Tesla Roadster Dyno Range Testing

[tevinm14]

That was the quietest dyno run in existence...

[TecnamTwin]

I bet you can't bike thirty miles to work everyday.

[SCJohnson77]

Ear muffs? lol electric car... durp

[tuugfo]

combustion engines ftw

[Andyman395]

I see you have a fan on the front of the car, what are you cooling?

[marshgre]

@Andyman395 The motor and batteries still need airflow to stay cool when being put through this kind of test. Imagine that running this car on the road at the speed that it is running on the dyno there would be lots of air flow to keep things cool. This test takes place inside with the car stationary so they need a fan to keep it from overheating.

[GibsonMaster45]

thats all? PUSSAY

[DanFrederiksen]

how can this test range when there is no aerodynamics?

[1888junkteam]

excellent work!

[skyking166]

err i can't find how to charge it haha like i know there's this huge thing that plug into the car, what about the other end? plug it into those wall thingy??? (probably not i know). but like what to i have to plug the other end to?!

[Pabcio]

This dyno is more noisy than that car :P

[walter0bz]

nuclear power + electric car = win

coal/gas fired power station + electric cars = fail

[Son37Lumiere]

No, nuclear creates waste that lasts thousands of years with little to no viable solutions and they are very inefficient and expensive to build as well as decommission, not to mention the dangers.

Natural gas is abundant and clean. Solar Thermal is free energy.

[lynel1985]

@Son37Lumiere The energy supply is free, turning that thermal energy into useable energy such as electricity costs money. There is no such this as free energy whether it be fiscally related or thermal dynamically related. Also natural gas is not 'clean' its just about the 'cleanest' gas there is.

[Son37Lumiere]

@lynel1985 My point was that the sun provides free and nearly unlimited energy. Of course materials and maintenance to harvest that energy cost money but that's the case with everything.

Again, I am well aware that natural gas isn't completely clean but as you pointed out it's far better than any other fuel.

[marshgre]

@walter0bz An electric car charged even with coal or oil fired electricity is more efficient and will pollute less than a "normal" internal combustion car.

[walter0bz]

@marshgre - I still find that hard to beleive, (energy conversions/storage). I suppose the bulk combustion in the station might be more efficient than small combustion in the car? hmm.

What about solar+electric car versus food+human on bicycle (miles per area*time of panels/crops).

I can certainly imagine solar-electric-car wiping the floor with biofueled-car.

[amigs1022]

So whats the point of having an electric car, only to be charged from the electricity coming from COAL, gas turbine and diesel power plants????

I wonder if this breaks down on an Interstate, I wonder if a local mechanic can fix or take a look at it, NOT!!!!

[cheztir]

@amigs1022 the point is both for cheaper "fuel", removal of foreign oil dependence, and a cleaner environment. EVs don't directly output CO2 or any emissions so if anything the city centers have cleaner air. Second most EVs charge at night using baseload power which would otherwise go to waste. Also as for your point about breaking down, there are very few moving parts in an EV (very little to break) and I dunno about your mechanics but most know how a battery works.

[amigs1022]

@cheztir

Is that it? As simple as a changing AA battery?If it runs out of battery, you just go to any hardware store then remove batt and plug and play?

Hmmm, I wonder if anybody is qualified to change the batt or even touch that car. Wonder more if it is even covered in the warranty to be tampered by an UNQUALIFIED mechanic. Yeah, maybe it is as easy as you think it is!

I dont know, I just fix aircrafts thats all. I m not like you, maybe you work for NASA.

Wiping floors and shit

[cheztir]

@amigs1022 Tesla's warranty doesn't recommend using outside mechanics but it won't void the warranty. Also given the standards set by SAE and IEEE most mechanics should have no problems assisting until a Tesla rep can arrive. Most importantly you're right, you're not like me you fix aircraft, I design them. 12 years now with a major company that will go unnamed. Considering you've been reduced to throwing out insults in this whole thread I'd say you're out of ideas for how to put down EVs.

