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Tesla Roadster Runs For 241 Miles In E-Rally
N!NJA writes with the mention of a recent alternative energies rally where the Tesla Roadster managed to cover 241 miles on a single charge, with another 38 miles of juice still left in the battery. "That would give the Roadster a theoretical maximum touring range of nearly 280 miles — 36 miles more than Tesla itself reckons the car will cover on a charge. If the numbers stand up to official scrutiny, Tesla will hold the world record for the longest distance traveled by a production electric car on a single charge. Of course, it should be pointed out that the Tesla was driven by a company staffer doubtless practiced in eking out every last mile from a charge, and that the speeds averaged on the run were hardly blistering — 90kph (56mph) on the motorways, 60kph (37mph) on trunk roads and 30kph (19) in the mountain roads. Tesla reckon the average speed for the entire journey was 45kph (28mph)."
Now make it affordable.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
> Imagine a gigantic cell phone or laptop battery blowing up. Yikes!
Imagine twenty gallons of gasoline blowing up. Yikes!
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Well, that is after you have driven it about 400,000 miles.
Almost like a regular car indeed. My Corolla has a 10-gallon tank, so at typical 28mpg I only get 250 safe miles out of a tank. Of course, I can then instantly fill it back up at any of the very abundant filling stations around the country/world, and it runs just as well with the tank nearly empty as it does with it full (actually better, on account of the missing weight).
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As long as their they don't get batteries from Sony, I think we'll be fine.
Amen, brother.
The Big Three undoubtedly saw the potential of Tesla and smaller companies (who buy a chassis, fit it with their gear, and profit), shit themselves, and immediately made it a necessity that Diesel fuel double in price, Saturn (who would be the GM arm to make it happen) forget what they are about and sell rebadged Opels, and thrusting on the public a prolonged (boring?) four-year introduction of the new Camaro.
What. The. Hell, indeed..
Something is seriously fucking fishy, if you ask me.
There are mandated requirements for safety that eliminate the ability for anyone (but them) to feasibly introduce a new American automobile, unless it has three wheels, in which case it's not an Auto at all, but a Motorcycle.
Q: Why did the minimum hood (bonnet) height of a typical sedan go from the super-aerodynamic, low drag Cd noses of the 90's to something akin to 1980's pickup trucks?
A: "Pededstrian safety".
I am aware that I used the word "penetration." It's OK, I'm used to /. I know what's coming.
When you look at the amount of energy stored in a gallon of gasoline compared to a ton of batteries you'll see why.
That's just silly, though. EVs are exactly the opposite paradigm as gasoline cars. In gasoline cars, the fuel is light while the engine is heavy. In electric cars, the motor is light while the batteries are heavy. The Roadster gets its performance with a motor the size of a small watermelon that weighs something like 40 pounds. In short, battery packs aren't competing with the gas tank for weight and space; they're competing with the gasoline car's engine for weight and space. If you crunch the numbers, you'll find that the two powertrains will be approximately the same when batteries hit 350Wh/kg or so. Commercial cells currently top out at about 200Wh/kg, but there are about two dozen different techs in the lab that can 50%-800% increase the energy density of their respective electrode (anode or cathode). The odds of every last one of them failing to make it to commercialization are vanishingly small. Li-ion still has a very long run ahead of it.
Don't you think if there was money to be made in this market someone would have tried when gas was over 4 bucks a gallon?
When do you think it was that several dozen different marques announced EV programs? Nowadays, it's easier to count the companies that *don't* have EVs they're planning to mass produce. For example, among the biggest sellers in the US, there's only one: Honda. And they've already announced plans to make an electric motorcycle, so even they may not count.
I believe Bird-Person can arrange that.
What are you talking about? Your average person is not traveling 4.3 hours every day. Indeed even you didn't travel 4.3 hours every day. and I severally doubt you averaged 80mph. Hook up a meter to your car. Stopping for gas and/or eating, pissing or whatever tanks your average. You probably averaged less than 50mph. Trust me.
The Tesla can easily keep up with your silly assed car. The only time wasters is if you have to recharge, which is generally done at night when you aren't billing any of those precious and expensive billable hours anyway!
Yes, with the key word here being "weighed". Comparing a long haul drive is not a fair comparison at all and it's not what you usually do. Most people drive 30 miles a day on average. You need to weigh for that heavily. Many people drive cars that are way underpowered compared to a Tesla. You sound like an idiot who doesn't know the first thing about what you are talking about!
You must be Amerikin, since in English, reckon can mean what you infer it doesn't.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I'm sorry, did you come to slashdot expecting to find insightful commentary on an amazing piece of technology being developed? If so, you might want to go somewhere else, because this is the NEW slashdot, where if a new technology doesn't have the Apple logo on it and a friendly gui, noone gives a shit about it any more. "News for nerds, stuff that matters" has not been relevant here for about 10 years.
"...I only get 250 safe miles out of a tank. Of course, I can then instantly fill it back up..."
Very true, but how often do you drive the car 250 miles in a day, where you can't park it somewhere to charge overnight?
I'm very impressed with the 241 miles the car managed to get. This is a real road course, not some "range of 200 miles" crap we keep hearing, where 200 miles is if it's rolling off a mountain and you'll really be lucky to get 100 miles. This course covered highways and mountain roads, with varying speeds and inclines. No fakery here, and it had room to spare. Gives me a lot of hope that electric cars could actually be realistic.
Now if they could just shove a small gas generator in there somewhere so I don't have to worry about being stranded. I'd rather get going again with a 5 gallon gas can then waiting for a tow truck.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
It's already affordable to people who are in the market for cars that go 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. They can afford it so well that Tesla is back-ordered. That's proof of a market that you can take to the bank (literally).
Once those people pay the early adopter tax, they fund the transition to higher-volume, lower-price cars like the Model S.
The Tesla is a brilliant piece of product positioning.
When driving the Tesla Roadster like a sports car you'll get much lower mileage. Jeremy Clarkson only got 55 miles around the Top Gear track, as you can see in this poor quality clip.
The remaining problem with viable full electric vehicles is energy storage. You need to solve the problems of capacity, charge time, and duty in all weather conditions. Perhaps a high density ultra-capacitor can solve these problems but no one has demonstrated a production unit yet. Maybe 2009 will be EEStor's year but who knows. It's also possible that hydrogen fueled vehicles will become the more practical option, despite the high cost of developing the refining and distribution infrastructure to support them.
Park your Civic in the garage tonight, and hit the button that tells it to drive itself to the gas station, fill-up, and return before you wake up in the morning...
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
We love Tesla because they are doing something. The research and investment will lead to future electric cars that really are affordable. See the Model S for a big step in that direction.
All comments are properties and trademarks of the voices in my head. Not like I'm gonna claim them.
When you build tens of thousands of cars you have to sell what the market wants and clearly in the US that is large cars or SUVs.
The thing is is Detroit, that is Chrysler, Ford, and GM, have a record of NOT making what the market wants. This was amply demonstrated in the '70s. For years after the oil crisis people were demanding fuel efficient autos but the big 3 wouldn't offer them. So the Japanese auto makers ate their lunch by making more efficient cars. That was when Japanese cars had to be imported and weren't made in the US. Eventually Detroit started importing Japanese cars but rebranded them. I once bought a Chevy branded truck but when I opened it up to work on the engine it was a Japanese company that made it.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?