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Forums - General Discussion - Electric sports car goes 200mi on a 10min charge

superchunk on 23 July 2008
Dogs Rule said:
superchunk said:

Tesla Motors is a ground up company. It is building its capital for mass production quatities and prices. In the next 2 years they will have a mass produced sports car similar to the one they already produce and a $40k-ish family sedan.

The point is GM and other companies had already started to mass produce electric vehicles that with the combined newer batteries and appropiate mass production the costs would dramatically come down over a few years. Thus, putting quality electric cars in the hands of the mass market in the 20k price range for a new vehicle.

I know I would spend up to $10k more for an purely electric version of a car, easy. When factor in the massive reduction in cost for fuel, even at prices from a few years ago, and the reduction in all the maintenance costs for various items that internal cumbustion engines require like belts, seals, oil, filters, etc, you could easily save $10k over a 5 year period.

Not to mention they are quicker, more durable, quieter, and obviously a zero emission vehicle is a good thing.

 

For sure the purely economical saving would compensate the initial investment.  The main thing you need to change on an electric motor is the brushes.

Even if you factor in that you might need to rent a gas-powered vehicle a few days over the lifetime of your car, such as when towing a boat or recreational vehicles (jet skis, 4 wheelers, snowmobiles), I think you'd still come out on top.

 

Why would you need a gas powered vehicle to tow stuff? Electric vehicles have a much stronger motor, so they couold tow more and if the info is right on this new battery type, even the reduced range would probably not need a substantial time requirement.

The only vehicles that I could see that would need to stay internal combustion for the time being are semis and other shipping types of trucks.

 



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superchunk on 23 July 2008
Dogs Rule said:
Sam Yikin said:

20k range? links?  

That sounds great.... could mean big changes in car industry

 

I think he means that had we continued research in the field of electric vehicles they would now be at a mass-market price.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ev1#Costs

"The price for the car used to compute lease payments was US$33,995 to US$43,995, which made for lease payments of US$299 to over US$574 per month. One industry official said that each EV1 cost the company about US$80,000, including research, development and other associated costs."

That's exactly what I mean. If GM and other companies had left those cars in production and used the new battery techs as they became available, there is good reason to think the actual price tag of an entry line vehicle to be in the $20-30k range.

 



vaio on 23 July 2008

Can someone tell me how to convert 200 miles to km?



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superchunk on 23 July 2008
vaio said:
Can someone tell me how to convert 200 miles to km?

http://www.convertunits.com/from/mi/to/km

200mi ~ 322km

 



Dogs Rule on 23 July 2008
superchunk said:

Why would you need a gas powered vehicle to tow stuff? Electric vehicles have a much stronger motor, so they couold tow more and if the info is right on this new battery type, even the reduced range would probably not need a substantial time requirement.

The only vehicles that I could see that would need to stay internal combustion for the time being are semis and other shipping types of trucks.

 

I know electric motors more easily produces mass amount of torque needed for towing than comparable gasoline engines. But If you need to tow one of the things I gave as an example up to a cabin without electricity, you might not be able to make it back since towing will suck more juice. So in that rare circumstance, you can rent a truck to fit your needs.



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superchunk on 23 July 2008
Dogs Rule said:
superchunk said:

Why would you need a gas powered vehicle to tow stuff? Electric vehicles have a much stronger motor, so they couold tow more and if the info is right on this new battery type, even the reduced range would probably not need a substantial time requirement.

The only vehicles that I could see that would need to stay internal combustion for the time being are semis and other shipping types of trucks.

 

I know electric motors more easily produces mass amount of torque needed for towing than comparable gasoline engines. But If you need to tow one of the things I gave as an example up to a cabin without electricity, you might not be able to make it back since towing will suck more juice. So in that rare circumstance, you can rent a truck to fit your needs.

True, however, any typical electric free vacation spot will have some electric having amenities within a reasonable distance. Plus, if you look up Tesla's plan they have a quick charge kit that you keep in your trunk for emergencies.

Basically, if planned correctly, all of these issues become moot.

 



TWRoO on 23 July 2008

M is the standard letter for Miles... you don't need to put "mi"

M = miles
m = metres



headshot91 on 24 July 2008

@vaio
A simple and accurate way to convert miles into km and vice versa is this:
miles to km divide by five nd times by eight
km to miles divide by 8 nd times by five
(obv it only workds quickly if the number is divisible by 8 or 5 but 200 divided by 5 nd times by 8 equals 320km so not bad!



omgwtfbbq on 24 July 2008
superchunk said:
Sam Yikin said:
superchunk said:
Overall I see no reason why we don't have electric cars now. If you read the history of cars you will see electric cars being produced every 30 years or so.

If we had focused on that tech from the beginning (i.e. the first time electric cars were around in the 19-teens) we would probably only have electric vehicles.

The last solid mass produced electric vehicles could go 300+ on a single charge. That is more than sufficient for nearly every single person. The only time that would become a possible issue is in long distance trips or current shipments by road.

Even then, you could plan your trip to accommodate a proper stop for eating or a sleeping at a hotel to let you recharge.

Read Tesla Motors vehicle description for more info on why people don't need a combustible engine. http://www.teslamotors.com/

$109,000.

Unless something miraculous happens, these won't be mainstream for a long time.

Tesla Motors is a ground up company. It is building its capital for mass production quatities and prices. In the next 2 years they will have a mass produced sports car similar to the one they already produce and a $40k-ish family sedan.

The point is GM and other companies had already started to mass produce electric vehicles that with the combined newer batteries and appropiate mass production the costs would dramatically come down over a few years. Thus, putting quality electric cars in the hands of the mass market in the 20k price range for a new vehicle.

I know I would spend up to $10k more for an purely electric version of a car, easy. When factor in the massive reduction in cost for fuel, even at prices from a few years ago, and the reduction in all the maintenance costs for various items that internal cumbustion engines require like belts, seals, oil, filters, etc, you could easily save $10k over a 5 year period.

Not to mention they are quicker, more durable, quieter, and obviously a zero emission vehicle is a good thing.

 

don't get too far ahead of yourself here. An electric vehicle is far from a zero emission vehicle. Apart from the cost in energy and hazardous materials in actually creating the batteries, the energy you use to power your car has to come from somewhere, often by burning oil, gas, and coal. All you are doing is moving the emissions away from the car and towards the power plants.

 



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stephen700 on 24 July 2008

Note - You dont actually have any brushes on the synchronous electric motors used in new cars. - Current is sent to outer coils only (armature is Inductive or Permanent magnetic core ) -so  there are no brushes.

Only part to move is  the bearings which probably have a lifespan of several million kilometers.

Only the suspension suffers from any appreciable wear ( they use motor breaking so the brake pads practically never need to be used).

Tesla or any good electric vehicle is ultra low maintainance - all you need to do is recharge it each day.

 



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