bound. The 300 mile battery option, using his figures, would cost less than $8 or $9K, the 240 mile pack option less than $5K.
  10. T

    Model S specs

    For an electric, adding all-wheel drive is a whole lot easier. I assume Fisker Karma is still being fitted with PML Flightlink in-wheel electric motors. I assume Tesla avoided those because of cost considerations, but I have no word of that. Inwheels should provide for the best performing...
  11. T

    EV1 finalist in Smithsonian American History display. Vote!

    Who says the EV-1 didn't reach the market? Anyone of the 30 million souls in California and Arizona could get one, but few wanted to mess with them. They were right - the EV-1 attempted to electrify the car without a decent battery. It's the battery, the battery, and nothing but the battery...
  12. T

    Panasonic invests $30M in Tesla

    If Tesla can really buy their batteries for $300 per kilowatthour, then their 160 mile battery pack costs less than $12K. That means they are buying cells at less than $2.30 apiece. Seems unlikely, but if true, would presumably make their 300 mile option cost around $11K over standard, and...
  13. T

    KPMG: Electric cars not accessible 'in next five years'

    "Accessibility of electric cars" depends on one single thing : the cost of batteries. Disregarding batteries, an electric car is cheaper to build and always more reliable than any ICE could ever be - the number of mechanical parts in an EV is probably half that of an equivalently equipped...
  14. T

    Panasonic: new cells holding 3400mA ready in 2012 more than 50% increase

    Rawlinson has stated that the Model S initially would NOT have available the 300 mile battery pack, which seems to make obvious that the 3400mah cells will make the 300 mile pack ready when Panasonic releases them for commercial production. Panasonic clearly said 2012, which, as we all know...
  15. T

    More details on Model S from Elon Musk

    Miles per kilowatthour is the obvious data required. You'd think people would know kilowatthours by now, since they see them every month on their electric bill.
  16. T

    Tesla motivated the big automakers to pursue EVs?

    The claim that Tesla was resnsible for the current boom in EVs is rather preposterous and simply not true. Far and away the three most important factors that led to the re-emergence of EVs ar : 1) fears of global warming (regardless of whether those fears are baseless or not) , 2) fear of...
  17. T

    45 Minute quick charge?

    As for Tesla dealers swapping in a new 300mile battery pack for rent, that's not a bad idea, but you'll need either a lot more Tesla dealerships, or an agreement by an existing auto repair (or dealer network) to do the work and store your battery pack until you return their rental unit. To my...
  18. T

    Tesla's 18650s versus larger format automotive cells

    There's simply no way any new battery technology will not end up in laptops and Teslas. Nor does the Tesla's cooling system figure more than incidentally in its cost at this point or any likely point in the future. The Volt's cooling system is quite elaborate as well, and it uses large...
  19. T

    Solar Charging an EV

    I have spent the past 18 months researching and keeping track of residential solar array technology. Although originally I wanted to go off the grid, recent developments and careful thought convinced me to go the grid-tied route with net-metering. The utility needs to install a meter that can...
  20. T

    More anti-ev gibberish

    Why would you assume hydro plants run 24/7? Only baseload plants do so - nuclear and large coal. Hydro qualifies, in fact, as a peak load producer. I see that once again those who have opinions about the grid seldom seem to know very much about it. That includes perhaps the dimmest light in...