[Son37Lumiere]

I would suggest you look at the facts before opening your big mouth.

[amigs1022]

@Son37Lumiere

I would suggest your work and fix aircrafts or fix your own bicycle before insulting an aircraft mechanic jack ass.

[Son37Lumiere]

@amigs1022

First a so called Phd dipshit, now an aircraft mechanic? I don't care if you're the president himself or a bum off the street, you say stupid or incorrect things and I'll correct them.

[keatononame9]

Don't need the fan dude,

[ndyt]

That dyno is noisy!

[scoobscbdoe]

I love how the guys wearing earmuffs to drown out engine noise(chuckles) and has a fan blowing on the radiatior to keep the engine cool(laughs) on a battery powered go cart that is nearly silent and has no engine(laughs histaricly).

[Trueflights]

electric moors, lik ll motrs, generate heat. The car still has a radiator witjh fans to act as cooling system.

take an RC car and race it aroun for 20 minute andtouch the battery or motor... they get hot

[elchicoboy]

yeh i know but this electric cars need a extremely good cooling system because all the time is dealing with electricity since the car its electric, so you need to get a better cooling system than a combustion motor because it doesn't generate the amount of heat than a electric one does.

[ekuwa69]

What! no no no no, you have that completely backwards. The batteries are kept cool but they do not generate heat anywhere near what a combustion engine does. That's why to heat the car they have to use an electric heater, because there just not enough heat produced by the car to heat the cabin.

[elchicoboy]

0_0 really? i thought electric cars generate more heat than a combustion does. you know cuz the car's dealing with electricity all the time even tho combustion engines do deal with electricity too but electric engines are completely electric 0_0 anyways. thanks! :)

[superheaton]

to elhchiboy,

Electric motors dont generate noise, well negligible. There's no combustion involved, but there is heat from electrons bumping. It doesn't need an intake and therefore doesn't need to deal with masses of air to produce power. Therefore electric motors are more efficient and give off less wasted energy(heat/sound).

[Son37Lumiere]

Definitely not.

[marshgre]

The Tesla Roadster has a radiatior.  Its batteries are liquid cooled.

[sangolt88]

What does this test do?

[AgApE010]

Measures the horsepower of the car. See description box for results (it's 248 hp).

[dutchtrucker]

Top Gear is a joke show for boy racers, hosted by three idiots who just fuck about and don't ever do a serious car review. James May is the only one with any tech knowledge...The other two are pricks!

Just watch the movie 'who killed the electric car'... then watch the 'White Zombie' clips on here, petrol heads can't stand seeing electric cars blow conventional cars away.

[MetCom45]

I think that comment is a little harsh. Top gear is meant to be entertaining, they race the damn cars dude. It's not a serious like Consumer Reports review. They just say how fun the car is to drive, and how it compares to the previous year.

[dutchtrucker]

It used to do proper reviews of cars people can afford, now it has just taken elements of Jack Ass and Myth Busters and kept the name Top Gear. Just take a look at the studio audience they have, not a brain cell between them. They rarely race cars, they just fuck about doing stunts.

[Son37Lumiere]

Agreed

[Tezdread]

gee that was an exciting clip...

[MetCom45]

Haha, that made me giggle

[hmong337]

how come the show "Top Gear" tested the car to only get 55 miles per charge... Check out the video if you don't believe me...

[tricky778]

Top Gear were doing some /seriously/ aggressive track-day driving. That uses much more juice.

[blabbershnitz]

@tricky778 so you arent supposed to drive your $100k+ sports car like you actually want to have fun in it? i thought that was kinda the point of buying it in the first place...

[BeNGALi4LFE]

top gear is sponsored by oil companies, so they always try to make electric cars not so great. the car they were using probably didnt have much juice left in it the first place and i remeber jeremy sed it takes 16 hours to charge wen its really 3-4.

