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

Search results

  1. B

    Republican Congressman Calls for Cancellation of $7,500 Plug-in Vehicle Tax Credit

    I've never heard an explanation of how the coal fired power plants can run clean and pollution free when they power our refrigerators, air conditioners and big screen TVs, but then they start spewing all sorts of nasty pollution into the air when you plug in an electric car. How does the power...
  2. B

    Power of DC 2010 June 5th and 6th

    Could be the battery temperature was lower. That would cause it to put out just a smidge less power. If I remember correctly, it was a warmer day last year. We're you in performance mode, which allows a higher battery temp?
  3. B

    Charging Infrastructure

    Charger App I downloaded the EV Charger app for my iphone. It works great, the only problem being that my closest charger is 550 miles away, in Atlanta.
  4. B

    Tesla drifting

    Yes Drifting I was most certainly drifting in the Power of DC autocross event last summer! It worked great, and cut another second or two off my time.
  5. B

    Paint color discussion

    I had to check with my Style Consultant (aka girlfriend) several times before deciding. I had Electric Blue for many months, but as the deadline approached I switched to Twilight Blue. Then, in a last minute twist worthy of a Twilight Zone episode, I went with my custom color. Each color change...
  6. B

    How much electricity to produce gasoline?

    In many places production of crude oil involves flaring off natural gas. I'm fairly sure that's not included in the calculation of energy loss, since it is purely byproduct. But if you want to know the total CO2 emissions, then it's got to be included. Production of crude from bitumen requires...
  7. B

    How much electricity to produce gasoline?

    Of course with my solar panels, I have the ultimate long tailpipe. It's 93 million miles long!
  8. B

    How much electricity to produce gasoline?

    Of course it isn't, but I continue to see it come up, over and over, with just about every article on the enviro benefits of EV's. It's wrong and I'm tired of seeing it, want it to just go away!
  9. B

    How much electricity to produce gasoline?

    Maybe so, but for me the importance of the article is that it provides further evidence of the vast amount of electric power needed to make gasoline. While it's not exactly secret, it's far, far from being common knowledge. If the power consumption of refineries was well known, we would never...
  10. B

    How much electricity to produce gasoline?

    Wall St Journal article about Valero building solar and wind farms to meet the 50MW (!) power needs of their Sunray, TX refinery. Valero Harnesses Wind Energy to Fuel Its Oil-Refining Process - WSJ.com
  11. B

    Bike vs. Roadster

    Unless you have a bicycle built for two!
  12. B

    New Spam - Tesla motors Electric car goes 220 miles on a single charge. That sucks?

    Thanks for the compliments all!! I'm working on a novel, so even it's for nothing at all, I like to hone my writing skills.
  13. B

    New Spam - Tesla motors Electric car goes 220 miles on a single charge. That sucks?

    Before getting the Tesla Roadster, I had a Honda S2000. I didn't like to drive that on long trips. A couple times I went up to 250 miles, but never further than that. It was too small to carry enough luggage, and not too comfortable for such a long ride. Back then, if I wanted to drive 400...
  14. B

    NHTSA Complaint wrt Regen and TC

    I believe I have experienced this effect. I was slowing down using regen on a wet road and and suddenly felt a sharp surge forward exactly like the car was hit from behind. I quickly looked in the rear view mirror, and the car behind me was too far away to have caused it. I was on a level road...
  15. B

    Roadster #1 on its way plus more

    It's interesting how different people see things. I'm not at all concerned about how the PRNDL switch looks. I remember before I bought my S2000, I went looking at various sports cars, many of them much more expensive. I could not believe how many so-called sports cars didn't even have the...
  16. B

    Roadster #1 on its way plus more

    Surprise, Surprise! So, I go skiing for a week, and when I get back they've gone and redesigned my car. I honestly don't know what to think about this. Being able to perform great with only one gear is certainly very cool, but I can't help thinking that with the extra power & torque and an...
  17. B

    Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

    The guys over at Realclimate weren't too impressed with the OISM or their report: RealClimate » Oregon Institute of Science and Malarkey Not that it matters. From my experience, people have already made up their minds on this issue, (on both sides), and there is absolutely nothing that will...
  18. B

    The LA Sales & Service center

    There was an articlel I read a while back that the LA gov't officials were making Tesla take the sign down, seems it violated some city ordinance about construction site signage. So I wouldn't look for any great insights from the fact that the big Tesla is no longer there. Just normal gov't...
  19. B

