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Chronicling Tesla's history

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vfx

Well-Known Member
Aug 18, 2006
14,790
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CA CA
Within a year or so someone will be writing the first book about Tesla and the Roadster. A Google search finds more and more repetitive info on the subject. Tesla's own site picks and chooses what image will sell cars -nothing wrong with that and Darryl's sites are alway exciting "insiders views".

But perhaps Teslamotorsclub can act as a place to reference significant news clips.

Maybe a page labeled HISTORY.

Two contenders


Darryl's debt,

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1962492684126574949&hl=en


And this one reminds us of the rarely mentioned T-Zero part in the Tesla's origin:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/09/MNGSSKDMBT1.DTL




A DVD would be great as well.


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Some footnote in the Tesla history should include mention (not only of the TZero) but the Zytek Elise, perhaps Lotus' first effort working with someone to put battery power to the Elise chassis.

eliseins.jpg

elise.jpg

f223t.jpg



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

From Popular Science July 1997, page 37
"The Silent Supercar
Is a low-volume electric supercar on the horizon? Yes, if there's sufficient demand for the car, says U.K.-based Zytek Automotive Ltd., which has developed an attention-grabbing electric Lotus Elise prototype with support from Group Lotus Ltd. Both gas and electric versions of the Elise boast a featherweight 155-pound extruded aluminum space frame and lightweight composite body shell. Curb weight is just 1,930 pounds, including batteries -- a full 1,000 pounds lighter than GM's EV1. Its supercar-like acceleration is estimated at 0 to 90 mph in just 11.2 seconds, quicker than the standard Elise. A 300-volt nickel-cadmium battery pack is said to offer a 120-mile driving range and a one-hour recharge to 95 percent. Top speed is electronically limited to 90 mph. The impressive power is provided by twin 100-horsepower (75-kilowatt) oil-cooled Zytek brushless DC motors, each mounted to single-speed aluminum gearboxes that transmit power to the rear wheels via equal -length driveshafts.
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Pre mid 2006 there were EV rumors flying of an amazing new Electric Sports car made from a Lotus or some such. All internet searches kept turning up the Zytek Elise.

It was not from Tesla Motors who just had a single page with an image on their site of a sheet covered car and the Zytek was 9 years old.

It sounded great but I wonder why they just made the one ---or was there more?
 
Just thinking through the fact that a big part of Tesla's (hopefully continued) success is down to managing change as well as innovation. The written history of the company will have to put Tesla's business approach into some sort of context.

The comparison with Apple is an easy (though not necessarily correct) one to make simply because Elon cited them as a possible inhluence on their dealership plans.

Should have been clearer in my original post.
 
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Published on Jan 5, 2017 - best summary and engineering overview I've seen so far.
They seem to have "continuous improvement" in their presentations about BEV/Tesla/auto industry

EE292H: Engineering, Electric Vehicles, Tesla Startup: Marc Tarpenning, Martin Eberhard.

The purpose is to help students and professionals develop the tools to apply the engineering mindset to problems in order to consider and evaluate possible, remedial and adaptive approaches. We will focus on learning about and discussing problems that seem most likely to benefit from the engineering mindset.

Stanford Seminar: Electric Vehicles & Startups