[sfprometheus]

They actually just lied, the car had lots left. He said he did that to illustrate what it would be like if you really did run out. Check it out on the bbc website if you care to, the story is on there

[unplugged192]

top gear didn't fully charge it. and they say it took like a lot of hours to charge, but it really only takes 3.5 hours.

propaganda. if bush told you the war in iraq was right, would you believe it? if someone told you to jump of a bridge, would you do it?

[lazzer408]

I would jump off a bridge in iraq if Obama told me too. =) j/k

[blabbershnitz]

@unplugged192 everybody is saying that top gear is just propaganda, but does anyone actually have any proof to support that? they do very reliable car reviews for cars that i actually might wind up owning, so why should i not trust their reviews on other cars? and y is the manufacturer any more reliable than a reviewer, when they are even more likely to inflate the truth to sell their product. and they dont get sponsored by anyone, its a network program.

[blabbershnitz]

@unplugged192

also, im not saying *everything* about the war in the middle east is good, a lot of good was accomplished by it. plus, its a helluva lot better than terrorists attacking us,

[sandbreak2]

Many gasoline cars cant even drive that long before they runs dry..electric cars is the future and will make gasoline engines look like flintstone tech.

[blabbershnitz]

what about after the 201st mile?

[Son37Lumiere]

You mean the 313th? That's the record for miles on an electric car (single charge), accomplished by a Tesla Roadster. After that you can stop and replace the battery with a charged one or you could outfit the car with a small propane or natural gas powered turbine generator (efficient and low emmisions) to automatically kick on and start charging the batteries when they get low.

[magnersnice]

And where does that electricity come from... coal power stations? yeah because there so futuristic

[Dilekz]

Yes but the pollution is alot less if you do it that way. And you can easily get your energy from different sources.. And you know it :)

[magnersnice]

Live in the real world... china open a new coal power station every WEEK, other sources are no where near ready to replace current ways. Less pollution?, as a phd student of nanoparticles i can tell you that it has been proven that the pm10 factor around coal power station overwhelm the pm10 of city centers, coal factories are using technology that been around for 100's of years, car emmitions are practically harmless, the goverment make a fortune out of idiots believing the propaganda!

[int3rl0per]

Go nuclear, invest in fusion. Supplement existing infrasturcture with solar panels on rooftops of large housing complexes. Install wave generators where possible.

There's really no reason to keep using coal, other than it currently being cheap. Even then, you'll be better off localizing the source of emissions rather than having them spread out all over the city.

Also, I really doubt you being a PhD student, due to your elementary school level grasp of spelling and grammar.

[magnersnice]

Fusion is still only theory.

Solar panals take 15 years to repay the initial cost, then you have maintinance.

Wave generators were wrongly shown to be expensive... thus will never be used.

This is youtube, not fucking an article in the journal nature!

If you go nuclear, where do you put the waste for 100k years?

Tree-huggers are the ones stopping real progress in re-newable energy, when they let us cover the montains in windmills we will start to gain controll of the future.

[int3rl0per]

Fusion development is held back by cheap business intrests wanting instant profits for minimal investment. Hence, "invest in fusion".

Solar panel maintenance is not really a big issue - you keep the panel surface clean and make sure your batteries or caps don't leak.

Current utilization of nuclear fuel is not exhaustive - the waste can be securely stored underground in dry caverns until needed.

I agree, the Greenpeace lobby is doing the whole world a huge disservice with the best of intentions.

[magnersnice]

The problem is the waste cant be stored effectivly, plus it takes 20 years to build a plant.

My university use a complete wall of the 7 story building and on a good day it powers around 140 pc's, but then we have over 2000 pc's at my univeristy... you would need solar panels with the combined surface area of the saharah desert to power the world( but then the heat would be so immence they would not be able to be maintained. No one will pay billions to invent a theory in these times.

[int3rl0per]

What I listed weren't exclusive alternatives.. :)

Any power grid can, with relatively simple modifications, be supplemented by wind and solar power. It won't provide all the power you need, but it'll certainly lessen the load when built correctly. A few panels per roof per house should make electricity cheaper and help uranium reserves last a bit longer. Wave energy is an untapped resource and it'd be a shame to let that go to waste.

