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Tesla Roadster Breaks Distance Record For Electric Car
An anonymous reader writes "The CEO of an Australian ISP has driven his Tesla Roadster into the record books, completing 501km on a single electric charge in the 2009 Global Green Challenge — beating the Roadster's official specifications, which rate the all-electric sports car as being capable of a maximum of 390km per charge. The previous record was held by another Roadster in the 387km Rallye Monte Carlo d'Energies Alternatives in April this year. In a race specifically designed for alternative energy vehicles (such as hydrogen and electricity), the Roadster was the only vehicle to complete the entire course. Though to be fair, that race course was a mixture of twists, turns and hills."
What the summary fails to mention is also that the average speed was at about 55 km/h, which is pretty decent...
Regards, Boyan
To be fair, these cars were expected to turn, and go up and down hills. Something no mere mortal car would dare perform...
I think what they mean was that it requires less electricity to remain straight on a flat plane going at a fixed speed. When you slow down to complete an S-curve or start going up a hill, your fuel consumption is drastically affected. The driver of the Tesla Roadster kept the speed as close to 55 kmph as he could to achieve the best efficiency event though that's a modest pace and not really a racing speed. This wasn't a course making long straight lines through the salt flats and that's probably important to note. I don't think "race" is a good description for the course. It's more like a realistic challenge with completion time hardly a factor.
My work here is dung.
Well, the $109,000 car costs Colorado residents a mere $65,000 with their substantial tax break for hybrid and electric vehicles. That's downright affordable! Makes me wonder how much the rebate is for a Prius, both there and in my home state...
Yes they are. Even the most inefficient plants are still vastly more efficient than a car's engine, with transmission losses accounted for.
Batteries are very recyclable, and are designed to last the life of the car.
I don't know about you but when I travel long distances on the highway I expect a 500 km trip to take about 4.5 hours, not 9 hours.
Where did speed come into this? The Tesla has a max speed of 200km/h - more than enough for any sane road trip.
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
You will get more range in the city than highway, unless you drive as slow on the highway as you do in the city.
The reason that city driving in a hybrid or electric vehicle can be more efficient than highway is because the inefficiency of the regeneration is overpowered by the reduced wind resistance.