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Tesla Roadster Update Extends Range
mrflash818 sends word that Tesla Motors has announced an upgrade for their Roadster vehicles that boosts the range from about 240 miles to almost 400. In addition to the battery improvements made since the Roadster launched in 2008, Tesla has a kit to retrofit the body to reduce its drag coefficient from 0.36 to 0.31. They also have new tires, which improve the rolling resistance coefficient by about 20%. They say, "Combining all of these improvements we can achieve a predicted 40-50% improvement on range between the original Roadster and Roadster 3.0. There is a set of speeds and driving conditions where we can confidently drive the Roadster 3.0 over 400 miles. We will be demonstrating this in the real world during a non-stop drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the early weeks of 2015." Tesla stopped producing the Roadster in 2012.
No, they can't legally sell them in the USA anymore without some serious engineering changes. They got a waiver on some of the safety regulations that has expired. They also had a limited contract with Lotus for the bodies.
So to do a new run of roadsters, they would have to do a lot of engineering and essentially make a new car. Right now, they don't have the capacity in engineering or production to make more models; they're struggling to get the Model X out, and they've got their eyes on the III.
I wouldn't be surprised if they make a new Roadster eventually, but I would put it at five years out at the earliest.
Besides, given the performance of the P85D, I'm not sure how much more there would be besides a different body shape.
"There is a set of speeds and driving conditions where we can confidently drive the Roadster 3.0 over 400 miles"
42 mph , downhill with a tail wind...
To be fair to Tesla, the driving conditions for their range estimates are actually usually very realistic. I have a 60 kWh Model S, and I match rated range while driving 65 mph in the summer with air conditioning on. It gets significantly worse in winter, and it gets much better in nice 65-70 degree weather days.
Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.
They also have new tires, which improve the rolling resistance coefficient by about 20%.
Do they mention that the minimum stopping distance has now increased by 20%?
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They do this already with hydroelectric dams (backpumping). It works well on a large scale, not so much on home/small scales. You need a lot of water with a lot of head (elevation) to make a sufficient amount of power to be practical.