[magnersnice]

who ever marked this with thumbs down should do some research before they have the iggnorance to ignore my comments.

[ronito6]

Write better.

[ksw3153]

I agree with int3rl0per; Of course we aren't going to blanket square miles at a time with photovoltaic's, we're talking about square feet at at time, i.e. a single family home having solar powered LED lighting, maybe a few Wal-Mart's using solar collectors for hot water/radiant heating. It's all about chipping away slowly at the problem, not fixing it all at once.

[Son37Lumiere]

Coal plants currently make up less than 45% of the power generation in the US and it's dropping in favor of natural gas, primarily.

Car emissions are harmless? Try 19.5 lbCO2/US gal, not to mention an undetermined amount of CO2 in refining the crude oil and transportation as well as various other particulates. That's compared to 1.35 lb of CO2 per kW·h or 0.337 pounds of CO2 per mile (0.095 kg(CO2)/km) from an electric vehicle running off the US power grid.

The only idiot here is you.

[magnersnice]

Taking into account humans and our actions make up 4% of global co2 emmissions. It's not a big deal. You can hug your trees all you want the fact of the matter is this car is being produced for a niche market and the only hope for the electric car is one powered by hydrogen rather than the petrol hyrids.

When you have a Phd you may call me an idiot untill then, fuck up you little keyboard warrior.

[Son37Lumiere]

There is a reason why you die from carbon monoxide poisoning in no time flat if you leave a car running in a building. There is a reason car centric areas like LA, Phoenix and Houston have smoggy skylines and lower oxygen levels. Nature can't always clean up our mess. The co2 we produce may or may not have a large impact on the planet but it most certainly has an impact on our own health.

Having a Phd doesn't get you any respect from me, particularly not from a pompous nitwit.

[lynel1985]

@magnersnice the only hope for electric cars is one soley electric (not hybrid as you suggest) and one charged using only renewable clean evergy, which hydrogen is not. It may be clean to use but its not clean to make.

[magnersnice]

@lynel1985 are you thick? hydogen cars give off water...

power an electirc motor through a 'clean' gas and there are no emmissions. purley electric cars require cells which contain shit loads of nasty chemicals and are a complete cunt to dispose off, plus they weight a ton!, inturn they effect range. also why would you buy a car that takes 18 hours to charge? don't know about you but i dont have that amount of spare time per day and tbh im happy with my 8mpg i get just now

[minteko]

new geo thermal power stations, iceland has been using this energy generation for a while, the rest of the world is a little slow on the up take.

[magnersnice]

Aw do you mean thoose highly corrosive and in efficient power houses...

They have been built in over 70 contries, and most of them have called a hault to them. There is a reason they only account for around 0.01% of power generated...

[sandy142]

if u ask me this car looks a lott like a vauxhall or a lotus... they shouldve come out with a more unique design

[stopcrazypp]

The roadster's mechanical parts and body were designed by a team led by Barney Hatt, who is a priciple designer at Lotus Design Studio, so of course it will look like a Lotus. This current design was selected from a bunch of there designs, personally, it looks good to me. Before you bring up the "this is just a converted Lotus Elise" argument that most people bring up, the tesla shares less than 7% of it's parts with the Elise.

[funkapotamus420]

and that guy needed those ear muffs right.. ill drive a car with atleast 8 cylinders and a god damn combustion engine til the day i die.. none of our cars get better than 16mpg

[Athaeus]

"and that guy needed those ear muffs right.. ill drive a car with atleast 8 cylinders and a god damn combustion engine til the day i die"

---

Then I hope you die young. Preferably tomorrow.

[mozaks80]

you'll die of starvation, cause petrol's gonna get too expensive ;) especially with an american 8 cyl

[gandy74]

I'll bet you grunt when you bend over at the pump for that 4 buck gas.

[woodchucker23]

the quietness was cool, but i like a little grunt from my cars.