    FROM 2008 Jalopnik: Rumor/News: Tesla WhiteStar RIP? / Musk Pledges to "Eat His Hat"

    Back on topic, I don't believe any of this talk in the press about Tesla shutting down anything. There was even an article in Gizmodo that the entire company was preparing to cease operations completely. That article disappeared, I'm guessing that they got a call from Tesla's lawyers, as that...
  20. B

    Roadster at CES Blaupunkt booth

    They had one on display in my neck of the woods (Wash. DC) this past summer. Diarmuid O’Connell and Colette Niazmand were there. It was (I believe) the same dark blue one that recently appeared at CES. Diarmuid told me that this was originally the one that went through all the salt spray...
  21. B

    San Jose Mercury News Article

    Now Musk is the "Founder" According to this, Elon Musk is the founder of Tesla. No mention at all of Eberhard or Tarpenning. ILW.COM - immigration news: Immigrants Of The Week: Martin Bashir, Michael Ansara, Junying Yu, Elon Musk, Joan Fontaine And Olivia De Haviland I believe it was...
  22. B

    M'iles P'er G'uess

    I thought getting in and out of the Tesla was only slightly more difficult than my S2000, and I'm used to that. Kardax, the seats slide forward and back, but the seat back that doesn't adjust up and down. I'm only a bit bigger than you, and I didn't have any trouble with it, you'll fit fine.
  23. B

    M'iles P'er G'uess

    Tony, good point about the need to figure in a margin for when the battereis are near end of life. What do you think, 80% of original capacity? I guess it's sort of arbitrary, when the batteries are no longer meeting you're needs, then you'll have to replace them. If 50% still meets you're...
  24. B

    M'iles P'er G'uess

    For me, it doesn't really matter, since any of those numbers meet my needs. My worst case is a drive to the beach, 150 miles away. I'd like to very occasionally drive to New York City, which is more like 225. Since that's right on the edge of the maximum range, I would plan on recharging...
  25. B

    Transmission troubles expensive for Tesla

    That's what I figured, except that with an electric, there aren't quite as many of those unrelated parts in there.:cool:
  26. B

    Transmission troubles expensive for Tesla

    Yeah, I remember one of the EV1 mechanics in "Who Killed The Electric Car" talking about topping off the wiper fluid and sending them on their way. Can't be much of a career in that. Which do you think is easier, changing a transmission in a Tesla, or in a conventional car? With a traditional...
  27. B

    Transmission troubles expensive for Tesla

    They are not designing an interim transmission at all. They just happened to have one the many attempts at a transmission that works well if you leave it in second gear. Now they are trying to take advantage of that to get cars out the door, and escape the dreaded "vapor" label. The plan should...
  28. B

    Saleen say 2.8

    I can't imagine anyone who purchases a Saleen to have the slightest concern at all about MPG. And the Tesla doesn't burn any gallons of anything, so MPG doesn't have any meaning in that context. For the price of a Saleen, you could buy 5 Teslas and still have money leftover. Of course, for the...
  29. B

    2009 Corvette ZR1

    On another note, they make a big deal about how they apply special stuff on the ZR1 to keep the exposed carbon fiber from yellowing after exposure to too much sunshine. Is this really a problem? The "rollbar" right behind the driver and passenger on the Tesla is exposed carbon fiber material, as...
  30. B

    2009 Corvette ZR1

    I've heard that this "fuel" that it requries is both toxic and extremely flammable. How can they get away with selling a product that is so dangerous to use? What if you get in an accident? Why, the thing might blow up! Even if you weren't, any rescue personnel would be risking their lives to...
  31. B

    Hydrogen Car Fantasy Crumbles

    The Hydrogen Hype Continues More hydrogen hype. I haven't seen much of this in a while, but it's not completely dead yet. AlterNet: Environment: Is the Hydrogen Age Just Around the Corner? And no, that's not the same Jerry Brown from California politics.
  32. B

    PML Mini REEV

    I think Ferdinand Porsche called it a range extender on his Lohner-Porsche. That would have to be the earliest precedence (1899). It's probably most correct to just use whatever term the vehicle maker uses, although that's also the most confusing, especially if you're referencing another...
  33. B

    Roadster vs Vehicle Sensors

    I had never thought about t, but with an aluminium frame and carbon fiber body, this probably will be a problem. Nice to know there is a solution. Nice find, TedK.
  34. B

    Tesla Blogs: The Song Remains the Same (Elon Musk)