[panthergolf]

do you know it is electric?

[woodchucker23]

yes i know its electric. i'm just saying you can't beat the sound of a good exhaust.

[panthergolf]

absolutely right

[stopcrazypp]

Youtube "VP9 burnout" and "VP9 burnout". When you step on it there is a distinct sound, but it's quiet when you don't.

[Mitchellfreestyle26]

that is insane torque

[mduoba]

"165 miles in aggressive highway driving."

Give me a break, since when was the EPA highway cycle "aggressive"

Show the US06 range and then we will talk.

This is how GM got into trouble with their EV1 and before that with limited range CNG vehicles.

[stopcrazypp]

That's their own real world testing. The epa numbers were:

230 mi EPA city

211 mi EPA highway

221 mi EPA combined (city/highway)

Straight from the tesla website.

I suppose I'll add that to my video. Thanks for commenting!

[jelmerstaal]

is it too silent or.. ? It doenst remind me of a supercar

[stopcrazypp]

The old paradigm of power equals loud noise is going to change with electric cars like the Tesla. The sound of the Tesla Roadster is positively jet-turbine-like, something you can't hear in this video b/c this is a range dyno, not a power dyno. If you want to hear some noise, youtube "VP9 burnout by Mark Vaughn"; it's quite impressive. Alternatively you can click on my name & watch the "Automobile Magazine: Tesla Roadster First Drive Preview" which features the sound 50 secs into the video.

[youtuubbguy66]

Pretty dangerous for crazy drivers to drive a car that make no sound. Be careful and watch were you go :)

[Dilekz]

To be exactly.. loud noise is equel as non efficient ;)

[ronito6]

Isn't most of that noise from actually from the testing equipment?

[BRIDGEUSA99]

yes lol, u dont hear all that junk with a single turbo supra cuz of all that power

[JZZ31]

its boring, simple as that. Half of the passion held in a car is from the way its motor sounds!

[elpelaodebayamon]

you're a downer man, you suck.

[JZZ31]

Wrong. I like to hear my cars engines which are V8s....... electric cars are nothing compared to a V8 or 6 cylinder you tosser.

[elpelaodebayamon]

lol, okay hear it all you want, your ears are gonna start ringin when gas hits 6 bucks a gallon for regular here in the states:)

[JZZ31]

So what??? I've got the money to do so and enjoy my big petrol gas gusslers no matter what the cost, in fact will be buying more soon...... Obviously you have no passion or clue about cars, end of story, Ya plonker!

[elpelaodebayamon]

lol, you win man, my mom always said those who talk much loose much in this life. "YA PLONKER":)

[JZZ31]

HAHAHAHA that's probably the most stupid thing I have ever heard! Thanking you for making me laugh!

[stopcrazypp]

Hey, guys no fighting. I think even if much of the cars switched to EVs or PHEVs, gasoline cars will still be around, much like how there are still people collecting vintage cars. I don't think any of us have really experienced what a EV sports car is like in real life, so don't make your judgement too quickly (100% torque @ 0 rpm sounds like a good proposition). If you like ICE cars better, fine by me, don't need to fight about it, lol.

[Tboom123]

@stopcrazypp yeah seriously the 100% toruque at 0rpm thing is vastly overlooked...most gearheads can't even imagine what that feels like...no waiting for power. gasoline enigines have been revised for a really long time, the electric motors are much newer, so they need a few more tweaks like longer range and quicker charging time but when it all comes down to it...electric is superior can't wait to see what electric cars are like in another 20 years.

[Athaeus]

"Obviously you have no passion or clue about cars, end of story,"

---

I have an even greater passion for the planet I live on. If you can't get it into your tiny nut of a brain that others live on this planet, I suggest you lie down on the road in front of my car, and I'll show you passion of ICE cars. Or why not stick your nose up the exhaust pipe, and we'll see how many seconds you live?

Hope you die a painful death.

[Scotracer]

So you'd rather have a car that can't travel any further than 3.5 hours without needing a full recharge? Ha, good luck with that one mate.

[stopcrazypp]

That will change quite quickly, for example like the Lightning GT having batteries that can charge in 10 minutes to travel 200 miles. Tesla's batteries actually are slower charging than most batteries. Shouldn't matter to most pp anyways b/c most of the charging will be overnight at the convenience of home (given it is mostly rich people buying this kind of car).

[VanGThieu]

@stopcrazypp actually the Tesla Model S is approximately 49,999 so it's not too bad for an electric car. There really isn't a point of getting a roadster if cops won't let you go pass certain speed limits on a highway/freeway.

[contemploelvacio]

Do you know which are the specs?

Max speed? Horse power?

I know that it can reach 60MPH in 4 seconds.

[stopcrazypp]

Specs are subject to get even better b/c they are upgrading the air cooling & PEM to make the Roadster get 0-60 in 4 secs in only 1 gear. So far, 248hp@8500rpm & 211 lbft@0rpm. Top speed is 125 mph so far...seems low, but keep in mind this is ONE gear, not 5-7 like other cars. Car & Driver got 13.3@104mph in the 1/4 mile (keep in mind done on wet road!) in the 2 speed. 1/4 mile will probably improve with the new 1 speed b/c it eliminates the shifting.

[excogitation]

Interesting as a bag of rice tumbling over in China...

the readouts on the other hand...

[stopcrazypp]

At the time I posted this video pretty much any footage of the Roadster was rare, though there were plenty of more interesting videos at that time too. I just didn't want to be like some youtube users who post videos that were obviously already posted before. As production kicks in I'll try to post more interesting videos of the Roadster.

[Jeffydomer]

lol.. why the hell are the fans on?  it's electric.

[stopcrazypp]

Despite an efficiency close to 90%, that 10% percent loss has to go somewhere: it goes to heat. The Tesla Roadster is aircooled so it needs air to cool it! Having a fan more properly simulates real world conditions where air flow will increase as you travel quicker speeds.

[Arc91]

... and besides that, they look cool ;)

[paulfranke]

Not sure why the driver dyno testing the car is wearing ear protection when the car is so damn quiet and the dyno roller isn't even that loud!?!?

[kenhes]

It's a test.....so maybe the battery could explode.....with a loud bang.

[edwong3]

So, I wonder what the dyno numbers looked like.

[stopcrazypp]

They were just testing range on this one, I'll try to post some numbers if they test for hp/trq. 2008 is approaching though, so hopefully we'll see some of these roadsters on the road!

[Spyplane2005]

Fuck it would be funny if those spinning bearing under neath the wheels stopped and gripped.

[stopcrazypp]

That reminds me of a video that shows an outcome similar to what you were probably looking for. Youtube "Killacycle Crash." The guy survived, but it was still stupid not to wear a helmet. That said, that's why they have straps on dynos! I just youtubed "dyno jump off"; all of them were saved from catastrophe by the straps (even when the straps failed, they prevented worst damage).

[LLCoolPass]

should I keep it charged at 50% to prevent premature aging, just like with laptop li-ions too? lol [i know the answer is yes . im just bringing thatup]

[stopcrazypp]

Seeing as this thing is filled with 6831 laptop li-ions, I'd say yes, lol! I bet they can get even better range if they when to a123 cells or other more advanced lithium batteries, but they did pretty well for a startup company. I can't wait until this car is released, not that I can afford one, but I really want to see how it compares to other high dollar sports cars.

[LLCoolPass]

its an elise so u already can compare it

[ksw3153]

A123's cells aren't notable for their energy density, rather their power density (discharge rate), and mechanical and electrical abuse they can sustain. That being said, they are still amazing batteries, just a little heavy.

[LLCoolPass]

this is the creepiest dyno video i have ever seen.

[C20rules]

lol - the only noise is from the dyno

[Bogt]

great vid!!! The (no) noise level is impressive!!

[ekuwa69]

245 miles per charge, and you can charge it anywhere where there a socket. Nice.