    Tesla has lots of ways to make the business work. They've said that at the current price the Roadster is profitable. The Roadster is already sold out for the 2008 model year, and they're now selling spots on the waiting list for 2009. There is no reason to think that the Whitestar won't be...
  35. B

    REEVs

    One aspect of having gasoline powered range extenders or whatever you want to call them has not been brought up by anyone. As more and more pure BEVs get sold, owners will start asking for access to charging facilities. Not the in-and-out fast chargers that work like gas stations, but I'm...
  36. B

    Tesla Roadster #9 on Wired's 2007 Vaporware Awards

    Drove it last weekend. For vapor, it drives very well. I guess the one that's supposed to be sitting in my garage is still vapor. Next year, it will no longer be vapor, even if some of them will have only a one speed transmission.
  37. B

    2009 Corvette ZR1

    I don't think this muscle car is endangered by the new CAFE standard. At $100,000, GM won't sell too many, while they should sell lots of Volts to offset it.
  38. B

    The ACP long ranger

    Right you are, didn't notice the links at first, thanks. Interesting that the generator produces about 20kW. The Tesla fast charger runs about 17 kW, which is just about the same rate that, on average, would be used driving at 60 MPH. I would imagine that the Whitestar, being a bit bigger...
  39. B

    The ACP long ranger

    Found my own answers: 500cc motorcycle engine is used, housed in a small, aerodynamic package. ~20kW DC There is little question that this 350 pound trailer functioned as planned - sustaining freeways speeds for as long as the 9.5 gallon tank had gasoline Thanks, Wikipedia! Great...
  40. B

    Coda Automotive (formerly Miles Automotive Group)

    The guy at the Miles booth told me that range is only about 120 miles. Good enough for a lot of people, but personally I wouldn't buy it unless it was somewhere over 150. Around 200 would be a nice figure. Of course, batteries keep getting better, so in a few years, even the Miles could be a...
  41. B

    The ACP long ranger

    Does anybody know any specs on this thing: horsepower, wattage, fuel capacity, etc.?
  42. B

    Bush wanted HIGHER Cafe??

    It's actually worse than that, because then the politicians reduce the deficit in future years, relative to the projected deficit in the those years. So if it's 100 billion now, and expected to go to 200 billion in five years, but they "reduce" it in five years to only 180 billion, they call...
  43. B

    Is Tesla going to copy the GM Volt?

    I like independent and flexible.
  44. B

    Bush wanted HIGHER Cafe??

    Well, Sort of... The "20-in-10" initiative that the President announced in the January 2007 State Of The Union speech was to reduce consumption of gasoline by 2017 to 10% below projected 2017 levels, not below 2007 levels. So what it reduces is really the level of increase. The reductions were...
  45. B

    Is Tesla going to copy the GM Volt?

    According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Agnostic: Noncommittal, Undogmatic. I think this fits pretty well with what Daryl said. Telsa is not committed to using one particular battery type, and are not being dogmatic about believing that one type of battery is the best in every...
  46. B

    Slate: Are EVs really any better for the environment than gas-guzzling cars?

    If you recharge your Tesla Roadster from solar panels, then there is no CO2 at all, unless you want to count the small amount used in producing the panels. The panels last 40 years, so that doesn't seem significant to me. Nobody has invented panels that you can put on your roof to turn...
  47. B

    Is Tesla going to copy the GM Volt?

    Actually, keeping Lithium batteries in the refrigerator at about 30% charge is about the best thing you can do to preserve their life. Keeping them hot and fully charged, as in a typical in a laptop pc, is the worse. That's why so many people think that the Tesla batteries will fail after only a...
  48. B

    Speculation on Oil Price Fall

    If the US goes into a recession next year, that might reduce the price of oil a little, maybe $10 - $15. Demand from India and China will still be there to take up any slack. A number of OPEC countries have recently, or will soon, go into production decline. Internal growth in many of those...
  49. B

    My Town Hall Notes

    Elon spoke about how we need to transition from an oil based transportation system to an electric one as quickly as possible. So anything that helps that cause is worth supporting, hence the support for the Volt. A lot of people seem to think he is just in it for the money, but I have no...
  50. B

    My Town Hall Notes

    They (actually Elon, I think) did say that the 2 new companies are not starting from scratch, but building and improving on the existing design, now that they (Tesla) has a much better understanding of where it went wrong. With two failed efforts already, and no time left for a third, they...